Monday, January 14, 2013

Play Arts Kai Cammy Part 3

The special thing about being not special

An introduction of Play Arts Kai Cammy's accessories and articulation design after the previous posting. ^^



Just four items on Play Arts Kai Cammy's accessory list.


Combat-type option head part.



Apart from the different expression, the sculpting and painting for this alternate head part is consistent with the default one on the figure.


As with the ones on the default head, the two wisps of dangling frontal hair pieces are made of soft plastic to prevent them from breaking easily.


The two breaded pigtails from the default head need to be swapped over onto the option head for it to be used on the figure.


Cammy with the option head part.


A large semi-clear yellow attack effect part.



Very nice clusters of wave-like details that spiraled into a drill with silver tip.
It's a solid part with considerable weight. ^^;


Rear view of the effect parts


Each of Cammy's boots has a slot on the sole to fit the peg behind the effect part.


With the effect part equipped to Cammy's right boot.
For the tip of the effect part to be aligned correctly with the leg, the boot must be tilted downward as far as possible.


The only pair of option spread palms included for Cammy.
The obvious separation between the armor and gloves via glossy/matte finishing to the two sections respectively is a delight to see. ^^


Besides gradient paint work for the fingers, all the fingernails can be seen on the two spread palms as well. ^^


Cammy with the option spread palms.



The default pair of closed fists.

A look at Cammy's articulation design next:


Using the ball-type neck joint and a hinge joint at the base of the neck, the head can be tilted upward and downward for a very wide range.


The ball-type neck joint and a hinge joint at the base of the neck mentioned above.


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


(Left) The two pigtails are connected to the back of the head via hinge joints.
(Right) Oddly, only one of them is designed with the clearance on top to allow it to be lifted.


(Left) The other pigtail can obviously be swiveled around so that it too has clearance to be lifted.
(Right) A wide range of movement is possible for the pigtails using the hinge-swivel combination of their joints.



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. Both are ball-type joints for Cammy I believe (since I don't want to detach the entire figure to find out).


The waist joint is hard at work for this side-to-side bend. ^^



Pretty standard swivel and hinge combo for the shoulder joint.


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.
It's not very special because such shoulder joint design can be seen on Gundam model kits since many many years ago. ^^


The upper arm can swivel around the shoulder.


The forearm can swivel around the elbow joint as well.


A little more than 90 degrees for the elbow bend, even with the forearm already rotated so that the minor cut away clearance on the gauntlet near the elbow is positioned up front. ^^;


Swivel and hinge combo for the wrist.




Standard ball-type joints for the hips.


The edge of the hips is made of soft plastic and is elastic enough to "accompany" the thigh's movement. ^^


While they do provide a wide range of movement for the legs, the ball-type hip joints that get exposed when the thigh is swivel backward are not very pleasant to look at unfortunately. ^^;


The leg can be lifted high thanks to the hip joint. ^^


The soft plastic edge of the hips plays a role in the above pose as well as it's able to collapse inward to give way to the hip's movement. ^^


Backward bend for the leg ...


... effectively exposes the hip joint. ^^;


Near 180 degrees bend for the knee.


The large double hinge joint block and the two "sockets" are very obvious when the knee is bent. ^^;


On a positive note, combination of the hips' and knees' articulation range allows Cammy to perform a very realistic kneeling pose.




The boots can swivel around the shin.


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.

Despite being a larger-sized action figure, the articulation design as seen on Cammy is pretty standard and uncomplicated I think. Most of the joints implemented are of the swivel and hinge combination type, which isn't special at all. Even the swing-out shoulder blocks which are the special features of this Play Art Kai Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition line aren't that unique for reason stated earlier on. The location and how the joints are implemented on the figure is pretty standard when compared to action figures from other companies, say Kaiyodo's Revoltech and Max Factory's Figma series.

Not being special isn't a weakness really, since how well the articulation design supports the figure in its action poses is more important. ^^ And how well is Cammy with her action poses? It's time to find out. ^^





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




More action poses of Cammy coming up in the next posting. ^^

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