Artakha, Spirit of Creation (Bionicle Cannon Contest #2: Meet the Maker)

The once generous if ornery child of the great beings, Artakha now lives a secluded life burried deep in his fortress–his mind only for his craft.

I ended up with stronger opinions about Artakha than I originally thought, and I think some of them end up being a little bit left of centre, so I look forward to hearing what people think! My main to focuses for this build were that, as a craftsman, he could be ornate but definitely not over-designed. Also, while a ruler, he never seemed like an opulent king. He’s a craftsman first and foremost, after all, so my goal was clean, attractive design with that tall and imposing vibe.

I settled on sand green and copper for the colour scheme. Since the mask of creation was won and not something designed specifically for him, I kept all of the copper accents as a second layer of armour, the idea being he crafted it for himself to match his new mask. The mask is also copper, and I went with the Huna instead of any extant mask of creation design for a couple of reasons. First, I’m not a big fan of the crown look for aforementioned reasons. Second, in the same way the original Toa Kaita had masks of valour and wisdom that were a metallic-toned Hau and Miru respectively, I’ve always associated Vakama and Onewa with a “spirit of creation” if they were ever to kaita together in any way. Because of that, I wanted to use either a Huna or a Komau as the placeholder, and those just so happened to also be the copper masks of victory. Kinda esoteric for a placeholder mask, but I think it fits the model really well.

In total, Artakha stands almost exactly as tall as Tobduk (a little over 26 cm or 10 inches), which puts him solidly in that 10 foot tall scale against the ~7.5 foot tall toa.

Turn-around images:

While building him physically would require painting most of the large armour pieces either sand green or copper, nearly all other small structural elements and joint pieces are available in the colours used (which, for the most part, is black).

Breakdown images:

The torso uses a couple flex tube pieces in order to attach the Glatorian leg armour to the front, but they’re in a size that can either be acquired at the appropriate length or cut down from a larger piece–whichever you prefer. It also has some articulation, allowing him to rotate at the waist.

The warhammer versus blacksmith’s hammer debate that’s gone on is close to my heart, and so making sure he didn’t end up with a totally oversized hammer was paramount. Along with the larger hammer he brought with him to Metru Nui, he also has a smaller hammer and a chisel hanging from his waist. While I’m happy with pretty much the entirety of this build, the main hammer is maybe my favourite part. It took a lot of little pieces to get the foot extension and the Hydruka armour piece to play nice, and it was so worth it. Also, there’s an empty clip at the back of the belt from which he can hang the larger hammer, should he wish.

I didn’t use any custom elements in Artakha’s build, however the parts pack that gets a lot of Bionicle elements into Bricklink’s Stud.io is the Biopack, put together by SwampKryakwa and downloadable through this link: https://www.reddit.com/r/bioniclelego/comments/i74vqw/biopack_update_is_there_happy_810nicle_day/

The emissive materials used for the main pose were created by Tyfighter77 over on the Stud.io Discord server, and can be downloaded here: File on MEGA

And lastly, the original Stud.io file for this model can be found here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ouf2xazbTXbfQdvvFn0kLpg7u2PXwSMB/view?usp=sharing

It’s been lovely seeing everyone’s entries, and good luck to you all!

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Very creative approach!

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Reeally love the shaping on this. Good luck!

Nice build! Not sure I’m fully on board with the interpretation but it’s growing on me :slight_smile:

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I like the approach you took to this, especially in regards to the mask choice! The toolbelt is a really nice touch as well. I do wish though that the copper was a little more spread out on him, rather than being centered fully on the top. Other than that, I’m really digging this entry. Good luck!

Nice color scheme! Copper and sand green is a combination I wish I saw more of in this contest

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I like this one! The modesty of it is nice, although given his other creations, I would be surprised if Artakha didn’t wear armour that was equally beautiful and ornate. Then again, I kind of like the idea that the genius, legendary creator-king is actually a humble craftsman.

Sometimes, it’s the gruff-looking, bearded old man who can create art more stunning than anyone else. I quite like the idea of Artakha not being the stunning, golden hero that everyone is expecting - although I will admit, I’m not sure that interpretation lines up with the introduction we got in Reign of Shadows.

I wish this one wasn’t in such a strong bracket. There are others where it would definitely have my top vote.

Best of luck! And good to see that you’re still entering the contests - I liked your Helryx build as well, and am looking forward to any future entries.

I didn’t know you entered omg this Stud.io build looks clean af! Definitely earned my vote for uniqueness. Well done!

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Ah, thanks Synnova! You’re too sweet <3

I think you’re potentially right about the simple blacksmith vibes not being the original intention of the character, but it was something I felt strongly enough about and wasn’t totally contradictory, so. Either way, I’m glad you like it! I can promise you’ll see some other designs from me before the contests are out.

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