[MOC] Orange Clown Fish (Nemo / Marlin)

[Brickthus]

As an alternative to the usual vehicles, here is my Technic MOC of an Orange Clown Fish, which can be built as Nemo (with "lucky fin") or Marlin.

The model has 4 motorised functions: 1) Pectoral fins with 2 degrees of freedom in cyclic movement; 2) Folding in of pectoral fins; 3) Moving mouth and gills; and 4) Swishing tail.

There are also 3 manual functions: 1) Tilt with trans-clear beams, able to nibble the anemone or swim a little above the flat position; 2) Turn on the turntable, through at least 180 degrees; and 3) the Anemone can move with some crankshafts underneath, via the gear on the left of it.

The gear change is currently sequential (motorised) but I'm working on upgrades to that.

The model has about 2000 parts in the fish and stand, plus another 500 or so in the sea bed items and turntable covering.  It is designed to fit the parts/cost and functions/cost criteria for the Porsche 42056 or Off Road Buggy 42099 price point.

You may notice parts from several sets; mouth/gill wheel arches from Corvettes 42093, fin edges from Car Transporter 42098, turntable from big red crane 42082 and orange parts from many sets.

I have erred towards the real fish, omitting the whites of eyes and white teeth that are used in the cartoon characters.

There is a short video and a long video on YouTube and the project is live on LEGO Ideas.  More pictures there, and please add comments.

I have development options for the control scheme.  I used PF to get the functions working well but, as a potential set, I intend to use the 2-port PU hub for 2 motors (gear change and function power) as swap-in replacements; that would allow handset or phone control for best user-accessibility.  One or two 4-port hubs could be used instead, but should I go that far, given the risk of loading the price with the electrical parts?  The ultimate motorisation might be like 42100 with 4 motors in the fish and 3 motors on the sea bed, but £400 was not my intention.  Nevertheless it should be cheaper than keeping a real fish and has the advantage of leaving the real fish where they belong.

As a large Technic set, there is potential for sponsorship from Disney Pixar, just as other sets are sponsored by vehicle manufacturers.  The Finding Dory franchise is accepted as a theme.

Hope you like it.  I would be very grateful for your support.  If you would like to see Technic Creature sets alongside the usual vehicle sets then this might be the way to do it.  It might even interest a wider range of people in Technic.

Thanks,

Mark

[Brickthus]

Nemo has had a few updates, particularly in his eyes.

Since then I have changed the gearbox so that two functions may be used together.  This allows the mouth & gills to move at the same time as either the tail swish or the pectoral fins.
Gear selection is now done with 2 manual levers on top, so this saves a motor.  More possibilities from the free port (PF or PU) include motorising the Anemone movement.

Nemo will be on show at the National Space Centre in Leicester, UK on 14th-15th March as part of their Brickish weekend.  It would be great to meet some of you there.

Mark

[astyanax]

I can't believe I missed this earlier. This is so beautiful and creative! Indeed a welcome and fresh change from the usual vehicles.