✨Small Spaceships !✨

✨ Breach of containment ✨

This is the last I’ve been working on for the past few weeks, very, very inspired by the game Carrion (if you haven’t played it yet, you absolutely should !), which is made all the more special because I finally took time to use my lighting kit (seem below). Of course, closeups and commentaries below the cut

Left containment unit closeups :

Right containment unit closeups :

Top closeup :

Alt version (studio lights + in-built lights) :

This is one of the screenshots I’ve been working with (where the monster just breached containment) :

So, as I said previously, this piece is heavily inspired by Carrion. I tried to look up any previously made Lego thing related to the game, but all I could find were a few Reddit posts with (debatably) interesting takes on the monster. So, the good news is that this is most likely the most original piece I’ve made yet.

The original plan was to have only one container, and one monster, with left being the body inside and right being the outside part. However, placing Left in the middle of the transparent pieces made it mostly good on its own, so with some modifications, I made it work alone and expanded the outside part inward, and ended up with two of them.

Left is pretty okay from all angles, but Right is not necessarily as good from the back, and had a supplementary jaw on the side of the container which can’t be seen on the photos.

Getting back to comparing that to the game. I tried to stay close while adding my own little details. The wiring and cable system is from me, but the container is mostly inspired by the game, just like the electric box (middle) and the little informative display (under the electric box) which is…empty, yes.

Some details can’t be seen on the photos (or barely), which are mostly some filler sci-fi stuffs to make the wall less flat and less empty.

What also helped with breach the flatness of the wall is the switch from dark grey to light gray, using the awesome spring projectile launcher piece, which has this very nice shape which make the transition just a bit smoother.

So, let’s talk about whatever I’ve done with the lighting !

I’ve had this old lighting kit (originally designed for a car model) lying around for a long time, and finally got to use it ! It doesn’t look really good without my studio lights because my camera is not made for that (The effect in reality really gives escaping monstrosity a dark vibe which is not well depicted with my photos…). Another thing which is not noticeable with the photos is that the two red dots in the center are actually blinking lights (and somehow, they tend to desynchronise).

The choice of letting some of the wires out is debatable, but I think it adds to the vibe (and some of them would have been a pain to hide anyway). And sadly, the back is but a mess of wires, but I can’t actually do anything about that.

Speaking of the back, the whole thing is one dot large and completely flat, and the ceiling only hold without pillars because of the use of tension linking directly the baseplate and the roof through the use of technic bars; and probably because the ceiling itself is not that heavy. It is, in fact, only constitued of six old road pieces connected together and frames, which give the roof little weight and high sturdiness (and the shape on the side of the piece offers a nice sci-fi effect as a bonus).

The addition of tentacles in the vent (which hides the connection between road plates in the roof) is just another reminder of the game : you can’t be safe anywhere, if air flows~

✨Bionicle insect !✨

Yay, back to Bionicles MOCs !

I made fewer of these, but here is the first one (other images and additional details below the cut).

I’m still not entirely convinced of the edited photos, but given the size of these MOCs, I didn’t really have much choice but to do how I did. At least the ones with background give a few colours.

Anyway, photos of the left and underside !

This was really a fun one to work with, obviously largely inspired by the Visorak sets (I kept the head piece and the claws), but with more legs !

The claws are combined with feet to add some shape (the two pieces work quite well together) to the end of the legs, then I made of 4 joints articulations to give it a proper insect-like stance. The middle legs are slightly longer (using a long transparent blue piece, instead of the small dark one), which makes it less linear.

I kept the disc of the Visorak, held in place by…a broken Pirahka headpiece. Yes, I’m not exactly very original in my techniques, and I have a lot of these broken pieces. As you might see in the third picture, I have the secondary connectors of that piece attached to the belly of the beast, so to speak.

Although, speaking of techniques, the one I’m using for the 'tail' is not exactly recommendable. It’s a bit tough to see, but there is an elastic band attached to the foot used as a tail part on the third picture. It’s the only element which connects the end of the tail (shiny Visorak claw in second picture) to the rest of the body, which makes it wobbly but offers some interesting movements if needed.

Oh yeah, I also used Vakama’s disc launcher again, as mandibles this time. I originally tried to make a transparent blue disc (from all promotional sets) inside, but it doesn’t fit well enough).

