Tag Archives: Tachikoma

Five mechs for fighting in the wasteland

Bartosz Sasiński has been busy building LEGO models this 2024. His new line of light-blue mechs are part of a diesel-punk series named “For Fuel!” The hero of this lineup is the sword-wielding M-D1 walker brandishing the golden blade from various Ninjago sets. This build features a number of rarer parts used to great effect: The horns in bright light blue are from 76414 Expecto Patronum, and the gold tubes were only available in two sets from 2021.

Amazing build and massive sword aside, I’d argue the greatest strengths of this walker are two-fold; its outstanding color-scheme, and its party of allied mechs. The medium blue of the armor contrasts with iron brown of the mechanical parts. These fighting vehicles have seen some hard use in unforgiving conditions and the rusty color of the struts and joints reflects that.

M-D1

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Smile for the tachi-camera!

A problem I sometimes have when building with LEGO is that I think too much. Not about life in general – I have a slot in my schedule for existential crises about the struggles of modern life already. What I mean is when I started building something for Marchikoma (the LEGO think tank-themed month), I was thinking about the practicalities of what I was going to build. Will it be armed? Should the legs be armoured? How many will it have, for that matter? And what will I do for the head? Well, for that last one, I came across some smiley faces from a Dots expansion pack. And suddenly, my only criteria became ‘smiley face and big gun’ – which was much more enjoyable to make. Sometimes, it’s better to turn down the brain and let a silly idea lead the way!

Smileykoma & Tinykoma

Clean-up in apartment 2A, please

Housework is a real bore. It’s so easy to procrastinate over it. It’s why I’m here writing articles about LEGO on the internet. What I really need is a robot that can do my cleaning. Not a Roomba – I’m picturing something more like Duncan Lindbo‘s clean-up bot here. Sure, it’s more designed for toxic spills than doing the dishes, but look! It’s got a vacuum cleaner in one arm, and a net for… Hmm. What is the net for? Laundry? Actually, if the videos I see on the internet are anything to go by, some animals get really spooked by robot vacuum cleaners, so is it to catch unruly pets? That doesn’t sound very safe. And I might need to widen the doorway a tad to get it into my apartment. You know what, perhaps I don’t need a house-cleaning tachikoma. Not yet. Probably.

Rana hazardous environment cleanup unit

This think tank will steal your tank engine

We’ve just had a whole month of themed builds in the form of Febrovery, but now we’re in March we’re going straight into another one. It’s Marchikoma! And who better to kick things off than Cole Blaq? This particular tachikoma (or think tank, if you prefer) draws inspiration from Howl’s Moving Castle and Castle in the Sky, with a microscale city on its back. The link to the viaduct is particularly neat. Either this city exists as a massive turntable to turn the trains around, or it lies in wait for trains to stop before stealing them. In that sense perhaps it’s a bit more Mortal Engines than Studio Ghibli. Either way, it’s a great way to kick off the month. Why not have a look at what previous Marchikomas have brought us while we wait for more?

Old V.I.C.

The six-legged paleontologist

This bright blue Tachikoma-like mech by Blair Archer is affectionately known as the S.P.I.D.E.R. despite it having two fewer legs than members of the arachnid family. However, it makes more sense when you learn that stands for Solar-Powered Interstellar Drone for Extraterrestrial Research, which explains the multitude of solar panels, which Blair cleverly co-opted from Anakin’s Jedi Starfighter. But as incredible as the mech is, I might be even more interested in the buried fossil. Look closely, and you’ll see that it’s LEGO too, made of a variety of Bionicle and Hero Factory pieces!

S.P.I.D.E.R First Mission Findings

What will you do with your AI multi-purpose shell?

March is nearly at an end, and that means the end of another fun month-long building challenge known as Marchikoma, where LEGO fans build tributes to the semi-autonomous spider bots from the Manga/anime franchise Ghost in the Shell. When I saw this entry by Oscar Cederwall (o0ger) I was blown away. Not only does the model capture the aesthetic of the source material in a unique but instantly recognizable way, there are some great part usages to call out.

Personal AI Multi-Purpose Shell

The ice skates make perfect details on the feet, and the microphones used as the primary eyes are spot-on! Also, check out the hands made from Hero Factory minifig arms. But one of my favorite parts is used as the top of the head: it’s a Bionicle armor element that was used on the legs of the Star Wars constraction figure of the Range trooper from Solo: A Star Wars Story.

Friday Night Fights – Koma Combat

Welcome back fight fans, to Sin City Nevada for another round of Friday Night Fights! Tonight we’re recapping the best of Marchikoma – the yearly think-tank build month. Let’s go to the tale of the tape.

In the Bley corner we have Cole with his Jigatsu MZ-5000 (with cool truck):
Jigatsu MZ-5000

In the Green corner we have Blaq with his AMT 853-JH:

AMT 853-JH

Yes you read that right, Cole vs Blaq, in the first and probably only FNF self contest – Despite my best effort, Cole Blaq’s efforts last month was jaw dropping good. And of course if you missed any Koma’s – you can see an overview of all the builds here.

As usual, constant reader, you are tasked with deciding the outcome of this bout by way of comment. On the last edition of Friday Night Fights, Micro GARCs, Jacob wins the race 8-5 ! Tune in next week for another action packed edition of Friday Night Fights!

The UAU6 “Winter Moon” Shines Brightly

Brian Kescenovitz‘s (mondayn00dle) Tachikoma style tank was inspired by Deviantart user flyingdebris’ concept art. It is beautifully done and elegant in its execution. It almost appears to be a Mondrian inspired work of art.  Notable design elements are the deft use of sticker remnants, the smooth clean lines, and the use of the chainsaw elements to create a one plate stud reversal in the turret. The offset mounting of the white half-domes of the legs/ wheels is also an impressive bit of design work.  This “tank” is so esthetically pleasing and friendly looking, I think it would actually make any town it invaded that much more pleasant for it.

UAU6 "Winter Moon"

$165 Million Plus Interest

It’s been about a year since we last heard from David Collins (intrond) who returns to TBB with a sci-fi model simply titled “485”. This quasi-Tachikoma strikes a nice balance between smooth armored sections on top and the mechanical details beneath.

485

As for the title, I thought “485” seemed too stiff and the soundtrack for Ocean’s 12 was playing in the background.