[MOC][WIP] BAWS MT - Armored Core VI

[biggest_jr]

Hey y'all! I'm relatively new to MOCs, and I think it's time to start seeking out experienced advice. I hit a wall in my current project: a minifig scale BAWS MT from the recent Armored Core. (I'll include reference images below)

As you can see, it's lacking a forearm. Ideally it would be compact (< 3 studs wide), sturdy, and still maintain the angular/sloping shape of the reference. I feel like I painted myself into a corner with the odd transition from the shoulder joint pins to the elbow joint liftarm, but I'm so happy with the shoulder joint that I don't think I can change it. Honestly, I'm even a bit disappointed with the thickness of the upper arm, but I felt I needed the extra layer of plates on each side in order to lock in my convoluted SNOT setup inside.

I'm obviously going for aesthetic fidelity to the original, but the other guiding principle of this MOC is sturdiness and swooshability. I really want it to work as a toy - maybe a slightly higher age range, but a toy nonetheless. Eager for any advice, and I'm happy to talk through it!

Here's a Bricksafe folder with reference images, extra angles, and the arm's inner frame.

[biggest_jr]

I've been trying to use brackets, SNOT bricks, and half pins to make a 2 stud wide core with plates on either side, but I'm sorely lacking space. Does anyone know of clever and compact ways to wrap bricks/plates around a technic beam?

I also thought about using a different kind of elbow joint. The 3x3 disk joint is strong and faithful to the reference, but those damn technic beams are causing problems. 

[Murdoch17]

  On 12/25/2024 at 5:51 PM, biggest_jr said:

I've been trying to use brackets, SNOT bricks, and half pins to make a 2 stud wide core with plates on either side, but I'm sorely lacking space. Does anyone know of clever and compact ways to wrap bricks/plates around a technic beam?

I also thought about using a different kind of elbow joint. The 3x3 disk joint is strong and faithful to the reference, but those damn technic beams are causing problems. 

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Have you tried Knights Kingdom click-joints? Try looking under the Technic brick category on Bricklink... also, I think this MOC looks awesome. I can't wait to see it finished!

[biggest_jr]

Thanks! I think that's what I'll try next. Unfortunately, that means I might have to get creative with hiding/dressing up the joint.

[biggest_jr]

UPDATE! I was able to narrow the arm by a whole stud!

Here's the bricksafe album with more pics, including the inner structure.

Basically I used two layers of plate/tile to create the shapes I wanted, then I used just so many 2/3 tall round SNOT bricks to hold them all together. I toyed around with other joint mechanisms, but ultimately I really wanted to use the disc joint since it's extremely sturdy AND it's aesthetically perfect. There are little things here and there that I would love to clean up (the raised tile on top of the forearm comes to mind), but I'm definitely happy enough to call it a complete first draft.

I need to go back and tweak the torso since it was built with a different shoulder mechanism in mind, but pretty soon I'll be working on weapons!

Feedback always appreciated, and I'd be glad to share the studio file if anyone's curious about the rest of the build!

[biggest_jr]

Another update! I completed the first full loadout: rifle and back-mounted missile launcher!

~ More pictures here ~

Pretty happy with how these turned out. The rifle was a bit of a struggle to make it more than a boring rectangle (it's accurate to the source material, I swear), but some fooling around with jumper plates gave me a really nice subtle step. The missile pod was a similar story; for a while it was just a box. I'm really pleased with the individual missile bays, and I had some fun with NPU on the rear grille (revolvers for that nice obtuse angle). 

Since my main goal with this MOC is to include as many play features as possible, the missile pod is on a hinge and the whole thing slides right out of the "flatbed" for easy equipment swapping! It's kind of like the play feature from 10315-1 Tranquil Garden where a completely tile-covered block can slide in and out without clutching, except my version has a long pin to lock it in place:

As always there's more work to do before I commit to publishing and ordering myself parts. I should test build the rifle & missile launcher to check stability before moving on to the next loadout. Remaining equipment includes: back-mounted grenade launder, shoulder-mounted surveillance gear, SMG, handheld missile launcher, shotgun, and shield. There's also a good deal of color/texture work I want to do, but I'm not sure where to begin to be honest. 

Most importantly, I need to build some kind of adjustable display stand; the weight is getting out of control. Something that would allow for multiple poses like a gunpla action base. It might be cool to have that double as a hangar/garage to display all the equipment I want to make. That said, the new heavy duty gear joint in the T-Rex fossil set might be the perfect solution, since only the waist joint is having problems. Has anyone had a chance to try that out yet? How well does it move and how much can it hold? Any thoughts on that or a display stand would be hugely appreciated!

Hopefully I'll post more soon!

[Daiman]

nice work, glad you got the issue solved.

[biggest_jr]

More updates on the BAWS MT! 




I finished a handful of loadouts now, meaning a ton of new weapons. The SMG is gorgeous, I'm definitely building two for the final product. The rifle got a revamp, and it's looking better than ever. The shotgun came out great - the lever action is on a hinge, so that's fun! The hand rocket launcher is for sure a compromise, but I still think it looks great. Working with 3x3 cylinders was extremely limiting, but anything else would have been disproportionate. The shield was a major headache, but I'm so proud of the mechanisms involved. It's arm-mounted and it deploys in stages:

1. It begins in its stowed form, parallel to the forearm and only about half the surface area.
2. The mount on the arm has a sliding-door-like mechanism so the shield can slide down past the hand (there's a bar and clip locking system for the stowed position preventing unwanted sliding).
3. There's then a hinge at the end of the "sliding door" that swings the shield around in front of the hand. During this step, the handle is un-clipped from the interior of the shield so it can swing into the palm of the hand.
4. And for the main event, the outer shell of the shield is on another "sliding door" mechanism so it can telescope out to its full size.

An absolute beauty, but undeniably heavy for those relatively thin arms. That's an issue I ran across a lot while test building, and I think the only real solution is to prop up the shield and other heavy weapons with transparent supports. Oh well, I guess.

I've also gone back to do some detail work on the body, including some recoloring. (I officially have resolved every issue in the color validator, so it's absolutely legit now.) Notably, I put the "skirt armor" on hinges to allow for wider hip motion - you can see that in the SMG action shot above.

I'm getting closer and closer to the finish line now, just a couple more pieces of equipment and some way to display it all at once. I'll probably publish the full package as well as the individual bits of gear in case someone wants to build a portion of all this junk. Here's hoping it doesn't take too long to put together instructions!