When you re-insert the pins, you should be heating up the pin briefly so it heats up the plastic of the pin hole and allows easy re-installation. You shouldn't need superglue or any adhesive in order for the pin to become secure again. Just give the pin and plastic a few minutes to cool down and it should be back to normal. I really like the idea of using Crankcase's wheels to Barricade!
I got 2 questions: 1. What temp should I preheat my soldering iron to? 2. How strong is a harddrive battery? Is there any better or different options that could work?
What's the best way to hold the pin secure while heating for reinsertion as this is currently not secured in the place it was to start with - do you hold it with pliers?
customizing generations kup as I have two, and I had to get the wheels off, didnt know how to put it back on until your other vid, but this magnet idea will help so much more
thnx for putting this video it's so clear for others to see, I'll add some own tips from myself... I had a 2nd soldering iron specifically for this purpose.. what I did was makeing the tip less pointy, which means more area of effect and heat transport towards the pin secondly I attached the super strong metal onto the soldering irons base, in 9 out of 10 cases this magnet will still have enough strength to guide through the solderingiron-tip!
You are quite lucky! I am planning custom work involving the use of magnets as one method of securing modular parts. A local magnet supplier would make things quite convenient for me. I find this method of capped pin removal to be very useful and I hope that by showing others how to do it in video form, there will be less confusion over this relatively little known technique. Thanks for watching!
You're very welcome. I hope they come in handy! If you haven't opened up a HDD before, I believe there are a some useful video tutorials here on TH-cam showing how to effectively salvage magnets from a dead HDD.
here in the city that I live we have a magnetics supplier, who sell neodynium magnets of all sizes, and they are pretty cheap, so i can just go to them when ever i need some. Very great tip though Guiltaur, im sure most people wouldent think of it ^_^
Thank you very much for the tutorial. I am in the process of customizing some figures and I ran into these cat pins and I was looking for a effective way to remove them. I will give you an update on how it goes when I get the appropriate items in.
Excellent tips! I'll mention you and your great information in my next customizing video. By the way, I really like the customs you've shown on your channel, especially the electronics and light mods.
Done never opened a HDD before, I just ripped the whole thing apart. in fact I have 2 magnets, smaller than yours, and they are shaped like an arc. you tips will come handy in the future!
G1 Powermaster OP was made 25 years ago but the joint design should remain largely the same as today's TF toys. I do have a Powermaster OP but I do not know where it is in my boxed away belongings so I can't verify myself how the pins look. Would you be able to film the pinned joints from both sides of each joint and upload a video to your channel so I could have a better look at them?
sure be my guest ;) glad u like em, thnx! if you have any questions just comment on one of them... bad thing is I don't receive any notification for some reason, so I can be little slow sometimes :) keep it up!
I am a keen model maker and want to get into customs but really having difficulty with this. I am trying to get the elbow pins out of powermaster prime. they wont budge any ideas. also i need to get the pin out the crotch piece that folds down to get him taken apart. it seems impossible. Cheers Rob
well ill be doing a review soon but i managed it. however i couldnt get it off going the normal route. instead i had to cut off the two plastic lumps from the back and head up from were its fitted and shove it through. this is good though cause ill be able to port him for weapons in truck mode and maybe even get a tank fan mode out of him so i win. I really want to fully articulate a powermaster prime with ball joints and ratchets.. it would be sooo cool Many thanks Rob
I’m trying to restore my old G1 Powermaster Optimus Prime, and need to remove the forearms from the cab robot mode to get some paint off them that my 10 year old self stupidly put on them. Will this work for those capped pins on his elbows? It looks about the same but I wanna be sure before I further mess up my childhood toy.
Hey my dude I have a question maybe you can help, do you think this will work on the transformers cybertron optimus prime hip from 05? I'm trying to get in there to see if I can fix the ratchet joints in the hip but there are two pins stopping me that are in the back
I'm a little late to the party but looking to get myself a soldering iron to help me with pins like this. What temperature do you need to set the iron to for safe removal?
