MOC: Suga

Big shoulders need big armour. This Toa Suga (short for Summerganon) from Klaanon is viking-like warrior who fought in the Great War of Metru Nui and is now one of the Bio-Klaani's best swordsmen. His battle skills focus mostly on melee weapons, and his mask is powerless and the elemental ice powers are nearly gone.

This MOC is based on this drawing by a strange man called Don and this original MOC by Bio-Klaani member Summerganon whose "self-MOC" this is. I liked the big shoulders of the drawing and wanted to use them in the MOC. Their shape instantly reminded me of Fernakk skulls. The body and the arms were quite easily done, I had quite lot of silver and medium blue parts, but the legs were the hardest part. I spent few hours finding a proper way to do the shins. I'm quite proud of their design; there are Hero Factory bones inside of them.

I also made some other weapon choices in the spirit of action figure toys with changeable accessories. Suga can also wield a spear or a pair of wrist blades. I'm very happy with the way how the handles of the weapons fit the hand.

-Pate-keetongu

Got a new camera - Now in HD!

 Yes, yes, yes! My Canon EOS 450D arrived today with a tripod and camera bag. I took some pictures with gut feeling and some of them (but not every) came out pretty well. I'll take some more soon after I've learned to use systems camera properly. The manual with the camera was in Danish, but I luckily found Finnish manual as a PDF file online.

I got the camera as birthday present, as I noted before, from my parents. It's an used camera and it cost about 50% of the original price. This will, hopefully, revolutionize the quality of my MOC pictures. The pics in this post may give you a glimpse of what is coming. I'll likely revisit some older MOCs that are still built like Karmenna on the left. I have also one finished Klaanon MOC incoming (I took some pics today, but the lighting wasn't that good) and some WIP in both SYSTEM and Bionicle fields. And the Viking project, of course.

Stay tuned about new material soon!

-Pate-keetongu

WIP Viking: Shield & Some minor modifications

I blustered in my last post that I won't take any photos with my old camera any more. Sadly I was wrong, because my new camera didn't come today. Well, I guess I'll just have to wait another day...

Anyway, I worked on my viking project yesterday. First of all I strengthened the legs. The viking wasn't very well balanced due to the hip joints which aren't located on the center of the lower body. That made it too easy to to fall on its back. I fixed the problem by moving the knee joints on the thigh one stud (or what ever they are called on Bionicle/TECHNIC building, hole or something) backwards. The MOC is quite well balanced now. I also re-made the piston joint system on the back of the legs. The old version didn't allow very much movement on the knees and was easily breakable.

I also made the upper arms brown (or, to be specific, dark flesh). The previous versions weren't beefy enough to my taste, and people suggested me to add some brown. I had forgotten I had Onewa Metru (And pair of brown Vahki limbs, presumably from BrickLink) and was relieved to found it standing on a shady corner of the glass cabinet in my LEGO room. I'm quite happy with the upper arms, now I only have to build lower arms and re-build the lowest part of the legs and the feet.

I also built a classic round shield to this northern warrior. I had had that sun-shield thing lying around a few months without finding a way to use it. I'm quite happy with the way how the ship's wheel and the flags made a cool sun pattern. The printed 4x4 dish is the same piece than in the chest armour. It's probably some sort of family or kin symbol. I've always liked those rune patterns and yellow/dark red color scheme. The body of the shield is basic brick-built. Some snotted curved slopes could have made a rounder shape, but they would be hard to subsume in the log brick pattern. The glorious viking woman minifig is in the picture to give a glimpse of the size of this project.

-Pate-keetongu

I'm seventeen! Yeah! Hah!

I turned 17 this morning.

Don't be afraid. Every one of us will get old some day... The sooner we start, the sooner it's over.

-An unnamed pensioner

Seventeen is not very special number. I mean, life of 16-year-old and 17-year-old are pretty much same. It will take a year to get a driver's licence and, in other hand, to became an actual AFOL. My last year as a TFOL has now begun. As I mentioned before, I'm getting a systems camera soon (Probably today, probably on Monday) and I hope this picture of the strange manifestation will be the last LEGO pic I take on my old camera.

But my birthday isn't the only one today. Bio-Klaani turns six today. It's a very special day: As some of you know, six is a very special number in Bionicle, and it's even more special in Klaani. We always see number six in everything; it's quite creepy, even.

There are some other great LEGO news, too. Finnish LUG Palikkatakomo's LUGBULK order is coming soon, and when I have received my order (over three thousand pieces) I can finally continue my arduous Minas Tirith project. To make it better, the Minifigure Series 7 has been spotted around Finland, and I can hopefully get my hand into some hippies and viking ladies next week.

AFOL-1,
-Pate-keetongu

MOC Revamp: Toa Ämkoo

Sometimes old MOCs need improvements to make them look decent with newer models on a display. This Klaanon Deluxe Admin Action Figure Ämkoo I built in April 2011 recently got Klaanon-accurate shadow arm design and more human-like torso. I also removed the Slizer foot on the throat, but forgot to do it before taking photos.

Klaanon is Bionicle Universe -based serial story written in Bio-Klaani, twisted community of old Bionicle fans. Klaanon started as a text-based role playing game, but nowadays is more like a novel which is written by around twenty people. You have probably noticed that quite many of my Bionicle MOCs are Klaanon-based, including my self-MOC Keetongu. Toa Ämkoo is one of four admins, the leaders of Bio-Klaani.

When it comes to other things, my 17th birthday will be on Friday, and I'm getting a systems camera. It will for sure take some time to learn taking better pics after five years of using simple pocket camera, but look forward of seeing better pics of my MOCs in the future!

-Pate-keetongu

Viking WIP: Head

Yårr!, or what ever viking warriors shout when they charge at some rich monks or, as in LEGOs version, dragons.

1x3x3 curved arc-slopes are useful pieces when building (facial) hair. In tan they're only available in 7682 Shanghai Chase, but luckily I got some from my event-reward bag from Model Expo. They also work as un-historical helmet horns. No worries, I'll take pictures of unhorned version to historical correctness guys when the MOC is done.

Now I'll just built the rest of the arms and re-build the feet. This proud warrior will get some axes to fight with and a traditional round shield, if I figure a good way to built one.

-Pate-keetongu

MOC: Aulëthur, Dwarven hardsuit mark 2.0

 A steampunk, or a dwarfpunk, happened. I was browsing my older MOCs (I made lot of dwarfpunk two or three years ago) and this Dwarfsuit  from 2010 caught my attention. That MOC was one of my most popular MOCs back then, though especially the feet design left lot to be desired.

The basic idea of using the shallow barrel halves as the upper body and cockpit is pretty much same than in the old version. I wanted to make the lower torso bulkier, and chose to use those spherical ball joint thingies. I really like the "baggy pants" feeling it gives. I'm also quite proud of the feet, which use new-ish small catapult pieces as a hinge. 


I used those KK2 shoulder armours to give more muscular look to the upper arms.  I'm not that satisfied with lower arms. The basic stud connection on the wrist isn't that sturdy, but I couldn't find better design with as good movement. Feel free to comment if you have some ideas to make better design!

The weaponry includes hell of a hammer and flintlock minigun*. Pilot's more traditional equipment is hooked on suit's back if the engine fails. Heavy arms are needed to smash those pesky orcs. Luckily dwarves are better engineers!

And yeah, also wanted to show my misprint dwarf beard with marbled reddish brown pattern. My friend known online as Tiikeli found it on Dwarves Battle Pack few years ago and I was lucky enough to trade that precious from him. The brown helmet isn't that rare, but cool piece nevertheless.

Dwarven engineer,
Pate-Keetongu



*There is some serious downsides on the flintlock minigun. Yes, it can shoot sustained fire, but only eight lead shots with one load. It also can't be angled down without making the lead shots fall of.

I'm on a road again

Made this little MOC in Sunday free time. I had had this Dieselpunk motorcycle around for couple of years but never bothered to use it on anything.

I wanted to do a half-SNOT vignette base with edges like in scale-model stands. The grill-tile detail-thing is quite a bland. I wish I had suitable printed tile to put there, but found nothing.

I'm pretty happy with the dust/smoke/gas cloud thing on the back. 2x2 round plate is very useful in these things.

-Pate-keetongu

A new connection! A new connection!

Did you know that minifig items can be connected on Fabuland elephant's trunk? I did not!

What a magnificent connection! It will change the nature of MOCing forever!

...Right.

But yeah, nothing to write about just now. Checked all LEGO-selling shops in my hometown's centre, and found no sign of Minifigure Series 7. Catalog says they'll be out in June, but they aren't always right and the series have been out in Central Europe for few weeks now. I guess I have to wait some more time. Series 7 looks best so far.

-Pate-Keetongu

WIP Viking: Legs

The headless viking warrior can now run around to chase monks and wolves, though he will need some arms to row a longship or swing an axe. And a head to drink beer, of course.

Roborider body 6x3 liftarm-part-thingies came in handy with the legs. They are very good pieces in bigger Bionicle MOCs despite their aerodynamic shape and six axle holes. The upper legs are supported worth couple of Slizer limbs and the lower legs/ankles have pistons on them. I also used the Belville saddles I told about couple of days ago.

I might change the feet if I find a better solution than extended Mata feet.

 -Pate-Keetongu

Building Poro

A bit of a teaser of another upcoming MOC. This Humppaava Poro (Reindeer that does Humppa) is built mostly using pneumatic parts. This is for one bigger project. It may take long to summer, because I have to get series 7 minifigs and annual LUGBULK order to finish it.

