Blind newbie needs help.

[Jeffery Mewtamer]

I recently picked-up the Master Versions of the Toa. My blindness renders me unable to read the instruction booklet, and I have no prior experience with Bionicle or Hero Factory, and what I remember from the Throwbots I had as a teenager isn't all that helpful.

 

Master of Ice was the first to arrive and is the one I've done the most with trying to puzzle things out.

 

What I've figured out:

Skeleton consiting of a torso, two lengths of "thighs" and two pairs of legs. What I've identified as thighs have a frame around their ball end that restricts the joint to hinge like movements. In addition to terminal ball and socket joints, I've figured out that each skeleton piece has a bulge in it's center that will fit a socket on other pieces.

Several pairs of shin guards, one pair slightly larger than the others that fit over the bulges on the bones.

A two-part head held together by a axle-2.

3 possible breastplates(one "skin-tight" version that extends to the crotch, two more prominent ones, all 3 with sockets to fit over the bulge on the torso's abdomen).

A pair of feet with ball sockets to attach to the ankles, and 3 pin holes on the soles.

A pair of fisted hands with ball socket and an axle hole.

A smaller pair of armor pieces I'm calling armlets that have the ball sockets.

several pieces of armor that seem to fit pin-holes using special adapters.

3 masks

assorted small technic pieces.

two pairs of small bones that I assume are meant to be wrists/ankles.

 

My current build consists of:

Assembled head attached to neck of torso.

Thighs attached to shoulders and hips of torso, longer pair used as actual thighs.

legs attached to elbow and knee joints, longer pair used as actual legs.

Shin guards attached to upper arm, thigh, and legs, longer pair used for legs.

Feet and fists attached in appropriate places.

Back of model consists primarily of exposed bones.

No idea what I'm supposed to do with any of the technic pieces or the armor pieces that lack ball sockets.

 

So, could anyone here correct any mistakes in my terminology, fix any mistakes in my half-built master of Ice, and help me finish building it? I might need help with the others as well, but I'd like to try and figure those out with what I learn from finishing Master of Ice.

 

Also, since I can't distinguish colors reliably, could anyone give me a break down on how to distinguish the different models by other details? Best I can tell, the mask of ice has a scope of some sort on it's right temple, and Master of Ice's weapons consist of to huge swords, a spear, and three dagger-like things, and the only other one I've open so far has a pointed chin on it's mask and two big freaking axes for weapons.

 

Oh, and I did figure out how to attach the spider claws to the spider mask.

[Toa Imrukii]

Do you have someone to help you? Like a family member or friend who can see? They may be able to help guide your hands in the process of building the sets. Since you lack the ability of sight it would help to have someone there. Something that frankly LEGO should to focus on in instruction manuals is the use of brail to help explain the process of how to build the sets to the blind. Anyway, it may help you to have someone on hand in times of rigorous physical processes, like building a new set.

Edited January 9, 2016 by Toa Imrukii

[MrSciFiGuy]

Since they are the same molds for armors you wont be able to distinguish colors through touch, but the bulk of the figures share the same parts minus a few special pieces. For the first wave of Masters the size will be the issue of telling the difference

Edited January 10, 2016 by MrSciFiGuy

[Grungemeister]

 

 

Best I can tell, the mask of ice has a scope of some sort on it's right temple, and Master of Ice's weapons consist of to huge swords, a spear, and three dagger-like things, and the only other one I've open so far has a pointed chin on it's mask and two big freaking axes for weapons. Oh, and I did figure out how to attach the spider claws to the spider mask.

Yes, that's right about Kopaka aka Master of Ice. I would assume the other one is Lewa aka Master of Jungle. You're basically spot-on with your descriptions of the pieces, so I'm pretty sure you know what you're doing in regards to the differences in pieces and how they go together.

 

I don't think you would have issues with the actual physical building of the sets, since you can tell the pieces apart by touch alone. Lego pieces are meant to be put in any combination you want, but I'm assuming you want to put them together as intended. In that case, you probably should get someone to help you, as Imrukii said. That way they could help you organize your pieces (which makes finding parts when needed a lot easier) and tell you how they go together. 

