Keetongu

I built this big boy for New Elementary article on the big Simba set, but it's history is a bit longer. In July I posted my "lore-accurate" Keetongu for Bio-Cup's Class/Monk category, explaining my history with this Bionicle character. At the time this model was already shaping up. This didn't start as a New Elementary model, and had nothing to do with Simba in the beginning. However, after making the first version of the torso, upper legs and upper arms, I realised that I didn't have any interesting keetorange parts to finish it. Simultaneously, I noticed that Simba would have plenty of good parts for this - and good many of them were recolours, relevant for New E to cover. Thus, a pact was made...

This is a new version of a self-MOC Keetongu, last version of which was posted over ten years ago. The main aim was to make a bulky, mushroom-like version of the character. Interestingly, Keetorange first appeared in Clickits, Bionicle/Technic and Dublo, so back in the day there were no many System options available. This has changed, so most of this is system; as evident in the old version, heavy system use leads to less noisy design with more unified surfaces. As I was after quite organic look with only small mechanical details, this was a good thing. Bionicle kids might still hate it for having only two bonkle parts. I wonder if they'll tell me that; they probably will.

The seed parts were those big macaronis used on the hat-shell. The round top on the head was added later, after acquiring Simba parts. The torso details are close to the pre-Simba model, but adding those 4x4 dome quarters under the shoulders really helped to make it more rounded and muscular. Arms, lower legs, feet and the back are fully post-Simba design. The set is a treasure trove of keetorange. 

I wanted this model to be poseable, despite its weight. The first idea was to use the new double-ratchet mech joints in the shoulders and hips, with ball joints on the other joints. The double joint seen on the knees was first built for the elbow, but I realized that the elbow needs to twist as well. Thus, I used mech joints on the elbows, too. The joint that ended in the knees is a nice design nevertheless: total six ball joints in a small space enough both friction and mobility. The ankles have double joints with four balls each, while the wrists use only mixel balls. But the waist needed two major overhauls. First, the hips were too thing, only two studs with mech joints. This meant that the legs had to be in a constant A-position, which didn't look good. It looked like a tall thin dude in a suit. I made them wider. But the mech joint created another issue, as its limited the movement to certain steps. The posture was either too thin or too wide. I wrecked it and returned to old, good single ball joints. It makes this swingy as hell, the posture must be balanced carefully. But the sliding joint enables natural posing, so the swinginess is a small price to pay.

-Eero.