This is something I wanted to do since 2008. I still remember watching a youtube video featuring Spiriah’s instructions with the Neodammerung from Matrix 3 playing. And I remember being so captivated by his appearance but also disappointed. Since I missed my chance of buying all the sets to make him I kept thinking of ways to keep his main appearance while improving the combiner using only parts included in the original 4 sets. And as more BIONICLE parts kept being added to Stud.io, the dream became a reality.
Inverted the av-Matoran legs and the double socket joints so that his elbows are now properly articulated and can also swivel.
Preserved the wide hips while reinforcing them with extra joints to better support all the weight.
Completely redesigned claw so that now it features fully articulated fingers while still resembling the original combiner’s claw.
The wings are no longer attached to the back of the arms. Instead, they have their own articulation and are connected to an av-matoran body, which is now part of Spiriah and no longer a non-canon shadow matoran.
The cannon now features blades that make it similar to Revenge of the Fallen Megatron’s cannon.
Longer and more articulated tail.
The final result is a Makuta Spiriah that is better articulated, more stable, better armed, while keeping his iconic Spiriah look.
And as a bonus, you can still make the shadow matoran out of spare parts!
Looks great! He’s still got those wide birthing hips, but I think you did pretty good job with the available parts. He definitely looks way better than what we got in canon.
Thanks! Yeah, I tried to keep as many traits of the og Spiriah as possible and the wide hips were one of them. Idk why I liked them, maybe because Miramax Makuta has them too.
Hey, I’ve never used these message boards before, but I made an account just to say that I built your model today irl and it’s super super solid. I’ll post pics whenever I end up unlocking the credentials to do so lmao. It works super well irl, with one small exception, being that you accidentally included five of the black upper arm pieces when there are only four. Can substitute one for a green one no problem though (though unfortunately that means you can’t build the little guy)
Anyway, just felt I should add something here! Wish could show you what it looks like in person, but alas. But yeah, phenomenal model either way, great work!
I’m glad you liked it so much! Can’t wait to see how he looks irl. And, you’re right about the extra upper arm piece. I realized only after you told me, but I finally understood how I missed it. Basically, the av-matoran was a last-minute addition I made, and originally the revamp used all 4 lime double socket joints, until I stupidly recolored 2 in black in the final version without realizing I would end up with 5 black upper arms. XD
I might have found a workaround though. If I’m not mistaken there should be an extra 3L axle available so I made a pseudo double socket piece with 2 single black socket joints remaining and used it for the cannon arm. It’s a bit less elegant, but the cannon itself covers that part of the arm most of the time. Still thank you so much for letting me know! Hope you unlock the credentials to post pics soon!
Picture posting privileges unlocked! Here we go!
I honestly really like how it looks with this modification, honestly. Makes the gun arm more compact in a way that really works for me.
Additionally, hopefully it’s not rude of me to make unprompted suggestions of your design like this, but on closer inspection, I think my only critique is that the torso looked a bit bare when surrounded by all of the detail you added, so I figured I might as well mention: I discovered the antroz foot piece fits basically perfect in place there
Thank you so much! Seeing this irl is a childhood dream come true. Btw, not rude at all, I wish all critiques were like this. XD
I love what you did with the claw on the torso! I see there’s only 1 pin connection, does this mean it can be rotated to let the Tridax pod out? Pretty cool either way.
I’m glad you like it!
also unfortunately/fortunately, depending on your priorities, the foot is actually super locked in place. like, it fits weirdly perfectly, the middle claw is really snug against the tridax pod and between the ribcage, it doesn’t even wiggle. so unfortunately no hidden feature, but a weirdly solid connection instead
Oh, I see; it’s still a very cool addition. I also think that perhaps my design hinders the Tridax pod mechanism in the first place by putting the av-matoran torso behind Spiriah’s back, so yeah. It’s still a massive improvement aesthetic-wise. Nicely done.
