Monopoly’s Lariska WIP

[Monopoly]

Everyone else is posting their Lariskas now, so I figured I’d join in.

Behold, my Lariska… with a placeholder mechanical arm and head!

ESPEICALLY THE HEAD.

I KNOW IT’S TOO BIG.

THE HEAD IS A PLACEHOLDER.

IT’S FROM HERE.

These aspects of the Moc definitely aren’t final, especially the arm, which looks absolutely atrocious, while the head is just something I threw together based off something I saw online.

Other than that, though, she’s really coming together. My aims with Lariska aren’t to make her as complex or detailed as possible as I’ve seen some other people do, I just simply want her to be as sturdy, stable and posable as I possibly can.

This is a character that you want to be able to pose in any position you’d like, without fear of her toppling over, or worse, falling apart. Stability has been an constant issue with the contest winners, so my model aims to hold her position in any pose the moment you set her down. This Lariska deliberately uses CCBS sockets, as they provide the most grip strength and therefore the most friction, allowing her to accomplish a large variety of precarious poses many other Mocs could never achieve, for example…

I’ve perfected her stability so much that she can even pull off a diagonal, one-handed handstand, like so:

Another concern I had was sturdiness. Many people on here have a dislike of so-called “flikr statues” because, while they look impressive, they have a tendency to crumble to bits when subdued to only the slightest roughness. To fully negate this problem, I performed a long series of drop tests from various heights on my Lariska, until practically no parts were disconnected when taking a beating. As of now, the only parts likely to come off at all are her fingers.

However, I know that the use of CCBS has been commonly disliked throughout the Canon Contests, so I can imagine several people won’t like this Moc. But, frankly, CCBS is leagues sturdier than the older parts, and as such is where most of her impressive stability comes from. I tried to keep it to a minimum, however, mainly using it where there was really no other choice.

I also know a lot of people won’t like the thighs, seeing as they’re the almost universally hated, one-piece, hollow Ben 10 thighs. However, the hollowness of these thighs allows for an insane amount of knee articulation when combined with Piraka shins, prohibiting the creation of incredible >135 degree bends like this:

This wasn’t possible with any other thigh design I tried, meaning these really were the most effective.

That brings me onto my final concern: posability. Lariska has performed countless acrobatic feats, including even catching Spiriah in mid-air, so having her be little more than an immobile brick would feel disingenuous to the character. As such, my Lariska features at least 27 points of articulation, including fully articulated shoulders, a movable waist, individual toes and even a double-jointed neck, allowing for an almost endless range of poses and expressions to be created.

And yes, to attest to both her incredible posability and sturdiness…

She can, with no stands, extra connections or modifications at all, catch Spiriah.

On the mention of Spiriah, let’s have a look at some size comparisons.

Here she is with most of the Federation of Fear. I’m still working on Brutaka…

Here’s her height compared to a standard Inika-build. She’s been described as “roughly Toa height”, so I made sure to keep her as close to that scale as possible.

Here’s a comparison with Nidhiki.

And finally, one with what could’ve been…

So that’s my Lariska. Ideally, I’d like her to be the best she possibly can, so like GoodGuy2006’s Marendar topic, I’d like all the criticism I can get. Also, ideas for the head and mechanical arm would be nice, seeing as the current ones are just placeholders.

To-do list:

• Bit more bulk
• Smaller head
• Replace janky arm
• Reduce CCBS
• More teal everywhere
• Keep amber eyes
• Keep ears

[Winger]

This MOC.

THIS MOC

I will invent time travel to travel ahead and vote for this.

[Voxovan]

This head is nice, but way too big for the body.

[Monopoly]

@CDrifter
@Voxovan
I said in the post that this head is just a placeholder, I’m still open to ideas. All I know is that I’m not using a Vahki head or Slizer head.

[Gilahu]

Somehow this gives me goblin vibes. Which… like totally works, but as Lariska… hm one’d have to get used to that.

Might be mainly the head, though because of the large “ears” (it is absolutely a good head otherwise, though).

