Your Lego Pride Flags Are So Cool! I Love Them!

✨Bionicle…Rahi ?✨

Yeah, I’m not sure what that one exactly is…But I like it.

I don’t currently have any other Rahi in stock (well, I do have one but it’s terribly ugly), however I do have one in the making, which might be ready for next week. Else, I have a few other things I might get at (including a fancy idea since it’s pride month, which I’m hoping to manage to pull off…). Of course, if you have ideas, I’d gladly hear them !

Aaanyway, rant aside, building details under the cut !

For once, legs are utterly simple, since they’re all made of a single blade piece. Nevertheless, I had to use feet somewhere, so you might notice that the entire spine is made of feet piled on top of each other. They are only connected near the tail by a single socket.

Speaking of the tail, it’s made of a weapon piece of Nuju Metru, but the connector was all twisted so I couldn’t use it as a proper weapon. Well, it gives some movement to the beast, so it’s a great thing still.

Similarly, the tongue/flame (I’m still unsure of which it is meant to be) is a partially broken Tahu sword. It’s not actually held securely, because it’s inserted in the technic pin connector of the dark red shoulder blade I’m using as the face of the beast. On each side of this piece are silver Bohrok eyes as teeth, which themselves are partially covered with limb armor pieces.

The main body is not actually very complex, because I found a quite large red technic piece which looks somewhat like a throne and acts as a great base (if anyone has any idea where this piece comes from, based on this very unclear description, I’d like to know where it comes from); and four small blades placed horizontally to make the body slightly rounder.

You will notice this Rahi can actually more or less fit in my shelf studio, which is quite remarkable, because it means I don’t have to set up a temporary studio all over again. Might have to do it for the next build, though.

Also, I actually started my spreadsheet for bionicle gens ! (It incredibly tedious..)

So, uhm. I wanted to post something a bit different here today. Behold a short thing I did a while ago (I'm actually posting it because I found it while cleaning some files). I'll admit, the quality of both the image and whatever I was trying to tell is pretty low. But I think overall, it's still surprisingly decent, for what it's supposed to be.

I did a lot of these some time ago, but it's terribly time-consuming, so I've had to stop. Hopefully, next break, I'll have the occasion to do these again (now with better image quality, and even proper MOCs to use). I miss doing stop-motion a lot-

I sadly don't have much of that project left (images, bits of the background...), though strangely enough, I still have some of the characters. Though I know why the lighting is so bad : at that point, I only had a set of blue lights, which caused this blue filter all over it (it looked really nice, though. Without any camera...)

I won't point out all of the weird details, but I am still quite proud of that odd use of a hair piece as a broom. Some pieces certainly have some unexpected uses.

✨Another custom vehicle !✨

It has eyes !

This horrendous prototype is a follow up to this post.

Now here is a video of how it works (using the same remote from the other post, that thing is universal !). I wish I had a way to display the good all-terrain capacities of this vehicle (other than wood and seashells...

Details beneath !

Side view :

There are plenty of things here to discuss. Firstly, the suspensions ! Three spring pistons : one of the 'new' models, two much older ones (System, can you believe it ?). At rest, the two small white discs in the middle don't touch the tread, but as soon as an object pass underneath, they get involved. The advantage of this system is that, with every part mobile, the obstacles can be passed easily. And I added rubber grips too.

These treads are powered by PF XL motors. Very very heavy and big, they have the same speed as other motors but much more torque. We're talking of Mindstrom-level torque; this means that In theory, I can add as much weight as I want and keep it at a more than decent page.

You can also see that I fixed two of the biggest flaws from my previous model : firstly the RC receivers have been turned to get signals from multiple angles. Secondly, to rotate the tower, I used a worm gearbox with a PF M to really slow it down; and the wires have been fixed to have a broader angular range.

The turret ? The turret !

These eyes are the best addition to this MOC.

You might notice that I have a servo and a PF M on the turret. This is because the weapon here is a harpoon with a cable. And it has a winch ! All of that with only four controls : two for treads, one for rotation, and one to fire/retract cable.

How ? Well I'm glad you asked. The firing works just like in the previous vehicle : the servo's arm presses on the spring-powered projectile and it flies, along with the cable connected to the other motor.

As for the retraction, it's slightly more complex : on the remote, I press the firing lever the other way around : this causes the servo's arm to go on the winch and it fits nicely, so that when the PF M rotates, the thread can't escape the winch (a video will be in the reblogs, because Tumblr doesn't want me to upload two videos at once...)

Major problems here are the following :

the PF M often detaches itself from the turret

the harpoon often get stuck on the treads

the thread is too short (yeah...)

✨Mimic !✨

You opened the wrong chest this time !

This little build is a perfect decoration and was quite fun to build.

✨Tragon !✨

Trans...dragon..It's funny, right ?- Also, I know it's a wyvern...Dragon sounds better...