Cool tip and a very great demonstration. If I were to attach the pins back again when I change wheels or parts, is it advisable to use superglue? I'm planning to make my dotm barricade more bad-ass by attaching crankcase wheels on him (for that off-road kind of style) :)
Thank you so much. My boy who is 5 got his new Optimus yesterday and he straight away broke the rotating sleeve surrounding the metal pin at optimus'leg. I really think the toy is not suitable for his age but it was listed as 5+ (in Japan). I am looking to remove the pin and the rotating sheath and replace both with metal parts from the hardware store. (If I can find them) or I will just bolt it in with a small bolt.
Sorry for the confusion: I meant spray a chromed finished paint. They have that kind of paint at my work. But sure I am going to tell you better, I'll show you! its a long term job, though, coz I dont have a lot of free time right now :)
I Wish I had the courage to try it. I want to remove the damn pin from a G1 Spinister to replace his rotor and I fear so much of melting away the plastic.
Hello sir, Thank you for a great video. A couple of questions, what is the method behind this? The heating element expands the plastic which is gripping the pin so that it can easily be removed? If so, does this mean the socket in the plastic for the pin returns to it's normal size upon cooling or will there be some kind of permanent deformity? And how do you re-assemble this type of pin?
I tried using this method and I still can't get it to work. I have 2 rare earth magnets from an old hard drive and they still have a pretty strong magnetic charge, but they don't pull the pin out. I even kept the soldering iron on for 2 minutes instead of one. What am I doing wrong?
Hello. great video!!! I try to do it in my Botcon Hoist but it is not working. So I have a couple of questions: what is the power in watts of your welding iron?
I believe it is in the 25 watt range. My soldering iron is in storage at this time and I don't have immediate access to it so I'm unable to verify the wattage. However, it is a standard soldering iron you'd be able to find at a local hardware store. It's a fairly inexpensive model as well.
Hi nice demonstration on how remove those pins there, but I got a question though. Can we remove the cap pins that has a rough end on the other side with the automatic center punch, or do we have to go by this method?
You don't have to use this method for cap pin removal if you have access to the uncapped side but it would be extremely difficult to force the rough end all the way through the plastic. It would possibly make re-installation of the pin troublesome.
Thanks for the advice, it would be troublesome to re-install the pin the usual way and getting it out would result in making the plastic holding the pin to brittle and possibly break if not done the right way. I find applying some super glue help solve the problem. Super glue are known for their use of reapplying and repairing some broken parts, what it also can do is tightening some loose joints if applied correctly. I've done this to my beast hunters Optimus Prime's swivel joint between the knee and the thigh when it became too loose. So applying it on to the the pin hole allows it add in those new layers and could tighten the plastic to the point of being able to loose as before. Thanks for replying back.
Too bad I didn't know this trick a few days ago I'm trying to customize a AOE Hound to look battle damaged and those pins I've been trying to take out with pliers and a soldering iron so you can imagine they are beat up.
As far as I am aware(and I am by no means an expert toy customizer) there is no other capped pin removal method that has the level of ease and low chance of permanent damage. Due to how capped pins are installed, removal requires heating the pin, and in turn the plastic surrounding it, to allow easy removal. Aside from a soldering iron, I'm not aware of any other readily found device that facilitates pin point heat application, which this method requires.
I've subscribed to your channel and I'm going to work on looking through your videos as I would love to integrate lights, if not electronics as well, in my future customs projects. I know what you mean about the notifications. I seem to only get notified about a third up to a half of comments made so I often miss things unless I check my video stats.
great video, though one question: could this method work with Combiner Wars Blast-Off? I'm wondering since I may want to buy the shapeway add-on kit, but the hinge is capped on one end. Could this work, or should I do the other method
Okay, so I checked the wings and it appears to be a single sided installation, meaning that the pin is only accessible on one end. This means that you cannot use the other method of removing pins using a pin punch. You could use the method demonstrated in my video involving use of a soldering iron, however, you will need a very steady hand since the end of the pin that must be heated up is very small, unlike capped pins.
