I Need MOC Opinions! AGAIN! First Ever MOC. Test Build for Toa Cordak

[EvanArtist]

Hello Again Message Boards! Evan be back.
Before we begin, since I’m asking for opinions I should clarify that they be CONSTRUCTIVE. As an artist in other medias and formats I know some people can be…unhelpful when asking for opinions. Hence why I am clarifying, whether you say something good or bad, whether you think I did a good job in one place, or terrible in another, it must be constructive. PLEASE. I cannot grow and get better at this if people don’t explain why something is good or bad and give advice to improve. Also not sure if the people who commented before would be willing to lend some opinions and tip again, but I am open to all help. Rant over.

More Then 10 days later I am following up on my last post where I asked opinions and tips for a first time MOC builder and me wanting to attempt doing my own ideas for the remaining members of the Toa Cordak. Check out that post for more information cause I don’t wanna go into too much detail…again.

Some people who responded before noticed that I wanted to try making builds that were at least somewhat similar to the designs for Lesovikk and Nikila, but that they were very visually different and I should attempt to do a kind of rebuild of Lesovikk. Which is what I have done, trying to make him somewhat more complicated to better fit visually with Nikila and give me a basic structure and idea of how I want the remaining members to be built.

BUT, as the title of this post says, this is literally my first ever MOC and attempt at building one, and while I did pull ideas for certain parts of this thing from multiple sources to give me an idea of where to even begin, I did hit a few snags, hence why this is another “Asking for Opinions” Post like my first one.
To start, people recommended since this was to be my first build, I should try using stuff like the Metru Build to get an idea of things, which I kinda did. I used the Metru Torso but I’m not really sure I even like it, and I did have some small ideas for custom torsos but that be very complicated and will probably be saved for Version 2 of this MOC, also, please give me some advice on that… The other thing I’m mainly unhappy with is the arms. The legs I think actually didn’t come out half bad for my first attempt, but the arms? I’m not really sure…stuff just looks off.
You may have also noticed that I tried recreating parts of the official mutated Lesovikk build we did get, like where certain armor pieces, matching colors and shapes, etc. Some of it came out alright, some were my attempts at the shoulder pads because I had no freaking idea how to include those without things looking really weird or heavy, hence my weird “solution” that I open for help on.
Also, the OG Lesovikk Build has him be a bit on the slimmer side of things, especially in the arms and legs, so I tried my best to replicate that to some degree.

Yeah, overall I think this was…Okay for my first ever attempt at a MOC, could have been much better, but could have been much worse. Also I couldn’t really figure out a way to properly implement his sword other then extending the handle and trying to have him hold it with the custom hand pieces that who’s creator is slipping my mind, could someone please remind of that?

Also, the mask is a custom Non-Aquatic version of the Great Faxon made by KhingK.

Without further a do, here be my MOC for what I’m calling, Toa Lesovikk Prime Ver 1. Prime as in this meant to represent Lesovikk in his prime as a Toa.

Here’s to Future MOC’s and improving this one.

[Stuubh]

@EvanArtist

this is literally my first ever MOC and attempt at building one

Wow. This is definitely a great start!

@EvanArtist

“Asking for Opinions”

As for this…

I’m gonna nitpick. But I think that’s what you want. Overall it’s really good. The colors are nice, the resemblance to Lesovikk is definitely there, and the legs look very cohesive. It’s just a very convincing portrayal of Lesovikk. But the limbs could use some work. Especially the arms. Here’s what I’d recommend.

• Make the forearms thinner.
• Maybe make his shoulders broader. This would help balance out his wide hips. You could do this by just making the axle in the shoulders 1L longer.
• The Kohli ball armor doesn’t do it for me. I’d look around and try some other pieces. Beefy biceps aren’t exactly a bad thing.
• Move the thigh armor down if you can to cover the gap.
• Personally when building digitally I like to make MOCs that use parts in colors that were officially released. Stud.io has a feature where it will tell you if a certain part doesn’t exist in that color. It adds more realism. Not everyone likes to do that though, so if you chose not to, more power to you.
• Look around at other MOCs. I’m often inspired by other people. You can learn a lot from others. I’d even say copy some elements of another MOC and modify them.

@EvanArtist

I used the Metru Torso but I’m not really sure I even like it, and I did have some small ideas for custom torsos but that be very complicated and will probably be saved for Version 2 of this MOC,

I think the Metru torso works for this. If you have other ideas though, try them out! Again, I’d suggest taking inspiration from other MOCs to start with.

Hope that helps!

[Axelford]

From a cursory look I would say you need to use lift arms me boyo. That would make the wrists less blocky. Same with the calves (idk lower legs) also looking at the waist I am wondering if that would wobble irl, of course digital builds don’t have to buildable but I don’t think it’s a good habit to get into. I see why you’re using the Vahki waist instead of the regular Metru one and I’d say maybe custom waist is the way to go as it might not be solid.

That’s all I’ve got. It’s a good start for a first build and doing it digital is harder than real life in many ways, I look forward to following your journey as a builder!

[HausThat]

@Axelford

lso looking at the waist I am wondering if that would wobble irl

It’d definitely wobble. A solution could be using one of these Technic, Axle and Pin Connector Perpendicular : Part 6536 | BrickLink to provide another point of contact with the torso.

[MakutaKirakh]

Not a fan of the gaps but it is pretty solid overall. A simple MOC without many risks taken.

[Enbeanie]

ok. this is good, though kolhii “balls” as armour…doesn’t really work all that well.try changing then for something else, or leaving them out altogether.
the leg design is pretty good, though it could use some armouring up on the back. good start, needs a wee bit of work. 4/5

[Alucia]

Not bad, the renders look pretty nice.
For the rendering the settings I use have the light at the back left and asteroid with no background.
The build is not bad for a first. Lots of custom parts, the lower lefs look really great, like Zork said might want to armour the too.

The gaps do bug me a little, so see if you can push the armor on the upper arms and upper legs down a bit to cover them a little.

Next tip would be poses. The last render looks good but T-Posing to assert dominance is kind of off putting. So might want to focus on some more dynamic poses and poses that show off the details without tposing.
It’s early in the morning so I can’t think of too many things right now but it is a really good start. Good job.

[Rukah]

The color scheme is great, don’t change that.

[Sargos]

I think a good start would be increasing the quality on studio rendering (When setting up the shot) to high, so it would be easier to see the details on your mocs.
Studio can have some nuances, there are some builds that studio’s collision system shows as impossible, which are actually possible in physical building and other way around. I myself only been using it for a few months, but I’d say you’d have to rely on physical building experience to predict whever or not articulation of your figure will be good, taking to account how some parts can be flexible e.t.c.