It's pride month, so it was the perfect occasion to finally make a dragon, yay ! It's also my first time making something akin to a dragon (technically the second time,, but the first one is truly horrible), and even if the proportion are still a bit out of place, it could have been worse. It's also my first time doing custom wings, but I'll talk about that in more details beneath :}

Also, it needs a name ! I’m really bad with names, but I would gladly take suggestions ! (And here is an alt picture, in its natural habitat-)

Anyways, details/closeups under the cut !

None of these picture below are edited, because it's exam period- Enjoy the green backgrounds :}

I have to say, before any other comment, that I made the body way to heavy for the two poor sockets of the legs. The position above is the only one where it's actually standing upright. Also, my stock of pink and rightly-shaded blue was much smaller than originally anticipated, so I would have done a bunch of tings differently, if it wasn't for that. Still, I was lucky to have that many curved blue pieces for the top part. Well, all of the ones with purple diamonds on them have been forcefully taken from a small Elves dragon, but it was worth it (I also really enjoy the purple here, it contrasts nicely).

All of the joints are mixel socket joints, except for the knees, which are just hinges. It gives a lot of movements, from the tail to the jaw. Even if these are limited, it gives it a wide range of positions (even if, realistically, it won’t change it much from the one I gave it). Still, it can sit ! (Including small trans flag)

The pointy scales on the back are some of the only elements which aren’t directly attacked to the body : one 2*2 plate holds them down, and a modified 2*1 under the plates keeps it from sliding in any other direction, so even with little connections, it doesn’t budge. I really liked these angular pieces. To keep them from being too repetitive, they are only connected to each other by one stud, with a small angle, which gives them a slightly "round" effect.

The tail here is not really complicated, it's just a bunch of socket joints linked together with curved tiles on top (one of the sticker is backward, and it's unnerving, but it's not my fault and I can't risk changing it...), with white arch pieces underneath. Not sure of why I added these in the first place, but it looks cool. And of course, the end of the tail is a big heart, because it simply fits the vibe, doesn't it?

Of course, I can't forget what is the most important, and what makes this creature as cute as it is ! (It is cute, and if that is the hill I have to die on, I will.)

The green background doesn't show it well, but the flame offers a good contrats with the rest of the head, and brings the eyes there first (instead of all the mistakes present). Because there are a bunch of these.

I spent nearly as long on the head as all the other body parts cumulated (except for the wings), because making something detailed yet small enough to be a good head is tough. I actually started from the top (for the piece with the sticker, more exactly), instead of the bottom, like I usually do, in order to get an idea of scale (because I already knew I wanted the jaw to move, and for that I needed to see how big it would be). Then, I did the back to quickly have a neck connection point, to see if it would fit. Because the neck is larger under the connection sockets, the socket of the head is actually pretty high up, but the colours are practically aligned so it works well.

Then, the next thing was the eyes and the spikes. The spikes took me a hile to figure out, because without the rest of the head, they looked kinda dumb, but it does bring the head together when everything is in place. Then the eyes : on the small dragon I took apart, there were these blue tooth pieces which I used to get some texture above them, so that they don't look flat, and then, I connected them to the center connectors of a 2*4 plates. That works well in placement, but I ran into the issue of what would be around. If I didn't do anything, there would be two gaps, which would look terrible. Instead, I stuck two 1*4 tiles in these gaps, and since the tooth pieces are around either side, they don't move - well, not much, they still produce a shaking sound when I'm moving the head.

Then under these plates, I directly have 1*4 pink bricks, which stick out behind the head. At first, it was a problem, and I had nothing else to replace them; but they actually restrict and hold the neck, so that even if the head is technically a bit too heavy, it remains in place.

The actual teeth are modified 2*1 plates, four at the top and four at the bottom. To keep them with such a small gap (and to attach them to either sides of the jaw) I have use modified 1*1 plates with a ring. There is a single one at the bottom, and then underneath a few cut 2*1 and 2*2 curved tiles to make the jaw triangular; and two on top, one which connects it to the head and one with holds the snout (which is using a cheese piece and another one of the blue tooth).

So, custom wings ! It isn't actually complicated, if only a bit tedious. Here below is all that I needed to make them :

As you can see, it's not much. Most important, of course, is a good, solid sheet of paper, and a cutter (precision cutter is better, in my opinion, but anything works). To make things easy (or if, like me, you don't know how to draw properly), you can take a basic lego wing, and trace the outline and where the holes go. I would advise only doing a single, blank one, at first. Once you have your proto-wing, you can start to make the actual frame it will be attached on. I chose to use bricks above it to act as claws, but you can use socket joints, like in most sets. The advantage of using plates is that the overall look is better, but if you want overhangs like I did, you have to get the holes really close to the edge of the wing.

