Dave's Exo-Force Deep Jungle Rantlet
     
     8112 Battle Arachnoid

     See http://www.eyrie.org/~dvandom/BW/Lego/ExoforceDJ for general line
comments.

CAPSULE

     Very nifty little mecha-arthropod.  While the partner is kinda simple
and doesn't integrate very well, the flight pod is a good extra touch to
compensate.  Recommended, verging on strongly recommended.  $9.99 at Toys R
Us ($8 price point elsewhere).


RANT


Unit: Battle Arachnoid
Type: Ambush-Attack Robot Battle Machine
Pilot: Devastator
Pilot Eye Color: Red
Main Mecha Colors: Black and orange.
Weapons: Leg-mounted laser drills, armor-cutting saws, venom-injecting
     cyber fangs, N-beam projectors
Partner: Venom Drone
Armor: 5 inches tenatium armor
Power Source: Magnetized nuclear plasma
Unit Designation: 8112
Unit Type: Ground
Nickname: None
Sticker Code: EXO47ZT8

     Bio note: If you thought Shadow Crawlers were tough, meet the next
generation.  The Battle Arachnoid may be small, but each one packs the speed,
strength and firepower of a full-sized battle machine...and they attack in
swarms.  Descending from the treetops on mecha-steel web-strands, they use
magnetic clamps to latch onto an EXO-FORCE battle machine and inject a
paralyzing computer virus into its systems.  They can even attack from a
distance with a stealthy mini-robot venom drone, or eject their cockpits as
short-range air fighters!

     Partner bio (fanfic): As part of their efforts to understand and use the
advantages of organics, the robots have started experimenting not just with
the form of animals, but also the minds of them...their venom drones are
controlled by the disembodied head of one of the jungle's many primates!
These cyborg monkeys are just intelligent enough to be reprogrammed by
positive and negative reinforcement, and when sent on solo missions they are
as agile among the trees as they were in their original bodies.

     Build Time: About six and a half minutes sorting, around 20 to build the
main model, under two minutes for the venom drone.

     Dimensions: While only having six legs, it otherwise has a spider body
(hence Arachnoid, not Arachnid).  Exact dimensions depend on how you position
the legs, but in a more or less default position it's 6" (15cm) long, 7"
(19cm) wide and 3" (8cm) tall.  The venom drone is about the size of a
minifig. 

     Colors: Mostly black with a fair amount of orange, plus some yellow and
clear yellow accents, and a very few red and gray parts.  The canopy is clear
smoky.

     Stickers: Orange and black with silver accents.  A sort of orange
bubbling through black pattern on most of them.

     Articulation: The fangs can move together.  Each leg has two ratcheting
hinges, at hip and knee.  The angles between legs are fixed, however.  Still,
plenty of useful motion from the joints we do get, and it can stand stably on
the rear four legs to let the front legs assume an attack posture.

     Weapons: The front pair of legs each has a chainsaw blade on the inner
surface, and the laser drills are on the outsides of the front legs.  Both
the attached partner and the main head have fangs, and the "eyes" of the mech
are probably the N-beam projectors.

     Other Features: The control section detaches and folds down little flaps
to become a miniature flying unit, so the Storm Lasher isn't the Robots' only
air support.  It's essentially unarmed, though, so really just a scout.
     There's a clear pillar under the thorax, presumably to act as an extra
leg in case you want to use a more dynamic pose.
     Combines with unit 8115 to form a scorpion-like mech.

     Pilot Figure: Standard Devastator.  Amusingly, because the control
section is the abdomen, he's a backside, er, back seat driver.

     Partner: The Venom Drone has a swappable head unit.  It defaults to a
hollow head when attached to the main mech, with the skull-head stowed under
the mech's abdomen.  Either way, it pegs onto the mech above the head, giving
an extra set of fangs.
     The general shape is that of a virus, with the head unit being like the
genetic material repository, and four clawed legs under a central shaft.
There's also a robot claw used as a beak between the legs.  It's black with
yellow talons, gray beak, white skull, and clear yellow dome.

     Dave Van Domelen, will wait until tomorrow to do one of the bigger
sets.