MOC: Caitlyn Gauss XL

[Aanchir]

Caitlyn Gauss, a magnetism-themed Hero. She stands 12 inches (30 centimeters) tall and uses 168 pieces. Her skeleton is heavily inspired by this MOC of Christoffer Raundahl's which I reverse-engineered back in Spring and has been a work-in-progress for about that long, though it was Pate-Keetongu's Zero-Suit Samus that inspired me to rebuild the model (which I had scrapped for parts) and bring it to a state of completion.

All images link to Flickr.

Caitlyn has an impressive amount of articulation, as you can see in the following photos. Her shoulders, hips, knees and elbows can all bend well beyond 90 degrees, and she can even stand on her tiptoes.

Full Flickr Gallery

Since building her, I have swapped the mask for Furno XL's based on feedback from other MOCists, but I don't want to take new photos unless I make some more substantial changes.

Anyway, thoughts? I'd really love to get as much feedback as possible because I certainly intend to continue refining and perhaps even completely re-imagining parts of this model. It's easily the largest humanoid model I've ever designed, and I'm sure that in the coming months I can improve it even further.

Edited December 19, 2013 by VBBN
Title Amend

[Cirkit]

That is impressive.

Doesn't strike me as a HERO-character though. The silver of the head and the head's size itself seems out of place when compared to the rest of the build. They really do need to release more of those parts in silver, and more often methinks.

I get that it's meant to be an XL, but personally the way it is now I see it working as more of a villain. Perhaps a tool/weapon might help with this, or perhaps adding another color into the mix to even things out? The fact that she has claws on both her hands and feet takes away that HERO feel a little more

Having said all that, I love the build. It's very well armored, with very few gaps from most angles. I know the legs were mostly derived from Christoffer Raundahl's MOC as seen in the link but I can't get over how great they look!

The fact that it can stand on tippy-toes makes it all the more impressive.

I know the head looks a little out of place, but perhaps adding some more square armor to bulk up those shoulders (1 square armor piece to one 4 or 5 long cladding to one ball and a blue +/o axle thingy, and all that would be attached to the empty hole in the red bones used on the shoulders, if that makes any sense) would improve the look of the entire creation as it is now and make that head look more like it belongs there.

EDIT: I forgot to add- the rest of the torso looks great. I like the use of the new Zamor launcher parts here, and the fact that you were able to give her that sort of hourglass figure, admittedly in a subtle way, but still! I'm not sure if that was intentional.. was it?

It looks great, but I believe with a little tweaking it can be made to look even better.

Why didn't I just say that? Sheesh, I talk a lot

Edited December 19, 2013 by Cirkit

[Aanchir]

That is impressive.

Doesn't strike me as a HERO-character though. The silver of the head and the head's size itself seems out of place when compared to the rest of the build. They really do need to release more of those parts in silver, and more often methinks.

I get that it's meant to be an XL, but personally the way it is now I see it working as more of a villain. Perhaps a tool/weapon might help with this, or perhaps adding another color into the mix to even things out? The fact that she has claws on both her hands and feet takes away that HERO feel a little more

Having said all that, I love the build. It's very well armored, with very few gaps from most angles. I know the legs were mostly derived from Christoffer Raundahl's MOC as seen in the link but I can't get over how great they look!

The fact that it can stand on tippy-toes makes it all the more impressive.

I know the head looks a little out of place, but perhaps adding some more square armor to bulk up those shoulders (1 square armor piece to one 4 or 5 long cladding to one ball and a blue +/o axle thingy, and all that would be attached to the empty hole in the red bones used on the shoulders, if that makes any sense) would improve the look of the entire creation as it is now and make that head look more like it belongs there.

EDIT: I forgot to add- the rest of the torso looks great. I like the use of the new Zamor launcher parts here, and the fact that you were able to give her that sort of hourglass figure, admittedly in a subtle way, but still! I'm not sure if that was intentional.. was it?

It looks great, but I believe with a little tweaking it can be made to look even better.

Why didn't I just say that? Sheesh, I talk a lot

Thanks for the feedback!

