Here are my interpretations of the as-of-yet undepicted Toa Hagah…
The Copper Champion - Gaaki
Additional photos: (close approximations made in Studio)
Turnaround
Height Comparisons
Breakdown
(mask used in studio render provided by KhingK: Kanohi Garai, Great Mask of Gravity by KhingK - Thingiverse)
The Platinum Paladin - Kualus
Additional photos: (close approximations made in Studio)
Turnaround
Height Comparisons
Breakdown
(The Mask of Sensory Aptitude is a canon mask, the model used was provided by KhingK: Great Mask of Sensory Aptitude by KhingK - Thingiverse)
The Titanium Titan - Bomonga
Additional photos: (close approximations made in Studio)
Turnaround
Height Comparisons
Breakdown
(mask used in studio render provided by KhingK: Kanohi Faxon, Great Mask of Kindred by KhingK - Thingiverse)
The Golden Guardian - Pouks
Additional photos: (close approximations made in Studio)
Turnaround
Height Comparisons
Breakdown
(Big thanks to @Kodiak for the mask. model used was provided by KhingK: Kanohi Kadin, Great Mask of Flight (Non-Organic) by KhingK - Thingiverse)
A quick edit of the whole team together with Norik and Iruni…
(not editing any of the entry photos or required additional photos for the contest by adding this, so please don’t smite me, Eljay)
Builder's commentary:
Going into this I knew I wanted to present 4 entries that were faithful to the existing Hagah sets, while still being unique and iconic on their own, and to help me achieve that I built these guys to conform to some extra internally consistent rules I decided on based solely on the precedents set by Toa Norik and Toa Iruni, and the features they either had in common, or didn’t…
If something was unique between the two of them, I wanted it do be so for the rest too:
Masks, eye colours, chest and shoulder armour, spear tips, metallic colour, prefab shins, height, and the placement of black somewhere unique to each of them (torso for Norik, chest - Iruni, Pouk’s waist and thighs, Kualus’ upper torso/arms, the base of Bomonga’s spear tip and Gaaki’s mask)
Conversely, anything the two existing Hagah sets shared was consistent across the board:
The prefab feet and thigh armour parts, black “hand” sockets, waist position, upper limb socket length, prefab forearms, head/mask type (metru style, axle connector)
While I’m sure some people would immediately dismiss the notion of giving oneself even more rules to follow due to the sheer number of restrictions already in place for this contest, I feel it presented a better challenge for me personally, forcing me to be more intentional with - and make the most of each piece I used, and I think my final designs are better for it than they otherwise would’ve been.
I tried to prioritize texture parity with each design - Bomonga probably being my strongest example of that with the shared motifs between the shins, chest, mask and spear, and unifying the CCBS shoulders with the rest of the build by repeating their vent details using system pieces… but it’s apparent in the others too; Gaaki’s sleek, finned armour and the relatively smooth shins paired with two textures of her mask, Kualus’ curved knight-like armour and the two fins on either side of his mask and spear, the spikes and ridges on Pouks’ armour and weapon.
Additionally, I didn’t want to use some of the popular mods I’ve seen as I think aesthetically, they broke away from the “vanilla” feel too much and begs to be either reverted back, or to have the original sets modified too in order to look right next to each other.
Mine do however feature an internal gearbox mod I designed which allows them to hold a pose with either arm, without compromising on the outward design at all or sacrificing the play feature, making it a totally optional, and unnoticeable upgrade that I would highly recommend for any Metru build.
The adapter that would usually connect the spear tip to the staff is used to hold Pouk’s shield to his back, and the removed actuator gear is placed on the axle/handle of the launcher part as to not get misplaced.
This can also be done with any of the 6 Hagah - and to state the obvious: Pouks can still hold his shield and spear in either hand like normal too.
I also took creative liberties with the position/attachment of Gaaki and Pouks’ necks and shoulders, still looking faithful to the other Hagah/Metru builds, while doing something unique and interesting that goes a long way to mix up their proportions slightly.
Bomonga is technically taller than Iruni, but only due to the miner’s light on top of his mask, otherwise their eyes line up exactly. His mask is also in reference to this piece, which is only really intended as an easter egg, but would be perfect for a giant Bomonga built to scale with the other Hagah.
Consent to changes:
Yes, I give consent for the armour colour to be changed in the art portion.
No, I do not give consent for the masks to be changed in the art portion.
No, I do not give consent for the spear tips to be changed in the art portion.
Reasoning:
Despite being a big proponent of the 1/1/1/1/1/1 distribution of metallic armour colours, and personally just loving these particular colour combinations both individually, and as a unit…
Ultimately, to make my versions of these characters more accessible, and potentially less divisive, I’ve opted to allow them to be changed at the artists’ discretion to whatever they feel works best should any of them win.
For the purists out there, it should be possible to recreate each of my designs if they are given silver armour instead, with minimal painting of parts required, limited to the mask and spear tip. Kualus in particular also being mostly buildable in gold too.
The masks and spear tips were chosen very intentionally to work with the aesthetics and match the recurring textures throughout the rest of each build - in parity with Iruni and Norik’s builds, and additionally, I feel gives each of them a good amount of distinct character.
I debated allowing for the custom masks to be changed but ultimately decided against it as the Mask of Sensory Aptitude is a mask with a canon appearance already that the part I used is intended to faithfully represent, and the Kanohi Kadin can easily be said to represent the same mask in a different regional style - like Lhikan’s Hau, or an inorganic version of Nuparu’s Kadin.
Whew. Barely made it!
Glad it worked out!
