New year, new Zeren! and this time he’s… Red? yeah thats new. It was certainly not where I saw this MOC going when I set out to update him. Speaking of updates, while some might be obvious theres plenty that aren’t, so I’d like to go down the list of changes since the last version way back in June of 2016. Incoming giant wall of text.
-yellow legs
-new waist/hips build
-new custom feet
-modified torso
-red armor
-reduced gold
-rifle can be stored on his back
-minor changes to pistol colors
-stud-less/smoother armor
-proper color layering
-“fingerless” gloves
-translucent pieces
-visor details
-increased grated pieces
Zeren, while I no longer see him as a self-MOC, still means a lot to me, and I wanted this MOC to reflect some of my interests, and what inspired his creation.
The most obvious inspiration for Zeren is Samus Aran, and while building Zeren red, as I’ve taken to calling him, I needed it to show. My first thought was an big-ol’ arm cannon, but it felt out or character for Zeren and too on-the-nose to be a proper homage. Instead I decided to look at the colors of the Chozo Power Suit, and found the answer. Red.
Next, I decided to pull from Halo for some inspiration. While I never really grew up with Halo, I’ve always loved the concept art of the series, as I love space marine designs. Zeren has always looked like a soldier, so I looked at every Spartan I could find to get the right designs. From those designs came the feet, the shoulder mounted lights, and the shape of the red armor.
Color played a large part in the creation of v11, and will be the biggest focus going forward. The layers go, from bottom layer to top, as such.
Black > Yellow > Red > Gold
I’ve followed this rule consistently and only broke this rule if I had no choice. for instance the waist. Those small liftarms don’t come in yellow yet (or I can’t get any at least) so he’s stuck like that until they make them or I come up with a better design. The golden rule here was to use black as the bottom most layer, so that the rest looks like armor being worn. The only time I wanted black to be clearly visible, is where a joint would be. I think it shows and I hope you all like it.
The final update that I want to talk about is the introduction of translucent pieces. I see these pieces as floodlights built onto Zeren’s armor, which he can use to channel his elemental energy. The lights were added originally only for his back on the shoulder mounts, as a Halo reference, but I added some to his belt, chest, and Nuva armor to make them a motif rather than a greeble. Lights on the Nuva shoulders were inspired by Samus from Prime 3, but the design comes from MrBoltTron’s brilliant MOC Blythalis.
There’s plenty more to talk about but I think I’ve said enough. Special thanks to L.A. Miranda for all the feedback on last year’s Zeren. I kept it in mind when building this version and It looks so much better.
If I could kindly ask all who see this for a little feedback, even if its minor I’d love to hear it. I’m always blind to the faults of my MOCs until someone points it out, and you guys help shape this MOC so much.
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy this new version of Zeren, and hopefully you’ll see a new and improved v12 this time next year!
