From screen ...
Picture from "Halo 5: Guardians"
Halo 4 was the first game developed by 343 Industries, a studio newly founded to continue the Halo-franchise. It continuous Master Chief's story four years after the conclusion of Halo 3 and sees him fighting new foes with the aid of the UNSC capital ship Infinity.
Vehicular combat has always been a core pillar of the Halo gameplay experience and Halo 4 is no exception. The UNSC has spent the four years since the end of Halo 3's story developing new hardware and the Mantis is one of the most striking new innovations the Infinity has on board. A bipedal exoskeleton, the Mantis is a single-seater weapons platform that offers players new options to approach combat when they first take control of it in Halo 4's fifth mission.
Even though the Mantis is not the first mech in the Halo universe, it is the first one that can be piloted by the player directly. In the early stages of development the Mantis was more akin to a bodysuit, but in the final game it is a larger, fully closed mech.
... to bricks
Taking inspiration from older Halo vehicles, the Mantis strikes a fitting balance between realism and an old-school look. The number of visible mechanical parts is minimal and the surfaces are smooth and clearly defined like those of the Warthog from the original Halo. It is that aesthetic that makes the Mantis a fitting addition to the vehicle roster and a truly unique mech design.
In order to be able to capture all the details accurately in a LEGO® build, I scaled the model up significantly. While the original Mantis is 5.7 meters high, roughly three times the height of a human; the LEGO® model, when compared to a minifigure, would be roughly double that size.
One of the biggest challenges was the color. Because the LEGO® Group rarely releases products, the design of which is based on military vehicles, it does not offer a military green color for its bricks and the selection of olive color pieces is rather limited as well. Thus, for the recreation of the Mantis I decided to paint all the green parts with TAMIYA model colours. TAMIYA TS-5 Olive Drab is the specific tone used for this model. This allowed me access to the entire library of LEGO® parts while abiding by the signature colour of the UNSC vehicle.
A couple of stickers add the missing details like the stripes on the upper legs or the red markings on the turret. Additionally, I added two Mega Bloks® chains on the turret of his right arm to represent the magazine straps. These are the only non LEGO® parts used for the model.
