Ascendant Lords – Kingdom of Vzir
Classification: Melee
Armaments:
(2) SW-VZ-DUALR
To keep the Kingdom of Vzir’s fighting forces in top condition, the female Monarch, Rin Al’ Vzir, requested her Court Engineers to completely overhaul her Vzir’ Rin reFrame to match the newer reFrame models of neighboring countries.
Keeping up with their individual personalities and fighting styles, the new Vzir’ Regalia features a slender, more agile design and is now equipped with the SW-VZ-DUALR Dual Swords. The Quorus core flight module was further upgraded to allow better low altitude mobility. This is well protected by the new armor skirting design that also acts as extra flight stabilizers.
BUILD NOTES
The Vzir’ Regalia is a rebuild of my 2015 Vzir’ Rin model. This was one of the few remaining reFrame version 1 that I had kept all these years along with his twin brother’s Vzir’ Ran.
This was long overdue for an overhaul and I actually announced rebuilding it back in 2017 with the R3build project. It just so happened that Simon Liu over at FB / IG / Flickr announced MECHTOBER 2020 which is a build challenge that tasks builders to make 1 piloted mech per week of October. I thought to myself this was a perfect push to finally finish the R3build project.
Among the 7 designs announced in the project, I exactly had 4 that I needed to update to the V3 reFrame. I intend to do the Vzir’ Ran next, then the Skalmold, and lastly the Eagle EWAC.
Inspiration and sources
Even back in 2015, the base inspiration for the Vzir’ Rin was the Face Nemesis enemy design from Xenoblade Chronicles 1. I actually played this game back on my Nintendo 3DS when it was first re-released and just loved the enemy mech designs.
With the Nintendo Switch remastered version released this early 2020, I decided to get myself a collector’s edition which included an artbook of the game. This allowed me to study the design much better with access to more concept artwork. I was also able to I apply the last 5 years of building knowledge and experience, as well as all the newer LEGO pieces, to make a much better version of the Vzir’ Rin.
WIP Process
Due to the short time window I spent building the Regalia, I didn’t have much time to take WIP photos.
I. Head Build
When I started rebuilding the Vzir’ Rin, I knew that one big thing I wanted to drastically change was the head. I always found the original head design to be too clunky looking with awkward shapes all over. A nice touch was the head “buns” ala Chun Li but this didn’t really fit in with the overall aesthetic I was going for.
The newer head design had to look sleeker while still making use of the pearl gold khopesh swords. I was really happy with how the white skis angled forming that V shape for the head and closing any weird internal gaps (more obvious in the finished build photos).
II. Torso assembly
I actually spent a considerable amount of time for the cockpit hatch cover. Originally, it was supposed to look something like the Paragon Alpha’s chest cover (as this also an Ascendant Lord reFrame that was updated to V3).
I ended up changing a few things such as not using the white Nexo Shield tile for the upper chest cover and not using the rubber stretcher piece in dark red. I wanted to keep the chest design quite compact as the end silhouette had to be feminine.
III. Waist and legs
The waist design actually follows both the Paragon Alpha and Izlude’s core assembly. The design only starts to change with the front crotch plating. I knew from the start of this rebuild that I wanted to use the huge curved tile pieces (27507) to replace the huge curved pieces (6060) in the original.
The legs also mostly followed the Paragon Alpha’s design, mimicking the placement and angles of the (gold) bad robot arms. The feet were actually the only thing I reused from the original Vzir’ Rin build.
IV. Leg armor skirting
The original design had the armor skirt pieces attached to the belt area. This made it quite bulky and the weight of all those pieces shifted the waist weight distribution backwards.
I decided for the rebuild to offload the weight from the waist by attaching the attached armor skirts to the legs using small ball joints.
The curved pieces were also supposed to be positioned as in the picture but I realized it would block the hands placement.
V. Arms and final adjustments
The last thing to build were the arms and were modeled similarly to how I did the arms for the Havoc as this was also one of my more feminine silhouette builds.
