Hi everyone! The Rahi for me to tackle in my 25th anniversary project are the fearsome scorpions, the Nui-Jaga.
Right off the bat, I was not able to replicate the excellent 2001 play feature of the trigger-action stinging tail. The original design perfected it, and I could not come up with a design to my liking that both worked seamlessly and looked appealing. In this case, and to quote a favorite show of mine, “So I compromised”. Instead, my take on these Rahi has a gear-operated pincer motion that can be toggled at the front and a stringing tail function similar to the much-maligned Skull Scorpio from 2015, though in my defense, I think this version looks loads better than that!
I opted to work with the dark blue and dark blue colors to add more variety of shades to my overall project and because of the larger piece portfolio. Plus, I think the dark blue and dark purple work especially well to appear more menacing. The Pakari are obviously custom painted by me, and I’m very pleased with how they turned out. Hope you like them!
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The design feels a bit loose and gappy on the claw arms, but other than that I quite like the changes. The ridges along the bodies are a very nice touch. Excellent work on these guys!
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@Minethuselah Thank you! I do admit that the arms are a little gappy, and that is sadly out of necessity. I had to reduce the weight on the arms to make the pincer function work, as it was too heavy and was causing the gears to misalign. I might take a second stab at the design down the road, but we shall see. Thanks for commenting!
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The best part is easily those custom painted masks.
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@kawaii_kitten You might be right! I am really pleased with how the Pakari turned out. I’m looking forward to doing a Kakama when I do the Tarakava next!
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It’s like if the Nui-Jaga was a model someone made for the Rahi contests back then, and I love it.
(I know a lot of the parts are new, but it just has the 2004-era-Rahi vibe for some reason.)
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@CarlinMOCs I’m definitely aiming for a heavy G1 feel to these revamps, so I’m glad that’s coming through!
@Racie02 I actually tried to match the overall shape of the original, which gives them a somewhat silly face, but if you look at a real scorpion’s face closeup, they also look sort of derpy.
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