The Toa Hagah
Gaaki:
Kanohi Shape: Mask of Clairvoyance
Armor Color: Metal Blue
Kualus:
Kanohi Shape: Volitak (Variant)
Armor Color: Silver
Pouks:
Kanohi Shape: Pakari (Variant)
Armor Color: Metal Blue
Bomonga:
Kanohi Shape: Mask of Growth
Armor Color: Dark Gold
Design notes and thought process:
I designed the team with a 2:2:2 ratio for their armor colors, as well as for their shoulder and leg armor, as I thought it’d make sense in-universe.
Unlike usual Toa armor the Hagah’s metallic armor was manufactured by the brotherhood for use by several teams of Toa Hagah, so I thought having different variants which could be reused across multiple Toa and assigned based on the wearer’s body type and/or preferences would make sense. The chestplates however are unique to each Toa. I’m very happy with how Pouks’ chest works with his mask, with the matching horizontal lines. As for Bomonga, I felt the Bohrok shields didn’t suit him so I used a metrutoran chest piece. My headcanon explanation for this is that the larger metrutoran chestplate could be a “commander” variant of sorts, to represent Norik and Bomonga’s roles as leader and vice-leader of the team.
For their designs I didn’t want to make them too outwardly complex, so they’d visually be in line with Norik and Iruini. Technically Pouks and Bomonga’s shoulders have a slightly higher-than-set complexity, but it’s all hidden inside the armor so I think it’s alright. If these were released as sets, I imagine those shoulders as being one single new piece that looks similar. I added some secondary color to Bomonga, Kualus and Pouks to make them a little more unique, rather than being monochrome under their armor. Pouks and Bomonga have dark gray, and Kualus has sand blue.
I couldn’t find any suitable existing pieces for Gaaki and Pouks’ spear tips, so I made my own with Blender. I based them on their rahaga staffs, thinking about how they could’ve looked prior to mutation and carrying over some features. Pouks’s avalanche spear is supposed to resemble a jackhammer, which would hammer away at rocks and cliffsides to, you guessed it, cause avalanches. Gaaki’s spear has a trident shape, but I tried to make the three prongs converge toward the top so they still form a general spear-like shape. I could be happier with how they turned out, particularly the Tidal Spear, but given they were some of my first 3D models it could be worse. If you’re an artist and one of my entries won somehow, feel free to refine them a little bit, just keep the general design the same. Bomonga and Kualus’s spears use existing parts from the Knights Kingdom sets. These weren’t in Studio, so I ended up having to model and add them myself for this project.
On the subject of paints, I kept the number of paints required to three for the whole set. I can understand why some people are averse to painting, but I believe the quality of the character designs should come first - and you can’t deny that metal blue Pouks looks ballin. That said, the winners of this contest will almost certainly require paint for at least their masks if nothing else, so you’re going to need to paint regardless of who wins. So if you’re getting paint you might as well make good use of it, I say. With spraying or airbrushing it’ll only take a few minutes longer at most. The only difference is how many parts are in front of the spray at the time.
There are people in the community who offer painting services along with 3D printing parts, so if you can’t get paint at home one of these stores might be a good option.
Breakdowns and Studio File:
Breakdowns: Underscore's Toa Hagah (Breakdowns) - Album on Imgur
Studio File
Custom/3D Printed Parts:
Gaaki:
Mask of Clairvoyance by Galva
Tidal Spear by Me
Bomonga:
Mask of Growth by Galva
Kualus:
Volitak by Galva
Pouks:
Adaptive Pakari by Galva
Avalanche Spear by Me