This wasn't originally meant to be a hero character or even a Hero Factory character, but I chose to swap my earlier custom head made from two hero feet with a more expressive helmet. And since I also had a gap in the chest that was the perfect size for a Hero Core, I figured I'd call it a hero. I've contemplated a couple possible solutions for the bestial look. The first is naturally to change the figure back into a villain or neutral character that doesn't necessarily even have anything to do with the HF story. All it'd take is a custom head and something else to place in that small chest cavity.

The second is to come up with alternate hand and foot designs. The issue here is that I wouldn't want to lose the articulated fingers and toes. But I've considered possibly changing the color of the hands and feet and swapping the claws for something less bestial like Silver Metallic Barraki eyes. The only thing stopping me from doing that kind of thing right now is that I don't have the parts I need in the right quantities.

A tool/weapon is another good suggestion. I tried making one but it was hard to find a design that could be convincingly held in the hand. Perhaps I should try exploring different hand designs.

The suggestion about the shoulders is definitely one I'd explore. I had avoided adding any additional armor to the shoulders because I was afraid it would look less feminine, but I suppose raising the neck joint up would solve that problem. And since the main criticism I've gotten of this MOC on other sites has been that the neck is too thin, I could kill two birds with one stone! Thanks so much for giving such detailed suggestions!

Edited December 19, 2013 by Aanchir

[Pate-keetongu]

Great work with HF parts! The body and the limbs are impressively beefed up.

However, the shape is a bit odd on some parts. I understand it if it is not supposet to be human-like (if it's a robot after all), but chest piece seems to go too far from the spine line. It's hard to describe better than that, but it looks a bit awkward. Probably moving the leg connection points a bit forward could solve the problem and create a look of a very muscular being rather than a gal with a very thick chest plate.

Despite the critism this is a well-built creation. Keep it up!

[DraikNova]

This build is beautifully armored, but the proportions seem very off. I'd recommend lengthening the legs, reducing the size of the upper arms compared to the lower ones and then giving her an actual weapon. Similarly, the head might look slightly better if it was more to the front of the MOC. If you want to make this into a villain, wouldn't a "villain core" fit perfectly instead of a hero core, with the "side-flaps" fitting under the armor?

[WARHEAD]

I REALLY like this, but I've got two gripes with it. Firstly, the red launcher pieces on the shins seem a bit off, as they are the only red armor pieces on the figure and red on this strikes me more as if it represents the underlying structure, I'd switch 'em out for a pair of gunmetal ones. Secondly, I feel this really needs a black or gunmetal head with red accents, as what you have right now sticks out like a sore thumb

[Cirkit]

Thanks for the feedback!

This wasn't originally meant to be a hero character or even a Hero Factory character, but I chose to swap my earlier custom head made from two hero feet with a more expressive helmet. And since I also had a gap in the chest that was the perfect size for a Hero Core, I figured I'd call it a hero. I've contemplated a couple possible solutions for the bestial look. The first is naturally to change the figure back into a villain or neutral character that doesn't necessarily even have anything to do with the HF story. All it'd take is a custom head and something else to place in that small chest cavity.

The second is to come up with alternate hand and foot designs. The issue here is that I wouldn't want to lose the articulated fingers and toes. But I've considered possibly changing the color of the hands and feet and swapping the claws for something less bestial like Silver Metallic Barraki eyes. The only thing stopping me from doing that kind of thing right now is that I don't have the parts I need in the right quantities.

A tool/weapon is another good suggestion. I tried making one but it was hard to find a design that could be convincingly held in the hand. Perhaps I should try exploring different hand designs.

The suggestion about the shoulders is definitely one I'd explore. I had avoided adding any additional armor to the shoulders because I was afraid it would look less feminine, but I suppose raising the neck joint up would solve that problem. And since the main criticism I've gotten of this MOC on other sites has been that the neck is too thin, I could kill two birds with one stone! Thanks so much for giving such detailed suggestions!

I try.

I don't suppose you still have that head constructed? It sounds interesting and I wouldn't mind seeing what you had before this head.

If anything, in a back-story this Hero could have been assigned as some part of the 'Savage Planet' Recon missions, and have taken a liking to the upgrades and improved upon them to make what we see before us here today?

The body would work rather well as a villain or as a beastie, but the more I look at it, the more I think of the other potential it could have.

