Monday, November 5, 2012

Sci-fi Revoltech Iron Man Mark II Part 3

Omission of Revoltech joints for important components, probably for the best

A look at Sci-fi Revoltech Mark II's articulation design and gimmicks after the previous posting. ^^




Bending the head upward (or downward) is very easy, and the movement can be seen very clearly too.


A huge space between the head and the back of the neck permits the wide upward tilt of the head, which is designed specifically for Mark II's flight pose I believe. ^^


Not enough with a Revoltech joint between the neck and the head, the base of the neck has a joint incorporated to allow even greater degree of articulation for the head. ^^


The Revoltech joint at the base of the neck.


Horizontal tilt can be done very easily.


Very wide shoulder articulation range thanks to the shoulder armor which will automatically "get out the way" when the upper arm starts to collide with the shoulder. XD


The shoulder armor is independently movable. It's connected to the back of the upper arm to minimize its restriction on the shoulder's movement range. ^^


Tons of tiny mechanical details can be seen around the armpit. ^^


Rather standard 90-degree bend for the elbow.
The upper arm can swivel on the shoulder joint as well.


The forearm armor is a separated component that can be turned around on the forearm.


The wrist armor is fixed to the forearm, but since it's made of soft plastic, it can be adjusted very easily. ^^



Side-to-side and forward-backward movements are enabled by the Revoltech waist joint.


The abdomen armor is a separated soft plastic piece on the body that can be pushed inward. Its application is to show a slightly retracted abdomen when the body is bent to the front I suppose. ^^


The large Revoltech joint between the chest and abdomen, which was somewhat shown in the previous posting.



Very wide vertical expansion for the hip joints.


The hips don't incorporate any Revoltech joint actually, making the adjustments on them a lot easier than most other Revoltech joints on the figure. ^^


Backward bend of the hip is limited by the rear skirt armor and thigh armor's collision.


Very wide horizontal expansion for the hip joints as well.


The multi-joint hip swivels that enable all the hip articulation shown above.


Separated thigh joint allows the thigh to swivel on the hip joint.


Rather standard articulation range for the knee.


Double-point Revoltech joint used for the knee.


The ankle incorporates a Revoltech joint as well.
As shown in the right image, the ankle guard doesn't restrict the foot's forward bend. ^^


As a matter of fact, a tiny Revoltech joint is used to connect the ankle guard to the shin. ^^




The flexibility enabled by the hips, knees and ankles makes adjusting a very natural-looking kneeling pose for Mark II extremely easy. ^^

Overall, the articulation design on Mark II is very good I would say. ^^ I'm actually glad that the designer didn't insist on having Revoltech joints for the hips. ^^ That would actually work, as seen on Woody, but the appearance wouldn't be as solid as that on this figure I think. ^^; And because of the omission of Revoltech joints for the hip, adjusting the legs is much easier, and the joints support all the poses just as well as Revoltech joints. So, not only do they look better, the hip joints on this figure works very well too. ^^ Frankly, I'm not sure if Revoltech joints weren't used for the hips to preserve the overall look, or to give them better handling and and adjustment for action poses. ^^ Either way, it works. ^^

Then again, having very flexible hip joints isn't helpful in all poses apparently. ^^; As shown in the previous posting, they couldn't do much in Mark II's plain standing pose when the ankle's Revoltech joint refused to "cooperate". ^^;

Some action poses of Mark II after the introduction on its articulation design:


With support using Soul Stage Act 3 Action Support Clear Type.










More action poses of Mark II coming up in the last posting of this review series. ^^

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