Lockdown is a beautiful badass - but his wrists are ridiculous, right? There's several other tutorials out there to fix him, but I find them all a little dangerous for fingers or for Lockdown (trying to stick a knife or soldering iron into a tight spot without slipping? Bad!). I've fixed my entire Lockdown army, and documented my safe method here. We'll drill holes in the rear window area to push the pins out. Fortunately, Reprolabels will cover them if you have them. They're pretty minor, regardless. Tools: -precision Phillips screwdriver -hobby vise, or clamps that can provide a 'third hand' -soldering iron -pin punch & hammer / automatic punch -sharp hobby knife / X-acto blade -precision drill bit (up to 1 mm, the ones for a Dremel/rotary tool are perfect) -1/16" drill bit (the ones with a hex shank are perfect) -"razor" saw / fine hobby saw (optional, but best) 1) Unscrew Lockdown's arms at the elbows. 2) We'll be popping the wrist pins out - so if you've already applied Reprolabels like I did, carefully peel them off. Wash your hands first, lift the edges with a hobby knife, and peel carefully. Stick them to a clean piece of plastic in the meantime. 2b) Leave the sticky residue so the labels stick back down. Try NOT TO TOUCH IT! 3) Examine what we're doing - the pin reinforcement strikes the back of the hand. You _could_ remove some of that, but cutting the hand is simpler. 3b) The mark inside the wrist from attempting to flex his wrists! Lame. 4) Precision drill bit, for a Dremel. You'll use this by hand, so no power needed. 4b) This is tricky. By eye, align the drill bit with the pin from the end. Then do it again from the inner forearm side. You're cross-referencing the drill bit using two points of reference. Go back and forth once or twice until you're confident that you're aligned. 4c) Spin the bit to drill a hole by hand. Careful! These bits break easily. About 2mm in, you'll hit the pin. 4d) Still going... 4e) Hole drilled. This is your pilot hole. 5) Now use the 1/16" bit to follow the pinhole. 5b) Still going... 5c) Stop when you hit the pin. 5d) Remove the little bits of plastic, especially if you'll be sticking labels back here. 6) Clamp the forearm in something. I had my soldering iron set up on the left, so the upper forearm faces left. 7) Get your soldering iron warming up. Find a sturdy pin-pushing tool. This precision screwdriver is actually too big to fit the hole we drilled. 7b) Get your pin-pushing tool lined up... 7c) IT'S SOLDERING TIME! No, actually, I just wanted to all-caps that. THIS IS THE MOST DELICATE PROCEDURE! BE CAREFUL! If you slip with the iron, or hold it too long, you'll damage the forearm visibly. Touch the soldering iron to the end of the pin (the end in the UPPER FOREARM, _not_ the one we drilled out. Start pushing on the pin from the _other_ end (the one we drilled). For my iron, I counted to about ten before the pin moved. 7d) The pin popped out - I eventually used the precision screwdriver in a Leatherman tool. 7e) Disassembled. 8) If you get the pin too warm before pushing it out, the forearm plastic will deform a bit around the hole. Trim it down if necessary. 9) Score your cutting lines. You've cutting straight in from the joint (horizontal). The vertical cut is halfway across the flat back of the hand. 9b) You'll cut this face (the bottom of the hand) from the bottom corner of the rounded edge, straight to the center of the flat back. 9c) Better image. 10) Hobby / Razor saw. For those who haven't seen them. 10b) You may want to secure the hand in your vice for this. Up to you. Follow your line, work slowly. 10c) Vertical cut complete. For the horizontal cut, lay the saw flat across the pin joint face. 10d) Cuts complete. 11) Cuts complete. But the corner probably isn't very square. 11b) Use the hobby knife to clean up the corner, and the edges. 12) Test fit time. 12b) Align the pin hole, and make sure you're happy with his hand position. 13) Reassembly. Set the arm on something about 1/4 inch tall (or more) so it sits flat (the car spoiler should hang off the back). Push the pin by hand. Some pins are different! The textured part should be in the middle, or the top. 13b) Use a pin punch and hammer to tap the pin down until it is just below flush. I used an automatic punch, which needs no hammer. 13c) The pin should be just below the surface. 14) DONE! Lockdown is a pleased evil bastard! Reprolabels cover up the window holes. They're barely noticeable on Stealth and RiD Lockdown. The Lockdown clone army celebrates an end to gimpy-wrist-dom. Let's dance! Sing it! _Y_M_C_A_! ... we mean _L_O_C_K! Strike a battle pose! We're done here. I hope this still helps somebody out there.
