Play Arts Kai Chunli Part 3

Three missing joints
An introduction of Play Arts Kai Chunli's articulation design after the previous posting. ^^




Using the double ball-type joint briefly mentioned in the previous posting that connects between the head and the neck, the head can be tilted upward and downward for a very wide range.


Horizontal tilt is not a problem at all for the head.


Unlike Cammy, there's no additional hinge at the base of Chunli's neck, but the double ball-type neck joint is sufficient to show off the head in a forward-leaning position.


Almost unrestricted motion for the head using the double ball-type neck joint. ^^


Using their connectors as joints, the "ox horns" can be swiveled on either side of the head.



Side-to-side and forward-backward bends are possible for the waist.


The body has the typical action figure design of having two joints for the body: one each for the abdomen and waist. As a result, the range of body movement for Chunli is extremely flexible. ^^


The one-piece skirt part is actually not attached to the waist, it can be turned around to provide extra clearance for either leg.



The not-so special extra articulation feature of the shoulder: the shoulder block can be bent forward for 90 degrees to give the arms a much wider movement range.



Pretty standard swivel and hinge combo for the shoulder joint.


A little more than 90 degrees for the elbow bend.


The forearm can swivel around the elbow joint.
The upper arm doesn't feature any swivel joint to allow it to be turned around the shoulder. With the neck hinge mentioned earlier on as the first item on the list, the upper arm swivel is the second joint Chunli lacks when compared to Cammy.


Normal swivel and hinge combo for the wrist.


The spiked wristbands on Chunli have a very ingenious design in my opinion. ^^ They are attached to the edge of the wrists, with the wrist joint functioning as the "cap" to secure the connection. Not only are the wrist joints are unaffected by the wristbands, the latter are kept in place securely when action poses are being adjusted to the action figure.



Standard ball-type joints for the hips.
Pushing the hip joints to their limits to show you the furthest they can go for a sideways split, ...


... and a forward split. ^^


(Left) The edge of the hips is made of soft plastic, which is elastic enough to "accompany" the thigh's movement, even though the effect is not as obvious as that on Cammy.
(Right) The hip joints are of the same color as the pantyhose.



Near 180 degrees bend for the knee.
A not-so-nice standard feature of Play Arts Kai action figure: the large double hinge joint block and the two "sockets" are very obvious when the knee is bent. ^^;


Due to the way the lower leg is connected to the knee, it will always appear slightly bent to the front even when the knee is completely straightened. ^^;


Forward/backward bend is very easy with the ankle joint, which uses the swivel and hinge combo type joint.



Side-to-side bend is possible as well, so long as you can adjust the joint to the right direction for the foot to be moved.





Combination of the hips' and knees' articulation range allows Chunli to perform a very realistic kneeling pose. ^^
There's another joint missing on Chunli as compared to Cammy (the third on the list), even though its weakness is very minor in affecting the overall articulation of the figure: there's no swivel between the shins and boots. ^^; As a matter of fact, none of three missing joints is overly crucial to Chunli's overall articulation. Their absence on the figure won't even be noticeable I believe. Still, it's great to see them been included for Cammy, who shared many design features with Chunli. Later releases like Ibuki and Sakura have their own unique features due to their character settings, this is especially true for Ibuki and her baggy pants. Both her and Sakura have different knee joint design as compared to Chunli and Cammy. The revamped knee joint on Sakura is true for Ken as well, who came out alongside her. I would believe that the changes were implemented for continuous improvements over the figures' overall quality, and being one of the earliest releases, some weaknesses on Chunli did contribute to that strive for better quality in this action figure series. ^^

Some action poses from Chunli:





Supported using Soul Stage Act 3 Action Support Clear Type.




The figure's weight proves to be too much of a burden even for Soul Stage Act 3 Action Support Clear Type to support in this kicking pose, so a wired stand is called in as the subtitute instead. ^^





More action poses from Chunli coming up next. ^^