DraikNova's suggestion of the 'villain core'/engine pin-part (like on Fire-Lord's chest or on Drilldozer) would work in filling in for the Hero Core if you decided to go that route. I could easily see other 'accessories' be placed there as well.

Perhaps those Silver Barraki eyes would work. I'd hate for this to have to go the route of others with the paw hands, with the paw being placed in the middle of the bone instead of on the end, so you can get it to 'hold' something..

I'm happy to help any way I can.

I look forward to seeing more from you in the future!

[Aanchir]

Great work with HF parts! The body and the limbs are impressively beefed up.

However, the shape is a bit odd on some parts. I understand it if it is not supposet to be human-like (if it's a robot after all), but chest piece seems to go too far from the spine line. It's hard to describe better than that, but it looks a bit awkward. Probably moving the leg connection points a bit forward could solve the problem and create a look of a very muscular being rather than a gal with a very thick chest plate.

Despite the critism this is a well-built creation. Keep it up!

I sort of get the gist of what you mean with the chest plate, but it doesn't bother me much. Moving the leg connection to be further forward would require some radical changes since a big part of this skeleton design was based on having a significant bend in the waist. However, the amount the upper body is thrust forward in this first batch of pics was a mistake; the entire body was leaning forward and I didn't notice until after I had posted the pics. You can see if you think my new photos at the bottom of this post make it look any better.

It's great to get positive feedback and suggestions from a MOCist of your caliber. I will do my best to keep those suggestions in mind in future MOCs!

This build is beautifully armored, but the proportions seem very off. I'd recommend lengthening the legs, reducing the size of the upper arms compared to the lower ones and then giving her an actual weapon. Similarly, the head might look slightly better if it was more to the front of the MOC. If you want to make this into a villain, wouldn't a "villain core" fit perfectly instead of a hero core, with the "side-flaps" fitting under the armor?

I don't understand why the legs would need to be longer. I scaled the torso to them very deliberately. A lot of BIONICLE sets and even some Hero Factory sets have ridiculously long legs, and I try to avoid that in my MOCs. I generally use the same rule of thumb that I learned from figure drawing, that being that the crotch should be around the halfway point on a figure's height. Moving the head forward would be rather difficult (believe me, I've tried), and the amount of space between the neck joint and shoulders would look rather awkward when the figure has its head tilted up. The easiest solution would be to simply use a head with a chin further forward than the Brain Attack heads and masks, but I can't manage to find or create any of those in shapes I like and colors that suit this MOC.

The "villain core" wouldn't work here; I'll explain why further down in this post.

I REALLY like this, but I've got two gripes with it. Firstly, the red launcher pieces on the shins seem a bit off, as they are the only red armor pieces on the figure and red on this strikes me more as if it represents the underlying structure, I'd switch 'em out for a pair of gunmetal ones. Secondly, I feel this really needs a black or gunmetal head with red accents, as what you have right now sticks out like a sore thumb

I've experimented with a lot of color schemes for the legs (originally, I had the "kneecap" and the launcher pieces colored the same color as an outer layer of armor), and this is the one that ended up looking the best. If I remove the red from the lower legs entirely then they start to look flat and boring. I've gotten some feedback on Facebook that the red launcher pieces look better in some of my pics of my most recent update/revamp.

A black or gunmetal head with red accents was my initial intent, but I wasn't able to cook up anything sufficiently expressive. My most recent update uses a red head with a visor that has silver/titanium metallic printing. I'll post pictures and links below; feel free to tell me what you think. In any case, I'm glad you like the model overall. It really means a lot to hear that from someone who's explored this building system as thoroughly as you have.

I don't suppose you still have that head constructed? It sounds interesting and I wouldn't mind seeing what you had before this head.

I do have it constructed, but instead of taking new photos you can see it in this picture I posted to Facebook earlier this year. This is the "first draft" of this model, if you will. Looking at it you can probably see why I didn't consider this design "finished" enough to post on Flickr or Eurobricks.

If anything, in a back-story this Hero could have been assigned as some part of the 'Savage Planet' Recon missions, and have taken a liking to the upgrades and improved upon them to make what we see before us here today?

The body would work rather well as a villain or as a beastie, but the more I look at it, the more I think of the other potential it could have.

