i think your best bet with this one would be make a set of morphs that effect the pieces. You could build it as a figure but because of how some of this model is put together you may end up with some odd bending effects. I'd suggest making a morph in a full position of how the object should look when at its max draw, and applying it to the model, and see how the dial effects it. Set the dial to go in .01 increments.