MOC: Cynthia Quegan Muskell

 Ladies and gentlemen, here's the last steampunk figure for (some) while. This gal is Cynthia Quegan Muskell, professional engineer and airship pilot. She wears warm and protective longcoat, heavy boots and aviator goggles. A strong woman for sure.

This was actually going to be a male character, a police constable probably, but the 4x4 wedges (still one of my favourite parts) looked so curvy that it was better as a female character. The torso is bit similar than Gail's (see last post) and I got the idea of this when building her. This one is a bit less sci-fi, but I believe the boots and hairstyle have enough punk and steam to be classified as steampunk.

Cynthia doesn't have any new ball sockets, and the arms use twin clips as sockets, but don't worry, I bricklinked 24 of both socket pieces and they should arrive soon, so there will be more figures like this. The hands don't use the same design as the two last figures, but Cynthia is a bit smaller model and I wanted to give her wrist angle for posing.

The torso came up pleasingly well; Surprisingly I didn't start with the legs. I'm especially pleased with the inverted curved slopes on the back of the coat, as I didn't have those before I bought the eagle beast. They help creating the feminine curve there. Binoculars as the belt buckle was there from the beginning, as it reminds me of the buckle on my coat.

The head uses the same basic stylised idea than the two previous MOCs, though here I could built the whole head inverted as the neck connection is the bottom of a headlight brick. The hairstyle is a bit Wyldstyle-esque, with goggles on a rubber band, trick from the BCth. The boots were the last part I built, and I like the heavy heels there. I wanted to give her a boots that are faithful to the style but not too impractical when messing with boilers, fireboxes and pipes. The winky-wonky "gungan angle lightsabers" are the key part there. The binocular motif can be seem on the boots too. 

-Pate-keetongu

MOC: Gail Nealor Lyner

Meet the second character on my SYSTEM steampunk figures line, heroine Gail Nealor Lyner. She is more action-oriented than Miss Izzy and therefore wear more protective outfit.

This time I used the new ball joint as I promised on the last post. They give both durability and mobility, and Gail is quite a posable; however, some furniture would be needed to show that and I didn't built any. Hopefully the other photos show that though, there's plenty of more in Brickshelf when moderated.

The build was pretty normal SNOTty work with round shaping and some detail. I began with the legs (I usually do) and after getting them right (Boots were tricky, the shape was not easy one) the body came up quite quickly. I gave a special thought on colors: Dark bley trousers and gloves to match, light grey belt and medium blue upper shirt thing to give some fresh color. Dark red and brown with gold buttons were trustworthy steampunky elements which worked well. The body is a bit similar to my Comedian, as those 4x4 wedges give such a nice shape. The unsymmetrical buttons where there from the start.

I'm very happy with the head and the practical but feminine hair achieved with tri-bar 1x2 plates. 1x3 tile makes sure that the stylised face is not too blocky. There is of course plenty of SNOT in the head as the 1x2 double slope is upside down.

I pondered a while what I would do with Gail's accessories and finally ended up with a pistol holster with simple short chain. I think is works well. I also tried to make a longer rifle, but had no idea how she would carry it. I guess Gail is a fast shooter!

-Pate-keetongu

MOC: Miss Izzy Orchard

 After those Bionicle models I posted on last three days, I'll present you some poseable SYSTEM figures. They are steampunk-themed, which is, as you have probably noticed, one of my favorite themes.

I built this MOC few days before I got my first new ball joints when I bought Gorilla and Eagle legend beasts from sale. So, this MOC doesn't use the new ball joints; the next one on my series does. Izzy is "fully articulated" (except the fingers though, impossible to build those in that small scale) using basic ball-clip joints in lower legs, normal-size ball joints on hips, double clip - towball on shoulders and even old arm hinges on the arms. There are double joints on the elbows to allow better movement.

The legs are partly inspired by Moko's work. I wanted them to be mobile enough to allow some posing, but they are not very sturdy. I probably could have achieved a sturdy design with those new ball sockets, but finished the model anyway before buying some. The minifig ruffs were a last-minute addition.

