Detaching the elastic muscle cords
To detach the muscles from your knee kit, you just need to know how to detach the cord ends from one of the three possible attachment site types: a quadriceps tendon clip, an attachment site/hole on the surface of a bone, and an attachment site/hole in a cross-section plate. The instructions below are the same whether the muscle end you're attaching is of the thinner, elastic cord type or the thicker, inelastic cord type.
Materials needed
To detach most of the muscles, you'll need the forceps, located at the bottom left corner of Parts Plate A.
The forceps should be attached to the bottom left corner of Parts Plate A in your kit.
Before you detach any muscles, be sure that you understand the muscle color and labeling scheme used in your kit. This will help you easily identify each muscle and its corresponding compartment to know where to "dock" the muscle on the Parts Plates.
Detaching a muscle from a quadriceps tendon clip
The quadriceps tendon clips are the yellow plastic clips at the ends of each of the quadriceps tendons (wide yellow straps).
The quadriceps tendon clips (the yellow plastic pieces indicated by circles) connect the quadriceps elastic muscle cords to the quadriceps tendons (yellow straps).
If you're detaching a muscle from a quadriceps clip that is also attached to a cross-section plate, detach it from the cross-section plate first. To detach a muscle from a quadriceps clip, pull the cord out of the slit to unlock the knot and then up, as shown in the video below.
Video showing how to detach an elastic muscle from a quadriceps tendon clip.
Detaching a muscle from a bone
The second attachment type is the surface of a bone. These are the keyhole-shaped holes (with accompanying labels) that you see all over the surface of the bones of your kit.
Photo of an example of an attachment site on the surface of a bone with an elastic muscle cord attached, showing label printed in the surface
Inside each of these keyholes is a hook that catches the knot of a cord. So when you detach a muscle, you're essentially unhooking it. If you're detaching a muscle from a bone that is also attached to a cross-section plate, detach it from the cross-section plate first. To detach an elastic cord from a bone surface attachment, pull on the tail of the cord (the bit of cord after the knot) with the forceps to unhook the knot and then pull the knot and cord out of the hole, as shown in the video below.
Video detaching an elastic muscle cord from a bone surface attachment site using forceps.
Detaching a muscle from a cross-section plate
The third and last attachment type is a cross-section plate (either the superior or inferior one). The cross-section plates have the same keyhole-shaped holes as the surface of the bones, each located within the indentation of the corresponding muscle.
Photo of cross-section plate showing the holes and their labels
Detaching a muscle from a cross-section plate is easier than detaching it from the other two attachment types. For this reason, whenever you're detaching a muscle, detach it from the cross-section plate first. To detach a muscle from a cross-section plate, pull the tail of the cord up on the external (unlabeled) side of the plate to unhook the knot and then thread the cord through the hole, as shown in the video below.
Video showing how to detach an elastic muscle from a cross-section plate. Unhook the knot first from the external (unlabeled) side of the plate and then thread the cord out through the hole.