I’m considering making another in another colour, but I’ll have to see if I even have enough ressources to do so~ Maybe green and silver, since these are pieces I have a bunch of, or black and silver…Only time will tell.

✨Custom air Toa !✨

6/6, that’s the last one ! And the biggest one, too-

Closeups under the cut !

Front/back views

As you might notice, it is tall. And it has more than four limbs, which would not be a problem if it was the only one. But. It appears that all my green mocs end up with too much limbs, and I can’t fathom why. Really, another prototype standing on my desk also has for and so does the green hero factory one…You get the idea.

Anyway, the colour scheme for this one is dark green and silver, with some translucent bright green accents. Using only bright green would have brought too much contrast with the others Toas (notably the dark red one), but I had these cool pieces to use and no one else to put them onto. And since these are experimental…

The two supplementary limbs are intended as movement claws, given that we usually see air Toas moving in jungles (Lewa mostly, that is). The silver pieces at the front and back ends are respectively Kopaka’s skis and Pohatu’s foot pieces (shoes ?). The largest bits are made out of technic pieces directly, to give some simple angles.

Bust views

I find this silver/green chest piece really cool, it’s a shame I don’t have much of them. The two bright pieces on either sides are Vahki head pieces, and since their only connectors are on their relative tops (side of the piece in their actual orientation), you may remark that they are connected to nothing. I’m having the arm socket go through them, and the rest of the body’s shape avoid too many movements. While nice, this also limits the movement range of the arms, but it works well enough (these are not really made to play, anyway~). The two bright pieces with spikes are from a Ehlek. Wish I could have managed to put that one back together, but it instead served a higher purpose.

The Kanohi is Hordika Matau’s, with transparent Bohrok eyes underneath (it share this technic with my previous white Toa). The back piece is coming from a Piraka, but it’s actually a broken piece. I have quite a bunch of these, where the mask and flexible parts have broken off, so I make the most of it (like you might see in the future on another MOC). I’m using technic angle (type 3, to be precise) to keep the shape of the middle ones, but the others are free.

Finally, a (dismantled) leg view.

Finally, the leg segment !

The Toa was too big for proper leg showcase, my lights created terrible contrasts (shelf not deep enough…), so here is a stand alone leg instead.

Once again I have integrated the Metru chest piece to the leg, but as a foot this time. It offers a good stability and looks nice.

The next part doesn’t have much interesting bits, except that I’m using technic tubes to hold the additional piece, making this technic less illegal that my usual works (keyword : less; there is still a whole lot of stress on these poor pieces).

The top part is…somewhat more complicated. The frame is of technic pieces (like the additional limbs), which keeps together an immobile socket joint which keeps the double socket and two Bohrok feet (one for decoration, one connected to the hip socket). The double socket is used both to connect the two halves of the leg and to hold the small arm piece which is here only for decoration.

And that’s it for this series ! I’m hoping to bring them to next month’s exhibition, along with some Bionicle MOCs I haven’t showcased here because…shelf…Given the sheer size of my big project (posted here next week in theory), I’m gonna have to improvise something quickly, and profite of it to get some pictures of my other big ones while I’m at it. Eh, I’ll figure it out (and if I don’t, I’ll just delete that statement later :}

Thanks for reading, have a good day !

✨Progress pride flag !✨

Yay ! Finally some colours ! This was definitely trickier to do, compared to all the other ones, because of the triangles, but I like how it looks !

See previous here.

What are we

Boop

That is a very boop question.

✨Custom water Toa !✨

Another one ! (Slightly less giant)

Details below the cut !

Front/back views

That one, too, is experimental, albeit in another style. I tried to remain closer to actual Bionicle size this time. Many fun details and technics here, so we’ll go from the feet all the way toward the head.

So, starting with the feet ! I have a complex of normal feet and Visorak legs held by a single connector. They have a wide angular range, but given that the connector connecting the socket to the feet is alone, a foot can also have a 360 rotation angle horizontally (not natural-)

The legs don’t have much special traits, except the upper legs using two socket with axle holes on top and a silver foot as armor on the side.