The body is pretty basic stuff with some nice curved slopes and wedges, with embedded double clips to make the ball joint sockets for the arms. The skirt was here from the beginning, and I'm very happy with the bags and packets on the belt. Izzy even has a booklet with the printed tile from Lady Liberty minifig.

The head is not rocket science with inverted, simplified face and golden locks. Bowler adds some steampunkiness. I'm proud of the hands, as they are hard to create in such a small scale. The connection might be a bit stressful to the parts, but I don't think it's that bad. Izzy has four fingers as most of my MOC figures, both Bionicle and SYSTEM-based. Five is just too much to handle! Badum-tish.

I had to build a chair for Izzy to sit on as the legs are not that stable and I'm going to keep this MOC on display for some time.

-Pate-keetongu

MOC: Metorakk

 Here's the last MOC on this batch of Klaanon MOCs. On contrary to Kepe and Snowie, Metorakk is definitely not a laid-back peace-loving good guy but a ruthless bad bounty hunter. He works for General Gaggulabio, a cigar-loving skakdi officer who is one of the Alliance commanders. Metorakk isn't his master's servant though, and is likely to go where he likes; that means the places with the bloodiest battles and best lootings.

Metorakk is a 100% fighter. He wears nazorak-made elite battle armor with leg thrusters, arm-mounted missiles and a protective helmet. The armor is still aerodynamic enough to enable Metorakk to move sharply. His favorite choice of weapon is powerful morning star.

This MOC is loosely based by an old creation by a man caller Dr.U. I picked the helmet idea, which looked excellent and gave heaps of character on U's MOC. Otherwise this was quite a simple humanoid MOC. I'm happy with the aerodynamic torso and the hand design especially; Movable finger usually give extra character on a MOC. Metorakk is holding a stolen magic sphere which is said to give overhuman powers to some special Vahki units.







This MOC combines Bionicle, HF and even small amount of SYSTEM parts. HF parts are used on the upper arm as I did on Kerosiinipelle, but there have also some extra beefing and Metorakk is more muscular guy. The legs are rather basic stuff. I made the ankles a bit sturdier, as just a ball socket on a piraka foot looks way too weak. KK2 armor part was an easy solution, but I like how it flows with the simple shape of Vikings dragon skull.

-Pate-keetongu

MOC: The Snowman

 After posting a new version of Kepe yesterday it makes perfect sense to post a revamped version of The Snowman (Or Snowie-Sno-Snögubbe-Snobla-Snörbels-etc.) today. He and Kerosiinipelle are always paired, and while Kepe is the brains of the outfit, Snowie definitely isn't its muscle. Of course he's bulky, but not a fighter at all, even though he once beat a flying cigar-smoking skakdi (or at leat that's what they say).

 Snowie's body consists of snow-like material that he can arrage in the way he likes, which makes him nearly indestructible, but not resistant to pain; he usually tries to avoid the conflict as much as he can. Bio-Klaani often sends him to convert factions to their side. But as a peaceful and laid-back guy Snowie is one of those who make sure that Bio-Klaani is the good guy of the conflict. 

I have build Snowman before, and that even made it to Mike Doyle's wonderful Beautiful LEGO book. However, I felt the old model had too many holes, pins and axes sticking from the white mass. Building white mass definitely isn't easy with Bionicle parts! White nuva shoulder armor is the key piece here; thanks to those very odd NHL player sets those pieces exist. Getting them to the right angle was very hard, and this MOC was on a progress state for a very long time. I had to sacrifice some mobility and the look of the back for decent front view. There is rather lot of SYSTEM there, especially on the legs. They are probably my favourite area on this guy, and they were a lot easier to build than the body. I think the hero feet look great there, as they lack the biomechanical detain and have only a simple roundish shape.

There will be some more Klaanon stuff tomorrow, and then you'll get some steam straight from the 1800s. I have plenty of time in my hands now and lots of finished stuff - Stay tuned!

-Pate-keetongu

MOC: Toa Kerosiinipelle (+delays are "dangerous")

Hey readers, nice to see that many of you have been browsing my blog during the last month even though I haven't blogged really anything! But don't worry, I have been building a lot, and there is several MOCs, Bionicle, SYSTEM and minifigures, coming soon.

I have been lazy updating this blog, but if somebody said that I have been lazing, I would probably punch them on the face (or not, as I am not a violent man; but I would stare at them on a nasty manner). I have had my final exams on Finnish Upper Secondary school; they are bit like A-levels on Britain, or at least that's what I have heard. The exams (I had Finnish, English, Swedish, long math and physics) lasted to weeks, and then there were three weeks of reading break - I used that time to do my advance exercises for the architecture department on university. And as I said, I have been building, as it's nice contrast to all the reading and, well, knowing. Writing a blog on a language that it is not my natural one wasn't, so I just build the MOCs to release them afterwards. But now I have a bit less than three weeks until Model Expo, the biggest exhibit of Finnish LUG Palikkatakomo RY, and I have some projects to finish for that; but I have no school anymore, so I'm a free man. Brilliant! But now, to the MOC.

I have built Toa Kerosiinipelle three times before as he is one of the basic characters on the Klaanon story, but those MOCs were either too muscular or too small. Kerosiinipelle, or Kepe, is not a fighter Toa. No, he's more like the scientist guy, and even though he has elemental powers of ice and plant life, he has tendency to panic on tricky situations, and save the day with a fire extinguisher instead. 

This MOC is a dyed-in-the-wool Toa-mod. The legs are basic stuff: foot, shin, shin fillings, upper leg socket, armor on the both sides. The torso is a bit more interesting if not incredible ingenious, with some embedded system to achieve a better shoulder connection. The arms and hands are the best part here, and I built them first; the hand and its connection to the arm is similar to Floresta's design, with skeleton arms as fingers and boat stud to make the shape a bit more organic; they are among my favourite pieces. The arm is combination of Bionicle and HF stuff, and works quite well. Thanks god I had a lime green ball joint, as a black one there would have ruined the color flow; White and lime are definitely flashy.

-Pate-keetongu

MOC: Avde

 If you have dozens of projects in progress it's always nice feeling to have one of them completed, especially if the project is bigger and has been under construction for a while.

This MOC is from Klaanon (sort of  a Finnish spin-off Internet novel Bionicle-ish thing with many authors). It's name is Avde, but not much is known about it (or him). It seems to consist of two creatures, though it is not known are they of same person. The one is the Matoran-looking Crimson Man, a small and suspiciously friendly little man. The other is The Deep Laughter, a black shadow mass with dozens of tentacles, red eyes and deep gapes. The Deep Laughter can appear both as a physical creature and nightmare-ish mental creature, though the latter require a use of a telepathic, as Avde doesn't have such powers.

In this MOC I wanted to capture the mental side of Avde as he appears on a person's mind. I have built the physical side a few years ago, and this time I wanted a vastly different approach. I built the MOC with white wall and floor using some a bit yellowed old bricks to create a feel of a bit depressing empty room. The white backdrop also brought forth the black and red creature, allowing to make shapes that wouldn't be possible without brick-built backdrop.

The Crimson Man is built using my old Matoran technique which reminds a bit of the 2001-2002 "Tohunga" design but is a bit bigger and has more movement. The blue Pakari might be a bit of a reference to Takua, the hero of MNOG (The best thing of Bionicle ever) and it also appears on some other characters on Klaanon.

This MOC was also built for a "competition" on Mike Doyle's homepage. The competition (which is not really a competition) searches MOCs with the theme "Dark" for the Second book on Doyle's Beautiful LEGO series. The first book was excellent as a builder showcase, art book and a source of inspiration. I got a free copy from No Starch Press as there are six of my MOCs from 2009-2011 in the book.

-Pate-keetongu