Not quite one or the other. I have it in a reference layer, but as you can see it choose to deviate quite a bit.

Yeah, it's 3D printed, so pretty cheap, especially if you assemble the parts yourself, which most artists will have the DEX to do.

A real figure like this is WAY faster and more intuitive to pose naturally than a 3D model

3D models have more anathomy to reference, but the ones I used (Garry's Mod) did not distort accurately enough when posed to rely on for details. *Access to different proportions is good tho

So for ME: Dummy

They feel pretty sturdy, ad the joints also hold pretty tight.
Both those things are more guarenteed in a 20cm print like this, rather than the 13cm standard size.

It's so much better than these artritic old fucks.
Always found those worthless, it was impossible to get a natural pose out of them.