The Hawkflight Archives, Vol 03: The MOCpages years (2013-2014)

[Hawkflight]

Hello everyone. Welcome to the third installment of The Hawkflight Archives, the series where I post MOCs that can’t be found on current sites, or can’t be found at all because I never uploaded them anywhere.

We begin our story in 2013. Having gone through the six LEGO Master Builder Academy kits, I decided - in one of many decisions that I would consider questionable - not to get the next three sets. (I would ultimately find them online at a good price last year.) Instead, I was going to focus on creating some characters from an original story. I won’t tell you what that story is, because while the idea of making it out of MOCs died out, the idea itself survives to this day…

Starting off on an ambitious one. This was intended to be the leader of a stone-themed tribe, and likely the biggest of all of them. I’d want to say the reason I went for this first was due to it being the only MOC to use any sand blue. I don’t know whether my supply of such, non-printed, dried out around the arms, or I just chose not to continue.

This was a foot soldier. I think it was at this point in my life that I decided white and dark red was a color scheme I liked a lot. I also had a matching faction with white and dark blue that I never built anything from. Incidentally, now that my wheels have been turning a bit on what I could have done/could possibly still do with the MBA sets, white and red would be cooler than a few of the color schemes I did choose.

I believe this was to be a captain of the same faction. Shoutout to the one dark green click socket I have.

I think after those three was when I decided to shelve the idea for a bit. This MOC might have been vaguely intended as a revamp of the “Fire of Eternus” MOC. Only replacing the orange Zamor sphere I used to represent its core (which I don’t think I mentioned" with a light brick.

There are very few MOCs I would qualify as complete mistakes. This was one of them. I clearly wanted to build something that was out of my ability to build at the time. I think my standards for what makes an “impressive” MOC have grown quite a bit since this one - the click hinge elbows, at least the way they’re implented here, are pretty sore sights, as are the skinny thighs. Also, realistically, why would you actually build a bipedal robot and give him a two-handed gun? At the very least, the shaping and coloring of the shins and feet still look decent.

This one is definitely better by comparison. This one actually won me a contest - it was a city themed contest, and I think the winner acknowledged that this was a stretch, but sometimes the City construction workers need miners. I wanted to print decals for this but didn’t in time - one item became my very first logo on a website I joined called MOCpages…

Join me next time, maybe, for my initial ventures on such website, and the my first foray into custom BIONICLE lore.

[Rukah]

Ooh these look cool. I like the lime ones and the first white one

[Sonus]

Who is Hawkflight?

[Rhyla416]

looks cool

[Pakari]

Oh wow…the MOCPages years…

Man, 2014 was a really wild time. Honestly, for back then, these still mostly hold up.

At the very least, I kinda like some of them.

[Eilrach]

these have a sort of charm to them being simple, nice work

[Hawkflight]

@Sonus

Who is Hawkflight?

some jerk who’s way too critical of others’ MOCs

[MooCowsRock]

@Hawkflight

something that was out of my ability to build at the time

I don’t know whether to be astounded or desolated that I feel like that MOC is almost out of my current ability. =P

Anyway, these are pretty neat and I really like the head on the second white-and-dark-red one. You clearly had an early knack for cool-looking robots.

[Hawkflight]

Welcome to the Hawkflight Archives, wherein we explore the part of my life where I gave up on worldbuilding and instead focused the angst I repressed from my social life onto original characters from a then-dead franchise. But first, a few more system builds, and this time, there’s no mechs.

I was one of the many anti-Chima FOLs when the line started, but the sets did look cool - I think I collected four in total in the first wave. This set and one other I specifically got for the wing pieces, which I was planning to use in that story idea that I ended up scrapping - but before that, I created this alternate version. I don’t think I’ve ever used them since, except on a few weapon designs. I have had plans to, but they have never made it to the MOC I have in mind for them.

In another behavior I’d consider “odd”, I got MBA level 4 without getting MBA level 3. I didn’t do that much with it, especially as (as we will shortly see) I got back into BIONICLE building. This creation was filed under “aircraft”, but it definitely looks pretty heavy for an aircraft.

Here we have a few scenes from my one, and only, MOC intended for “Lands of Mythron”, a medieval themed “campaign” of sorts on MOCpages. This character dressed in black with a hood and got his start from a tragic incident in his past, two ideas I would go on to reuse.

This is the first BIO-MOC I made in this era. After joining MOCpages in July of 2013 (and thus beginning “The MOCpages years” proper), and deciding I wanted to build some BIONICLE, I joined a contest that really made it difficult to start well - the 50/50 Challenge (organized by one Phantom Terror, who in a few days should be added to my list of LEGO friends who I met online and then met in real life. I would like to add the disclaimer, if you are going to meet someone you have only met online before, do it in a public place, where you can confirm that they are who they say they are, and not the world’s most wanted squid poacher who’s using meeting you as a cover for a cyberattack on Lichtenstein. Worst mistake of my life.

Oh, the MOC? It originally had no name besides “Shadow and Flame” - it was later retrofit to be “a Makuta” once I started creating BIONICLE characters. Went for a red and black = black and orange theme. Fortunately for me, I was not eliminated round one - it was definitely not the best, but it might not have been the worst. I don’t remember.

