How would you design the articulation for a figure (assuming budget isn't an issue)? Also, what figures in your opinion have the most intelligently done articulation?
>>5769730
Also, excuse the shitty drawing, the base was a stock photo and the jointing was added via GIMP on a laptop with a trackpad.
>>5769730
I know it's not a popular opinion, but I think the Revol Mini has a brilliant articulation layout placing joints that are swivel-hinge-ball at he right places, and not sticking out too much visually.
>>5769756
Revoltechs in general have incredible articulation for the most part. Those guys managed to make fucking V-cut hips work well.
Assuming it's a basic human figure with some details on top I'd use the lessons learned from other lines.
For normal action figures I'd go
>use figma-style joints for knees, elbows, wrists, and ankles
>use revoltech Raiden's scheme of a single ball-shaped joint connecting upper torso with pelvis while hidden inside a free abdomen piece
>use jakks pacific-styled hips
>a swivel and a balljoint for both sides of the neck
>microman/kinnikuman styled shoulders
Or just straight up copy >>5769756 on my preferred scale.
>>5769765
Yeah, but having one end as a ball joint opened up so much more possibilities. Figma has those too but not quite utilized effectively.
>>5769775
>jakks pacific-styled hips
Wait, what are those like?
>>5769777
Similar to Marvel Legends but better thought out, smoother, and stronger.
Really good range over all.
>>5769808
No no no, those wont do at all. SHF Kinnikuman, RevolMini, or Raiden Revo style hips are 20 times superior.
I really liked McFarlane's Halo 3 and Reach articulation scheme.
The hips were really well done.
>>5769765
Kaiyodo didn't invent those v-cut hips. They had been around for who knows how many years, but you mostly saw them in collector toys like from McFarlane and bbi or 21st Century military figures
I'm digging the new figuarts scheme. I personally hated the pull down hips. Ball joints tend to get on my nerves, but the shoulders work well enough, that or maybe newer gi Joe figures, but with a thigh swivel and swapable hands.
>>5770402
whoops wrong thread
>>5770391
Yeah Reach hips was the best, I hate 4 and 5 figures they can barely pose now.
>>5769765
A shame they fuck themselves with those clicky joints.
I'm starting to appreciate single-jointed elbows and knees with large clearances, even though it looks ugly from some angles.
>>5769765
What's a v-cut hip and can you post an example?
Pretty much all the early Revoltechs used the v cut hips with a swivel under it.
I'm drawing a blank in what military lines had used it before them.
>>5772415
Oh that. Those look ugly. I guess sometimes it can look passable on mechs like King Gainer but I'd hardly call it perfect. It can only get you so much range
>>5771371
stop bitching about ratchet joints.
>>5772438
>leaving the sculpt mostly intact
>ugly
wut
do you have a fetish for gaps and visible balls?
![0e716cf4fc8ea8494c7db16b0b688168[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/2pDLjkI.jpg "0e716cf4fc8ea8494c7db16b0b688168[1].jpg")
>>5772467
N-no, of course not
>>5772467
>wedge shape upper thigh
>big seam running at an awkward angle
>thigh shapes completely mismatch when turned
I'd take exposed ball joints at the hips over that. Like I said mechs can get away with it but there's a reason why lines like Figma don't use that joint when it's not difficult to recreate for any humanoid figure. People care about the marginal advantage in aesthetic.
>>5772509
But on other hand that figma's hip system lacks articulation.
>>5772667
Figuarts hips are best hips IMO provided they're done well. They can be folded flush with the sculpt for a seamless ass or they can be folded down for more extreme poses (like high kicks etc). I only own one Figuarts, Sailor Moon (who I know isn't the best Figuarts by a long run) but the hip articulation is superb.
>>5769730
no toe or finger joints
in the trash
The Acid Rain figures have the best articulation of all 1:18 scale, so really happy with that. Love the neck articulation and the legs are just prefect in my opinion!
