Friday, July 17, 2015

Sci-fi Revoltech T-Rex Part 4

Limitations that are true to its anatomy?

A look at Sci-fi Revoltech T-Rex's articulation design after the previous posting. ^^




The head can be bent upward using the Revoltech joint between the head and the neck.


By default, the collision between the lower jaw and the throat area doesn't allow the head to be bent downward, but by pulling the head out from its original joint position for a slight degree, the gap created would allow for that head adjustment.


(Left) The minor gap between the back of the head and the neck from the adjustment shown above.
(Right) That gap between the lower jaw and the throat shown indicates how much the head can be bent downward.


Using the Revoltech joint's straight peg, the entire head can be swivelled around on the neck.


Non-Revoltech-type (XD) hinge joints control the opening and closing of the jaws.


Disregarding the "broken" jaw-connecting ligaments, the jaws can be opened much wider than their original settings. ^^


A closer look at the details of the mouth.



The neck itself has a swivel joint that allows its front section to be swivelled to the left or right for about 45 degrees.


The front section of the neck has a protruding plate hanging on its underside, which integrates well with the entire neck in normal view. However, when the neck is bent at the mid-swivel joint, the protruding plate becomes obvious and awkward-looking. ^^;


The neck is connected to the body via a Revoltech joint as well, which allows the former to be bent upward for a rather limited degree - one "click" on the Revoltech joint. ^^;


The head, and neck are separated from the body to get a better idea of how the joints work. ^^


Looking at the opening on the body, it's obvious that the neck is going to be limited by the high circular "wall". ^^;



Revoltech joints connect both arms to the body, and they can be adjusted very freely and easily.


Each leg has three large Revoltech joints, and one hinge joint.


The thigh has a slightly protruding section at its top edge to help integrate the thigh's look with the body when it's moved.
Like the protruding plate beneath the neck as mentioned earlier on, the thigh can look a bit awkward in certain poses because of that extra segment. ^^;



The Revoltech hip joints allow the thighs to be expanded outward for a very wide degree - much wider than what was possible on the actual dinosaurs when they still roamed the planet I think. ^^
On the other hand, the skin texture and paint work on the underside of the thigh which are not visible until the hips are expanded are great examples of the figure's extensive attention to details. ^^



The legs can be rotated forward/backward for a very wide degree using the straight peg of the hip joints.


The Revoltech knee joint, and hinge-type hock joint control the expansion/collapse of each leg, but both joints are really stiff to bend. ^^;


The lower leg can be slightly swivelled around the thigh using the straight peg of the Revoltech joint, but this adjustment is even harder than bending the Revoltech joint itself. ^^;



The foot's movement as controlled by the Revoltech ankle joint works in similar way as the head, but definitely with much more maneuverability.


The base of the tail incorporates a Revoltech joint that allows it to be bent around.



The tail itself is made of soft plastic, and can be adjusted rather easily. ^^

I never studied the articulation of an actual T-Rex, so I can't tell you if the design of this Sci-fi Revoltech figure is realistic enough in depicting how the different joints actually work on the dinosaur. ^^; However, as an action figure, T-Rex's posability is quite weak. Besides the lack of movable points due to its own design, the tough Revoltech joints connecting between important components are quite troublesome to adjust. The large Revoltech knee and ankle joints on each leg are the prime examples of this issue. While normal ratcheting bends are just fine, swiveling the joints around on the knee is a much more difficult task, in which the joints always seem like they are going to be torn apart from said action. ^^

To make the matter worse, all the Revoltech joints used have limited ratcheting points to really support the figure's posability. The neck joint for example, has just one ratcheting "click" between a high position for the head, and a low-tilting normal pose. The lack of flexibility in the hip, knee, and hock joints also makes it difficult to adjust a pose without causing the figure to lose its balance. ^^;

I can understand the idea of using larger, tougher Revoltech joints to provide the strength needed in supporting the T-Rex's poses, but that doesn't seem to work in any way other than for its plain standing pose unfortunately. ^^; In the end, a separate display stand is always needed to hold (literally ^^;) the figure in place when a certain action pose is adjusted for it.

While the figure's weight-proportion is not as crazy as that of Alien Queen from the same series, it's evidently suffering from the same problem of supporting itself when in action. ^^;

Some action poses from this Sci-fi Revoltech figure after talking about its articulation design just now:












More action poses from the T-Rex coming up next. ^^

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