Rahkshi Kaita Combiner MOC (With Instructions!)

[I_Chew_On_Krana]

Been about 10 years since I got rid of my old collection, decided to buy the Rahkshi on a whim and have a go at MOCing again… with a Rahkshi Kaita! Aim for this build was to create something similar to the Toa Kaita combiner models–simply a bigger, more buffed up version of the component sets. Only uses the parts from the Lerahk, Vorahk, and Panrahk sets.

Color scheme isn’t my favorite (does make it look a bit like a tank though, literally), but it includes the pieces I wanted: the Lerahk staff weapons look the best for the middle spines, and the Rahkshi shells are constructed facing backwards, so the straight pointing Vorahk and Panrahk spines give it the look I want.

Other photos/larger gallery (+alt color scheme)!

Instructions here!

[Zhyndea]

This is impressive! I like the way you added 2006-onwards level posability, and the proportions are great! The body shaping is excellent, and the choice of green as the main color of focus was a good choice. I’m not a fan of the asymmetrical build in a few place, though; the staffs and feet in particular feel as though they could have been symmetrical. That’s just personal preference, though, and I understand the necessity in a few places due to part availability. Overall, it’s a standout combiner model.

[MakutaOisli]

Holy smokes. This looks awesome. The original Toa Kaita were praised because they had pure presence, huge heroes with massive bodies- and few were actually able to scale properly to them (sans the Bohrok Kal,) and so to see this magnificent beastie grace my screen is a very satisfying sight indeed.

[TheMOCingbird]

This is seriously awesome! As you pointed out, the Lehark staff spine is such a strong choice. While the color scheme is a little all over the place, it’s a combiner model, so that’s kind of gonna be a given (and it honestly still kinda works). I also like the upper arm design: it’s simple, but looks like some real musculature.

My only gripe would be that it looks like the articulation (especially at the shoulder) could be pretty limited. Is this the case?

Great combiner MOC either way, and welcome to the boards!

[I_Chew_On_Krana]

Thanks! Although it should be noted this model isn’t fully posable–the upper legs basically cannot move forward or backwards at all, the upper arms cannot be brought too far forward (or the shoulder armor pops off), and the ankles cannot bend forward at all due to the rahkshi torso shoulder pieces being used as the lower leg armor.

Otherwise, it has full articulation in the knees, elbows, hands, and neck. So you can still put it in some pretty neat poses.

As for the asymmetrical look, I experimented quite a bit, and felt that this final rendition was the best look (given the parts I wanted–I imagine using the white rahkshi in lieu of the green would look the best, but alas, I need those Lehrak staff pieces for the middle spines). This model would also be asymmetrical regardless (due to the colors of the back shells, shoulder armor, and mold of the spine pieces), and my first color scheme for this model was ‘equally asymmetrical’ (ex. entire left side of the model was black, right side brown, and middle colors green), but that ended up looking a bit unappealing. And since this model would still have to be asymmetrical anyway (and I still preferred the appearance of a semi-split down look), this is what I went with.

(I am curious to see what a solid color, or two-tone, version of this model would look like though, with two Panrahk spine molds and still using the Lerahk staff pieces as the middle spines.)

@TheMOCingbird Yep, good catch. The upper arm movement is a bit limited, and even more than the ball-joint actually allows; I’ve made a note in the instructions about this.

I also really like the upper arm construction, I was running out of pieces when getting to the arms, and was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to make them look bulky enough. The original design just had the three pieces attached normally (ball joint to socket 3x)–this gave the arms much greater articulation (the two arms could actually hold one staff together, like the classic rahkshi), but they looked pretty spindly and a bit awful. The current construction looks great for how simple it is, and as you said, like real musculature.

And thanks, I have a few more ideas for combiners, so you can expect me to post here at least quite a few more times!

Edited for Double Post - BioKnight

[TheMOCingbird]

@I_Chew_On_Krana

Yep, good catch. The upper arm movement is a bit limited, and even more than the ball-joint actually allows; I’ve made a note in the instructions about this.

