Didn’t I already make this guy? Yes, I did, 3 years ago actually. But between you and me, I’ve really not been liking that moc lately and decided that he was really due for a revamp. Behind the scenes, I’ve been working on some of the characters from Takanuva’s dimension-hopping escapades (such as Toa Tanma and The Disgraced One from The Kingdom and the Kestora from Journey of Takanuva), and Kojol’s brief appearance in Dark Mirror finally gave me an excuse to revisit this character.
Gender: Male
Species: Makuta
Kanohi: Greadai, Great Mask of Incomprehension (shapeshifted)
Pieces: 221
I’m not gonna go into detail into his lore all that much (both because he is a canon character and because what few changes I did add to my original board post are things I think still hold up well and don’t really need repeating) so instead I’m going to detail my design process of the moc itself.
- As you can probably guess, both my original version’s and this revamped version’s color scheme was inspired by Kodiak’s take on the character. It’s impossible for me to think of Kojol and not imagining him being black and gold.
- Because I chose to make Kojol dark gold specifically, I made a conscious effort not to use the Metru chest cover. Anyone who’s tried ordering this part will know how expensive this can get quickly, and I would like to eventually try building Kojol in real life.
- The feet are custom builds based around a Metru foot and a HF ice shield. One of these pieces is connected to the shield using half-pins and lightsaber blades to bulk up the front of the foot using two 1x3 round plates, which give me room to give him a few claws.
- Attaching the Skrall armor to Inika legs is a simple technique I’ve used plenty of times before.
- The thighs are pretty much identical to Toa Lhikan’s other than the colors. Admittedly, they are my least favorite part of the moc due to the over-reliance on Metru feet, but what other choice did I have?
(The gold torso armor has been removed for the sake of visual clarity.)
- Like the original version, this Kojol’s torso is built around a Hordika torso. Unlike the original, I didn’t really wanna work in a 2015 gearbox; it would’ve brought the shoulders much too low.
- The Rahkshi head was a last minute addition that adds some nice shaping to the torso. It took a good bit to figure out how to attach it because the teeth kept getting in the way.
- The neck was easily the most difficult part of this moc to figure out, as is usually the case with building around a Hordika torso. Ultimately the best solution I could some up with was using a Glatorian neck inserted from the top secured in place with the tan 5L axle. The head connects to the neck using a very short double socket.
- The mask is KhingK’s Kualsi Nuva, the same one I used on the original version, only now gold instead of black. The reason this mask is shapeshifted in my headcanon is because I personally do not like the look of the original Mask of Incomprehension for this character.
- The biceps are just simplified versions of the thighs; or more accurately, since I designed the biceps first, the thighs are just the biceps with some stuff added to them.
- The forearms are also super simple. The only real trick is that I used one of these to secure the Skrall armor a little closer to the joint than normal.
- You’ve seen that hand design thousands of times before. You’ve probably used it thousands of times yourself.
- The whip-swords of the original moc were inspired by Special Inquisitor Mòrag Ladair and her Blade Brighid from Xenoblade Chronicles 2. I wanted to retain them here since I think those weapons are kind of iconic to Kojol at this point, but I greatly simplified the hilts since the originals’ were incredibly poorly designed (though I made them slightly curved so they have something going for them).
- I knew from the word go that I wanted to give Kojol wings, which is always difficult at this scale. My solution in this case was to use some technic panels: these three specifically and their twins.
- At the very end, I realized I had space for a couple more of these pin connectors. This means that, as long as you’re mindful of the wings and change the pin from the bottom axle connector to the top one, Kojol can store both weapons on his back. This isn’t something I think to do very often, so it always pleases me when the opportunity arises.
That’s all for now. Until next time…