King of the Mine

 A dwarf built every now and then keeps one healthy and brisk. This began with the simple idea of using the classic castle panels with the half-timber/fachwerk printing. It reminded me of some great dwarven coat designs from the Hobbit films. The character design and crafts are pretty much the best those films have to offer; I can barely watch them now, but occasinally I browse through my art books of them.

Here, the main design challenge was to find the right balance between prestige and mundaneness. Most dwarves seen on fiction are dressed for war, with axes and chainmail and occasional iron helmet, but I wanted none of that. This is a dwarf at home. But it is not an ordinary worker dwarf, either. I like Pratchett's notion that there are hundreds of dwarf kings, as every mining colony of led by a king (no matter of sex of the King). Thus, the title could be better translated as a chief mining engineer. That was the mood I aimed for. 

Regular bright red is not the most common choice for a task like this. To make the whole look harmonious, I used rich but earthy hued of reddish brown and dark orange, with some complementing dark tan fur to add sense of prestige. There's also a printed belt or a cummerbund with a flame pattern. I framed the half-timber panels with black to make them look complete, and added a rim of metallic gold - the most prestigious colour there is - to make it look a bit less like a lumberjack's flannel shirt. Finally, a light bley beard and hair added some complementing coolness to the otherwise warm scheme. It also fitted the elderly feel I wanted to capture. Eyebrows are especially crucial to expressive faces. They are dark bley to stand out from the hair. The character's status required some jewelry, and trans-clear opals were mundane (yet beautiful) enough, while not making the dwarf look too over-groomed with gold and gilt.

The structure is unusually complex, as I wanted to have a slight angle on those panels. The same angle continued to the legs to make the character feel natural and down-to-earth. This created a challenge in the ankles, which now required a slight angle. I used one of my pet parts, the ball turret socket, to create this shape. Not the first time I've done this with dwarf boots, and certainly not the last.

-Eero.  

Matoro (of Mata Nui)

First of all - the breathtaking edit of the main picture is done by loafbuilds. Thanks, Ari!

This my Matoro, for 2003/Mask of Light collab with the other bonkle folk. I picked up an easy (and relatively unpopular I guess) character. I think I finished this sometime in April when we decided to post on the following week. Yeah, right...

Looking back this now, I seem to have taken a bit too humorous direction in this and it definitely isn't the best model in the collab. But on the other hand, this is sort of fitting. Contemplating Bionicle, I've ended up thinking that 2003 was a pretty bad year. I've never liked Mask of Light. Matoro, fortunately for him, is not in it. Takanuva has never appealed to me, and the rest of titans... are not that good. Rahkshis are clones, and frankly, not as good as Bohrok or even Bohrok-Kal. And the Matorans... Well, I think they never made very good Matoran line-up. McTorans have good character design, but I have to say that they are not that good toys with their very limited movement. These kolhii (kohlii in Finnish, btw) matorans were mutated larger versions of the originals: huge hunchbacks, dull gear function, and friction pin leg joints that didn't carry the weight. Super long arms, too, which plagued the later Bionicle years. At least the combiner looked decent.

So, my Matoro, with his bulky arms and weird hammer-fork, my Matoro is both fic fic and parody of the original set. I wanted to build Akaku to give this some character of its own; and it's a bit unelegant maybe, and has a fussy sort of moustache, but I enjoy the fact that the telescopic lenses are on the "wrong" side, to tell him apart from Kopaka; the lenses use Succulent Knightmeat, AKA the fun little bits you get when you force KK2 torsos apart with screwdrives and hammer with your friends in a little cottage in the middle of winter wonderland.

-Eero. 

The Plunge

 I built this late last year for a New Elementary article on Battle Droid with STAP. Primarly, I was inspired by the tan recolours of ball joint with through axle hole and the System ball socket. Thus, my character model was to have some bare tan skin visible. As the swimming pool season had just began, I built a swimmer. Having the character gliding through the water was more interesting and elegant than having one standing beside the pool. Furthermore, this side connection enabled me to benefit from the through axle hole. The figure's point of balance is near the waist, so the hip joint was a good place for this connection.

I'm very happy with this. The swimming suit's shoulder straps use the new Slope Curved 4 x 2 with Stud Notch Left/Right, which was perfect for the use. I could make the limbs less sturdy as usual, as this was going to be a static piece instead of a poseable figure, and the legs didn't need to support any weight. Furthermore, it was fun building a character that is almost upside down, as that highlighted the legs, back of the head and the back details. The head is unusual as well, as I wanted to have swimming goggles and tied hair. The ponytail adds sense of motion, especially with the flow of air bubbles. There's even a stud on the place of the mouth, representing tightly closed lips.

 The base was the biggest challenge here. First, I intended to build a normal pool wall-and-floor set as a whole background for the character. But I didn't have that much white tiles, and it didn't even feel very elegant. So I took another route, questioning the concept of "enough white tiles". I made an almost cubistic backdrop of pool tiles, fraying on the edges, with blue ornamental strip adding a sense of culture. I like how the vertical, angular backdrop contrasts with the slender, elegant and rounded human being. This model was fun to photograph.

-Eero. 

Anchovy Walker

 I built this one for Palikkatakomo contest witha brief of Whacky Machnines. The contest was inspired by BONK museum in Uusikaupunki, Finland, which displays it own canon of imaginary machnines and products often based on technology that utilises anchovies. To keep things faithful to the source material, I took this as my starting point. I also wanted to build something motorised, as the contest was about machines. The first idea was an Anchovy Accelarator, which might appear in the original BONK lore; I envisioned a spinning vortex thing with the 1:1 anchovy, furnished with metallic silver finish, in the middle; the anchovy stayed, but the Accelerator felt a bit too obscure and, above all, difficult to built.

Instead, I chose to stick to my strong points; not human characters this time, but rather motorised walkers that I used to build as a kid. Well, I didn't make so many finished ones, but I had a rather simple one built for my first exhibition ever in 2009 (I was 14). It worked well and was a hit with the audience. This uses the same method, except for the battery box, which is included in the walker, making it more autonomous. 

Of course, my 2025 version of the same idea is more refined: the walker structure is U-shaped to fit the large anchovy tub in the middle, balanced by the battery box+motor in the back (both authentic 1990s technology; the motor is directly above the box so there's no need for wires). The power is transferred mostly by axles, as they're lighter and more effective than masses of gears; however, theres both small gear-big gear combo and a wormscrew gearbox in the back to make the movement slow and strong enough for the 90s 9V to drive. This took some iteration.

The cosmetic furnishing is quite simple, as the model had to be lightweight. I think I managed well with the shapes and colours, aiming for a "serious sci-fi" aesthetics to contrast with the silly theme. Especially, as this was a fast build. I won the contest, gaining Pretty Pink Flowers Bouquet - an excellent set I already reviewed for New Elementary a year ago. And, above all, I was able to demonstrate this to a group of pre-school children while setting up a library exhibit last month. They liked it, which was hugely rewarding.

-Eero.

Ps. There's also rumour that this MOC is called Superintendent Silakk. They might as well be true.