Now combining the HACKS and Acis rain and we have my Perfect figure lol
>>5772739
Actually the diagram does have toe joints, I just didn't do a very good job of drawing/labelling them.
>>5772739
>wanting finger joints
Interchangeable hands 4 lyfe, Toybiz can suck my fat dick
>>5772763
It has very standard articulation, nothing spectacular.
>>5772826
It's a great mix of form and function. Everything works just as well as it needs to and the aesthetics don't suffer that much.
>>5772836
I think the female version did that better, keeping form and having articulation. Although I didn't like the anime girl proportions.
Both are fun to pose, yes.
>>5772667
Figma hips are designed just fine but the sculpt always blocks the range of motion.
>>5772942
It works if the crotch piece can be moved up and get out of the way of the thigh piece when moving the leg forward or sideways. Thinker does that and it works fine.
>>5773090
>floating crotch piece on figmas
Naw man, they need to have sexy continuous belly action
OP, have you ever touched a SH Bruce Lee?. I Would recommend buying him for your project, also one new revo figure (Vulcanlog stuff), I personally own big boss, and between those two I do not now which of them is more poseable. Specific parts of bruce are better, like SH hips, but some other from venom snake like his hands and shoulder articulation are top notch. The different tech allows for more range of motion in the hands, and a alternative to avoid stuck shoulder articulation. Also 'clicky joints' (Revolver Joints).
>>5769756
Do they still click and inhibit huge ranges of motion from said joints?
> Articulation thread.
> Revos and macfarlane mentioned without jest.
Figuarts' pull down hinges are genius and still haven't really been beaten even by bandai themselves.
Figma ankles are the worst things ever.
>>5773373
Pull down hips are shitty solution that ruins proportions, shifting the hips into an unnatural position and creating a diaper/long torso. Hips move at the pelvis, not below it
>>5773361
Since we're talking about Revo mini, no.
I wish people would actually learn the facts before posting the same out bait.
>>5773373
>Figma ankles are the worst things ever.
How so?
Alot of bjd are elegant posers if they don't over engineer them to the extreme. It's a shame some ov the movement is lost under clothes.
>>5772757
spoken like someone who's never touched a Microman before.
00s Microman has best articulation from any toyline.
HINGE
SWIVELS
ALL YOU NEED
ONE OR THE OTHER OR THE TWO COMBINED INTO THE HINGE-SWIVEL
YOU DON'T NEED TO BELIEVE THAT BALL JOINTS ARE GOOD ANYMORE
>>5772467
Not that anon but any straight cuts across a figure are ugly as hell. Granted, any joint is pretty much picking the least ugly joint since they all break sculpts, and that figure you posted hurts me in every way. Massive cut across the thigh leaving huge dark lines, the same at the biceps just a little less ugly, and those knee/elbow joints are just all kinds of puke inducing. Who would think that looks okay?
Having an almost non-cut sculpt doesn't mean shit if posing the figure draws all the attention to the joints and away from the figure as a whole.
Can't deny that articulation though. Looks fun as hell, just not something I'd put on my display. Just on my desk to fiddle around with.
>>5773858
>articulation that leaves the sculpt and profile of the figure more intact is uglier than those that don't
Is it like the uncanny valley effect? The less toy-looking, the more it'll stand out?
>>5773858
He picked a bad example, since that body carries over the know-how Yamaguchi gained from making tiny blind box DOA girl action figures that were all cut-joints.
Good use of cut joints (and others) not ruining form was the Fraulein series. The diagonal cut at the shoulders worked pretty well in both posing and visually.
>>5773913
Humans have joints at the hips, elbows, etc. And it gets ugly when skin and fat overlap when you flex.
Humans don't have big ill-fitted cuts halfway down their thighs. It's that simple.
>>5773858
>not something I'd put on my display
Statueshit fag detected
>>5774052
Humans are thin skeleton wrapped in soft tissue. Action figures are just the hard skeleton but much much thicker, you have to do some creative joint placement to get a closer range of motion.