You can certainly do that, it will work, you just need to have very steady hands and be sure to set up a workstation where you can quickly and easily set down and secure the nail and soldering iron before removing the pin.
Very nice tip... It seems like your pin has threads on it.. Am I right?? I'm about to customize the studio series Bumblebee from the Bumblebee movie...
@@BGLoscar While I no longer am active in content creation, I try my best to respond to comments! Good luck with using this technique! It's not too difficult, it just requires a steady hand and a bit of patience when you heat up the metal pin.
@@Guiltaur Update... I tried on my Voyager, Evasion mode Optimus prime's wheels ( like your vid, since the wheels has nothing to do with the transformation )... Although my magnet is not strong enough so I ended up, pushing the opposite side with a screw driver to fully remove the pin.. LOL... The plastic got bent but that's my fault cause I pulled the wheel where the flat side is ( even though you said not to lol )... I'll order a strong magnet on amazon... Is 100lbs of holding power too strong? Cause that's what I'm gunning for...
This kinda annoys me well not the video or how to fix it this is brilliant I actually fixed my optimus prime from transformers cybertron and his leg ratchets are like stupid strong now like his knee gives first now like it's weak compared to the hip but. It's my soldering iron it goes to supposedly 896 °f and the pin still didn't budge.... now I have megatron from the same line and I'm trying to tighten his like bat wing cape thing cuz they annoy me being loose and same thing not budging from the heat.....some good plastic if you ask me loool but it does work eventually
Which joint of which toy did you try to remove a pin from? At a glance, either your soldering iron didn't heat up the pin and plastic to an adequate point or your magnet(if that is what you are using to extract the pin) isn't strong enough. There is always an exception to the rule but I've removed pins from dozens of Transformers toys with ease using this method. Perhaps the toy you're working on has a unique pin installment that is resistant to this method.
Thanks it sure is looking that way. its only been 25 plus years ive wanted his arms to move lol. Please check out my vids ive been reviewing not since about august last year. I am still new but very much enjoying being part of the community its ace.
When you re-insert the pins, you should be heating up the pin briefly so it heats up the plastic of the pin hole and allows easy re-installation. You shouldn't need superglue or any adhesive in order for the pin to become secure again. Just give the pin and plastic a few minutes to cool down and it should be back to normal.
I really like the idea of using Crankcase's wheels to Barricade!
I got 2 questions:
1. What temp should I preheat my soldering iron to?
2. How strong is a harddrive battery? Is there any better or different options that could work?
What's the best way to hold the pin secure while heating for reinsertion as this is currently not secured in the place it was to start with - do you hold it with pliers?
customizing generations kup as I have two, and I had to get the wheels off, didnt know how to put it back on until your other vid, but this magnet idea will help so much more
I have a broken prine and this seems like most logical way, thank u for making this video.
thnx for putting this video it's so clear for others to see, I'll add some own tips from myself...
I had a 2nd soldering iron specifically for this purpose.. what I did was makeing the tip less pointy, which means more area of effect and heat transport towards the pin secondly I attached the super strong metal onto the soldering irons base, in 9 out of 10 cases this magnet will still have enough strength to guide through the solderingiron-tip!
I'm glad to hear that you were able to remove the pins and parts. It sounds like it will shape up to be a very cool custom. :)
You are quite lucky! I am planning custom work involving the use of magnets as one method of securing modular parts. A local magnet supplier would make things quite convenient for me.
I find this method of capped pin removal to be very useful and I hope that by showing others how to do it in video form, there will be less confusion over this relatively little known technique.
Thanks for watching!
You're very welcome. I hope they come in handy!
If you haven't opened up a HDD before, I believe there are a some useful video tutorials here on TH-cam showing how to effectively salvage magnets from a dead HDD.
I'm glad I could be of some help. Happy customizing!
here in the city that I live we have a magnetics supplier, who sell neodynium magnets of all sizes, and they are pretty cheap, so i can just go to them when ever i need some. Very great tip though Guiltaur, im sure most people wouldent think of it ^_^
What type of soldering iron are you using and how many watts is it?
