Final version. Too bad about the Greg stuff, what a Legend. Hopefully the easy community engagement of competition is redirected rather than dispersed. Anyway, here’s my killbot Lariska, now sporting waist articulation and a more intricate head. For maximum lore-compatibility, she’s decked in dark turquoise pieces, sports an exposed brainstem piece to highlight her maskless face, a mechanical arm (with surprising dual action ability!), and holds six knives on her bandolier.
Aesthetically I had a very specific idea of where I wanted to go with her: about halfway between Fallout Assaultron and a Tarakava on legs.
Although Vortixx and Skakdi can apparently wear masks, it’s not a play feature of their respective sets, so this was a functionality I disregarded for aesthetic purposes. She does however still sport a kanohi on her chest - I built the set around the dark turquoise Kakama - serving the same visual purpose as the lion’s face on the Marvel villain Kraven the Hunter: a trophy kill on full display.
Her prosthetic hand features two pin slots: a 3/4 pin to grip the stabbing knives (the ones with the flick missile base, which can also be slotted into her remaining hand), and the exposed 1/2 light grey pin for the throwing knives.
The 1/2 pin holds minifig utensils/weapon pieces, but very loosely, which is an ideal seat for the knife launching mechanism.
The action feature was built around an official LEGO band (I believe it’s the Red Rubber Belt Medium (Round Cross Section) - Approx. 3 x 3), but I also wanted it to be compatible with more easily replaceable non-LEGO bands. The Wal-Mart Equate brand black ones I have are a little stronger, and allow her to throw knives a little harder.
The signal paddle piece is her elbow, and stops the forearm from over-rotating.
The added arm, scope, and the maskless exposed brainstem piece all hark back to the Dark Hunters’ culture of self-modding.
I love the greebling on the mata brainstalk that serves as her ocular sensors. Since she apparently refuses to wear a mask - and because masks are (paradoxically) a strong tie to personal identity in the Matoran Universe - I decided to go in the opposite direction and lean into her inhumanity. I see her more as a wide-eyed knife nut that a femme fatale.
Poised to throw a knife.
I wanted a completely unique build that retained that classic simple Technic/early BIONICLE aesthetic, that could stand alongside sets like Nidhiki, Krekka, and the abstract menagerie (to put it politely) of dark hunters. While I do cheat a lot using newer Technic pieces, I’m very satisfied with the final look.
I think it’s the law that any given Lariska MOC must be able to handstand.
I love how this shot turned out
“Now stand back, I gotta practice my stabbin’… HA-HAH!”
- Lariska, probably
Demonstration of the action features. The trigger locks the gears surprisingly well, they don’t slip even when pushing against the forearm.
The launcher works with either the official LEGO rubber band or the Equate brand black bands I’ve also been using, and although the range is about the same either way (about 5 1/2 feet max), the Equate bands pack just a little more satisfying oomph.
Renderrrrs:
“Knife to meet you.”
- Lariska, probably
The throwing knives had to be imported from Mecabricks into StudIO, and the bandolier had to be exported out to Blender and manually bent before being put back into StudIO.
I love the way the stabbing knives stick out when they’re on her back.
Instructions: