Vembu Batch 2

I posted my first batch of Vembu models in August. Getting into this second one took more time than I expected - writing at work all day takes the juices to do such thing in free time. Anyway, here's three more models.

Hyttyrex's Car

 I built this as general drone mech for the Nazorak empire. It turned out as such in the text, too, although the name managed to get me alert. I believe it was supposed to. I'm quite happy how this turned out, especially as its aesthetics are not something that would come naturally from me. The legs utilise some Botanicals piece I have in bulk, and in the windscreen I finally managed to use the trans-bright green maxironi tubes. The hockey sticks are supposed to be wings. The upper part of this can be removed easily, working as a fast, flying drone.

The Modemobile

 The Platonic Idea of a Vembu: A silly car with a Kanohi mask strapped in front. However, being so aerodynamic, the great Mahiki is made for such use. (Masterful Vince Toulouse used it that way already 13 years ago.) It also enabled me to use the cool dark green -printed cockpit from the Indiana Jones flying wing. As wheels, I used ones with the most impractical thin tyres to capture the streetwise tuning vibes.

Moporak V6

I intended this as a motorcycle for Gaggulabio's Flamers (Gaggulabio's own walger appeared in the previous batch). Instead, it turned out to be Bladis's personal bike. Just as well. I wanted this to be mostly credible, with a silly contrast between the huge balloon back tyre and the very thin front wheel - a real extreme chopper. The fuel tanks and the engine are visible, the saddle has a fashionable marbled effect. The cow horn handlebars are a souvenir from the Old Country, that is Zakazian prairies; and the Lava Monster flame mane pieces are natural motorbike ornaments. The bohrok shell and the skakdi skull bring the required Bionicle aspect to it. Is it weird that a skakdi would have a skakdi skull on the bike? Then again, real-world biker gangs probably use human skull ornaments, so why not.

- Eero.

 

Life amid the Firewalls (From the Archives)

I built this little house in 2022 to fill in the city block in a display of three Finnish Art Nouveau buildings. It was first displayed in TAD Week exhibition "Aikaikkuna" in Finlayson, Tampere, and later in Pii Poo Helsinki event, part of Palikkatakomo's Finnish City project. I didn't photograph it back then; but recently I decided that it was its time to go (urban milieus change so fast...) and decided to document is before the demolition. I also made the right flank of the modular base black: it was not visible in the display layout, and was thus rainbow-coloured. 

This is an educative model if I ever built one. The idea was to demonstrate how simple wooden houses survived among the large stone buildings of Finnish towns and cities far to the 20th century. The styles of the large buildings changed relentlessly, but the wooden buildings stayed pretty much the same - ignoring the city layout and slow to adopt modern-day conveniences like water closets and running water in general. Their materials were common and cheap: movable timber frame, some weather boards, brick-built chimney, roof of metal sheets or asphant felt (wooden roof materials were forbidden in cities due to the fire hazard.) The fire regulations required a ladder on each house to make the roof more easily accessible.

This way of life has disappeared decades ago. However, it is quite well known, because the Board of Antiquities of Helsinki - the predecessor of the city museum - hired professional photographer Signe Brander to document the "passing Helsinki" in 1906. Brander's photographs have incredibly good quality - she had the best equipment available and plenty of artistic eye to capture the townscape and its life. 1,572 of Brander's photographs are available for free in Finna. Although her main aim was documenting the endangered old wooden buildings, as a side product she made some of the best documentation of Art Nouveau architecture of Helsinki - often on the edges and background of her photos. That contrast was exactly was I wanted to capture in this model. Here are some references I used:

My own interpretation of the subject focused on colour - something that Brander's photographs naturally do not mediate. Olive green is a beautiful colour that matched this use perfectly; the back side of the masonry bricks worked as the weatherboarding. Lawns were uncommon, so dark tan worked as the ground colour, likely also matching the earlier built neighbouring buildings. I added vibrant autumn colours to contrast with down-to-earth browns and greens; the tree recycled earlier designs but worked well nonetheless. At that point, I did not have bright light orange (keetorange) leaves yet.

I established certain randomness to the model to capture the right mood of Brander's photos. The plot had to look lived in. I emphasised this, ans the contrast to the large, well-defined neighbours by twisting the house off from the stud grid. Finally, I left the back side without any details, as it would be totally obscured by the neighbours. The back wall of the building is dark bley to save olive green bricks.

-Eero. 

Toa Harkama, protector of Tahtorak's Steppe

This is a collab MOC, from the same team that brought you Toa Metru and Toa Mata collabs. We didn't find any inspiring Toa teams, so we made our own: total OCs, classic elements, classic masks. I'm a winter person so I chose ice - after Nokama and Tahu water and fire were checked already. 

My main aim was to explore the cultural side of things, something I've always enjoyed in 2001 Bionicle and MNOG especially. This would be a character suited for cold, desolate environments, working alone but carrying elements of his social context. Some of these would be practical items useful in his duty as a Toa warrior, such as the rope, lantern and spear. Others would be simply things mentally imporant to him, like the tassel of the lantern, ornament of the hat and the brooch fastening the cloak. Furthermore, these accessories enabled me to add a touch of warm hues to contrast with the cold overall colour scheme. The hat is somewhat between the warm and the cold - I think it captures the essence of northern winter nights quite well. 3x3 dish was not available in medium lavender to match the barrel, but I think that was ultimately a happy accident, as the combination of colours in quite neat.

Another happy accident was the chest armour. I did not purposefully design is as a face of a polar fox; I just used macaroni curved slopes to make a flowing transition to the hockey masks. But as white 1x1 inverted clips were not available, I had to use black ones, and the formed the eyes; and the heart stone became the nose. Later on, I filled the back of the torso, but the chest stayed as it was. 

The lower arms were good on the first try, but the upper arms took some twiddling; the larger ski piece is a good Bionicle part, and the side handlebar version of the smooth shoulder armour is generally lovely. The legs were probably the most difficult part, and they went through several iterations. This has a somewhat questionable double knee joint system, but to be honest, the lower joint is quite close to the natural placement of a knee. Overall, I'm happy that I managed to add some old dark grey to compliment the mask - Ko-Matoran use this colour, after all. The electric circuit prints fit the general Bionicle aesthetics, too. The calves give this quite athletic air, which was fitting; the feet are my attempt to make system-greebly-bionicley-things, something I'm not quite good at. I like their silhouette, though. 

 -Eero.