>>5773913
Well, that's not entirely what I was saying. Articulation that leaves sculpts nearly untouched only really look good in extremely neutral poses. Once you start moving them, they tend to start looking awkward. This isn't in inherent problem of sculpt vs articulation, it's just a trend I've noticed.
>>5773939
This definitely looks a lot better, but I still don't love it. Something about having the articulation in the sculpt rather than separate joints just makes it look very weird. I think it's because that's how a lot of older children's toys were articulated. Rather than having your double jointed elbows as separate pieces attached between the two arm pieces, it's just the two arm pieces together. It looks cheap, and feels cheap.
>>5774129
No. My collection is at around 175ish and only 6 of those are statues.
Again, all of this is incredibly opinion based. There's no way to see a jointed elbow and think it's not jointed or it looks completely natural. Some people might find these sculpt cuts nice, I don't. I like my elbows and knees and hips and all that to have joints that are completely apart from the main sculpt, some people don't. And at the end of the day I strongly prefer articulation to sculpt, but that doesn't mean I'm going to put something I find ugly next to a really nice Robot Damashii.
>>5773853
Okay, Jobby
>>5774223
>I think it's because that's how a lot of older children's toys were articulated. Rather than having your double jointed elbows as separate pieces attached between the two arm pieces, it's just the two arm pieces together. It looks cheap, and feels cheap.
Considering it was collector toys that used compound swivels, it's just the opposite. Ball joints and hinges are what kids toys use.
Sounds like you're just the type of person who also likes diecast feel like it's more expensive and durable because it makes your toy heavier.
>Once you start moving them, they tend to start looking awkward
Except they don't.
Which is why a few of us have mentioned this type of articulation, because it does work out really well.
>>5772757
This right here. I was blown away when I first got mine.
Hard to believe their operation is basically one guy
SHF Kinnikuman line is almost perfect articulation wise.
>>5773939
To be fair, the articulation on the Fraulein figures is absolute dogshit. And I say that as someone who owns and loves the original Asuka and bandaged Rei revos.
>>5773387
Well they do if you use them both at once, obviously. They're only supposed to be used for extreme poses like high kicks where it won't be obvious you're "cheating". Honestly I can't think of a way of getting that sort of articulation in a way that doesn't "cheat" that would work at 1/12 scale. Maybe putting the balls on the legs and the sockets in the hips? Could be fragile though and has potential to look like total cack.
>>5774530
I don't own any because I have zero experience with the franchise but I've seen some of the crazy poses people have done with them and it makes me wish more figures had that kind of poseability.
You know what really annoys me though? When otherwise great figures are ruined by having 90 degrees or less of range in the knees and elbows. I'm looking at you, NECA. It's not even like you can't get a deeper bend out of a single joint- most Figmas have single jointed knees and elbows and they generally have superb articulation in those areas.
>>5773939
>The diagonal cut at the shoulders worked pretty well in both posing
This triggered me. The frauleins have some of the most limited arm articulation imaginable, mostly due to their inability to rotate above the elbow, and swiveling any higher that that pic will create a broken arm.
>>5774653
>>5774899
Fraulein. They're not suppose to be super poseable so maybe I didn't express what I meant.
The can do girly glamour shot poses without breaking body line, is more what I wanted to say.
They are not perfect, hips from the back breaks up. I was just throwing out an example of action figure that focus more on keeping the sculpt in tact with less visible joints.
Shoulders works fine in combination with how the revolver joints are placed in. You can do without breaking the arm. Downside is the direction of the elbow is fixed, yes, but it's not really an issue if you know what you are doing
>>5773397
They're not the worst things ever they're just not very intuitive to pose with since they require counter positioning against the joint.
>>5779022
Huh? Swivel in the feet and swivel in the ankle, with a hinge between them. Most standard articulation I can think of. What are you on about?
Ball jointed titties for mid bounce running pose when?
>>5772467
>visible balls