[Jeffery Mewtamer]

Unfortunately, I don't have access to a sighted person who would be both willing and able to assist me face-to-face, and while I know braille, Lego instructions being readily available in such a format wouldn't be nearly as useful as the digital manuals simply including text instructions.

 

In the long run, I'm more interested in Technic-heavy MOC, but I think it useful to understand how the official models made use of some pieces to get an idea of how they can be used. Especially since I've just recently picked Lego back up after more than a decade(and the last time I played with Legos with any seriousness, I still counted among the sighted).

 

Though, just earlier this afternoon, I figured out that what I previously thought were just decorative bits molded on to the armor pieces with ball sockets are actually slots for the armor pieces that lack ball sockets. At this point, I think the biggest thing I'm stumped on is the gear box and how one of the arms is supposed to be connected to it.

 

 

[Grungemeister]

The gearbox is somewhat complicated to put together, but once it's together you'll understand how it works. I agree that you should get familiar with how Technic works before trying to MOC with it. It can be confusing.

[Xboxtravis]

The gearbox is built around a bracket piece. First find the "top" part. This is a nub with two holes that is slightly off center from the other lower part. The five holes up on the bracket are the front end which will attach to Kopaka's back. With the front identified, find the attachment points for the left arm. There is a bar piece with a pin on one end and a hole on the top end. Insert the bar's pin to the bottom hole on the inside bracket of the left arm, the bar should be moved to sit flush with the inside of the gear box. Next find the pin needed to drive the gear box, it has a flat smooth end and is shorter than the other two pins of a similar design. Place the pin into the lower hole of the two hole top part with the pin facing towards the back. There are three gears which each have four round balls. If you can find somebody to help, they can help identify the difference between the two black gears and the one yellow gear, although despite color the parts are identical, so if you can't get help to sort color it will work the same.

 

Insert a black four knib gear into the bracket inside the right arm connection, it will sit there freely for now. Insert the other black gear onto the pin, this will mesh with the other gear you have placed. Place a bushing over the pin, followed by the yellow gear.

 

Now find the two small gears. One should be connected to a pin/cylinder part then connected to the middle hole on the right shoulder. Now find the other long pin with a smooth head, it is similar to the main gear pin, but is longer. First place the smooth ball onto the pin, pushing it all the way against the pin head. Then place a bushing, and then the small gear. Insert this into the top hole on the right shoulder where it will connect to the other gears.

 

Find the last long pin with a smooth head. Insert a ball piece and a bushing as before. Then find a smooth beam piece with two holes, one for pins and one for cylinders. Insert the pin through the top hole, and then place a cylinder piece facing the same way on the bottom hole. This piece will connect to the left shoulder, with the pin on the top hole and the cylinder in the middle hole.

[Jeffery Mewtamer]

Well, that answers the question of what those pieces with 4 balls surrounding a plus-shaped hole are meant to be. Most unusual gear shape I've ever encountered.

 

Anyways, Xbox Travis's instructions have lead me to a functional mechanism where I turn a knob on the figures back and it swing's it's right arm in a circle.

 

I'm assuming I wouldn't have gotten something functional if I misinterpreted which pieces are being referenced, and there were some pieces that it took me a while to figure out what was meant, so to ensure I read the directions correctly:

By a bar with a hole on one end and a pin on the other, do you mean the piece that resembles a crank handle?

Here pins refers to the bars that fit in the plus shaped holes without rotating and rotate freely in round holes while cylinders are the short pieces that fit snuggly into the round holes? This confused me at first becasue I've been calling the former axles and the latter pins.

By bushings, do you mean those spacer pieces that are the same size as the small gears and have plus-shaped holes through them?

 

Am I correct that the bracket the gearbox is built on is supposed to attach to the torso's spine with a pair of cylinders, with the middle of the 3 vertical holes on the bracket's bottom prong lining up with the ball used to attach the breastplate? And since it's obvious that the arms are meant to be attached to the gearbox instead of the torso, I have to wonder if the torso's shoulders are meant to be left bare and somewhat exposed or if they're meant to be covered.

