#Introducing, Toa Ehrye
“The stars have called upon a new Toa team to thwart the schemes of evil. It seems the shadows are growing again.”
Outspoken, ambitious and impatient, Ehrye defies the common stereotype of his element: nevertheless, he is a sworn advocate of working alone. If he is to push back the forces of evil with the rest of his Toa team, it is these qualities that will be his undoing.
(See end for information on the Toa Project.)
#Build
I’m a big fan of LEGO’s design for Kopaka 2015. This is a style I wanted to adopt for Ehyre: a stocky build emulating the thick clothing worn by an arctic wanderer.
The upper arms and legs are built as shown. I deliberately designed them to be bulky in order to keep the theme consistent across the entire body.
The underlying torso, which uses Vahki upper and lower torso pieces, is identical to Kaj’s (with an extra stud of length to make the body longer).
The armour itself is similar to Hafu’s. Here, I use a Mata foot as the abdomen piece instead, with a hockey chest piece over it to build up the chest.
Here’s a view of Ehrye from the back (note that the painted technic blocks are an unfortunate necessity since the white variants are quite rare).
The added liftarms to the lower legs are simply to add a little more bulk.
I used Rahkshi feet to mimic large snow boots, and Vahki legs on the limbs for added bulk.
For the sake of tradition, I gave Ehrye a scope on the side of his mask. An alternative I considered was placing it directly in front of one eye, though this ended up looking quite obnoxious.
I don’t know about you, but I think the wiring on the Mahiki creates a cool illusion of the scope being wired up to the mask.
I also gave Ehrye a leather strap designed to carry his weapons. This is something I thought would give him more uniqueness and add to the nomadic nature of the Toa of Ice.
#Weapons and Functions
Ehrye carries two ice picks for climbing / ‘picking’ (is that the right adjective?).
Rather simple, though I’d say they’re pretty effective at emulating the real things.
As with Kaj, Ehrye’s weapons can be stored on the gearbox.
This is where his leather strap comes in handy (purely aesthetic).
The picks end up fitting quite snugly over his shoulders.
Ehrye uses the same gearbox design as Kaj (a HowTo guide for the design can be found here). In this case, turning the cog causes both arms to turn.
An additional function incorporated into Ehrye’s build is his scope.
The scope can be brought backwards by turning it, giving Ehrye the option of storing it (suck it, Kopaka).
The scope is reasonably inconspicuous when not in use.
#Colours
Ehrye’s colour scheme consists of white and medium blue.
As stated before, the painted technic blocks on the back of the legs would have been avoided if possible. The same goes for the Rahkshi feet, since they are a duller shade of white.
Ehyre is another Toa whose mask colour has deviated from the original. The same reasons as Vhisola’s apply for this change:
- Since these sets were deliberately supposed to resemble early G1 sets, I didn’t want to use a mask that was melded with silver (as opposed to one with just a flat colour).
- The colour distribution is improved by using a medium blue mask rather than a white one. Ehyre also looks quite bland without it.
- These Toa were designed to have unique colour schemes, which is why most of the Toa contain colours that aren’t usually seen in sets.
I was skeptical about the blue mask at first, however it quickly grew on me.
If it bugs you that much, I’ll consider swapping it for a painted white one (I tried once and it looks awful), though keep in mind that it’ll take a lot of time trying to match the shade of white used on the set with my paints. Unless it’s really that bad, I’d appreciate it if you would make do (I have limited time for painting at university).
For those who are curious, here’s how he looks with the '04 mask:
For the sake of consistency with the other sets, I wanted to avoid using this mask due to its silver melding.
#The Toa Project
Following my completion of Kaj, I decided to create an entire Toa team using existing characters, taking great inspiration from the sets and stories of the 2001-2003 era of Bionicle.
All of my designs will have a unique gear-based function, a creative build and an innovative colour scheme.
Each time I release a new Toa, I’ll reveal the next.
Please leave comments and suggestions for improvement for Ehrye and the final Toa MOC. Once I’ve completed all six Toa, I’ll address any criticisms and share the improved Toa in a single post.
Follow the links to view the Toa Team:
1: Kaj, Toa of Earth
2: Hafu, Toa of Stone
3: Vhisola, Toa of Water
4: Tamaru, Toa of Air
5: Ehrye, Toa of Ice
6: Kalama, Toa of Fire
#Next Time: Kalama, Toa of Fire
-Hazash-
