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Hero Factory- Battle Machine Revamps


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I like making revamps. I like making mocs. I'm sure you guys do, too. But this thread is specifically made for, well, new takes on the battle machines introduced in the Invasion From Below line. I thought it was silly at first, but it quickly grew on me when I tried out Furno's flying machine's build for myself with some spare pieces I had laying around. I realized that this line has the potential to put Hero Factory's building system to better use than ever before (and in some ways, it has. Not completely, though). Anyway, for the most part, I like the aesthetic of the mechs. I like the heft they have, but...15 dollars is just too darn much, guys. 13? Okay, maybe, but... they're just pushing it.

Anyway, here's the first revamp I've made. It's not much, and I haven't really changed anything about the actual build. There's just more meat to it, now. I've dressed it up to make a point. THIS is what I think you SHOULD be getting out of the bo... bag if they're going to charge that darn much.

http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2014/068/5/b/screenshot__10__by_nickinamerica-d79ikw3.jpg

Behold, Furno's Gunner Machine! Sorry 'bout the resolution, guys. My Sony Handicam is good for recording footage, but not for taking photos.

And no, I did not call it the gunner machine to make it sound cooler or whatever. I just wanted to emphasize that this thing isn't made for a slugfest. That sort of combat would, well, ground this thing. It just zips around, blasting foes and supporting larger, stronger mechs.

Anyway, just felt like giving this guy more muscle, especially in the legs. Before, they were just too spindly and generic. They were just normal Hero Factory character legs, and I wanted to give them that beefy, giant robot feeling. However, I'm just gonna throw this out there now. I did cheat a bit. Some of you may remember me saying a while ago that I wish they'd make the "4" plates in red, which they have not... so I made my own! I spray-painted four of them, and I'm glad I did. Two of them are on the thighs, with those extra bits added over them. It had to be this size, guys. I tried it with the shorter plates and longer plates, but neither looked that good. This, I feel, is just the right size.

http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2014/068/3/9/screenshot__17__by_nickinamerica-d79ikzj.jpg

The other two are on those added bone pieces. The designers did a decent job covering the back of the figure, but I felt like adding a little more. Those plates alone just add SOOOOO much muscle to the thing and make it more heavily armored all around. I kinda gunked up the spray paint on these and was going to give them a second coat, but decided not to because this weathered look seemed fitting, like the paint's coming off the back of the robot because of the jet engines' exhaust. Also, I moved the tank up a peg. For some reason, the instructions tell you to place it so that it'll just flop around, which is... dumb. In my head canon, it's a fuel tank... an extremely heat resistant one, considering the engines are on either side.

http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/068/a/7/screenshot__16__by_nickinamerica-d79ikyj.jpg

Here's a view of the machine from overhead. Some have made fun of the whole helicopter canopy feel these have going on, because it clearly doesn't offer the heroes much protection. I personally like being able to see who's piloting the mech, a la Exo Force, but agree that these things are just too darn open. So, I added more stuff. I'm pleasantly surprised by how flush the beefed up cod piece wound up being with the canopy, and how much more of Furno is now covered by it. I also wanted to cover that one exposed ball joint on the top, and, again, enhance that giant robot feeling.

http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/068/9/8/screenshot__14__by_nickinamerica-d79ikwm.jpg

I understand if some of you think I used too many of those breakout wave 2 armor add-ons, but I'm pleased by how well they've all meshed together. They give it a really centralized, sturdy look. My set came with an extra nozzle piece, so I put that on top. You could pretend it's a megaphone or a siren that blares as Furno sweeps through the streets, telling people to evacuate. Or, maybe it's a nozzle that sprays flame-retardent gunk to put out fires! It could be anything. That's the magic of legos.

http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2014/068/0/b/screenshot__15__by_nickinamerica-d79ikxp.jpg

You might expect all that extra plating to get in the way and make it harder to get the figures out ('specially that top one), but nope! It opens up just fine. In fact, I love how it looks with everything opened up. It looks like Furno could grab onto that bottom part and climb into the thing from the ground, if needed.

http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/068/8/5/screenshot__18__by_nickinamerica-d79il0f.jpg

Aaaand here's one last view of it from the side. Again, nothing's changed much in terms of the structure, but I hope that the extra plating does add something to that beefy, giant robot feel. Lego had a GREAT idea, and I'm glad they rolled with it. These things are so much more fun and interesting than the heroes we've been getting for a while now, and they really do feel... BIG.

