...And This Isn't Another "Battle for the Gold Mask" Entry

[Nuju Metru]

 

Hey all!

 

It's weird to post two creations so soon after one another in BBC, this coming right on the heels of my Uhuraz revamp (my BftGM contest entry). But hey, the Thanksgiving weekend - which entailed being reunited with the bulk of my MOCing pieces - turned out to be a productive one for me. This is a smaller MOC than Uhuraz, but it's a wholly new creation, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

 

Voila Soraya. She's a BZPRPG character of GSR's, a feisty Dashi seamstress who, like her submarine bunkmate Nihi (a character who actually belongs to me), finds herself tangled up in an adventure she didn't necessarily sign up for. Soraya's known and adored by the BZPRPG player base for her proletariat charm, her unflappable honesty, and her gift for creating elaborate cocktail outfits for the nobles of her native island.

 

In my process of making a feasible Matoran-sized MOC, I took liberties with GSR's visual description of Soraya. I actually hardly adhered to his description (sorry, Nate!), opting instead to distinguish Soraya as herself primarily with the tools of her distinctive trade. How many BIONICLE seamstresses do you know? Exactly! Building a BIONICLE seamstress was a unique sort of challenge that I eagerly tackled. Creating sewing tools sized right for a Matoran - Soraya carries scissors, a set of needles, a smock, a magnifying glass for small stitches, a tape measure, several spools of thread, and a thimble (I couldn't find anywhere to put a pincushion...) - was the icing on the cake of this challenge; harder and more substantial a test for me was conceiving a stable, flexible, and aesthetically decent Matoran design that could support Soraya's psionic elemental color scheme.

 

As usual, the pictures here link to their larger versions on Flickr. If you'd like to look at the complete gallery, it can be found here.

 

 

 

Smile for the people now!

 

Thanks for looking! All comments and critiques are welcomed.

[Snelly]

Woah she even has scissors. 

 

I like the amount of detail you dedicate to your mocs. All the little things put together make it gorgeous. 

[Timageness]

This right here puts all of my MOCs to shame, and most of them are Titans. Awesome job, Nuju.

[Black Six]

Those scissors are adorable! And I love all the little details like the thimble and the scarves on the elbows and the supplies around her waist. Great job!

[silo]

This is awesome I love the tool belt.

[Nescent]

All of the little trinkets are great. The scissors of course, also the little needles, the thread, the magnifying glass, the thimble, the bracelets...this is a real piece of art. I wonder, the front of the Mata feet are filled in - is that because you didn't remove the backround there, or is there a piece in the foot? It looks nice. 

[Mel]

This is incredible. Nice job. ^^

Edited December 2, 2014 by Mel

[Observance]

All the little details you've given her are frankly ingenious. Those scissors are really clever, especially how you make her hold them.

 

I'll admit the neck looks odd, though. Would her head jut out too much if you laid the "hand" piece flat and attached it to her head with one of those TECHNIC ridged axle connectors?

[GSR]

In my process of making a feasible Matoran-sized MOC, I took liberties with GSR's visual description of Soraya. I actually hardly adhered to his description (sorry, Nate!)

0/10, would not accept as canon, closing the tab, alerting Black Si-

 

Those scissors are adorable! And I love all the little details like the thimble and the scarves on the elbows and the supplies around her waist. Great job!

 

 

 

But seriously: this is one heck of a thing to wake up to! (Or more accurately see at 11 PM after work and then sleep and then comment on when there's actually a spare minute, but that's neither here nor there.)

 

As with basically everyone else commenting here, I really like your take on her tools of the trade. Creating tools that are recognizable, fit the scale, and can actually work with the given pieces sounds like a heck of a challenge, and you pulled it off well. (The measuring tape around the neck is a particularly nice touch; canonically, Soraya might have all her tools in a bag, but I could see her keeping that in arm's reach. Not necessarily for work so much as so she could have something to strangle the air with as necessary, granted, but-)

 

The color scheme works well; the different blues flow together, and the more goldish-yellow and silver/gray parts are subdued enough to accent said blues rather than just conflict with them.  My one regret here is that (I'm guessing, at least) you didn't have a Kakama in the appropriate colors. (Maybe they don't even exist? If you haven't caught on yet that my actual MOCing knowledge is essentially zero, well, it is. )  The two-tone Komau fits the colors well, though.

 

I would also agree with Observance that the neck is a little strange (ostrichy is the that comes to mind), but I'm guessing that was a sacrifice you had to make for decent posability and stability.

