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Okay,
So I've been a Gormiti nut for the last few months and finally got around to taking pics of the various custom articulated figures I've made.
Let's start will the fully articulated M.A.F. I made out of a US FE Steelback:
This one was a fair bit of work. I chose Steelback as he's my favorite Gormiti Character, and being molded in Black in the Final Evolution colors, that allowed me to use some Black Revoltech joints I had.
The joints are all either Revoltech or Hobby Base Double Ball Joints. I've used these extensively in my Gormiti customs and they work great for almost any PVC figure.
The Double ball allows a decent range of motion, while allowing you to hide the joint if you dremel out a decent socket for it. I don't actually use the plastic sockets for the double ball joints. Usually I just use the actual double ball (looks like a tiny dumbell) and dremel out sockets for them in the PVC pieces I want to attach. As long as you cut the parts carefully and smooth the areas where the joints meet, it make for a very nice firm seamless joint.
The Revoltech Joints are more visible, but if you can find a good color match they work really nice and are excellent firm, ratcheted joints. Just dremel a hole for the post and a shallow socket for the ball part of the joint and you're good to go. Usually a slightly smaller diameter hole than the Revoltech post is best as then you can heat the PVC and insert the post while soft, letting it conform to the post for a nice tight fit.
Here's a map of the articulation scheme on Steelback:
Basically it just involved a lot of careful cutting and dremel work. He breaks down into the following parts: Head, Torso, stomach/waist, upper arms, lower arms, thighs, lower legs.
Previous to making this complete M.A.F., I'd done a lot of partially articulated Gormiti.
Initially I was pleased with just shoulder articulation, a la Battle Beasts. To me 2 points at the shoulder is the minimum for making a small LRG type figure into a fun "action figure." Plus the double ball joints make for ball joint shoulders rather than simple swivels, which is nice.
Some figures however, really benefit from an additional point of articulation, so I have these done with 3 points, usually adding a neck or single elbow:
Next we have Rocciatauro (Bullrock), who due to having weapons really benefits from 4 points, in both shoulders and elbows. Using the double ball joints, the elbows don't get full range of motion, but rotate and have some lateral movement, which allows for decent poses while preserving the sculpt and sturdiness of the figure.
I did one 5 point figure of the Cartoon Series Steelback, adding a ball jointed neck to his shoulders and elbows, which works rather well for this figure:
Finally, I have some oddball figures, done using a mix of Revoltech joints and Double Ball Joints:
L'Antico Thorg was the most work, as he actually required 2 figures to get around the extreme pre-posing of the original (it's so off balance it actually has trouble standing). He ended up with Revoltech shoulders which allow full shoulder movement plus Double Ball Joint hips.
Stalactite, has a lot of poseability for a minimum of articulation points. Double Ball Joint shoulders and Hips plus Revoltech elbows make him pretty versatile.
Finally, The Severe Guardian has 3 Revoltech Joints, one in the neck, 2 in the shoulders. This one required adding a bit more black to the figure (kneecaps) to make the black shoulder joints look more natural. The nature of his wings make them look a bit odd detached from the torso, but it allows poses besides gliding, and the neck joint lets him look up, letting you get some decent flight poses.
Ultimately, the main issue I found with articulating small figures was function vs stability. I didn't want really delicate figures that would fall apart easily. But overall, the Double Ball Joints and Revoltech joints really did a good job of offering function while maintaining structural integrity... The clear Double Ball Joints were great too, as you could use them in the clear figures without them being too visible!
Spy
Edited by SpyMagician, 07 February 2009 - 07:04 PM.