Thank you very much for the tutorial. I am in the process of customizing some figures and I ran into these cat pins and I was looking for a effective way to remove them. I will give you an update on how it goes when I get the appropriate items in.
Excellent tips! I'll mention you and your great information in my next customizing video.
By the way, I really like the customs you've shown on your channel, especially the electronics and light mods.
Excellent! HDD magnets are very strong so you should be able to use them to remove pins as I show in the video. Happy customizing!
Men, this method can still work if the surrounding piece is Made out of metal too??
Done
never opened a HDD before, I just ripped the whole thing apart.
in fact I have 2 magnets, smaller than yours, and they are shaped like an arc.
you tips will come handy in the future!
What do you have to do to get the pin back in wo where the joints aren't looser than before you removed the pins?
Thanks alot just got a studio series starscream and his wing tips dont stay upward in robot mode.
What's the voltage on your solder? I'm using a 120V ~ 60Hz 30W one and haven't been successful with my Transformers Kingdom Fossilizer Wingfinger
G1 Powermaster OP was made 25 years ago but the joint design should remain largely the same as today's TF toys. I do have a Powermaster OP but I do not know where it is in my boxed away belongings so I can't verify myself how the pins look.
Would you be able to film the pinned joints from both sides of each joint and upload a video to your channel so I could have a better look at them?
okay great coz I have a hard drive completely dead I can open :)
thanks a million for these tipss!
How many watts does your soldering iron have?
what kind of hardrive did hotwire used? was it a computer?
If I can access the other side of the pin, can I just punch it out?
What about loose capped pins I want to tighten?
sure be my guest ;) glad u like em, thnx!
if you have any questions just comment on one of them...
bad thing is I don't receive any notification for some reason,
so I can be little slow sometimes :) keep it up!
I am a keen model maker and want to get into customs but really having difficulty with this. I am trying to get the elbow pins out of powermaster prime. they wont budge any ideas. also i need to get the pin out the crotch piece that folds down to get him taken apart. it seems impossible. Cheers Rob
Is there any way to tighten joints that use these types of pins without removing the joints (studio series bumblebee movie bumblebee's)
Floor polish or super glue should work
I know I’m 9yrs late to the party, but thanks. Great video.
So would this work to remove Siege Lazerbeak's wings in a way that I can put them back on later?
well ill be doing a review soon but i managed it. however i couldnt get it off going the normal route. instead i had to cut off the two plastic lumps from the back and head up from were its fitted and shove it through. this is good though cause ill be able to port him for weapons in truck mode and maybe even get a tank fan mode out of him so i win. I really want to fully articulate a powermaster prime with ball joints and ratchets.. it would be sooo cool Many thanks Rob
I’m trying to restore my old G1 Powermaster Optimus Prime, and need to remove the forearms from the cab robot mode to get some paint off them that my 10 year old self stupidly put on them. Will this work for those capped pins on his elbows? It looks about the same but I wanna be sure before I further mess up my childhood toy.
Hey my dude I have a question maybe you can help, do you think this will work on the transformers cybertron optimus prime hip from 05? I'm trying to get in there to see if I can fix the ratchet joints in the hip but there are two pins stopping me that are in the back
I'm a little late to the party but looking to get myself a soldering iron to help me with pins like this. What temperature do you need to set the iron to for safe removal?
Damn that was pretty slick! Have you experimented with using the magnet to pull out longer pins instead of the hole punch and pliers method??
Oh, yes. I use a soldering iron to heat up pins that are not accessible with a hole punch and then use a neodymium magnet to extract the pin.
Cool tip and a very great demonstration. If I were to attach the pins back again when I change wheels or parts, is it advisable to use superglue? I'm planning to make my dotm barricade more bad-ass by attaching crankcase wheels on him (for that off-road kind of style) :)
Fantastic video, you're a genius! Dig the health and safety as well lol
Thank you so much. My boy who is 5 got his new Optimus yesterday and he straight away broke the rotating sleeve surrounding the metal pin at optimus'leg. I really think the toy is not suitable for his age but it was listed as 5+ (in Japan).