The body is where things get interesting. The Rahkshi silver shell is held by the silver claw above it at a chest plate, while part of the back is hidden behind a Rahkshi foot. The body is very triangular because it’s framed by these sockets with a silver piece in the middle, which gives it a nice aesthetic. The arms are an equivalent, with some tubes directly in the shoulders to offer a flexible piece which also limits the movements.

Finally, the head is not a head. I’ve made it like that because of the translucent Kanohi, that way it looks brighter, the inconvenient being that the backside of the head is quite literally an empty shell.

Now for the lower part of the arms : no socketed hand because who needs hands when you have a trident (bident ?) ! The main piece obviously comes from a Rahkshi, and the magic is wishing the silver connector. It used to be a lightsaber hilt from the larger Star Wars figs, but it looks good practically everywhere, including here !

Also, here below is a picture of the angle range of the arms (not much, oops).

✨Space ships (and hangars, too !) !✨

(Or, last post for the space station)

<Previous< [4/4]

Under the cut are closeups of (practically) all ships and hangar from the station !

Before anything, the third post is somehow completely gone, even if I do have proofs that I did do it. Well, it was already posted late, and I don’t have the courage to do it again — and it’s not like people would care much anyway, so how this station is holding up will remain a mystery~

Anyway, closeups.

Hangars (groupes by similarities)

This first batch here contains the 'empty' hangars. Left is meant to be a closing/opening hangar, which I usually keep in the back because it's not the most interesting one; while the right one is the bare hangar. There are two of these across the ring, in which I sometimes pluck a ship, though it's hard to keep them in place because of the station's inclination.

Next is a batch of random boxes and other scifi-y grates and boxes. To keep the boxes in place, I use modified 1*1 bricks (because the floor is is made of horizontal pieces, aligned with the outer tiles). Minor variation are present in the middle hangar, where a third of the floor is composed of 1*2 modified bricks to add a tiny bit of texturing. While these might a tad repetitive displayed like above, they actually are separated by three other different hangars, so the repetition is barely visible.

A bit similar to the previous ones, these have (in my opinion) more interesting details. Left is two racks of large barrels, supposedly fuel. Middle had another barrel (made with flowers pieces) and a yellow cable, which was surprisingly hard to add because it pushed the back plate (which holds a lot of the hangar together). The last one is a stack of long crates, and an observation deck (I'm guessing the original sticker comes from a small star destroyer).

Last batch, and probably the best of all, the containers (scaling from not too crowded to very crowded). These are the same size as the big ship's. There are very few attachment points to the ground, as most of them are held by other containers above or bellow, although the middle hangar had two modified 1*4 bricks in the floor. The original plan was to get them all aligned, but it looked terrible, so I went for this more haphazard placement, which works better.

Ships

These first two are the smallest of my little fleet. The top one is two 2*1 plates held by black 1*1 mod plates. It's small, it's smooth, and it works quite well with the station. I'm probably gonna make other of these in different colours someday.

The next is one of the first I made, using some shiny pieces. The two chromatic studs on the reactors are differently shades of chroma silver on purpose because this is meant to be a much older ship (compared to other most of the other, smoother ships).

This is a much larger one. More of a military design, I mostly played with angles on that one (and added big reactors for fun purposes). The transparent light blue used here is the same as the fuel barrels of the station, and are the most used on the ships I have. Lore would say it's because it's the most common fuel used in the universe; pragmatism would say it's because it's the most common transparent colour in my boxes.

More blue reactors ! The top one is my one of my favorite. Only 7 pieces, including an old aquaraiders piece which I had to use as a ship the moment I found it. It's simply ship-shapes ! Given the colours, you could imagine it's an old model (not as old as the small one). The bottom one is a very thin one, with a Y piece which can allow for many cool shapes (like this one) !

Weird alien ships ! The first one is curvy~~ It's a nice concept which is quite common, but I really like the idea, and thus made one. Notice the green reactor this time, because alien fuel. Next one is more organic (or at least trying to), using mostly car pieces (and an orange reactor, wew !). It's also quite compact, with a single mod 1*1 brick as the core. The final one is by far my favorite (and not only because it has a purple trail). While hard to because of my lighting, the three main parts of the ship are separated by clear studs. I originally made it without the in-between studs, but then it fell the the floor, broke, and separated, and it looked much more futuristic. Consider this a very advanced ship of a peaceful species, or something like that.