 

Really, though: as always, you do superb work with your MOCs, and personally speaking this is a wonderful, unexpected surprise. Thank you! Now put her away until BFVA so I can take her back to the Pacific Northwest and put her on my mantle.

 

(PS: But really, poor Soraya.  Technically the seamstressing is third to the bartering and dyeing parts of her job, but I guess you never live down nearly having to single-handedly dress half a city's upper class for a massive party.  Well, never let it be said she's not adaptable.)

[Mr. Cup of Fail]

 The MOC is good and also a meh, body is really good and I like that you used that cute XT4 body piece and the new add-on armors, but the neck is a little too long (or head to high). The limbs are really good looking, I love the use of the minifigure pieces like the Bandana pieces. The hands are good looking but little too big in my opinion.

[Nuju Metru]

All of the little trinkets are great. The scissors of course, also the little needles, the thread, the magnifying glass, the thimble, the bracelets...this is a real piece of art. I wonder, the front of the Mata feet are filled in - is that because you didn't remove the backround there, or is there a piece in the foot? It looks nice. 

There are pieces in the foot. You can best see how I fit some dark blue cheeses into her toes in the picture where Soraya is measuring Nihi; look at the bottoms of Soraya's feet.

 

All the little details you've given her are frankly ingenious. Those scissors are really clever, especially how you make her hold them.

 

I'll admit the neck looks odd, though. Would her head jut out too much if you laid the "hand" piece flat and attached it to her head with one of those TECHNIC ridged axle connectors?

Yeah, I tried something like that and Soraya ended up looking like an Onu-Matoran. Her neck is rather long, yeah, but I preferred this look (and found it better suited to her character) over the hunchbacked one.

 

As with basically everyone else commenting here, I really like your take on her tools of the trade. Creating tools that are recognizable, fit the scale, and can actually work with the given pieces sounds like a heck of a challenge, and you pulled it off well. (The measuring tape around the neck is a particularly nice touch; canonically, Soraya might have all her tools in a bag, but I could see her keeping that in arm's reach. Not necessarily for work so much as so she could have something to strangle the air with as necessary, granted, but-)

 

The color scheme works well; the different blues flow together, and the more goldish-yellow and silver/gray parts are subdued enough to accent said blues rather than just conflict with them.  My one regret here is that (I'm guessing, at least) you didn't have a Kakama in the appropriate colors. (Maybe they don't even exist? If you haven't caught on yet that my actual MOCing knowledge is essentially zero, well, it is. )  The two-tone Komau fits the colors well, though.

 

I would also agree with Observance that the neck is a little strange (ostrichy is the that comes to mind), but I'm guessing that was a sacrifice you had to make for decent posability and stability.

 

Really, though: as always, you do superb work with your MOCs, and personally speaking this is a wonderful, unexpected surprise. Thank you! Now put her away until BFVA so I can take her back to the Pacific Northwest and put her on my mantle.

 

(PS: But really, poor Soraya.  Technically the seamstressing is third to the bartering and dyeing parts of her job, but I guess you never live down nearly having to single-handedly dress half a city's upper class for a massive party.  Well, never let it be said she's not adaptable.)

Glad you're happy with the adaptation, Nate! Yeah, a craftswoman's bag would've been practical, but also would've been much less visually dynamic that having Sor draped in her tools like I've done. I'm pretty sure dark blue Kakamas don't exist, and on short notice, this was the most fitting dark blue mask I had.

 

If I go to Brickfair VA, Soraya will be coming with me! She'll be along to do something about Uhuraz's cape...it's in an awful state.

 

 The MOC is good and also a meh, body is really good and I like that you used that cute XT4 body piece and the new add-on armors, but the neck is a little too long (or head to high). The limbs are really good looking, I love the use of the minifigure pieces like the Bandana pieces. The hands are good looking but little too big in my opinion.

I made the hands overlarge on purpose, because I like Matoran with big hands/feet, and because this size of finger opened up the thimble possibility!

 

Thanks all for your thoughts, I appreciate the feedback.

[tfg1_grimlock]

Not to jump on the band wagon or anything but those scissors whoa nice. Also really nice details like the blades and use of the magnifying glass.

[UngluedBike]

Loving the scissors, and just the general intricacy of the model. Excellent.

[Jayk]

What I can't get over is how it seems so cluttered, and yet so put-together--which perfectly fits the character, as far as I can see.  Exactly how you'd expect any talented artisan to look.  Well done indeed.