Belville saddle: Awesome Bionicle piece

 Wonderful pieces can be found in unexpected places. I got four black Belville saddles from Model expo week ago and discovered that they fit perfectly with Bionicle pieces, especially with Inika legs. They make similar ankle guard as 64292 but with more organic look and no wobbling. They can be connected easily with 2x2 plate modified with pin downwards, and SYSTEM pieces (1x4 curved slopes here) can be used to smoothen the studs, for example.

I might use these on my Viking WIP as a folded leather trouser legs if I find proper leg desing. It also looks promising technique for more original Toa-mods and such. These pieces are avaible in pink too, so this could bring some interestingly coloured plastic warriors... Feel free to use this desing.

The blogger,
Pate-Keetongu

WIP: Viking

Viking shields released in Vikings theme in 2005 are some of the most beautiful LEGO pieces. They inspired me to start making this big-scale Bionicle-SYSTEM-fusion viking warrior.

I've trying to use those bionicle chains as a chain mail for some time, and the fitted this MOC quite a well. I also got a use to those reddish brown curved SYSTEM pieces. I have had 50 of them lying around for a while. I bought them from LUGBULK program couple of years ago.

Next I'll continue building the arms and the legs. I alredy made one SYSTEM head, but wasn't completely satisfied with it, so I'm planning to build another one. Stay tuned.

The blogger,
Pate-keetongu

MOC: Arthopodic doombringer mark 6

Armed with huge cannon and four hydrogen-8 missiles, this spider walker is one of the most deadly enemies that Invasion troops have fought. This suprisingly fast machine is covered with venomous spikes and driven by Korekhan warlord Bruttunus.

This MOC was a last-minute build to Invasion project in Model Expo. I needed something to face Liberta-Multiarm, and I first tried to make another humanoid mecha. The first version included those big missiles of the final build, but I couldn't manage to built the other parts. I decided to make another type of doombringer, and built the base with six ball sockets. The leg spikes were supposed to be the smaller ones used in the missile launcher at first, but I had those Quaza spikes lying on my table and they fitted there perfectly. They're cool pieces.

The blogger,
Pate-keetongu 

MOC: Liberta-Multiarm

Governor-commander Justunus' battlefront forces' top-class mecha is armed with three cruise missiles, ion cannon, four light plasma guns, heavy cannon and two shoulder-mounted miniguns. This fast war machine is driven by turkish pilot Taaj "jeden tag so schnell" Baba.  Additional equipment includes comfortable seat and top-modern aiming system.

This MOC was built to Invasion project in Model Expo (see previous blog post). I think this is the best LEGO photo I have ever taken on my "studio" (Which is a big watercolor pad). My six-year-old 7.1 megapixel pocket camera is getting outdated and I'm planning to get a new camera soon.

The figures are from left to right are Special forces privates Kane and Svensson, Governor-commander Justunus, Diplomat Frances Frogeye and Ensign Maizer.

Flickr and Brickshelf.

The blogger,
Pate-keetongu

Model Expo 2012 is over, Palikkatakomo gained Best of the Show trophy

ModuCity 2012 was built by 16 Finnish AFOLs and TFOLs and was awarded
with the Best of the Show trophy.

Finnish LUG Palikkatakomo's biggest annual exhibition took place in Model Expo in Messukeskus in Helsinki 4.27-29.2012. The show was great, the models were stunning and I had good time with other Finnish fans of LEGO.

Mindstorms Building site by Pekka
"R2-D2" Pihola was voted to the best
model in our display. The big
NXT-programmed TECHNIC crane is
not shown in this photo.

The display may look quite a small for those who have been in Big World's LEGO-based events like Brickfair and the others, but you have to remember that the show was made by approximately 20 persons all around Finland. I, for example, traveled 500 kilometers by train with all my MOCs in a cardboard box. A heavy cardboard box with lots of our favourite bricks in it.

Some of my Bionicle MOCs in the display. Qwena is not in the photo.

There were 53 399 visitor in the whole Model Expo and especially on saturday and sunday there were lots of people around our diplay all the time. I was a referendary there, and told people for example about Markku "Legorides" Jääskeläinen's very realistic funfair models, SNOT roads and My General Killjoy's  hidden weapon systems. There were lots of children aged 3-8 because there were kid's trade fair in contact of Model Expo. I can tell you that they were quite a amused! But in other hand, it was more pleasing to see adults amazed about "children's toys".

As I noted before, we won the Best of the Show trophy with ModuCity. Now I wish I had made a couple of modules to it, but at least I can take my part of the honour because I introduced it to the visitors and gave some creative critism when its buildings were on WIP stage. Now we all hope that the kudos we gained with winning the prize will help our small but active LUG to make even better exhibitions in the future.

With big thanks to everyone who worked for our show,
Pate-Keetongu

All the photos on this post are taken with permission from Hovinet Gallery.

Bear Cavalry by Arttu "Legorex" Aavaharju.