Brute Chopper

First posted September 2009.

(Want to make your own custom minifigs? Don't forget to visit my decal shop, where you can buy the stickers I use to make mine!)

Ah, the Brute Chopper... slow when not boosting, not terribly agile, but it has guns so powerful that you would use them all the time if it weren't so much fun to just smash people. Seriously, try driving a Chopper in a Slayer game one time and using nothing but the guns. You'll do great score-wise, but you won't be able to resist chopping that 'hog when it comes too close. It's kind of like "how many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll Pop?" You just can't resist biting the thing. I never did like those though...

The Brute Chopper has got to be one of the strangest vehicles ever designed. Half rolling, half hovering, with a giant wheel and blades and thrusters and guns. When I first heard about the things, I thought I would hate them, but the joy of chopping through a fully-manned Warthog and getting a triple kill won me over.

Yes, decals for details. Fuss if you want, but it just looks so much better this way.

I built this kind of on a whim. I opened up one of those new miner sets with the giant wheels (I buy at least two or three sets from almost every line LEGO releases, if not all of them) and thought, "This might make a good Chopper wheel. Let's see..." Then I decided to just roll with it, since it has been forever since I made a new Halo vehicle anyway. The results? Well, it's a bit too big, but otherwise I like it. *shrug*

Side view. The Bionicle blades above the wheel were kind of an afterthought, but I thought it looked better with them, so I left them. The LEGO may not be accurate in every detail, but chalk it up to artistic license.

A slightly overhead view so you can see the wheel. The driver's seat twists just like in the game, allowing for those sharp turns that flip your vehicle completely over and ANNOY THE HECK OUT OF YOU.

"This Pelican won't turn on a dime!" You know, Halo 4 should really have flyable Pelicans...

I was really glad when Bungie decided to give Brutes colorful Covenant-looking armor. They just looked so out of place in Halo 2 that I hated them. In Halo 3 they got the cool armor and this "pack mentality" theme that actually made me kind of like them. Still not as cool as Elites though.

(Want to make your own custom minifigs? Don't forget to visit my decal shop, where you can buy the stickers I use to make mine!)

Okay, so I'm looking for information on Brute ranks, and I end up on the facepalm-worthy "Halo Wiki" again. Since I can't trust anything I read there (it is full of useless information, unconfirmed conjectures, and random un-facts), I gave up. I'm not sure if these guys are supposed to be the highest rank or the gold-armored ones. It doesn't matter though, because they're both awesome.

The aforementioned gold-armored Brutes actually have a sort of bronze-ish armor (the really gold-looking ones have the plates over their mouths and are less tough), so I wasn't sure whether to make them yellow or tan. I decided to just make both, and let you guys decide which one you liked better.

Comparison to the Legendary figure. Yeah, I guess they have a big shield on one arm or something, but I decided to just go ahead and put one little one on each arm.

Comparison to the action figure. I didn't get any good shots of the detail on top of the headdress decals... but oh well.

Please note that, in order to sit in the bike, the "loin cloth" area (as I call it, for lack of a better word) has to be folded backwards. Don't think about that too hard...

Proof that the Ch33f can drive it too. The handlebars have to be folded in and the seat curled up a bit, but it's made to adjust to either fig size.

Side shot again. When I found the Bionicle claw that I used on the back of the seat, I thought, "Woah... it's... perfect!" It's good to have some Bionicle parts in the collection. The latest Bionicle series, by the way... "Glatorian" I think it's called... are AWESOME and I highly recommend checking them out. It's the first line since the Rahkshi that I really thought looked genuinely cool.

Boosting! I love these new flame pieces (used primarily in the new Space Police sets so far). Tahu's old swords just got owned.

Banshee view. Has anyone here ever chopped a 'shee? I can't say I am a member of this elite club, unfortunately. Yeah, I'm sure there are videos on YouTube...

Size comparison, showing you that the Chopper is, yes, too big.

The tables have turned!

(Want to make your own custom minifigs? Don't forget to visit my decal shop, where you can buy the stickers I use to make mine!)