[MOD] CHI Fluminox

[TheOneVeyronian]

Hello again!

I'm back with another MOD, this time it's a mod of 70211 CHI Fluminox, which to be honest was in desperate need of modding once I'd built it from the instructions. You can see my first MOD, which was of the other Chima Titan CHI Sir Fangar, here.

So here it is:

Front:

LEGO Chima - CHI Fluminox MOD 1 by TheOneVeyronian, on Flickr

Side:

LEGO Chima - CHI Fluminox MOD 2 by TheOneVeyronian, on Flickr

Back:

LEGO Chima - CHI Fluminox MOD 3 by TheOneVeyronian, on Flickr

Focus on weapon:

LEGO Chima - CHI Fluminox MOD 4 by TheOneVeyronian, on Flickr

Pose:

LEGO Chima - CHI Fluminox MOD 5 by TheOneVeyronian, on Flickr

Again, it stays relatively truthful to the original set, but still boasts a variety of MODs:

• Most of the gaps in the torso were filled out, especially at the neck, sides and pelvic area, which involved adding a lot of Technic inside the torso to achieve what you see.
  
• A few extra shells were added to the back, and the connection for the 4M shell was moved down a little to make room for the piece used for wing articulation.
  
• The ugly wing gimmick was removed and replaced with a set of articulate ball joints, and the wings themselves got another set of stylized feathers to make them appear fuller.
  
• The second set of friction joints were removed from the ankle joints to reduce the leg length and thus reduce the apparent "gangliness"
  
• Modded the weapon and transformed it from a longbow to a crossbow. This also allows for easier posing, since Fluminox no longer needs both hands to hold the weapon.
  
• Added a flaming feathered bird tail. The outer two stylized flames can move inwards and outwards, useful for flight poses.
  

Comments are very welcome, and like with my Sir Fangar MOD, you're welcome to borrow some of my ideas to improve your own Fluminox. Extra pictures available on request. And lastly, enjoy!

[Agent Fusion]

Very nice improvement, especially on the weapon!

[WARHEAD]

I really like the look of that crossbow!

[Hunter1]

A lot better than original one! Rally good work! I love his armor and crossbow.

-H.unter

[Lyichir]

I think in general you've made some improvements. I especially like the tail. A few issues I see: firstly, his torso is more filled out but much less shapely. The use of the gold "tail end" pieces makes the whole thing look boxy, as opposed to the thin-waisted look of the torso shell on its own. Secondly, I think you may have gone a little overboard on the back armor. The trans. neon orange shells create an unsightly bulge in the upper back, and the flame shell detail from Hero Factory looks unsightly and its opaque nature doesn't match any of the other flame details on the figure.

[TheOneVeyronian]

I think in general you've made some improvements. I especially like the tail. A few issues I see: firstly, his torso is more filled out but much less shapely. The use of the gold "tail end" pieces makes the whole thing look boxy, as opposed to the thin-waisted look of the torso shell on its own. Secondly, I think you may have gone a little overboard on the back armor. The trans. neon orange shells create an unsightly bulge in the upper back, and the flame shell detail from Hero Factory looks unsightly and its opaque nature doesn't match any of the other flame details on the figure.

I can see your point Lyichir, so I removed all those offending pieces you describe to see if it makes a difference. This is what it looks like with the tail ends and some of the back armour removed:

LEGO Chima - CHI Fluminox MOD 6 by TheOneVeyronian, on Flickr

LEGO Chima - CHI Fluminox MOD 7 by TheOneVeyronian, on Flickr

I did consider using the other connector block for the wing connection (like Vardy uses), but it doesn't fit with Fluminox's shoulder armour unfortunately, which is a shame as I could have used a larger shell on the back with the other connector. I guess sometimes less is more though. The gaps in the torso still don't look too bad even with the tail ends removed. I'm also limited by my limited parts library as I didn't buy a second Fluminox (like I did with Fangar).

I could have used a 3M shell on the wing connector though, but that didn't look very good anyway due to the asymmetry.

Anyway, thanks for the comments. If you're wondering what the crossbow string uses, it's this new dewback bridle piece, borrowed from my Dewback

Maybe when I get some more beast feet, I might also be able to give Fluminox some real talons, rather than the static Piraka feet

(p.s. sorry about the pictures in this post - it's nearly midnight where I am so I had to take these with the flash on, but they should show what I want them to show )

Edited June 1, 2014 by TheOneVeyronian

[Leewan]

Yeah, I think it's better that way, it's not as well armoured as before, but it's not bad. I think the back / tail area would be better with only this part. At least it would be more consistent, even if I understand that Pyrox / Furno's part sticks better to a fire-themed character.

[DraikNova]

It seems just a little too much for my tastes, but the bow design is pretty awesome. Making the tail a lot simpler and shorter would make it more like a real bird (which, considering that it is a six-limbed anthropomorphic bird of fire, may be a rather strange concern, but it is still a valid one).

[DuckBricks]

The bow screams awesomeness... Love how the "strings" are actually used to fire the Zamor Sphere... Is it possible to post instructions? I'm planning on picking this one up on my trip to Asia this summer.

Edited June 18, 2014 by legozebra