DraikNova's suggestion of the 'villain core'/engine pin-part (like on Fire-Lord's chest or on Drilldozer) would work in filling in for the Hero Core if you decided to go that route. I could easily see other 'accessories' be placed there as well.

I'm not usually a big fan of elaborate backstories for my MOCs. Usually I come up with a name and maybe a few details like personality and powers and then let people's imaginations handle the rest. If the viewer can visualize a situation where a hero might need claws, after all, then that's probably a lot more convincing for you than any example I could pluck out of my mind and apply to this MOC.

The "villain core" piece wouldn't actually work for this. The 8x4 "engine block" shell has some ridges that protrude from the front which would collide with the "side fins" of that piece. The two pieces can only really attach if the "point" of the villain core is facing away from the center of the piece, and that would collide with the shells I used for the chest.

Perhaps those Silver Barraki eyes would work. I'd hate for this to have to go the route of others with the paw hands, with the paw being placed in the middle of the bone instead of on the end, so you can get it to 'hold' something..

I'm happy to help any way I can.

I look forward to seeing more from you in the future!

I don't mind sets that use that hand style, personally (CHI Worriz is an incredible design), but it wouldn't really work for this MOC. The forearms are just too long for that. The silver Barraki eyes didn't end up working unfortunately. Even if I had enough, they look fine for the fingers but incredibly awkward for the toes (since it makes the toes themselves seem longer rather than just having long claws at the end). And it looks even more awkward to have the tips of the fingers and tips of the toes be different colors, or to have blunt fingertips and pointed toes. Maybe I'll find another solution in the future.

Anyway, on to the new pics I kept mentioning! All pictures link to Flickr, where you can find more detailed descriptions:

"Oh, look, a mouse"

"There, there, mouse"

Running

Sitting

Hope some of these changes make a difference. This almost certainly isn't going to be my last revision, but I feel like adding additional armor to the shoulders made a big difference, once I found a design that worked. I also added some armor to the back of the legs, but I can't take credit for that design — it's shamelessly lifted from the MOC Christoffer Raundahl made that inspired this model's skeleton in the first place.

Edited December 20, 2013 by Aanchir

[Timeline15]

pretty cool, very complex, yet not at all gappy, something I wasn't even sure was possible with the HF bone system. well done. Though, she seems to have some sort of back problem. The way it bends in just doesn't look natural. Also, what was the reason behind the hands and feet? They seem a bit evil, and don't really fit with the armoured theme that HF tends to go with. It looks like she's going into battle barefooted XD.

Regardless, a great moc nonetheless.

[DraikNova]

While I like the slightly revised torso, the fins seem to aggravate the problems with the neck. I've noticed that you've kept a balljoint unused there, but I can see why that wouldn't work. Maybe one of the shortest length bones would help solve the neck issue? Generally, a human neck is significantly longer than that of a generic HF build.

[Aanchir]

While I like the slightly revised torso, the fins seem to aggravate the problems with the neck. I've noticed that you've kept a balljoint unused there, but I can see why that wouldn't work. Maybe one of the shortest length bones would help solve the neck issue? Generally, a human neck is significantly longer than that of a generic HF build.

Believe me, I understand that a HF torso beam's neck is often too short for a figure this size. I added an additional joint to the neck of both Kit Martello and her male counterpart. But I feel like attaching a short bone to the current neck joint would make the neck too long relative to the size of the head, and attaching it to either ball joint would make the neck look even skinnier, which is the issue I thought people were referring to when they mentioned concerns about the size of the neck. It's one of the reasons I'm disappointed that the friction joint isn't compatible with the Brain Attack head piece... there are not a lot of ways to increase the length of a figure's neck by just one module when the neck joint is built into the torso beam.

In any case, I do not feel like the neck needs to be significantly longer with this current head, and I feel like even if I could make the neck longer, I'd need to come up with a larger head to help compensate. I'm going to keep that possibility on the table, of course, since designing a custom head with a longer neck is much easier than increasing the length of the neck when using a prefab head piece.

[Cirkit]

I'd forgotten about those groves on the engine cladding..

I rather like the shoulder additions you've added. I would prefer if they were gunmetal to match the rest of the build, especially since the head is no longer silver, but it isn't a big issue at all.