I'll be making a revamped mech for each of the other heroes, however most of them will be much, MUCH more extensive than this one, in that they'll have different builds altogether. Next month, you'll see Stormer's new mech, which will be very, VERY different. Hopefully, this thread won't end up locked before then from inactivity. For now, feel free to share any revamps and/or mocs you've made inspired by the Invasion From Below line!

 

 

 

 

Edit: Images linked due to their file size. Posted images in BBC should be around 100 kB.
-Wind-

Edited by -Windrider-

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The Toa- A Bionicle Retelling by NickonAquaMagna http://www.bzpower.com/board/topic/25275-the-toa-a-retelling-of-bionicle/

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This is a brilliant revamp. While I love the elegant simplicity of the original set, you did a phenomenal job making up for its shortcomings. You did a fantastic job enclosing the cockpit with additional armor shells, and the end result is quite elegant. The one change I'm not so fond of is the change in the size of the lower leg shells. I kind of liked the top-heavy design of the original design, as the original lower legs helped it look beefy but still nimble.

 

I feel like a $15 price tag on the current HF machines is pretty fair, though, considering how the piece counts compare to $13 sets of the past. Furno Jet Machine, for instance, has a higher piece count than any BIONICLE canister set or any previous mid-size Hero Factory set. While the nine-piece minifigure and minifigure accessories account for some of that high piece count, BIONICLE canister sets were subject to similar piece count inflation — the largest of them by piece count is Toa Mahri Kongu, whose piece count was inflated by 16 Cordak mini-rockets. Not to mention the number of pins and axles that added to BIONICLE piece counts. When you factor in economic considerations like inflation, the $15 price tag seems quite equitable for a constraction set of this size.

 

Incidentally, what does the final piece count of this model come to? From what I can tell, you added exactly five pieces to the total piece count, so it ends up with a piece count of 84. So while the changes might have added to the production cost, it's definitely still comparable to the other $15 sets this year as far as complexity is concerned.

 

I believe this topic will probably be moved to the BIONICLE-based creations subforum, so hopefully that will increase its exposure within the MOCing community and really showcase what possibilities a few simple changes to an official set can offer. I tend to prefer simple modifications like this to full revamps, because for the most part they are able to maintain the features that make the original set great while still improving on some of the set's weaker areas, instead of completely re-imagining the set and possibly losing its distinctive character in the process.

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I used those plates on the shins to hide as much of the skimpy robot skeleton underneath as possible, and the parts that cover the knees fit really well with the pieces on the thighs. It's still very top heavy, I just wanted to cover as much of the skeleton as possible, and make it as sleek and "flush" as I could with what I had.

 

About the price... for me, it's not the number of pieces used when it comes to constraction figures so much as what you can do with them. We all know that, well, they CAN'T be priced like "normal" sets because the hyper specialized pieces we see a lot of in these sets are super-duper expensive just to mold. That said... I simply can't appreciate that soooo much money apparently went into producing the minifigs and capture pods that the rest of the figure HAS to suffer as a result so Lego can break even. Like you said, it had shortcomings, and I wanted to remedy that and just make it an all around better toy. In the end, I added nine pieces, but that really isn't much. I just wanted to show how, yes, a few measly modifications can wildly change something's image if applied right. Would you honestly say that THIS slightly beefed up take on it would be unreasonably priced at 15 dollars, and not 16 or 17? Just curious.

 

All the same, I'm glad you like the revamp, Aanchir. I was looking forward to hearing your thoughts in particular, given your opinions on all things Hero Factory.

 

 

Moving to Bionicle Based Creations...

 

Thanks.