As mentioned in step IV, I moved the curved sections to make way for the arms. This also worked as it looked closer to the Face Nemesis design for the waist and added a nice shape duplication effect from the waist curved section.
Not pictured here are the dual swords which are made of the same pieces as the lower detail of the longer leg armor skirt. Combining both swords makes for a bigger double-bladed polearm weapon.
Notable Parts usage
I. Huge curved tiles
27507 Tile, Round Corner 4 x 4 Macaroni Wide
One of my new favorite pieces, especially after the Ludens build. While quite situational to use, I like using it with lampholder pieces to get this unique notched curved shape.
II. Khopesh swords
93247 Minifigure, Weapon Sword, Khopesh (Sickle Sword)
One of my favorite minifig sword pieces to use for my mechs. I used these in the original Vzir’ Rin (and Ran) so it was fitting to use them for the rebuild version.
III. Flight Unit Dome
30208 (alt 71967) Cylinder Hemisphere 4 x 4 Multifaceted
An old piece, this half sphere piece is the flight module according to the original Vzir’ Rin description. Of course I had to reuse it for the newer design. It’s a bit tricky to attach to anything other than a 4×4 round plate.
Commissions
If you’re curious about getting a custom reFrame from me, simply check out my Commissions section here in my website. I’ve written all the details you might need to order your own custom LEGO reFrame mech build and what kind of customization options you can get.
Do take note though that I only do this in a very limited capacity.
I open up slots for commissions here on my site and also announce it over at my various social media pages. I’d suggest following me on any/all of my social media pages below to stay updated on my work and commission slots.
reFRAME v3 Instruction Manual
The reFrame System is a modular brick skeleton aimed to help both new and veternan brick mech builders create their own designs in a consistent size with modular capabilities. It was originally designed to be a basis for all my mechs in the Mech Wars universe. Having gone through a number of upgrades, the V3 reFrame can now house a minifigure pilot in the chest without sacrificing aesthetic or articulation.
If you liked this article then you can help me out create more LEGO mech content by clicking the PayPal donate button below. Your monetary contribution, no matter how big or small, will definitely help me a lot in sustaining this passion 
Wow! this looks pretty amazing! though there are places that make me question the reliability of such a mech, but this is a eastern style mech, which just lets it to be less realistic, this is by no means an amazing build! i cant wait to see what you will do with the Eagle EWAC!
Thanks! Lore-wise it’s meant to be more of a ceremonial design rather than actual combat model (not that it’s weak on that side either). I do get what you mean by it but that’s by conscious design 😁
I have to start planning what I’ll do for the EWAC 😅 thanks again for the comment!
i would like to see you make a mech that follows the realistic principles of a mech being a tank support or anti infantry, but itis up to you not me… just have a great time!
Any tips for me? I’m trying to figure out what color scheme to do next; as good as blue+gold and red+black are I need other color schemes.
Also what do you think of this?
file:///home/chronos/u-bb04d914145b7af8dd128dcd138f59062a899d67/MyFiles/Downloads/blue%20lightning.jpeg
well that depends, if you want a dark color scheme i recommend using dark color, black and gunmetal are a good example; with a accent color of your choosing, if you are trying to get a colorful scheme then try mashing colors together and see what best suits you it can be white and gold, bright blue and cyan, or red and maroon. it is up to you not us
Can’t view the link (comments don’t support image attachments sadly). You’d have to upload them somewhere online for me to view it (Google Drive + set privacy to view for anyone with link works).
I usually base color schemes on the concept. One easy way to study what color schemes work, especially for mechs, is to research existing designs (from manga, anime, concept art, games, etc.). Designs that share the same concept are even better. That’s how I go about it anyway due to my experience as a graphic designer.
Also, you don’t necessarily have to limit yourself to mecha color schemes. I tend to also look at a lot of vehicle designs / color schemes.
Lastly, you can google up Basic Color Theory. Might help especially if you’re having difficulty with color palettes.