I bought a Gelu set from bricklink and it arrived yesterday. I built it as per the instructions, but immediately I felt like it could be improved.
The chest is a General Grievous tan piece painted white with Games Workshop brand. For the graphics on the chest I used an Exacto knife to slice a sticker from a Lego Agents set into 3 small pieces. Same for that little square sticker on the wrist.
Question for the parts experts: the shade of blue on the icy pieces on his back doesn’t match. Was that piece released in two different sets or something? Neither of them are bootLego, so that can’t be the reason. I bought them from bricklick though, so they were loose parts.
Well, while I am not a parts expert, my interest in Bionicle peaked in 2009, so I am familiar with many of the sets. Also, I own Gelu, probably the coolest looking Glatorian out there. Those pieces on his back did not come in the set, they rather were shoulder armor for Strakk, the other ice Glatorian.
As for the moc, while I am overall satisfied with the original (I’m easy to please), there are some nice details here. I love the spear, and basically all of the legs besides the foot choice. I personally prefer the Inika foot. Also, he appears pretty bulky compared to the tall and sleek warrior we originally got, which I preferred. I also personally find custom and bootleg pieces or printing or sticker a little annoying, but it adds some cool (get it) detail to the moc. The addition of the chest in general looks pretty sweet! The upper arms are also really cool-looking. Nice work!
Thanks for the feedback. I see that you have a great appreciation for the original figure, so it’s good that you didn’t completely hate this version.
I know the pieces aren’t from Gelu. I was just curious if they were perhaps included in two different sets, maybe released years apart or something? Because I’ve seen where the time in between releases leads to a slight change in the coloring. Otherwise I can’t imagine why the shades of blue would be so different.
Oh, I see what you mean now… Yeah, I have no idea. Maybe it’s just one of those pieces. I bought an Uxar, and the two sword pieces appear slightly different in color. Maybe it’s a miscolor or something.
I remember the mask/helmet for Gorast and Kiina looked completely different on my versions of the sets and my friend’s. I think it has to do with whatever process they used to get a fusion of colors like that. Some versions of the pieces get more of one color, while others get more of the other, giving you two pieces that look pretty different.
As for the MOC itself, the shoulders feel a bit too wide for my taste, but other than that I love it.
I love me a good Inika Build MOC, and this one is definitely one of the best I’ve seen. The detail, colors, and piece choice make this Gelu really stand out and look more organic, like how the Glatorians were supposed to be.
Love the amount of bulk on this guy and the fact that you were able to cover his back and the back of his legs I also like the little detail of the light blue studs sticking out under his chest piece
Looks really good, even with the simple additions to the Inika build! A good example that custom isn’t always better!
My only gripe is that the proportions are still off. I know it fits the original model, but all my years of MOCing are screaming at me that the arms are too long!
Great work!
Gelu was also my second Glatorian, and my only Glatorian Legend, so this MOC hits close to home!
I wish I had all of the parts needed to build this. I would so mimic this build or do something similar with my Gelu. It looks really nice. Saddly some of these parts I don’t have at the moment.