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The Toa- A Bionicle Retelling by NickonAquaMagna http://www.bzpower.com/board/topic/25275-the-toa-a-retelling-of-bionicle/

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About the price... for me, it's not the number of pieces used when it comes to constraction figures so much as what you can do with them. We all know that, well, they CAN'T be priced like "normal" sets because the hyper specialized pieces we see a lot of in these sets are super-duper expensive just to mold. That said... I simply can't appreciate that soooo much money apparently went into producing the minifigs and capture pods that the rest of the figure HAS to suffer as a result so Lego can break even. Like you said, it had shortcomings, and I wanted to remedy that and just make it an all around better toy. In the end, I added nine pieces, but that really isn't much. I just wanted to show how, yes, a few measly modifications can wildly change something's image if applied right. Would you honestly say that THIS slightly beefed up take on it would be unreasonably priced at 15 dollars, and not 16 or 17? Just curious.

I don't have any idea what this might cost. But the fact that Furno Jet Machine has the fewest pieces of any of the mid-size sets this year makes me think that if it could have been beefed up any more with nine more pieces and kept at the same price point, it probably would have been. Contrast Rocka Stealth Machine's 89 pieces or Breez Flea Machine's 102 pieces. That's a lot of variation for sets at the same price point in the same year, and certainly enough to have a big impact on the sets' perceived value, so I think the LEGO Group would have a strong incentive to add more parts if it didn't mean cutting back on other parts of the design.

 

Furthermore, if you subtract the 16 minifigure, jumper, and container parts from the equation, the set still has 63 parts, more than any of the mid-size Breakout sets or most of the mid-size Brain Attack sets. So I don't think the production of those parts did anything to reduce the set's value. Also note that the price of mid-size sets has been steady at $13 ever since the Phantoka! So it's possible that part of the price change is just the LEGO Group trying to keep up with inflation and other economic changes over the years.

 

Are you planning to buy and revamp any of the other sets this year? I'd love to see a revamp of Stormer Freeze Machine, which is my least favorite of the $15 machine sets. But of course, if you feel the same way about that set, that's probably an incentive not to bother getting it.

Edited by Aanchir: Rachira of Time
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About the price... for me, it's not the number of pieces used when it comes to constraction figures so much as what you can do with them. We all know that, well, they CAN'T be priced like "normal" sets because the hyper specialized pieces we see a lot of in these sets are super-duper expensive just to mold. That said... I simply can't appreciate that soooo much money apparently went into producing the minifigs and capture pods that the rest of the figure HAS to suffer as a result so Lego can break even. Like you said, it had shortcomings, and I wanted to remedy that and just make it an all around better toy. In the end, I added nine pieces, but that really isn't much. I just wanted to show how, yes, a few measly modifications can wildly change something's image if applied right. Would you honestly say that THIS slightly beefed up take on it would be unreasonably priced at 15 dollars, and not 16 or 17? Just curious.

I don't have any idea what this might cost. But the fact that Furno Jet Machine has the fewest pieces of any of the mid-size sets this year makes me think that if it could have been beefed up any more with nine more pieces and kept at the same price point, it probably would have been. Contrast Rocka Stealth Machine's 89 pieces or Breez Flea Machine's 102 pieces. That's a lot of variation for sets at the same price point in the same year, and certainly enough to have a big impact on the sets' perceived value, so I think the LEGO Group would have a strong incentive to add more parts if it didn't mean cutting back on other parts of the design.

 

Furthermore, if you subtract the 16 minifigure, jumper, and container parts from the equation, the set still has 63 parts, more than any of the mid-size Breakout sets or most of the mid-size Brain Attack sets. So I don't think the production of those parts did anything to reduce the set's value. Also note that the price of mid-size sets has been steady at $13 ever since the Phantoka! So it's possible that part of the price change is just the LEGO Group trying to keep up with inflation and other economic changes over the years.

 

Are you planning to buy and revamp any of the other sets this year? I'd love to see a revamp of Stormer Freeze Machine, which is my least favorite of the $15 machine sets. But of course, if you feel the same way about that set, that's probably an incentive not to bother getting it.

 

 

Darn inflation... so many toys of today (such as Transformers deluxes) cost, like, twice as much as they did when I was the target demographic, which... really wasn't that long ago, if you think about it... and they aren't even as big or durable any more. This hasn't been AS much of a problem for, say, constraction figures since, well, they just kept getting bigger and bigger each year during a big chunk of Bionicle's run, and it's nice that they stayed at a set price for a while, but now, it seems like they're going to start giving us smaller figures for more money. I get it that that's just how it goes, because inflation is always happening, but does that mean that someday, a candy bar that's a dollar now will eventually cost five dollars? Will they have to come up with a new monetary system, with one of the "new" dollars being worth five of what we have now? You know, that really wouldn't be much of a problem if not for one thing.

