Well, I thought I’d give it a try. I’ll explain my design choices in detail below for those interested - here at the top it’s probably better to keep it brief.
Core characteristics:
- Inika-build sized
- official, unpainted Lego parts only
- 14 points of articulation, including free shoulder and hip movement and 90° knee and elbow bendability (see additional pictures below)
- 100% custom build
A building tutorial for the head can be found here.
[details=Breakdown photos - click to expand]
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Additional pictures:
Poseability and stability:
Size and style comparison:
Commentary:
So, now that I’ve bombarded you with pictures, let me bombard you with text as well 
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When I started building this MOC, a couple things were clear to me:
a) I wanted it to be an Inika-scale build, as I wanted the MOC to fit in with the majority of G1 sets as best as possible
b) I wanted to build a MOC that - if it wins - should enable everyone regardless of how they stand towards painting and 3D-printing to build it.
c) I wanted to try to reach a good middle ground with the design of this MOC that should at least work for everyone
I chose Metru blue as the elemental colour, since Helryx until the very end of the story never left the Matoran Universe. Of course, Hahli and Hahli Mahri are also Metru blue, despite being outside of the MU, but still Metru blue felt more fitting to me for emphasizing Helryx being active inside the GSR.
As additionl colours I used black - because black always works and many parts are available in it - and silver for the armor. On top of that, I added light and dark grey pieces as miscolourations. I did this in order to make my Helryx look aged and worn - as she is described in canon materials. Additionally, I feel like these aged and worn parts also contribute to her visual frailty.
For the armor you maybe noticed me using a lot of older parts and large parts with flat surfaces. I decided that this was beneficial in two ways: on the one hand, I associate the modern days of the MU with very greebly armor - so smooth surfaces I think look a little crude and most importantly ancient by comparison. On the other hand, Helryx’s armor is described as battle-worn. The grey miscolourations are what I mainly intended to convey that, but I figured that in the case that my MOC wins, large smooth surfaces would offer those who like painting parts an easy opportunity to improve that look. And lastly, I figured it would potentially also work well in conjunction with CCBS, if anyone would want to try something in that regard.
Moving to the torso. I’ve seen a lot of people in the past build Helryx MOCs utilizing Mata torsos. Since I was using Metru blue, wanted a custom torso and was building on Inika scale, that of course wasn’t really an option for me. However, I didn’t want to force anything completely different on anyone in that regard, which is why I modeled my custom torso to resemble an elongated Inika-scale Mata torso. It actually has pretty much the same dimensions as a Mata torso as far as possible! Shoulder width, hip width, even the thickness of the torso is pretty much the same.
As to the arms - they are basically the frailest, proportionally and aesthetically pleasing while still fully articulated G1-style build I could come up with. And as you’ve seen, the friction sockets even allow Helryx to stand on one hand!
The fingers might potentially not work for some people - but you can always leave those out. Otherwise I’d like to point out that the Stars all had hands with fingers, and on the group shot above Trinuma also is the only one without.
Head - some of you might have seen my comments in the contest discussion topics and my stance regarding 3D-prints. To recapitulate: There are aweseome 3D prints out there and I’m totally fine with people using them for their creations, but an offical model should be buildable by everyone regardless of access to 3D-printed pieces or stance towards 3D-printed pieces. Now, being this vocal about my opinion, I felt like I had to at least provide an alternate option for the sake of it at least being an option. I’m aware that the artist part of the contest will eventually design how exactly Helryx’s mask will look, but I figure there’s the possibility of that design closely orienting itself on the one used by the original MOC. And if that should be the case, then I think that’s the closest we can get to making everyone happy - people who want a one-piece 3D-print will certainly get that in time, and everyone else has a potential alternative.
As to the process of designing the head - I probably spent twice or thrice as much time on it as on the entire rest of the MOC. So I hope it payed off ;P.
Weapons - Same as the armour, I wanted Helryx’s weapons to look ancient. For the shield I tried to accomplish this by using pretty old parts you don’t see too often nowadays anymore. Was a pleasant surprise, actually, how well the textures of the Visorak foot, those staff blades and the Aqua axe matched.
On the mace I went for this trans dark red centerpiece because I thought it was a nice nod towards Maxilos’ weapon, which presumably was also made by the Order of Mata Nui. On the grip of the mace I actually used those old toothed half bushings. Their old gray colour worked well to make the whole thing look very worn, and the patterns of them gripping into each other made it look like some kind of ancient design.
And last but not least - the thing that will probably spark the most controversy with my entry - Helryx’s frailty.
Let me first explain my initial thoughts: Mata builds, Metru builds, Inika builds - they’re all pretty frail already in terms of what we saw in the sets. So how does one build something that’s even more frail, but not just a walking skeleton? The answer I eventually came up with for myself was - proportions and imagination. Now, keep again in mind that my MOC is tailored to work next to Inika-builds. What is one of the most striking characteristics of Inika builds? - their super wide shoulders. So I went with narrower shoulders. Inika builds furthermore often have very broad lower legs and lower arms - so I scratched those, too (although admittedly my Helryx’s lower legs are mostly hidden behind armor). The flat-chestedness of Inika builds I wasn’t going to outdo, so I settled for Mata-like torso plus armor. And actually, when you look at my Helryx without armor, I think she is very frail, with the miscolourations adding to that look in my opinion:
So, some of you might now ask why I nearly completely cover this frailty with bulky armor. The thing is, Helryx wields a shield and a mace and her armor is described as battle-worn. This to me seems like a character who’ll find herself in the midst of battle most times - and that’s exactly the place where you wear lots of armor. Additionally, I figured that if you’d see an old, frail person in armor that’s not gapless, couldn’t they still seem frail despite wearing said armor? You could still see thin wrists, bony elbows, a scrawny neck, etc.
Yes, I admit you’ll need some imagination to see the frailty as in Helryx being very thin in my MOC when it’s armored up, but - and I admit I’m not a native English Speaker - doesn’t frailty also stand for someone looking merely brittle/past their best? Because I think these attributes I certainly captured with my build.
Phew, alright, I think I covered everything… but if you have any more questions regarding the design, feel free to ask them! This might be a contest entry I can’t modify anymore, but C&C is still always welcome!
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