The new helmet seems to fit in better. Fills out the large gaps that were present with the old helmet. May not be the most 'feminine' on first glace, but that's why we use imagination, after all.

And I really like seeing Caitlin in some action poses. Compared to Evo, and probably to any other XL out there, she is certainly a big build!

[Aanchir]

I'd forgotten about those groves on the engine cladding..

I rather like the shoulder additions you've added. I would prefer if they were gunmetal to match the rest of the build, especially since the head is no longer silver, but it isn't a big issue at all.

The new helmet seems to fit in better. Fills out the large gaps that were present with the old helmet. May not be the most 'feminine' on first glace, but that's why we use imagination, after all.

And I really like seeing Caitlin in some action poses. Compared to Evo, and probably to any other XL out there, she is certainly a big build!

I kept the shoulders Silver Metallic for two reasons. First of all, I tried Titanium Metallic and everything ended up flowing together far more than I wanted it to. Visually, I felt it was better if the more heavily textured handle pieces and angular shells of the chest area were a different color than the smoother armor that flares up from the shoulders. And Silver Metallic was one of the colors already in the color scheme (just barely, in the visor print) that did not already represent something else within the context of the build.

Second, I ran out of Titanium Metallic torso shells. I considered sprinkling some Silver Metallic accents elsewhere in the build as well (like the lower legs), but decided it looked better with just those shells on the shoulders in that color.

Your comments here and on deviantART made me curious just how this set measures up to other XL heroes. Naturally it is taller than them in terms of height and weight, but where exactly does it fall relative to other sets in terms of height, weight, and likely price point?

It turns out that in terms of height, it's almost exactly the same height as Witch Doctor (if you ignore his spikes) and slightly shorter than the 2008 Takanuva set. Figuring out a likely price point was a trickier challenge. I had initially estimated costs for a model of this sort at between $40 and $50 (based on Pick-A-Brick costs for the individual parts, assuming the cost of a packaged set would be around 1/2 the Pick-A-Brick cost of its components). But it turns out that this estimate might have been high.

It turns out that the weight of a model is a very good predictor of its price point, at least in BIONICLE and Hero Factory. While there were three years between the release of Takanuva and the release of Witch Doctor, they have not only the same price point ($30) but almost exactly the same weight. The weight of the $35 Jet Rocka set is not much different either. Therefore, if I had to guess, I'd say this model's cost would be between $30 and $35. "XL" hero sets have always weighed considerably less and been at either the $20 or $25 price point, so it's no wonder they tend to be smaller.

Anyway, I've made some slight changes to this model recently. I shortened the lower arms by one module and added a 5M "C" beam between the hand and wrist joint. This not only increases the posability of the hands (which previously collided with the forearm shells at many angles) but also gives the model the ability to easily grip a weapon — it just needs to have Technic handle built from a Technic axle with a ball joint somewhere along its length. This change brings the piece count for the figure itself up to 188 pieces.

Now, actually designing a weapon has been a lot more difficult. Designing weapons has never really been my strong suit, and designing a weapon for a figure so tall is an even more daunting challenge than usual. I created an 18-piece giant axe for the figure, but I decided it didn't really suit the character design, the magnetism motif, or the Hero Factory universe. It felt a little bit too "medieval fantasy" and not enough "science-fiction". I came up with a cool 18-piece repulsor shield for her wrist, but I'd still like an offensive weapon for the opposite hand. I don't know where to even begin designing any kind of firearm, like a railgun or EMP cannon, though those would probably be the most suitable sorts of weapons for this kind of character in the Hero Factory universe.

I'll take and upload more photos of the complete model once I have some weapons I'm marginally happy with. Sorry I didn't have more to share this time!

[Rocketbilly]

Excellent MOC here! I think the colour scheme is great, the armour is well placed and she looks exceptionally solid. The articulation is also very good. One part I don't like as much is the feet - specifically the clawed toes, they seem a little too bestial compared to the rest of the body.

Have you considered using Furno XL's cape? I think it could look rather cool here, but of course then your MOC would probably end up looking too close to simply a Furno XL mod. Hmm.

