Hello there people who see this.
So I’m not gonna lie, I’m more looking forward to the next contest after this where we get to artistically draw and even design the new mask. This is due to me being, well, an artist and wanting to take whatever the winning built creation and making a characterized work of art from it.
However, I was in the middle of designing a random MOC in my spare time, one which funny enough has a hammer weapon, when I stumbled upon this announcement literally two days ago. So with a bit of retooling and adjusting, I made the MOC into Artakha.
Here’s a design of it, as if this were the image on the instruction booklet that came with the “set”:
A few things to not however. One, I do not own sand green anything. The green you see here is in place of what would be sand green. Second, I used the mask of creation from the 2015 sets because obviously it’s the most appropriate mask unless you acquire a 3D print of a different one.
My visual idea of the being Artakha is that his pieces would consist of a mixture of old and new. There are pieces in here from as recent as 2016 to as early as 2001.
This is because I visualize beings in the bionicle lore and entities beyond space and time, with embodied physical forms that would be a bit difficult to comprehend for the normal characters. Karzhanni was one of these characters that came to mind waaaay back when I first learned of this guy, and Artakha is no different.
I have this idea, exclusively in my mind, that while Artakha is grand, imposing, intimidating, and all around large. That perhaps there is a wee bit of… “jank” to him. By that I mean that this guy has been around for a long time, and I believe you can have Lego pieces reaffirm history and age within the character. So yes, while he is armored and ready for anything, the armor is no longer as perfect or symmetrical as it probably once was.
And hey, perhaps the armor that looks off were just fixes by him after a rather challenging battle or work laboring task that went slightly wrong? I dunno, this isn’t so much a justification as it is my inability to explain my mind.
One thing to note is that I used one of those ratchet connections (the ones used on the Exo-Toa legs) as a torso connection piece. Not only does this hold balance quite well for him, but can also help in getting really cool poses.
Another thing to note is that the hau masks on his chest are there to give off the impression of rust and age. I also imagine the rust-like painted parts on the masks to also be that sand green coloring.
There’s also some gear aesthetic and the classic Toa Mata hands. This was because of two reasons: First, it was already on the pre-planned MOC I had before I changed it into Artakha. And secondly because I thought it would make sense for the character to share some qualities to the Toa Mata due to story reasons.
Strangely my favorite thing here besides the silhouette of the guy is the weapon itself. I really wanted to make a unique hammer that was beyond the norm and I think I nailed it here, or at least closely nailed it.
Yeah it’s not a super big mighty hammer or anything, but it’s exactly what I was hoping it’d be.
Here’s an aerial view of it:
In closing, not to be a downer on myself or others, but I find it highly unlikely I’ll win this. Heck, I’m sure people will have their criticisms of it since it’s not perfect in any way. But it’s fine, I just made this for fun.
And like I said I look forward to the next contest a lot so there’s that as well…
Anyways, hope at least some of you like this. and have a good day!