I am looking to remove the pin and the rotating sheath and replace both with metal parts from the hardware store. (If I can find them) or I will just bolt it in with a small bolt.
You are very welcome. Good luck with your repair/replacement project on the Optimus Prime toy!
Sorry for the confusion: I meant spray a chromed finished paint. They have that kind of paint at my work. But sure I am going to tell you better, I'll show you!
its a long term job, though, coz I dont have a lot of free time right now :)
I Wish I had the courage to try it. I want to remove the damn pin from a G1 Spinister to replace his rotor and I fear so much of melting away the plastic.
Hello sir, Thank you for a great video. A couple of questions, what is the method behind this? The heating element expands the plastic which is gripping the pin so that it can easily be removed? If so, does this mean the socket in the plastic for the pin returns to it's normal size upon cooling or will there be some kind of permanent deformity? And how do you re-assemble this type of pin?
Please let me know how the chroming turns out! :)
Thanks! I know an ultimate optimus prime DOTM who's gonna get chromed rims soon!!
literally was looking for a way to do this so i can fix the rims and tires on my 2001 rid prime and ultra mag. liked and subscribed :)
Thank you and good luck with your fixing endeavor!
That video was fantastic! Thank you so much!
You are most welcome. I hope it is useful should you ever take on this kind of toy surgery.
Gotta get a new smaller tip for my soldering iron and give this a shot with Pyra Magna to fix her legs. Thanks for the info...!
Good luck on your modifying endeavors!
I tried using this method and I still can't get it to work. I have 2 rare earth magnets from an old hard drive and they still have a pretty strong magnetic charge, but they don't pull the pin out. I even kept the soldering iron on for 2 minutes instead of one. What am I doing wrong?
Is the tip of the soldering iron clean? Was it a cheap one or expensive one?
Thank you for watching the video. I appreciate your subscription!
Hello. great video!!! I try to do it in my Botcon Hoist but it is not working.
So I have a couple of questions: what is the power in watts of your welding iron?
I believe it is in the 25 watt range. My soldering iron is in storage at this time and I don't have immediate access to it so I'm unable to verify the wattage. However, it is a standard soldering iron you'd be able to find at a local hardware store. It's a fairly inexpensive model as well.
hi there did you have any social media because i have a pin issue. but the problem is im not sure what pin is it
so i hope i can send you pic of it
Hi nice demonstration on how remove those pins there, but I got a question though.
Can we remove the cap pins that has a rough end on the other side with the automatic center punch, or do we have to go by this method?
You don't have to use this method for cap pin removal if you have access to the uncapped side but it would be extremely difficult to force the rough end all the way through the plastic. It would possibly make re-installation of the pin troublesome.
Thanks for the advice, it would be troublesome to re-install the pin the usual way and getting it out would result in making the plastic holding the pin to brittle and possibly break if not done the right way. I find applying some super glue help solve the problem.
Super glue are known for their use of reapplying and repairing some broken parts, what it also can do is tightening some loose joints if applied correctly.
I've done this to my beast hunters Optimus Prime's swivel joint between the knee and the thigh when it became too loose. So applying it on to the the pin hole allows it add in those new layers and could tighten the plastic to the point of being able to loose as before. Thanks for replying back.
Too bad I didn't know this trick a few days ago I'm trying to customize a AOE Hound to look battle damaged and those pins I've been trying to take out with pliers and a soldering iron so you can imagine they are beat up.
I don't have a soldering iron. Is there any other way to remove a capped pin?
As far as I am aware(and I am by no means an expert toy customizer) there is no other capped pin removal method that has the level of ease and low chance of permanent damage.
Due to how capped pins are installed, removal requires heating the pin, and in turn the plastic surrounding it, to allow easy removal. Aside from a soldering iron, I'm not aware of any other readily found device that facilitates pin point heat application, which this method requires.
I've subscribed to your channel and I'm going to work on looking through your videos as I would love to integrate lights, if not electronics as well, in my future customs projects.