As of August, I had got myself a little more with the BIONICLE lore. My first character took a lot of cues from the Phantoka sets (as they were some of the first I got), creating the character of Onadus, a sort of proto-Phantoka and my first take of an exiled Toa, a character archetype that would get quite a bit of use.

The next round in the 50/50 challenge involved a creation that was half-system, half-constraction. This creation - the “Cryogen” - was meant to be half encased in ice, half, well, not. Obvious differences in shaping aside (considering everything on the constraction side is meant to be encased in the ice when it clearly isn’t), I think it’s a more valiant attempt at a large model than Iron Hunter was. This model also first incorporates an early technique I used to create custom shins - take a CCBS upper appendage bone, and attach it to a socket piece so that it can be built around, and slide an armor shell through that socket’s axle hole.

I think this was my first attempt at a self-MOC of sorts. Built for a user (I’ve forgotten from what website I met him on) named NightWolf 150, I took that info to create his wolf aesthetic and his name (150 → CL in Latin → “Ciel”.) This was the first BIO-MOC where I tried a custom waist joint, which was a minor meme in the MOCpages BIONICLE community.

And here we have the boy himself. This is the very first iteration of my self-MOC, Jethryn. Some early installment weirdness included silver rather than white (which as you may know by now is not a color combination I’m not fond of), plus dark blue, including the cloth piece as a sheath instead of a hood, and the Core Hunter mask. I didn’t really have his story straightened out yet at this point - this specific concept will get revisited later.

But that wasn’t the only contender for a self-MOC - this creation, a sort of spiritual successor to the black phantom/core hunter combo model focused on the Arachnix face, I was considering using as a selfMOC, even considering giving him the name Jethryn. Given that this MOC was too big to do properly, I’m glad I didn’t go through with that.

Before I leave you, I’d like to note that, for BIO-MOCs especially, mini-webcomics were common in the MOCs’ pages. The website also allowed a lot of HTML so you could color-code what each character said.

Join me next time, maybe, for further forays into “custom” BIO-MOCs.

[Rukah]

Neat. I like the orange guy and the halfway ice guy.

[Wekua]

I second that, Cryogen is pretty dope

[Eilrach]

really cool seeing your first bionicle mocs

[Winger]

@Hawkflight

Lands of Mythron

gasp

[Hawkflight]

Welcome back to the Hawkflight Archives, post-Brickfair edition. Today I bring you more old Bonkles.

I’ll kick things off right now with Jethryn V2, which codified the main characteristics of my self-MOC - a black-with-white-highlights color scheme, a cloth hood design, and the Slizer foot on the face (seen here with a configuration that covers the face more than it should.) The sword sheath from V1 (this time using my favorite BIONICLE blade I owned at the time) returns, and this version also sees a sized-down version of Cryogen’s shin design. Which… exists… this was when everyone was talking about custom parts instead of prefab parts a lot of the time, and I made a lot of mistakes trying to reach that criterion.

This was Ciaros, the self-MOC of one of my first friends I made on MOCpages, Garrett A. He uses the same shin design as Jethryn (as well as reusing on the forearms where there’s even less coverage). He also uses a balljoint for waist articulation (which was another thing that was favored on MOCpages and also likely impacted my MOCs’ quality.)

Here we have Mokatu. If that name sounds familiar, this was built as a self-MOC for the same friend who my other MOC named Mokatu was based on. Fairly standard build, aside from the longer torso design (and the loincloth.)

Here, we have another contest entry. I believe the contest was called the BIO-MOCing challenge; and the first round was to build Toa and Turaga versions of a Matoran from the story. I went with Solek; going for a more or less standard Toa of Light appearance. Armor textures definitely look off now (curved stuff up against detailed pieces).

Here we have another selfMOC, this one of my friend Zach (X ~ on Flickr.) His self-MOC used the Ignika at this point, which I only had in Yellow. And given his MOC used a lot of white… it didn’t turn out great. At the least I included his chest armor design.

Here we have a badly taken group shot.

Here we have an unfinished MOC - another contest entry, this one for “Pit Prisoner”. I was probably busy with a musical at this point and didn’t have the time or motivation to finish it (which, for whatever reason, you were allowed to skip rounds in the contest.)

I was buying a good number of old sets on eBay; including a lot with a bunch of Vahki. Here’s one combiner-ed with Icarax.

Not much to say about this one. Think this one combined three.

Lastly, we have this creation made for a vignette contest - using pieces from the Agents command center, it looks like.

Join me next time, maybe, to see one of the worst MOCs I have ever created, as well as (what I remember as) some surprisingly good MOCs.

[Rukah]

Neat. The lime guy looks cool

[Wekua]

@Hawkflight

My multiple internal thought-strings trying to align themselves into a cohesive structure /s

The Solel MoC may be a standard Toa build but I still like him, and Turaga Solek.

I also really appreciate these topics, your documentation of how progress is made over the course of many years helps me work through my fear of imperfection so I can start writing again. Looking forward to whatever you have next!