Build-wise, as you say, it’s simple. Personally I’m not a fan of CCBS and tires on a G1 character, but it certainly works for the look - and your arguments for sturdyness and poseability certainly also make sense. I do imagine her with a little more bulk, though. This feels a slight bit too spindly to me personally.

As to a head design…

[Monopoly]

I knew that there’d be a large crowd that didn’t like the CCBS usage, so I tried to tone it down as much as possible. That reminds me, though, do Ben 10 parts count as CCBS? They were introduced before the system was a thing, so I’m hesitant to categorise them as such.

[Gilahu]

@Monopoly

That reminds me, though, do Ben 10 parts count as CCBS?

To me they go into the same direction design-wise, and it also looks like they have no pin and/or axle connection points, which is one thing that defines CCBS to me (though obviously this “definition” doesn’t hold true for the larger CCBS bones). Therfore, I myself kinda consider them CCBS.

[Stuubh]

I think the body type here is perfect for Lariska.

@Monopoly

at least 27 points of articulation

wow.

This is one of the best I’ve seen so far. I can’t wait to see what you come up with for a new head design.

[Racie02]

Personally, I like the ben 10 limbs for the same reason you listed: they’re insanely poseable. And the don’t look too bad next to bionicle limbs.

It’s a good moc, you really should go ahead and finish it.

[Monopoly]

I removed the ear things from the head. Still a bit big, though.

[Rukah]

This moc is amazing. The only things that bug me are the giant head and the clunkiness of the mechanical arm.
(but you said you’d fix those anyway)

[MooCowsRock]

She’s very thin all over, and I definitely don’t like that look for Lariska. The build itself is fine: the head is good even with the “ears,” and the feet are cool, though the right arm looks lackluster. Overall it’s a decent MOC, but personally I envision Lariska otherwise.

EDIT: I recommend bulking up the right arm a little bit at least, though that may go against your intentions for the build.

[Monopoly]

I’ve just added a little list to the bottom of the main post so I can easily document any changes people have suggested.

[Senit]

Looks good overall. It’s geat to have her be this stable.

I would like it if her head gets a little bit of teal.

But if the head looks good, I will vote for this in the End

[CMO]

Definitely a good un’! The scale’s basically perfect, and I honestly don’t find the use of CCBS here egregious with the G1 aesthetic. The Ben 10 thighs match perfectly with the Piraka leg. And the fact that you made sure it’s stable and secure and not a “statue-onicle” is very much appreciated.

Couldn’t suggest much in the way of new head and arm design, but I do like the amber eyes here. If you could find a way to incorporate that color (not necessarily that piece specifically) in the final design, that’d definitely be a big plus for me personally. The biggest criticism I can levy against it is that, like every other Lariska MOC I think I’ve seen, this isn’t a teal MOC; it’s a black MOC with teal highlights. Obviously actual teal pieces are limited, so there’s only so much you can do without painting pieces. But if you can manage it, I would definitely like to see more of a teal presence.

Very much looking forward to how you refine this going forward. Good luck!

EDIT: Have a feeling this might’ve come from me, so just to be perfectly clear, I meant amber for the eyes specifically, not the design as a whole. Although if that’s something you specifically want, go for it. I just wanted to clarify what I meant, if that was needed.

@Monopoly

Amber highlights

[GoodGuy2006]

@Monopoly

Reduce CCBS

i’d say you should just remove as many post-2010 parts as possible. at the moment, there isn’t a single canonized character that has those parts that the usage couldn’t be reasonably explained
good moc tho
thanks for the shoutout

[Dadertrix]

I honestly really like the big head

[Monopoly]

@CMO

I meant amber for the eyes specifically, not the design as a whole.

Thanks, that clears it up a bit. I’ve updated the list accordingly.

[Cruciferous]

I actually like the head, at least for a general MOC. Maybe it’s not how I would picture Lariska. It’s distinctive. It has character.

[KanohiReqi]

I actually liked the head she had, with those big ears and much. Also I fully support the use of ccbs and ben 10 pieces, especially for this moc, they really work here.