 

While things keep getting more and more expensive over time... it's not like I have more money to spend on such things than I did a few years ago, so things even out. I just end up having to get fewer figures, or fewer essentials... like groceries. If, say, milk eventually becomes twice as expensive as it is now, and the consumer's wallet isn't twice as full so things match up, well, then you'll only be able to afford half as much milk. I know I'm reading too far into this and getting into another topic altogether that really isn't fitting for a place like this, but when it comes to toys, it just sucks. It's nice that, for the most part, Lego has been trying to avoid this (though some sets here and there are VERY overpriced), but I guess you can't keep this creeping problem at bay forever.

 

Anyway, I will be getting the other sets and making a revamp of each battle machine. The extent to which I alter them will vary depending on how interesting I think the official set already is. And yes, Stormer is up next. I will be buying his set if only because it does have a lot of nifty pieces that I can find other uses for, and, well, I do kind of need those goodies like Stormer's minifigure and his pilot's chair to complete the revamp that... well... I already have in progress.

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The Toa- A Bionicle Retelling by NickonAquaMagna http://www.bzpower.com/board/topic/25275-the-toa-a-retelling-of-bionicle/

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  • 6 months later...

Geez... I can't believe how long it's been. Well, here's something fresh off the back burner.

 

http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/257/e/a/evo_walker_thumbnail_by_nickinamerica-d7z5x63.jpg

 

Here's a video about it if you'd rather see that.

 

http://fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2014/257/9/5/evo_1_by_nickinamerica-d7z5wba.jpg

 

In my little head canon, there are two major builds and three weight classes. Furno's Gunner Machine is a raptor build. They tend to be light and have a pretty basic humanoid shape, zipping around the battlefield for quick rescues and the like. Most of them tend to be in the first weight class, supporting mechs. They're often seen escorting caravans and providing cover fire for frontliners, the second weight class. The second build type, and the most commonly seen in the second weight class, is the bullfrog build. They tend to have a rounder, more beastly shape, with big, reenforced legs supporting their bulky bodies. We'll delve into those more, next time. Evo's Demo Machine falls into the third weight category, the redeemer class. These are the largest mechs, only called in to deal with threats too big for even the frontliners to topple. They're slow and heavy, and most are incapable of flight. If you bring one of these giants in, there's going to be a LOT of collateral damage, hence why they're not used as much as the smaller mechs. As for it's build type, this one a mixed class. While it stands upright like the raptors, it also has some more unique components, and it's too heavy to fly. It is usually carried into battle by an airborne transport and dropped into the battlefield to shake things up, to put it mildly.

 

http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/257/6/f/evo_7_by_nickinamerica-d7z5wdj.jpg

 

During peace time, this machine was used for both construction and demolition. One day, it would be called in to hold support beams in place while a construction crew welded them together, or to lift large cargo containers out of a truck and things like that. The next day, it would single-handedly destroy a condemned building. Since the invasion from below began, it's been purchased by the Hero Factory and converted into one of the toughest battle machines they have, boasting more armor and heavy duty equipment (and weaponry!) than ever before. Once this thing gets going, it's hard to get it to stop.

 

http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/257/8/7/evo2_by_nickinamerica-d7z5weo.jpg

 

As you can see, the changes go a little deeper on this one than the last revamp I showed off. I liked the original, overall, but it always looked sorta half finished to me, especially in the legs. Sure, they did a good job of holding the thing up, but there was no real articulation below the knees, and, well, I found that unacceptable.

 

http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/257/d/3/evo_8_by_nickinamerica-d7z5we9.jpg

 

the new legs have hinged ankles, which have a surprising range of left to right movement while making them sturdier than the tried and true open ball and socket build these figures usually have, and lego understandably wanted to avoid with this one. I also joined the ends of the sockets on the knees with a 3-stud-long technic axle with a ball joint in the middle, to give the next joint somewhere to grab. The added range really isn't much, but when the legs get to be this long, it makes all the difference. At one point, I threw a coupla' ultrabuild sockets in there to re-enforce the ankles, but they ended up looking really spindly and unfittingly open. When I got tired of how bad they looked, I removed them and was surprised to see that this thing doesn't really need them.