 

And I agree with give me sweets. Even if I had known what the 4-nub gears were before, I'm not sure I would have figured out the gearbox's design on my own, but holding the assembled version in my hands, it's operation is really quite elegant, and figuring out how to build a version that affects both arms was rather trivial.

Edited January 12, 2016 by Jeffery Mewtamer

[Xboxtravis]

The torso's shoulders are covered by two identical designs. The shoulders are a two piece assembly, there is a short cup with a ball piece which attaches to a hollow angular piece that kind of resembles a animal paw. These attach to the torso's unused ball joint. The paw like pieces rest above the chest armor, and can be adjusted a bit due to the joints used.

 

Sorry about the pin/axle confusion. You got it right though!

 

The connection of the gear box involves a pin(cylinder) that is three long, a small truncated pin, a beam with a ball in the middle; and a armor plate to cover the beam with the ball. I'll need to look at the model, I don't remember how it comes togetheit

 

Edit: Just pulled open Kopaka now. His torso beam has five pin holes up top, three on the horizantal axis and another three aligned with the vertical. The top vertical pin has a half pin/cylinder with the pin inside and the Lego stud facing towards Kopaka's back. This pin is not nessicary to the final build, it is only used for orientation.

 

Below it a normal 2 wide pin/cylinder is placed facing back out. In the last hole a 3 wide pin is placed, with the two smooth surfaces facing back. These two back pins will connect to the gearbox via the top two vertical holes, on the lower three holes on the bracket. On the bottom hole a half pin/cylinder is placed with the Lego stud part inside the hole, and the pin facing back.

 

The beam with a ball is placed on it, the top pin going into the top hole of the beam. An armor shell is placed on the beam with a ball, the smooth side facing down and the bumpy side (with small pin holes) on the top.

Edited January 12, 2016 by Xboxtravis

[Jeffery Mewtamer]

The quality might be ######(don't have anyone to take better photos, and my rig is meant for OCRing books, not photographing toys)

But here are front and back images of the two I've done the most work on.]/url] If anyone could point out any obvious mistakes, it would be appreciated.

 

Note: since taking the photos, I've built and attached a gearbox to the back of the smaller of these two, through I'm either missing a pin/axle with the stop on the end or it's meant to have a different gearbox. If I'm getting the names right, I think this pair is Kopaka(larger,, weapons include two of the huge swords, a spear, nad the fancy daggers, and lua(the smaller, weapons include two giant axes, a pair of machetes, and small spear, and a pair of knives). I've also started building a third, one of the larger ones, this one with a pair of the giant sword/shields like with Kopaka, two more reasonably side swords with a curve tip on the blades, and a pair of those dagger pieces.

 

Edit: Okay, I've since built the entire set to the best of my abilities.

 

Assuming I was correct to give each Toa the same back-mounted gearbox with the only difference being whether both arms swing(if the set has a fourth 4-nub gear) or only one arm swings(if the set has only 3 4-nub gears and a crank piece), most of the spare parts I have no idea what to do with are assorted technic bits, which differ drastically between sets. Also have no idea if any of the weapon pieces are meant to be incorporated into an assembly or just stuck in the hand's axle holes.

 

As for Identifying which is which, here's what I've got thus far:

Kopaka, Ice - Broad swords, daggers, and spear weapon pieces. Paw like shoulder armor.

Lua? Jungle - Axes, Machetes. Nothing really stands out about the figure itself.

? - Broad swords, Long swords. One of the tallest figures. Has 3 of the bodice armor pieces, assumed the extras were meant to be it's leg armor.

? - Pair of shells that form giant fists around the hand pieces.Extra wide breast plate that attaches to shoulders of CCBS torso instead of pin holes in bodice. Clawed feet.

? - Some sort of hinged weapon and a spear. has curved spikes that fit pin holes on armor shells.

? Axes and long swords. Has three narrow, pointed armor pieces that make me think of insect tails/folded wings.

 

If anyone could help me put a name, element, and color to each or what to do with the leftover technic pieces, it would be greatly appreciated.

Edited January 22, 2016 by Jeffery Mewtamer