[Hawkflight]

@Wekua

I also really appreciate these topics, your documentation of how progress is made over the course of many years helps me work through my fear of imperfection so I can start writing again. Looking forward to whatever you have next!

I’m glad I’ve made a positive impact! The fear of “how do I make this perfect” can be a struggle for me as well.

[Hawkflight]

Welcome back to the Hawkflight Archives, where I present you some very bad MOCs, then some MOCs I quite liked at the time (but will I still like them?)

This is Eltre. Inspired by having matching lime green and black tentacle pieces, I designed him as a Toa of Plantlife in the process of being corrupted by shadow. His backside was the main image IIRC.

The next round of the Bio-MOCing challenge revolved around building a Titan. I forgot this build ever existed - meant as a remade version of the other contender for the Jethryn name. I think I had already formulated enough of his story to know he was a Toa fused with a Visorak; thus the spider legs on his torso.

And there’s Eltre’s front half, I guess.

Here it is - probably the worst MOC I have ever made. A titan-sized version of Onadus, the Phantoka Toa, that size change to fit the criteria came at the price of an incredibly cluttered, sometimes nonsensical build. The torso build is the most egregious to me - it’s just panels on the front side, with no matching armor on the back. Of course, since I believed in custom=good, it seemed like a good MOC to me.

After Onadus, I was forced to take a break during the run of a musical I was in. When I came back, the round was “Shadow Toa”, for which I created “Galek”, a villain from Jethryn’s backstory. With those few weeks removed, I think my vision was a bit clearer, and I came out with a much more cohesive MOC, with the notable change of attaching knees and elbows at right angles to allow for more articulation.

And here’s something I tried to make during the break - the selfMOC “Deaskuth” of my friend Andrew.

With a better design template, I set out wanting to make a new version of Jethryn to match it. This is, to me, the signature Jethryn look. It definitely has a few flaws (for one, I ought to have given him some shin armor with more coverage), but it captures the aesthetic of a slim spy/assassin type, which was really all I wanted from him at the time.

The last round of the challenge was a pair of MOCs. I returned older spider-headed MOC - this time, giving him the name Drakaal, and the identity of a Fire Toa/ Iron Visorak fusion working for the Dark Hunters, and a flamethrower and gatling gun to match his powers. If I had to change anything, I would have worked in the Visorak fusion better on his torso, and given him some better feet.

His opponent was Tranlii, who I don’t remember any personality for other than robot girl with a saw down her back. IIRC this was my first real attempt at a FeMOC in this era, which I didn’t get more than a female character’s mask + a bust, but I was also dealing with the robotic armor. If I had time, I wanted the armor to come on and off, and give her an electric circuit sort of feel underneath - still an idea I’ve wanted to do.

And in the same folder, here’s Jethryn trying on a different mask.

Join me next time, maybe, for… some various stuff.

[Hawkflight]

more old bonkles

This was the “Khargi Turtle”. I don’t remember under what circumstances I built him, but I think it probably came after the failed Pit Prisoner build I mentioned a while back.

This is Vergeis, who I believe is to date the only Bara Magna character I have ever built. Featuring various blue parts, a likely illegal build of HF shoes attached to Inika feet, the Dragon Bolt head that has since snapped off its axle, and a Power Miners blue drill.

This figure with questionable posing is Hema, my second FeMOC of this era, and another Toa of Lightning possibly meant as a foil to Jethryn. Featuring some awkward armor, especially on the arms, more translucent blue, and a custom head design meant to give her hair. I think she’s one of two FeMOCs of mine to receive hair.

Back in the category of “MOCs that definitely didn’t have to be this big”, here we have Lectrahk. I think he originated in line with Zach X’s storyline (which was intertwined with Jethryn’s storyline in a few spots), this Rahkshi of Chain Lightning existed as the young Makuta’s “annoying cousin”. He did have some semblance of language.

I remember a lot more about the character than I do the build. Build sucks.

The third and final (until years later) version of Onadus. I forgot to mention that every previous iteration changed what his element was - V1 was meant to be a Toa of Stone, V2 changed to a Toa of Iron, and V3 changed again to a Toa of Plasma. Still titan sized which wasn’t a great idea, this one at least made a bit more effort to cover up the insides, and add some vibrant red to the otherwise kinda dull coloration. Also, custom head, and reuse of Vergeis’ shoulder build, which would continue to be used after. Also, this was right when I started using GIMP, and my efforts to clean out the crack between my two pieces of posterboard had some less than stellar results.

I already mentioned Mokatu, who was made as a selfMOC for a friend - this is Jekah, a collaborative MOC between the two of us using his pieces. A Toa of Magnetism, I believe.

Speaking of my friend Zach X, I ended up doing another take on his self-MOC. By this point he had settled into his red and black color scheme, which definitely made for a more villainous figure. I remember being proud of the “X” across his chest made with the Dume limbs.

I’ve actually left a bit of a hole in my timeline, because this was also when I was working on the story of Jethryn’s original Toa team, who I want to introduce as a group. (And maybe dig up some bits and pieces of that story, of which only one part ever got publicized.) Join me next time, maybe. I’ll leave you with another group shot.

[Rukah]

Very nice. I like the black turtle thing