Hey all! This is a first-ever post on the message boards, and I just want to say that I am excited (and hopeful) for the experience of enjoying our favorite brick-building system.
For my first creation post I decided to go with my rendition/version of the first toa, Tahu. Now let me be the first to acknowledge that I fall into a minority of fans who A. prefers Tahu’s Nuva form, and B. enjoys the “inika” build. As a fan of scale and congruence, I was always bothered by the discrepancy in Toa forms/sizes throughout the original story, and as a kid I always favored the Inika figures. They had decent proportions and awesome poseability, albeit a bit lackluster in the build creativity. With those two things in mind, I set out in creating a Tahu that would fit in with the rest of our favorite characters. That said, here is my attempt at “scaling up” our favorite hot-headed leader to more accurate proportions.
While most of the build is run-of-the-mill inika-build goodness, I am quite happy with the chest armor design that I stumbled upon one day whilst building. It merely uses 3 of the Matoro/Jaller Mahri armor pieces, layered so as to construct an abdomen and pectoral armor reminiscent of the original Nuva piece. In a weird fit of Lego-geometry, the mounting points on the chest piece actually line up perfectly with the outer-most peg-holes on the inika chest - no forcing necessary.
Of course, I couldn’t build a Tahu without making a Kopaka - they just go so well with each other, like fire and… oh, nevermind. (yeah, those are painted ankle-guards for Kopaka)
I think he scales well, especially with the mask. The Nuva mask always looked far too large for the original set, so it’s nice to see it ‘at home’ here on the larger body. While normal eyes do work, I just found an old piece of trans-orange plastic (came from a model kit, I think) and wedged it between the head and mask. I think it fills in the gaps quite nicely.
In all seriousness, I really like this - it’s simple enough to honestly look like it could be a set, but complex enough not to be just another Inika build. Thanks for the tip about the chest armor geometry, it’s definitely something I’ll have to try myself!
@Pakari Thanks! I like to imagine it’s how Tahu looks in the remainder of the story, after all its a possibility that the mask of Life restored his Nuva state (or so I read on BS01).
Funny you mention that, because I actually have a Kopaka, Onua, and Lewa built up. Lewa is mostly painted pieces to get that nice Mata green color. Have yet to fuss with Gali or Pohatu, as I don’t want to track down a paint right now. Currently wrapping up a Takanuva, however!
@Winger He quit lava surfing after Ta-koro fell… Or some such excuse like that. Actually the swords do easily connect to form a board, but I forgot to take pics of it.
Appreciate the kind words - I was going for something that looked like it could fit right in with the rest of the Bioni-verse
@CalamitousT Yeah, it would look way more accurate with more orange, but I don’t mind him having more red. Mata red is just such a good color. You can however build an Onua in this same format, but with gray limbs.
As for the swords, I would have used the Magma swords, but I just didn’t have the pieces. Tried repurposing Brutaka’s swords due to their similar silhouette, but settled on these.
Welcome to the message boards! I love the way in which you built this creation, It’s simple, but effective. The way in which you distributed the colors and parts feels very official. I particularly like the use of the Matoro shoulders for the upscaled Nuva chest armor.
Be sure to read the rules if you have not already. “Double Posting,” is generally not allowed, but tagging is a great alternative if you are responding to multiple users.
As a fellow modified Inika Build Connoisseur I appreciate the simple sleek look he has going for him.
It’s a nice style, all of your creations look really well together.
Awesome job sometimes simple with a bit a flare is better. Love the kopaka moc as well. My favourite character. And that blue eye piece is cool how did you that?
@Bodi Thanks, I really appreciate it! I almost like my Kopaka more, feels better in the hand for some reason. His left eye is a 1x1 round system cone wedged between the mask and the head. The scope has been painted, then I have been able to wedge system studs in (they fall out really easily however). @Marzipancutter Thanks! That was the explicit goal - make the Nuva look good with everyone else! @TheMOCingbird Thanks - he’s definitely set like. Part of me wishes we got this instead of Ackar, but that’s because of my Mata Nui nostalgia.
@Cocoa Thanks, for both the edit and the feedback! The boards are already making more sense!
Simple yet elegant.
It captures the look of the '02 character design well in an upscaled build, and showed me a new torso-building technique.
Nice work!
