MoD reader Brent Bates submitted two different ideas for how to mount Toa weapons on their backs, similar to how they are shown in the video clips from the TOA mini-CD. Since he was unable to provide good images, I photographed the designs for him.

The first picture shows a system that only requires one piece for each TOA, and it will work for TAHU, LEWA, and KOPAKA. All you have to do is take a #2 plus-rod/pin combo and stick it in the back of the TOA’s shoulder joint. Stick the weapon on it, and you’re done. The big problem with this setup is that the weapon hangs straight down, whereas the videos show them angled from the right shoulder to the left hip. I mentioned this problem to Brent, and he came up with an idea for a sling that will combine with the pin mount to hold the weapon at just the right angle. If you stick a #2 plus-rod in the hole right underneath the gear system, you can attach a unit consisting of a #6 coupler, another #2 plus-rod, and a #5 coupler to it. The TOA’s weapon then hangs inside the resulting loop, and attaches to the shoulder pin. I found that this loop will work fine for LEWA, but to get it to work with KOPAKA, you’ll need to switch the #5 coupler at the bottom of the unit with a #4 coupler to fit the width of his sword-blade. Unfortunately the sling won’t work with TAHU unless you flip his shoulders to look like KOPAKA’s. Because his shoulder joints are flatter than those on KOPAKA or LEWA, his weapon won’t fit in the angled position. One way to get around that would be to replace the plus-rod/pin piece with a #3 plus-rod, which would stick out far enough to allow one of the holes on the sword to fit over it. It probably won’t hold it as securely as the pin-style mount, but combined with the sling it should suffice. You can always secure it with a half-bushing if it doesn’t.

So anyways, we now have four different types of weapon mounts featured on MoD. Hopefully one of them will work for you, if you’re looking for one.