Edited December 23, 2013 by Rocketbilly

[Aanchir]

Excellent MOC here! I think the colour scheme is great, the armour is well placed and she looks exceptionally solid. The articulation is also very good. One part I don't like as much is the feet - specifically the clawed toes, they seem a little too bestial compared to the rest of the body.

Have you considered using Furno XL's cape? I think it could look rather cool here, but of course then your MOC would probably end up looking too close to simply a Furno XL mod. Hmm.

I've considered it, but the issue with adding a cape is that it would obscure the back of the figure. Now, sometimes this is a good thing since you don't have to put so much effort into making sure all sides of the figure are armored or streamlined — just look at the actual Furno XL set if you need an example. However, when you've already gone to great lengths to armor the figure from all sides, adding a cape makes that effort feel like a bit of a waste.

[LegoPanda]

he looks cool, i like the color combination

[Aanchir]

he looks cool, i like the color combination

Thanks! She's supposed to be a female character (hence the hourglass figure and curved waist), hence why I gave her a feminine name (Caitlyn). But she's definitely not the most explicitly female action figure MOC around.

[Shakar]

I can't believe I haven't posted here yet!

This is an awesome MOC. I wasn't fully convinced about the head, so I would say she looks even better with the Furno XL helmet. Unlike, say, Stormer's, Evo's, etc.., I feel like it looks fairly androgynous, so it works. And I really like the new chest armour you added.

The new sets feature Titanium Metallic paws, I wonder if you'll use them once you get an hold of them?

[Aanchir]

I can't believe I haven't posted here yet!

This is an awesome MOC. I wasn't fully convinced about the head, so I would say she looks even better with the Furno XL helmet. Unlike, say, Stormer's, Evo's, etc.., I feel like it looks fairly androgynous, so it works. And I really like the new chest armour you added.

The new sets feature Titanium Metallic paws, I wonder if you'll use them once you get an hold of them?

I very well might try that! Though chances are it'll be some time before I have four of them, unless they turn up on Pick-a-Brick or some Bricklink seller starts offering them at a really low price.

I sort of feel like having the hands and feet in a slightly different color from the armor improves the look, though, and the other major part of the color scheme (Bright Red) would probably be too garish. Silver Metallic might work if I had more of the paws and fingers in that color.

Glad you like this MOC!

[motorhead fan]

when i heard "Gauss" i thought it would have been some kind of weapon! An awesome build nonethe less

[Aanchir]

when i heard "Gauss" i thought it would have been some kind of weapon! An awesome build nonethe less

Thanks!

I pulled up this topic the other day to show this model off to somebody in real life, and realized that I never added the new photos I took of this model with weapons. So let me share these now. In accordance with her magnetism theme, Caitlyn now carries a repulsor shield and mass driver cannon!

Also, I've finally finished building Caitlyn Gauss on LEGO Digital Designer! Some parts aren't snapped together securely due to a lack of patience on my part (anyone who's used LEGO Digital Designer for a complex Hero Factory creation surely knows how difficult ball joints are to manipulate using the hinge tool). However, it should still be clear enough for anyone to tell how the model is assembled. Click here to download the LXF file!

Edited January 17, 2014 by Aanchir

[DraikNova]

I already saw the new weapons on your flickr, and I must say, they fit with the overall look of the MOC very well, the modified meteor blaster and it's use of Pohatu turbine pieces in particular.

About the LDD thing, does anyone know why it's so hard for it to process ball joint movement? Or why LEGO didn't make it work better once they realized it's problems?

[Lyichir]

I already saw the new weapons on your flickr, and I must say, they fit with the overall look of the MOC very well, the modified meteor blaster and it's use of Pohatu turbine pieces in particular.

About the LDD thing, does anyone know why it's so hard for it to process ball joint movement? Or why LEGO didn't make it work better once they realized it's problems?

It's just hard to hinge parts along three different axes, especially in a model with so many ball joint connections. If the hinge align tool worked on ball joints it'd help, but the hinge align tool doesn't even work consistently with regular hinges. We're unlikely to see any updates to that sort of functionality until at least LDD 5.0, whereas the past few years have only given us incremental updates of LDD 4.0. And it could still be some time before the 5.0 update happens, considering that the LDD team no longer has a way of generating its own budget now that Design by Me is gone.