Exo-Force, for those unfamiliar, was a toyline created by Lego based on mecha anime. Four pilots - Hikaru, Takeshi, Ryo, and Ha-Ya-To - fought against an army of robots led by Meca One. It ran for three years, produced an absurd amount of sets, a comic series, and ridiculous brightly-colored anime hair for your minifigs. While I've never been able to get into anime, mecha or otherwise, I did love Exo-Force, ludicrous hair pieces and all.
(I always thought the hair bore an uncanny resemblance to pufferfish and sea urchins, but that's just me)
Iron Condor:
Built on the technology of the Fire Vulture, Thunder Fury, and Sonic Phantom before it, the Iron Condor composes the bulk of the robot air force. Its left arm is equipped with a flamethrower, concealed behind a red-hot titanium claw. The right carries a claw as well, but instead of flamethrower packs a missile launcher and pair of double-barreled shotguns. The default payload of the launcher is a magnetic delayed-EMP rocket - after connecting with the target, electromagnets in the warhead activate, securing it to the enemy machine. The rocket then discharges a potent electromagnetic pulse, frying the target's circuitry and immobilizing it - in midair combat, the rocket is lethal. Condors have also been known to use the magnet in the rocket without firing, snagging an enemy mech with a punch before finishing it off with the shotgun, flamethrower or claw. Such brutal, close-range tactics rely on speed and stealth - like its namesake, the Condor comes in like a metallic bird of prey, gliding silently before letting out a supersonic scream from its booster jets. Since the robot pilot needs no air to breathe while flying or protection from the wind, the cockpit is omitted in favor of lightness. This leads to the Condor's greatest weakness: one well-placed shot to the torso and control area will drop this ferocious metal bird like a stone.
The Iron Condor is the first Exo-Force set I ever tried to rebuild. This is currently the third version I've done. In previous builds I had replaced the rocket launcher with a chaingun, but here I've kept the original rocket launcher... with a few extra guns. I like how the launcher-arm turned out; I was trying to keep the design sleek while still fitting that massive gun on his arm. The feet have been reworked to be less like boots and more like claws - they're not as talon-like as some of my earlier attempts, but I think they strike a nice balance between the two.
Blade Titan:
Takeshi isn't gentle on his mechs. The Grand Titan wound up getting punted across the mountain like a football, the Supernova flattened after its second outing, and the Blade Titan has more than its share of smashings and dents. After one particularly fierce raid, Takeshi asked the repair crew if they could repaint the battered machine - only, instead of the original, brilliant white, black to complement the dark red. It's quite the sight to behold on night raids, silhouetted against the explosions and general chaos that surrounds Takeshi on the battlefield. Armament consists of Takeshi's signature chaingun, the Titan Buster, and a spinning shield capable of extending a defensive forcefield as well as slicer blades. Though if an unlucky robot gets close enough to the Titan, Takeshi has been known to use his fists - both to conserve ammo and for 'stress relief'.
The Blade Titan was my first Exo-Force set, and the second one I revamped. Though the Condor is my favorite, I'm still proud of how the Titan came out. Especially the gun. The shield I reworked so that it covers the side of the Titan's arm instead of the front; it required some extra gears to put a 90-degree bend in the system, but it came out alright. It's probably the least flexible out of the three mechs, but that gun is so worth it =)
Sky Guardian:
Hikaru's always been suited to mech combat in a way that few other pilots are. For one, he's one of the few pilots to master sword combat in a mech, be it with the Stealth Hunter, Silent Strike, or now the Sky Guardian. Secondly, he's a crack shot with a sniper rifle, downing mech after mech like an expert instagib player. Finally, that he can do all this in midair and at high speeds boggles the mind - but not the capabilities of the Sky Guardian. Hikaru pushes the machine to its mach-speed limits and then some, picking Iron Condors and Sonic Ravens out of the sky without breaking a sweat. Bigger game is dealt with using the under-barrel plasma grenade launcher, longer shots are dealt with by alighting on the mountainside and using it like a bipod.
I had never attempted a revamp of the Sky Guardian before, so I'm glad it came out this good. I've had it in mind ever since I created that sketch of it. The gun was definitely the hardest part to design - I finally settled on this, and I like it nearly as much as the Titan's chaingun. The sleeker Thornax launcher fits the design much better than the old Zamor launcher did too. Also, I wonder why Lego never bothered to give any of the Exo-Force mechs a scope on their guns. The cockpit is also improved - the skeletal, open cockpit didn't make much sense to me for an airborne mech, so it's sealed up and streamlined. Finally, there are additional jet turbines on the back, because you can never have too many boosters.
Anyhow, I hope you enjoy these revamped mechs from one of Lego's best series yet! Comments and the like are appreciated.
-Jaga
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