An introduction of S.H. Figuarts Garo's articulation design after making a brief detour to visit the Sunday Movie Theater in the previous posting. ^^
Standard range of vertical tilt for the head.
The protruding tail of the helmet makes it rather difficult for the head to be bent upward, but by rotating the head around slightly first to make use of the little space between the section that is curved inward and the neck joint, that movement can be achieved.
Horizontal swivel is not a problem at all for the head.
Separating the head and neck from the body to reveal the two ball-type joints that support the head's posability.
Side-to-side and forward-backward bends are possible for the waist.
The two belts on the abdomen are made of soft plastic which help to prevent them from obstructing the body's movements.
More dynamic looking poses for the body can be created by combining the two types of bend mentioned above.
The upper body, abdomen and waist (and lower body) are all separate components that can be moved independently of one another on the figure.
Then again, due to varying tightness between the parts, the waist joint can be rotated much easily as compared to the one in the chest. ^^;
As you may expect when they were shown in Part 3, the two feather pieces on the back can be rotated on the short pegs they are connected to.
The thick upper arm armor, not the shoulder armor confines the arm to a 90-degree upward bend from the side of the body. ^^;
With the upper arm swivelled around so that the protruding base faces downward, the arm can be bent upward for a wider range. ^^
And yes, the shoulder armor is the limit this time. ^^;
There are multiple parts in each shoulder joint that allow the bending of the arm.
Besides the main swivel-hinge combo joint that's quite typical in S.H. Figuarts designs, ...
... each shoulder joint is mounted on a ball-type shoulder block that allows the arm to be slid forward/backward.
The upper arm can be swivelled around on the shoulder joint.
Standard range of movement for the elbow bend I would say.
No forearm swivel, even though the gauntlet can be designed as a separate section that also incorporates a separate swivel joint. ^^;
Very flexible wrist movements enabled by the same kind of ball-hinge combination joint used by the head as shown earlier on.
Very wide hip expansion enabled by the ball-type hip joints. ^^
The ball-type joint design of the hips.
There's a visible slit beneath each of the hip joints, which I believe is a design to help prevent the joint from breaking in the long run. ^^
Standard 90-degree forward bend for the leg, but surprisingly, backward bend is not possible. ^^;
Collision between the rear waist armor and the leg is preventing the leg from being bent to the back. ^^;
A nice bonus for the hips' articulation: separated thigh swivel is implemented. ^^
Standard articulation range for the knee I would say.
The standard double hinge joint design of the knee.
Double-hinge joint allows each ankle to be tilted forward/backward and from side to side pretty flexibly. ^^
The double-hinge joint itself is connected to the leg via a ball-type joint to enhance the ankle's posability.
The joint is pretty tough and doesn't get to be moved easily, so it's usually the double-hinge joint that is being called into action for poses that involved adjusting the ankle. ^^
The front-most section of the foot can be hinged upward.
With all the flexible leg joints mentioned earlier on, it would be impossible for Garo to not be able to perform a good, natural-looking kneeling pose. ^^
Garo's articulation is pretty standard for a S.H. Figuarts action figure I think. The multi-jointed neck and body, and the rather loose ball-type joints used for the hips reminded me of Kamen Rider Kiva Emperior Form from the same series. ^^
Then again, while it's indeed very flexible, the posability is still lacking when compared to that of Kamen Rider Ryuki, and even Kamen Rider Kiva Emperior Form I think, which features very much the same articulation design. For that matter, the bulk of Garo's armors is the main obstacle in limiting the figure's posability it seems, with clear indications of that in the head's backward bend and the shoulder joint's movements. ^^;
However, the lack of a forearm swivel that can be implemented at the edge between the elbow joint and the gauntlet does represent a missed opportunity of one of Garo's armor design to obtain a slightly improved arm articulation, one that would allow the sword to be posed more easily. ^^
Some action poses of S.H. Figuarts Garo utilizing the articulation design shown above:
Supported using Soul Stage Act 4 for Humanoid Clear.
More action poses from this S.H. Figuarts action figure coming up in the next posting. ^^
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2 comments:
Garo has this majestic look. I have watched the live action however would try the anime..
>>Dennis
I have watched the TV series of Garo as well. The super shiny suit design is perhaps what I remembered the most from the show. The darker tone of some of the episodes is interesting as well.
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