I know what you mean about the notifications. I seem to only get notified about a third up to a half of comments made so I often miss things unless I check my video stats.
I can't get the caped pin out of vortex
great video, though one question: could this method work with Combiner Wars Blast-Off? I'm wondering since I may want to buy the shapeway add-on kit, but the hinge is capped on one end. Could this work, or should I do the other method
Which joint(s) on CW Blast Off are you wishing to work on?
the wings. I can use the other method for the nose cone, but the wings are the major issues
I don't have access to my CW Blast Off right now but once I get home, I'll check and confirm whether or not this technique will work.
Okay, so I checked the wings and it appears to be a single sided installation, meaning that the pin is only accessible on one end.
This means that you cannot use the other method of removing pins using a pin punch.
You could use the method demonstrated in my video involving use of a soldering iron, however, you will need a very steady hand since the end of the pin that must be heated up is very small, unlike capped pins.
You can certainly do that, it will work, you just need to have very steady hands and be sure to set up a workstation where you can quickly and easily set down and secure the nail and soldering iron before removing the pin.
I need to get in contact with you for a gig.
Yes, I believe it was a computer hard drive that he salvaged his magnet from.
Thank you for this!
This is great! Thank you!
So useful! Thanks!
Very nice tip... It seems like your pin has threads on it.. Am I right?? I'm about to customize the studio series Bumblebee from the Bumblebee movie...
Yes, the pin is threaded or basically textured to help it stay in place once set into the plastic.
Good luck with your customizing on SS BB!
@@Guiltaur Wow! I did not expect you to reply this fast since your last video was 4 years ago. I might do this technique then.. Thank you!
@@BGLoscar While I no longer am active in content creation, I try my best to respond to comments!
Good luck with using this technique! It's not too difficult, it just requires a steady hand and a bit of patience when you heat up the metal pin.
@@Guiltaur Update... I tried on my Voyager, Evasion mode Optimus prime's wheels ( like your vid, since the wheels has nothing to do with the transformation )... Although my magnet is not strong enough so I ended up, pushing the opposite side with a screw driver to fully remove the pin.. LOL... The plastic got bent but that's my fault cause I pulled the wheel where the flat side is ( even though you said not to lol )... I'll order a strong magnet on amazon... Is 100lbs of holding power too strong? Cause that's what I'm gunning for...
@@BGLoscar A magnet of that strength should be good. Stronger is better in this kind of application.
I think I'm going to remove the wings from the Titans Return Voyager Optimus Prime as I don't have a non-gimmick Prime yet... thanks for the help!
You're very welcome!
can u buy them caped pins
Gregory Dennis I've never seen capped pins for sale but I'm sure you can buy them.
cause I am having alil trouble removing the caped pin holding the rotor part so I took a break from it
Great video/s. Subscribed.
I'm DEFINITELY going to need this with my PE Black Jinrai!
Modern figures dont seem to work using this method, on my fifth figure and no pins move whatsoever
This kinda annoys me well not the video or how to fix it this is brilliant I actually fixed my optimus prime from transformers cybertron and his leg ratchets are like stupid strong now like his knee gives first now like it's weak compared to the hip but. It's my soldering iron it goes to supposedly 896 °f and the pin still didn't budge.... now I have megatron from the same line and I'm trying to tighten his like bat wing cape thing cuz they annoy me being loose and same thing not budging from the heat.....some good plastic if you ask me loool but it does work eventually
doesnt work even tried 5 minute soldering time
Which joint of which toy did you try to remove a pin from? At a glance, either your soldering iron didn't heat up the pin and plastic to an adequate point or your magnet(if that is what you are using to extract the pin) isn't strong enough.
There is always an exception to the rule but I've removed pins from dozens of Transformers toys with ease using this method. Perhaps the toy you're working on has a unique pin installment that is resistant to this method.
the titans return skull smasher. pins in the legs
Doesn’t work.
Thanks it sure is looking that way. its only been 25 plus years ive wanted his arms to move lol. Please check out my vids ive been reviewing not since about august last year. I am still new but very much enjoying being part of the community its ace.