Hi everyone! Toa Onua is penultimate entry on the list of my revamping 2001 project, and he was great fun to design. Most notably, he uses exclusively old dark grey throughout his build, including those rare Mata feet found only in the Rahi Master Builder set. In designing Onua, I wanted his bulk and brawn to really come through while still retaining his somewhat shorter stature and iconic hunched look. This created a bit of a challenge as he kept falling over in the earliest designs, but eventually I was able to come up with something that worked. He uses the same frame as the others and even has some design synergy with Pohatu for the neck and collarbone. His claws are not anything too crazy, and while I debated about using Bohrok eyes as the fingers, I think these rubber tipped elements work a bit better and allow for a greater range of poses.
Turaga Whenua is the shortest of the Turaga, though his build is largely identical to the others. Like Onua, though, he only uses old dark grey in his design. I’m not quite satisfied with his Drill of Onua, but I’m pleased with it enough for now. Taipu and Onepu join the cadre of Matoran, and were some of the most fun to assemble. Maximizing my purple pieces for Onepu was a good challenge, and Taipu’s pickaxe might be one of my favorite tools built thus far. Though not technically part of the 2001 crew, I felt weird not doing the shoot with Nuparu, especially given how these three Onu-Matoran would have quite the monumental event together in 2002. Forgive some of the picture quality. Mostly black builds are hard to capture. Hope you enjoy them nonetheless!
Gali: Toa Gali and The People of Ga-Koro (4/6)
Pohatu: Toa Pohatu and the People of Po-Koro (1/6)