Nemo: Orange Clown Fish

We have been exhibiting Nemo at the National Space Centre in Leicester UK.  He was well-received.  Thank you especially to all our new supporters!

Some people have realised there are more functions than they thought at first.  The longest video shows them all.

The show was also a great test of reliability.  Reliability is one type of test that all propective sets go through, to prove that the product is robust in normal use.  Nemo has fared very well in a day's operation, with up to 8 hours for the constant functions and at least an hour for the less-used ones.  I took a few notes about how best to transport him.

Nemo has now broken through 200 supporters.  Thank you everyone!  We look forward to 1000.

Nemo's gearbox provides four drives from the power motor to the motorised functions: tail swish, mouth and gills, fin movement and fin folding.  The drives are spaced vertically by 2 modules and use parallel universal joints to cross over into the front half of the body.

The original gearbox used a Medium motor to drive a sequential selection function.  A blue 20-tooth gear slides along an input shaft of four 12-tooth gears and four output shafts, each with a 12-tooth gear pick up the power for transmission to their respective functions.

The gearbox also has to be the main structure of the rear part of Nemo's body, supporting the tail and panels robustly, especially whilst the tail swishing function is active.  The rear of the gearbox provides attachment points for the tail.

The underside view shows the power input shaft with a row of 12-tooth cogs:

Two 11x5 frames form a structure to connect the two ends of the gearbox and provide attachment points for the panels.

The new gearbox replaces the sequential gear change and Medium motor with two levers.  this allows two functions to be selected at once, typically the mouth and gills with either the fin movement or tail swish.  At the life-function level this ensures that Nemo can keep breathing while he is swimming.

The use of two levers also saves a motor and makes changing gear easier, quicker and more accurate.  This enhances the play value of the set, delivering more value to you, our supporters.

Please keep supporting and sharing.  Nemo is close to optimal now, so he needs to reach 1000 votes as soon as possible.  He will be on display at the Brickish weekend at the National Space Centre in Leicester, UK on 14th-15th March.  Available for selfies.

Nemo has a QR Code, which can be scanned by many types of mobile phone to open this page.  Please feel free to share the QR Code and help others to support the project.

171 supporters so far.  Thank you everyone!  We look forward to 1000.

The next stage takes the eye enhancement further.  This time the white 10-lobe sprockets are reduced to pieces without the lobes.  I restored some curved tubes to their previous positions.  I think Nemo has the right look now.

There is a little room for eye adjustment, though the narrow position works well.

Please let me know in the comments whether you think this third eye change improves the model.

Please keep supporting and sharing.  We look forward to the next milestone of 1000 votes soon.  Still a few numbers under 200 available - get them while you can!  Who will be #200?

153 supporters so far.  Thank you everyone!  We have passed the 100-vote milestone and look forward eagerly to 1000.

The next stage takes the eye enhancement further, following techam's suggestion.  This time the coloured parts and the pupils are restored to their original size and I have used white 10-lobe sprockets behind them.  I removed the 2x4 beams (x4) and some of the parts behind the eyes.

The upward look works but not so much as the only expression.

Perhaps this goes a bit too far with the size of the white areas around the eyes.  The sprocket size, combined with the limited width, makes the eyes quite close-set and they might be better a bit further apart.

The size also forces the eyes to protrude too much.  I have another idea to share soon.

Please let me know in the comments whether you think the first or second eye changes improve the model.
And please keep supporting and sharing.  We look forward to the next milestone of 1000 votes soon.  Still a few numbers under 200 available - get them while you can!  Who will be #200?

64 supporters so far.  Thank you everyone!

I picked Nemo as a natural theme and also a cartoon character that people have heard of.  There is a compromise between how a real fish looks and how cartoonists draw characters to appeal to viewers.  A common theme is to brighten the face.  Real fish are attracted to one another based on life functions, such as providing essentials and asserting themselves in the group.  Cartoon fish attract viewers by looking the part and by human-like elements in their stories.

With this in mind I've taken up techam's suggestion to try whitening the eyes.  I've done a simple substitution of the 'weapon barrel' parts, making the eye colour part and the pupil smaller for the time being.

A larger eye would need the orange 2x4 beams and curved tubes to be white too; that would be a greater redesign.

Please let me know in the comments whether you think this first eye change improves the model.
And please keep supporting and sharing.  We have to reach the first milestone of 100 votes very soon.  Get a 2-digit supporter number while you can!  Who will be #100?