diff --git a/MEMORY.md b/MEMORY.md
index 95b403a..25137b2 100644
--- a/MEMORY.md
+++ b/MEMORY.md
@@ -132,7 +132,9 @@ canonical implemented-features list in `docs/development-status.md`.
   regression — three meshes for twelve roles — and the modular part library is the `0.9.10` fix.
 - **Roster is eleven outfits over twelve roles (2026-11-06):** hoodie, Casual, Worker, Suit,
   Adventurer, Beach, Casual_2, Farmer, King, Punk (Swat is intaken but unused — it faces Godot −Z and
-  every yaw attempt broke the skin). Per-family slot maps live in `QUATERNIUS_SOURCES`; a family
+  every yaw attempt broke the skin: node rotation turns the skin with it, object rotation collapses
+  it, and data-space rotation after `transform_apply` still loses the head). Per-family slot maps
+  live in `QUATERNIUS_SOURCES`; a family
   that cannot paint a slot (Farmer has no hair) gets `patch_slots`, which buries a 4 cm triangle so
   the material survives the export and the contract holds.
 - **FBX modular parts need five fixes before they are a base (2026-11-06):** (1) every FBX file
diff --git a/TODO.md b/TODO.md
index b6d0e39..dc0a664 100644
--- a/TODO.md
+++ b/TODO.md
@@ -781,10 +781,13 @@ regressing gear fit, budget or readability.
       Farmer, King, Punk, Suit) with a slot map each: the roster now runs **eleven distinct outfits
       across twelve roles**. `patch_slots` buries a hidden triangle for slots a family cannot paint
       (Farmer has no hair shell), so the five-slot contract holds on helmeted and hatted heads.
-- [ ] **Swat base faces backwards.** It is authored facing Godot -Z. Yawing the exported base
-      rotates the skin with the armature node and renders the character headless; yawing the mesh
-      too collapses it. The fix is to yaw the four FBX parts before the join. `npc_guard` stays on
-      the worker base until then.
+- [ ] **Swat base faces backwards, and three yaw attempts failed.** It is authored facing Godot
+      −Z. Tried and rejected: (a) rotating the exported armature node — the skin turns with it and
+      the character renders headless; (b) rotating armature + mesh objects — collapses into a
+      spike; (c) rotating mesh *data* plus the rest bones after `transform_apply` — still headless.
+      Next idea: yaw each of the four FBX parts in its own import (before any join), or re-author
+      the base from the pack's `All together/Humans_Master` scene where facing is known.
+      `npc_guard` stays on the worker base; `Swat.glb` is intaken but unused.
 - [ ] `SpaceSuit` is not intaken: it has no skin, eye or hair geometry at all and no role fits an
       astronaut on Hollywood Boulevard. `Weapons` (pistol, sword) is unused by design — the game
       has no weapon system.
diff --git a/assets/models/blender_src/quaternius/Swat.glb b/assets/models/blender_src/quaternius/Swat.glb
index 2d32076..01fff90 100644
Binary files a/assets/models/blender_src/quaternius/Swat.glb and b/assets/models/blender_src/quaternius/Swat.glb differ
diff --git a/tools/quaternius_parts.py b/tools/quaternius_parts.py
index a623e1b..22caf68 100644
--- a/tools/quaternius_parts.py
+++ b/tools/quaternius_parts.py
@@ -363,12 +363,19 @@ def make_base(family_dir: Path, out: Path, yaw: float = 0.0):
     # mesh as well double-applies the skin, and baking the rotation into an already
     # bound mesh collapses the character.
     if abs(yaw) > 0.01:
-        # World-space rotation: the FBX armature carries its own -90 X, so
-        # `rotate_axis("Z")` would turn about that local axis and lay the character
-        # flat instead of facing the other way.
+        # Rotate in *data* space, after the object transforms are baked: turning the
+        # exported armature node rotates with the skin and renders headless, and
+        # rotating the object pair on top of a bound skin collapses it. Rotating the
+        # vertices and the rest bones by the same matrix keeps the bind intact.
         from mathutils import Matrix  # type: ignore
-        keep.matrix_world = (Matrix.Rotation(math.radians(yaw), 4, "Z")
-                             @ keep.matrix_world)
+        rotation = Matrix.Rotation(math.radians(yaw), 4, "Z")
+        body.data.transform(rotation)
+        bpy.context.view_layer.objects.active = keep
+        bpy.ops.object.mode_set(mode="EDIT")
+        for bone in keep.data.edit_bones:
+            bone.head = rotation @ bone.head
+            bone.tail = rotation @ bone.tail
+        bpy.ops.object.mode_set(mode="OBJECT")
         bpy.context.view_layer.update()
 
     out.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)