Tuesday, November 1, 2011

HCM-Pro Arios Archer Set Part 2

Kneeling with my blade on my knee

More images of HCM-Pro Arios Gundam after the introduction last night. ^^





















Arios Gundam is my favorite design out of the four Gundams in Season 2 of "Gundam Double O", and this HCM-Pro version is certainly a very nice realization of the Gundam design, even for plain display without any action pose adjusted. ^^ Its proportion is well balanced, and the "spiky" feel of the entire Gundam can be seen on pretty much all its components. A lot of those sharp parts are meant for its transformation gimmick, but those that aren't transformable, including the head, chest, elbow and front skirt armor are designed with similar feel as well. Even though I'm still not a big fan of the really cheerful color scheme, Arios Gundam does have that fierce look and feel that I like very much. ^^

I'm glad the huge backpack on Gundam Kyrios is no more on Arios Gundam XD

A look at the articulation design of this HCM-Pro figure:


Not much room for the head to be adjusted since the chin and sideburns are limited by the neck and collar area respectively.


The entire middle portion of the chest can move for a slight degree when the head is tilted downward or upward
The feature is meant more for Arios Gundam's transformation instead of addressing the head's limited articulation I believe.


Just like Kyrios Gundam, the shoulder joints have very wide room to be bent upward.
Supposedly meant for the transformation as well, but the flexibility would be extremely useful for the figure in Gundam mode nonetheless. ^^



The "half-pincer" portion of the shoulder armor has its own joint for it to be bent upward/downward.


Pretty like its other two Gundam brethren 00 Gundam and Cherudim Gundam, Arios Gundam's shoulder blocks can be expanded when the shoulders are bent to the back.
The range is very limited, but the gimmick is there. ^^;



When the abdomen is pulled upward, separating it from the waist, a wide articulation range is possible for the torso.


The body can be bent to the back for a very wide degree. ^^


Pretty standard elbow and wrist joint design.


The front skirt armor can only be lifted slightly as its top portion is obstructed by the thigh.
However, the figure does have a "special feature" to overcome this limitation. ^^


Binder and rear skirt armor can be bent upward, but the articulation design would make more sense during the transformation I suppose.


In its "default" form, the hip joint seems very limited.


The special feature of this figure: the thighs can be pulled outward, creating a gap between the hip joint and a thigh that is wide enough to accommodate the top portion of the front skirt armor for it to be lifted with ease. ^^


After the thighs are pulled outward from the hip, they can be bent to the back.


While it's supposedly for the transformation gimmick, the special hip joint design is going to be mighty beneficial to the leg's articulation as well. ^^


Very wide knee articulation range, but it's kind of a standard fair for the HCM-Pro series at the same time. ^^





Pretty standard articulation for the ankle via ball-type joint. The ankle guard is movable as well.


Just like Kyrios Gundam, the front portion of the foot can be bent downward, which would be more useful in MA mode instead. ^^




Very awkward kneeling pose, where the blade on the ankle guard will hit the surface before the wing on the knee does. Either way, the knee cannot be positioned on the ground. XD


The Twin Beam Rifle's top barrel can be bent outward - another feature that is meant for the MA mode.




Like the Gunpla version in HG 1/144 and 1/100 scale formats, part swapping is needed to get the sub machine gun in the forearm. However, as compared to those two mentioned kits, the machine gun portion on this HCM-Pro figure is nicely painted. ^^




Application of those joints through various action poses coming up next. ^^

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