Once you have your frame, trace where the holes would go on it ! (if you used a wing model, it might be easier, but it could also not fit, which is why you make a prototype first). To make holes just the right size, I would advise first cutting squares (easier than circles) at just the right size, then scratching the edges with the blade of the cutter. Once it looks good, try to fit an axle inside. If it just about fits, and can rotate, it's good ! Otherwise, just remove it and scratch again.

When that's done, test if it can correctly fit on your frame. Once that's done, you can either make two wings with that pattern, or simply make another copy. I personally made two new from my first prototype because it took me a while to figure out exactly how to place the holes.

Finally, once you got two wings, you can finally add whatever you want on them (easier when they're not actually on the frame, although that should've been obvious), and you're done :}

I went for a really basic thing, but technically, any shape is possible. I'll likely use it again someday, because it's quite fun !

And of course, the bonus picture, since you’re here ! I like the symbolic of this (also don’t pay attention to the tentacles).

I actually really wanted to get rid of this castle (which was gifted, not exactly desired, although I must admit it’s really well designed), and well. Now, it’s gone, and in its place lies the dragon…and my horrendous crab, too.

✨Combat mech and pilot ! ✨

Closeups and lore under the cut !

Side and back closeups :

Minfig closeup :

So, lore I said.

Welcome on Earth, in a nearish future. WW3 happened, but after that, everything is going absolutely fine ! Lot of tasks are automated, no one had to work anymore, and thus, humanity worldwide become a society of entertainment. Films, videos, games, you name it. But of course, games are not 'real' enough, so some streaming platforms organised life-sized fighting games with giant machines. That couldn’t go wrong, right ? Right, in fact, a world-wide tournament was made, with always much complete arenas, and billions of watchers.

So, about this mech — and its pilot, too. This one is part of the original cast of the mech battles, a beautiful Mark One. All of them were the same, originally, with only colours to distinguish them.

Its pilot, skilled as he was, won the first season. Survived the second. And the third. And so, eventually, this one became the last one of the Mark Ones. And it won again, awarding enough of a prize for the pilot to upgrade it. It was also renamed Relic by the crowd.

Fully reworked, for the next season, Relic has been updated with a plasma beam and a heavy rotator cannon, fuelled by a large tank located on its back — if any other competitors ever attain this place.

With this upgrade, the commands, too, have been updated, with controllers now having holo-projections, and a much faster update rate. One has to imagine that these mechs were originally controlled in large rooms (similar to Jaeger command centers), but have been rendered light enough to be added to a living room, for amateurs. The pilot, however, did not change his original headset and suit, which is full of old equipments and souvenirs.

That’s it for this one, expect one of Relic’s competitors next week : Quake !

A little replica of a wakeboard ski-lift I made as a present for a friend ! (Other views below)

The system is a little sturdy but it does the work, and the different white modules work as more than simply decoration !

(Sorry for the bad quality of that video-)

✨Cargo starship ! ✨

A 'little' part of a larger idea I’m developing~

Right under the cut, closeups and some explanations !

Tiny container carrier :

It’s small, it’s adorable, and I still haven’t figured to how the container will be properly held, so the entire system underneath is improvised and will be subject to changes, hopefully.

Cargo closeups :

Lot more to say about this ! Firstly, that the support I gave it is very unstable, but that should be fixed later.

I was playing around with the idea of a small ship with six rows of container in an hexagon, and ended using a combination of 3-branched crossed around a technic axe to do that. Then, one thing following an other, I needed up with two sections connected by one of these large rings like you see in some movies for gravitational purposes. The entirety of this piece, at the exception of the very beginning of it, it held by a single long technic axe. Obviously, large transparent-blue rods to make reactor trails and truncated cones as the reactor bases. The ring is held by rods, too, with an upside down tread — getting them to have a proper circular shape was a complicated journey.

The colourful containers were another fun thing to do : firstly, getting all the right pieces and make the pattern not too regular. And to pretend they’re all connected by nothing, they’re only partially connected, and 'held' by an electromagnetic field figured by the transparent blue pieces on each side of the container rows, which would then be picked by the small container carrier above.

And now, the most important thing : the reason of why I absolutely needed to make this cargo, instead of anything else. It’s quite simple, actually. I needed to get the scale of these containers. Because. Because I had this idea to make a large, large trading spare station with a ring around a large axis, which would be the perfect excuse to make an awful lot of small spaceships. And for that, I needed something for scale, and since it’s a trading station, a container was my best bet. So I have a plan, which I’ll elaborate on probably next week, along a batch of my small ships.

✨Space ships (and hangars, too !) !✨

(Or, last post for the space station)

<Previous< [4/4]

Under the cut are closeups of (practically) all ships and hangar from the station !

