I feel really awful for not completing the USS Voyager in this SiG.... It's acually the first time this happens; I normally finish the builds that I commit to (in time).
But I want to participate in some way and I decided to throw myself at this 3D printed model
The subject is the Mondoshawan from "The 5th Element" movie directed by Luc Besson
From the 5th Element Wiki:
The Mondoshawan are a race of aliens that are friendly to humans. Standing slightly taller than a Human, the Mondoshawan are quasi-biblical beings that serve as the caretakers of both the Four Elemental Stones (Water, Earth, Fire, Air) and guardians of the Fifth Element. Although little is known of their homeworld or race it can be assumed it is some distance from Earth, remaining relatively secluded from the other races. Little is known of what the Mondoshawan actually look like as they are only seen wearing an impenetrable gold-metallic armour.
At some point in Ancient History, the Mondoshawan visted the Humans "before time was time". A succession of Priests were established to protect the Fifth Element and the Chamber in Egypt. Evil attempted to destroy the world 5000 years prior to the events of The Fifth Element, possibly multiple times - and perhaps even causing the Moon to form around Earth.
In The Divine Language, the word 'Mondoshawan' translates as 'guardians'.
Earth, 1914
In 1914, prior to the Outbreak of World War I, a Mondoshawan ship visited Earth, specifically the Chamber in Egypt. Upon arriving, the ship's crew were greeted by the current Priest who ensured them that the stones and Fifth Element were safe, despite an archaeologist and his apprentice investigating the chamber. After rendering the archaeologist unconscious, the Mondoshawan proceeded to extract the stones and Fifth Element. When the priest asked why the Mondoshawan were taking Earth's only defense against Evil, the Leader replied "War is coming, stones not safe on Earth anymore". The Leader (distinguished by the large spikes on his armour) was unfortunately shot at by the bewildered apprentice and was sealed in the chamber, but not before passing the Key to the Priest with the command "Pass the knowledge to the next priest as it was passed on to you". The Mondoshawan then left Earth, returning 300 years later.
Sol System, 2214
Returning with the Fifth Element as they had promised, the Mondoshawan made their way to Earth as the Great Evil returned. Unfortunately, Mangalores hired by Zorg shot down the Mondoshawan's ship as it passed Jupiter in a vicious attack that left only one survivor, the Fifth Element who was later retrieved by Human Scouts and reanimated back in New York, Earth.
Fate
Although only the Mondoshawan accompanying the Fifth Element and Elemental Stones were seen, it is assumed there are other Mondoshawan. The Mondoshawan are also excellent strategists and back-up planners. Although they failed to safely deliver the Fifth Element to Earth themselves, they did seperate the Fifth Element from the Elemental Stones, preventing the loss of them all.
The "kit" is a 3D model that can be downloaded from a number of sites on the Internet; I grabbed the STL-files from Thingiverse:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2962875
The parts where printed with my Anycubic Photon and I had to scale down the model to 66% to fit the buildplate.
I had to add a couple of supports around the backside of the body and also to support the delicate "antennas" on the head, but part from that it was printed flat on the buildplate and the model printed beautifully with almost no printing artefacts.
The model was hollowed out and I added a number of venting holes, in locations where they would be hidden when the figure was assembled. The purpose of the vents are to let air flow in and out of the model during printing so resin won't get trapped inside. And it also simplifies the cleanup of uncured resin afterwards.
The assembly is pretty straight forward, you just have to figure out which arm goes where, but that's it basically it. I had a couple of fit issues attaching the arms, so I had to trim them a bit...
Ready for primer!
Tommy
