This week I’ve been thinking about how to get the arm blades to extend in a way I’m satisfied with. The original concept worked, but after looking at it again, I want a design that keeps the blade a little closer to the arm when retracted. There were a few basic concepts for the opening mechanism I was considering, and I eventually went with the one I felt was the best combination of practical and aesthetically pleasing.
Designing the mechanism was a bit of a challenge as you want something that can move enough to make a noticeable difference, but compact enough that you can conceal it in the forearm of the figure, which doesn’t leave you a lot of working room. I’d like to incorporate a simple lock feature into it somewhere so the blade is moving around loosely, along with a trigger piece so you’re not directly sliding the blade in and out. I feel like designs like this are at least 20% cooler if your hand doesn’t get in the way of the piece being moved.
This concept acted as a chance to redesign the arm itself. The arms in the original concept worked, but when I look back at it now, I think maybe they didn’t get the amount of detail they could’ve had. That’s just the nature of concept work, I guess. You want to design as much as you can upfront, but you can’t get hung up on making every little piece perfect or you never move forward with the project itself. So, I gave myself some leeway to redesign things along the way as necessary. Further redesigns will be coming later, but for now I’ve got work to do on these arms.
-Nick
The Orchid Mantis Project 