Before anything, the third post is somehow completely gone, even if I do have proofs that I did do it. Well, it was already posted late, and I don’t have the courage to do it again — and it’s not like people would care much anyway, so how this station is holding up will remain a mystery~

Anyway, closeups.

Hangars (groupes by similarities)

This first batch here contains the 'empty' hangars. Left is meant to be a closing/opening hangar, which I usually keep in the back because it's not the most interesting one; while the right one is the bare hangar. There are two of these across the ring, in which I sometimes pluck a ship, though it's hard to keep them in place because of the station's inclination.

Next is a batch of random boxes and other scifi-y grates and boxes. To keep the boxes in place, I use modified 1*1 bricks (because the floor is is made of horizontal pieces, aligned with the outer tiles). Minor variation are present in the middle hangar, where a third of the floor is composed of 1*2 modified bricks to add a tiny bit of texturing. While these might a tad repetitive displayed like above, they actually are separated by three other different hangars, so the repetition is barely visible.

A bit similar to the previous ones, these have (in my opinion) more interesting details. Left is two racks of large barrels, supposedly fuel. Middle had another barrel (made with flowers pieces) and a yellow cable, which was surprisingly hard to add because it pushed the back plate (which holds a lot of the hangar together). The last one is a stack of long crates, and an observation deck (I'm guessing the original sticker comes from a small star destroyer).

Last batch, and probably the best of all, the containers (scaling from not too crowded to very crowded). These are the same size as the big ship's. There are very few attachment points to the ground, as most of them are held by other containers above or bellow, although the middle hangar had two modified 1*4 bricks in the floor. The original plan was to get them all aligned, but it looked terrible, so I went for this more haphazard placement, which works better.

Ships

These first two are the smallest of my little fleet. The top one is two 2*1 plates held by black 1*1 mod plates. It's small, it's smooth, and it works quite well with the station. I'm probably gonna make other of these in different colours someday.

The next is one of the first I made, using some shiny pieces. The two chromatic studs on the reactors are differently shades of chroma silver on purpose because this is meant to be a much older ship (compared to other most of the other, smoother ships).

This is a much larger one. More of a military design, I mostly played with angles on that one (and added big reactors for fun purposes). The transparent light blue used here is the same as the fuel barrels of the station, and are the most used on the ships I have. Lore would say it's because it's the most common fuel used in the universe; pragmatism would say it's because it's the most common transparent colour in my boxes.

More blue reactors ! The top one is my one of my favorite. Only 7 pieces, including an old aquaraiders piece which I had to use as a ship the moment I found it. It's simply ship-shapes ! Given the colours, you could imagine it's an old model (not as old as the small one). The bottom one is a very thin one, with a Y piece which can allow for many cool shapes (like this one) !

Weird alien ships ! The first one is curvy~~ It's a nice concept which is quite common, but I really like the idea, and thus made one. Notice the green reactor this time, because alien fuel. Next one is more organic (or at least trying to), using mostly car pieces (and an orange reactor, wew !). It's also quite compact, with a single mod 1*1 brick as the core. The final one is by far my favorite (and not only because it has a purple trail). While hard to because of my lighting, the three main parts of the ship are separated by clear studs. I originally made it without the in-between studs, but then it fell the the floor, broke, and separated, and it looked much more futuristic. Consider this a very advanced ship of a peaceful species, or something like that.

✨Tree ! ✨

So I found another technic. And it makes for great (albeit round) trees.

Anyway, some rambling about that below.

Another angle. It's not needed; but oh well.

It's very simple, I'll admit that. Then again, I don't do purely organic MOCs very often, the last one was probably my Camp Site, and it wasn't the main focus at the time, but I'm trying.

Anyway, if you actually decided to read that, you're probably seeking whatever technic I used to make that, not the random rambling. So here it is :

To sum it up : core piece is a modified 1x1 brick, surrounded on all sides by two flower stems (I've used the bar ones, the stud variants work too). Then flowers and leaves. To give some varied shapes, you can get some leaves upside down (cyan ones on the image), and you can also get rid of flowers by using a piece on the other side of the leaf (any piece works as long as it has a small bar connection), like the blue one on the right. Of course, same trick as before to give some shapes. It has some limitations, but I still think it's relatively good. If you like sphere, that it, hence why using a couple of them is better.

Also, I feel like, since I'm yapping about organic MOCs, I have to present my very first one :

That's ugly. But at least, you can technically tell it's a flower.

It's fragile and it's not interesting, though one funny thing is that, in order to keep it from collapsing under its own weight, I've had to add small iron bars (think unfolded paper clips) in the stem, which is actually really sturdy, while allowing for curvy shapes. Probably the only thing worth keeping from that thing.

Anyway, this whole tree thing was an accidental tangent from an actual, cool(?) MOC I was working on, which might actually be posted next week. Or maybe not, who knows really ?