Gotcha. Build still looks great though!

@I_Chew_On_Krana

I have a few more ideas for combiners, so you can expect me to post here at least quite a few more times!

I’ll be excited to see them.

As a side note, one important thing to know about the boards is that making two replies or posts in a topic back-to-back (called double posting) is usually not allowed. From now on, if you have two different folks you want to reply to, just make one longer post addressing all of the things you want to say, as opposed to multiple smaller posts back-to-back.

[Ghid]

Welcome to the Boards.

Very chonky lad. Since his Kraata cases are not entirely intact in the combiner, can all three Kraata be stored on the model?

[Fluffy]

Cool.
This is AN AWESOME BUILD!

[I_Chew_On_Krana]

@TheMOCingbird

Yeah, I figured that out once my second reply was flagged.

@Ghid

All three kraata can be stored on the model! The upper two rahkshi cases are entirely intact, only the bottom case lacks the inner shell piece, but it can still hold a kraata. I’ve also made a note on this in the instructions:

[ToaKebaka]

That looks great! Some years ago there was a community effort over here to make Rahkshi Kaita for all of the original 6 Rahkshi. I was one of those who participated and actually did the same basic idea of keeping the overall stature of a Rahkshi (you can check it out here, but forgive the cheesy intro). But yours is much better, it’s clear you have experience with MOCing. I like the pose very much. How stable is it?

[I_Chew_On_Krana]

@ToaKebaka

I’ve since seen the submissions for that project, some of the ideas are pretty great. Yours ain’t half bad either, I especially love the triple head idea, that’s something I was also thinking about adapting in another Kaita model (and that cheesy intro is great too).

For stability, it depends on what you mean. The model can stand upright perfectly fine, it uses two limb pieces like the Toa Kaita for the upper legs, so there’s no issues with having it stand up or remain standing when posing. However, there are several insecure connections throughout the model (ordered from most to least stable):

• The upper staff spine is attached via an axle into a pin hole, this is the most stable insecure connection since it’s a top down attachment and the staff piece is snugly placed between the rahkshi shells–you basically won’t notice this is an “unstable” connection at all unless you turn the model upside down.

• The back staff spine is not actually connected onto the model at all with an axle or pin. The staff piece itself is connected to a Axle Connector with Ball Joint Socket part, and the two pieces together are just slid in between the two back shells. It’s quicker to explain by showing a picture, but this “connection” is also actually pretty stable–I’ve since disassembled the model, but as I recall it fits very securely and only wiggles a teeny bit if shaking the figure.

  

• The two rahkshi feet on the thighs acting as leg armor, as you may have noticed, are an axle to pin hole connection. The thighs are basically permanently angled at a slope, so these pieces won’t be coming off normally or when posing it, but if you pick up the figure and tilt it too far forward, those pieces will slide off.

• The upper arms and shoulder armor are by far the most unstable parts of the model–the upper arms connection is just poor, the lower part of the upper arm can often just slide off the pin it’s connected to when trying to pose the figure or moving it around, and if one moves the arms too far forward the rahkshi heads acting as the shoulder armor will just pop off.

  
  

So overall, it is somewhat unstable; of course some concessions had to be made, considering it is a combiner model.

[ToaKebaka]

Thanks for the detailed breakdown! Seeing it more closely, it makes me appreciate the spine construction even more - it’s pretty neat how the component spines are angled, yet remain functional and can hold their kraata. And the top spikes made out of staff tips blend in quite well.

[I_Chew_On_Krana]

I’m quite pleased with how the spines turned out, I’m actually pretty pleased with how the entire model came out. Even the back of the figure still looks decent.

[I_Chew_On_Krana]

Since I’ve improved my makeshift photo studio since this post, I decided to rebuild this MOC and take some more photos. Thought they came out really cool, couldn’t help but share.

[Zhyndea]

Impressively imposing!