So, I tried my hand in actually making the cart used by Ussal crabs as an actual set/accessory:
Though, I didn’t really want to be too accurate to the way the cart looks in the game. I wanted something just a tad less simplified, almost like something you’d see in the background of Legend of Mata Nui. Plus, making just a solid cart would not only require a lot of technic beams that I don’t feel like getting, it’d either have to be over-engineered to be slanted (at least only in the ways I’ve thought of) or just a box. I got so obsessed over this that I resorted to looking at a catalog of Technic sets around the time. Pardon if the pics are a bit awkward.
So, firstly, I really really wanted the “coupling” to be loose and maneuverable, so I figured using the empty space on the Ussal’s back would be okay. It’s not perfect, and my main concern is that the cart’s height isn’t suitable against the Ussal’s, but I figured this design was okay enough. I haven’t built this or an Ussal as of writing this, so can’t exactly experiment. At least it can potentially turn around well.
Another thing is that the cart itself, except for the “bushes” and the wheels, are pearl light grey, the flat silver color. I dunno how that’d look in person, hopefully it’s alright?
Capacity-wise, according to Bricklink Studio, it can fit four boulders very snugly without stacking, which is nice. Hopefully that adds a lot to the set-piece. I am concerned about the cart being back-heavy though, but I’d rather the underside look clean and have everything stable than shifting the weight forward.
Lore-wise, to me, this seems like a nice look. The panels almost make the cart look like a typical wooden horse-drawn cart. In my mind, almost everything the Matoran of Mata Nui have built has used parts of the Airships they were carried in, so I can see this cart being made of repurposed and tacked-together parts from an airship. Even funnier is that Bricklink calls the wheels I used for the cart “pulleys”.
Anyways, sorry for writing so much just for this one single specific piece of equipment that appears all of once in the entire line. Truth be told, I just am really obsessed with the “trade routes” of Mata Nui and how the Matoran would have lived before the Toa arrived. I really just wanted my own little Onu-Matoran caravan, and what’s a caravan without the carriage?
Of course, I’d love some feedback on the design. Will be getting the parts to try this out soon.