 

http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2014/257/e/f/evo_5_by_nickinamerica-d7z5wcj.jpg

 

Yes, it's heavy, moreso now with everything I've bulked it up with added on, but it stands up pretty easily. Sure, if I lean it uncomfortably far this way or that way, something's gonna give and it'll fall over, but at least now I can position the feet pretty much wherever I want as long as I keep the top half pretty level. They just feel so much more natural than before and it makes this guy pretty fun to pose. I'm also pretty happy with how the shape of the legs turned out. I may've overdone it in some places, like the knees where just a 4-stud-long shell piece is enough to stop it from collapsing on itself, but I was just trying to make every part flow together in one cohesive mass, and the added knee guards seemed to complete it.

 

http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/257/3/b/evo_4_by_nickinamerica-d7z5wcb.jpg

 

As for the body, I didn't like it very much, before. Oh, sure, I liked the frame, the shape of it, the idea of it... but it was just so gappy and bare-bones looking, I felt the need to fill in those cracks.  As I kept finding new places to cover up and beef up, I kept worrying it would ruin the structural integrity of the whole thing sooner or later, but to my surprise, the more shells I piled on, the better it seemed to hold together, and the less things just sorta flopped around. Even something as simple as covering those exposed ball joints on the top of the shoulders helped. I'm especially happy with how much of the gappiness is gone thanks to that yellow plate on the back alone. I feel more comfortable picking this thing up around the waist than I did at first thinks to how much more it feels like I'm picking up one solid object, now. Granted, it'll be a little harder for children with small hands to pick up, but... eh. This is just a toy made for me. Evo doesn't have quite as much protection from the sides as Furno does, but at least he doesn't look like he's going to fall out of the seat if he sneezes or something, now.

 

http://fc04.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2014/257/b/2/evo_3_by_nickinamerica-d7z5wbl.jpg

 

As for the arms, these went through the most changes. I tried to keep the left arm simple and light enough that you could see this being in an actual set released by lego. Just a few pieces arranged just right can go a long way. I definitely overdid it with the right arm, though. This thing is heavy, and while the elbow is pretty strong, the shoulder can only hold this up so high for so long. Still, I just really like the way it looks, and the entire front of it does spin around. As much bulk as I added to the body, there's still just enough clearance for it to spin at the waist. It takes a bit of force now that this thing is twice as heavy as it used to be, but it's so darn fun to do now with the new arms.

 

I had to be very picky with which colors were distributed to where. I didn't want there to be too much yellow or gunmetal, and I didn't want to make it look stripey like a bee or something. I wanted the arms to have SOME yellow, so I'm glad I found another place for those shells with the Hero Factory insignias that tie it all together pretty well now, in my book.

 

http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/257/a/2/evo_6_by_nickinamerica-d7z5wd5.jpg

 

One thing that Aanchir in particular really liked about the first revamp that I found pretty interesting was that I DIDN'T actually change much about it. I just... added a bit to what was already there, throwing in a few extra pieces in just the right spots to make it feel more complete... and that's what I tried to do again here, though obviously on a much larger scale. As many changes as I've made to this thing, I still wanted it to resemble the original set enough to be instantly recognizable as just that. That said, I realize that with this upgrade, I'm really pushing the limits of what Lego is allowed to do with their toys, and I understand if it's just a tad on the busy side for some people. However, I'm sorry to say that the rest of what you'll see from me in the future are not so much light upgrades of what was already there as they are completely new battle machines that don't resemble the original sets much at all. Still, I hope you'll like the new machines I've whipped up.

 

Well, that's it for today. Don't worry, it won't take me another six months to show what else I've been working on.

Edited by Tufi Piyufi
Oversized pictures linked.

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The Toa- A Bionicle Retelling by NickonAquaMagna http://www.bzpower.com/board/topic/25275-the-toa-a-retelling-of-bionicle/

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