@unbroken,

I decided to go ahead and start rigging the model, even though the geometry is still in a state of flux. I'm hoping that the modified geometry can be inserted into my version of the rig without too much trouble. I thought I would post this small animation to give you a bit of encouragement as you work on the geometry. All the motion you see in the animation is controlled via one dial, xRotate in the LiftArm actor.

The rig is far from finished at the moment, but as you can see, the hydraulic ram part is now working as it's supposed to.

I hope I'm not stepping on markschum's toes here, but I thought that two versions might be better than one. At the moment my version of the "figure" is just a collection of individual props parented together, with a long way to go before it is a finished figure.