Followup on super special leg articulation
Well that didn’t take too long. Yesterday I couldn’t figure out how to make use of the Deathscythe’s special leg articulation, but after a stroke of pure luck I have the answer.
It turns out that I was using the wrong poses to test the feature:
For example, this bend involves the hip, knee, and ankle, so it isn’t really a test of what the knee, on its own, can do. Instead, we need a way to test the knee in isolation.
The idea I came up with was to move the leg inward rather than backward. Here is how far the knee bends inward in its normal configuration:
That’s not too bad, but not too impressive either. Now let’s pop open the joint, extend the leg, and try again:
WOW
By extending the length of the joint, the knee has more space to bend before it bumps up against itself. Nifty!
Backpack
During this build it dawned on me that I’ve never really paid attention to Deathscythe’s backpack. It’s pretty weird!
I never realized how long and tall it is. Nor did I ever realize that it only has one large thruster, rather than two “regular” sized ones.
Here it is in comparison to Sandrock’s backpack:
I’m not sold on the idea that one large thruster is somehow equally (or more) powerful than two smaller ones, but considering that Deathscythe is supposed to be fast, I suppose it must be true (at least in the world of Gundam Wing).
Side note - see the black jammers on top of the backpack? That has to be painted. It is the last part of the model that is otherwise color inaccurate.
Head
It’s a Gundam head. It goes together like most of them do:
The only thing worth remarking on is the V-Fin. It might be the most visually interesting among the five Gundams. It is ever so crooked, which gives the whole helmet a real “I am the king of demons” vibe.
Arms
This part is really cool:
The shoulder armor is built on this inner frame, which supports both an interior thruster, as well as the arm joint. Later, when we slip on the outer armor, the bottom of the frame will become the yellow trim around the shoulder. The whole setup is quite clever, solving many problems at once.
Man, these shoulders really do look like bat wings, don’t they?
As for the arms, they’re nothing special. The elbow bend isn’t terribly good, and they’re a bit stubby, which does worry me. I guess we’ll see what, if any impact it may have on posing.
The only other thing I can say about the arms is that Deathscythe is, thankfully, one of those kits that comes with three pairs of hands.
Conclusion
And with that, the build is complete. Let’s come back for one more post to put the finished model through its paces.
Other Thoughts
- I don’t want to say that I rushed through this build, on account of the fact that my work wasn’t sloppy, but I did move through this build as quickly as possible. I was just so excited to bring Deathscythe to life, especially once I saw how good it looked as it was coming together.