✨Custom ice Toa !✨

And another one ! If the others were already experimental, this one is much, much more-

Closeups under the cut !

Front/back views :

That one was a lot of fun ! But it’s also not really stable, considering there are some weird piece combinations. This one also has disproportionate legs, compared to the rest of the body, but it’s alright.

With that one, I really tried to remain within Kopaka’s spirit (notice the ski blades and the Kanohi). The bow and arrow (which doubles down as a lance, and is using one of Kopaka’s blades), is a weapon I don’t think has been used before in the original bionicles (correct me if I’m wrong).

The arms/hands are using Pridak’s feet, because it works well and still allows for large movements.

I used some darker white pieces on the back and shoulders to get some slight contrats, and used technic pieces on the chest to get a proper body shape, with a leg piece underneath.

Legs :

(Too) Many details on the legs ! The blades under the feet are a combination of Kopaka Nuva’s blades and Glatoran blades, which also hold a shoulder piece used as a supplementary leg pieces.

Now is the here we enter the mess : all of the ankle sockets you can see are not used for the articulations, and are only here to keep the back piece in place (Star leg), while the actual socket is behind the technic gear plate. Then there is a socket which doesn’t even have a ball, it is directly stacked on top of another socket, and I use multiple feet to cover the leg areas which would expose how terrible the inside is. At the front, you might also notice a 1*2 curved slope tile held by two technic pins. It’s floppy, and it looks weird from the side, but the front appearance makes it worth it. Finally, at the front, I also use part of a Vahki’s head as a final plate, before we finally reach the connection between the legs and the body. As I said, that whole part is a mess.

Head :

Tried to remain close to Kopaka’s appearance here too, by adding a X-ray vision thing, but the most important part is that the Kanohi is Hero Factory Stormer’s mask, but sideways. The trans blue pieces are Borhok eyes, which fit perfectly, and I managed to cram a socket connector inside, making the head quite mobile and sturdy.

Next week is another one ! Not sure which of the three it will be, but I haven’t decided which one yet (tell me if you have a preference~).

I also finally received my new parts, meaning I can get back to working on my big project, yay !

✨Santa’s sleigh !✨

I showed last week the Christmas tree I made last year, now is time for what I did for 2023 !

Closeups and commentaries beneath the cut !

Sleigh closeups :

Reindeers closeups :

Santa :

SO. Had a lot of fun with that one. The sleigh doesn’t have much exciting parts, except the blades, which are actual blades (Ninjago sabers, to be precise). The back is filled with presents from top to bottom, so they can be rearranged to give a different look each time it’s put together.

The part connecting the sledge to the reindeers probably could use the help of an iron wire to keep its shape (a neath technique I’ve used for a flower in another one of my builds to make the bendable pieces stronger), and the threads between the reindeers is a very cheap finition, but in my defence, I was on a time limit.

Reindeer-wise, I’ve hesitated whether to give them all a red nose, but they didn’t look nearly as cute without. And the antlers, I must admit, are very unsteady, because they’re illegally connected, but this was the best way to keep a small overall shape.

Finally, the Santa minifig was probably, and surprisingly, one of the hardest parts of this MOC, because the parts I stole borrowed to other minifigs were spread in multiple places, and I didn’t have one of the official Santa minifigs. So most of the piece come from different Star Wars advent calendars (mostly Darth Vader and C-3PO).

✨I made a carrd✨

A friend of mine said I could use it — they were right !

Essentially, I now have all of my published MOCs sorted by theme in a single place (as well as a few unpublished ones !)

Here it is : https://enteroctoups-darkysils.carrd.co/ !

enteroctopus darkysilis

enteroctopus darkysilis

Enteroctopus darkysilis' carrd page !

It also feature some none-Lego photographs, too, feel free to take a look.

Small, unnecessary update bellow the cut :

I’m gonna have to remove the 'one post every Wednesday', for multiple reasons : firstly, I’m gonna start a long maths cursus which won’t leave me much time to build — or even to post; and, beside that, I’m running out of MOCs ! I still have a few, which I will probably work on and queue so that they appear semi-regularly. I received just earlier today part of the pieces I’ll need for my final(?) MOC. And it’s a big one. Well anyway, I’ll be off to work on it now ! Thanks for reading this far~