Clockwork Aquarium

24
Oct
2021
Get your own Limited Run Lego Clockwork Aquarium

Get your own Limited Run Lego Clockwork Aquarium

The Clockwork Aquarium has new life in as Lego-Owned Bricklink.com has partnered with Lego Ideas to produce a multitude of 10K achieving Lego Ideas, including the Clockwork Aquarium. The process is simple, groups of sets will go up for crowdfunding and the first 5 that reach 3000 pledges will will be produced.

The time it took for the first 5 to reach 3000 is likely to be mere hours. So if you want a Clockwork Aquarium of your own, set a calendar reminder for November 9th, 12PM Pacific / 2PM Central / 3PM Easter US.

Here is the link to find the Clockwork Aquarium’s Project page which will also have the Buy/Pledge Links once the crowdfunding begins: https://www.bricklink.com/v3/designer-program/designer-sets-for-adult-fans-of-lego/215751/Clockwork-Aquarium

The Clockwork Aquarium has gone through numerous revisions for this special edition Bricklink Version. This video will highlight some of the many features and updated parts (some parts/colors are subject to change due to part availability).

As you can see, the Bricklink version will include the parts for:

  • The Main modular built Clockwork Aquarium
  • An extra Coral themed background
  • Pirate Theme – a complete theme with background, fish, center features, animated treasure box
  • Kraken Theme – a complete theme with background, new lower tier of blue windows to create an above and below water view, mini Kraken and mini Ship!

Revisions from the original Clockwork Aquarium include:

  • Revised Topper
  • Improved Modular build where backgrounds are made like removable cards
  • Altered miniature designs like the Easter Island head
  • A mini octopus instead of a starfish (due to part availability)
  • Altered front Handles to improve sturdiness
  • The Pirate theme was altered from the original with a barrel and bottle as a side animate feature

Having multiple themes makes the aquarium ready for customization and continued play after its been built. This will make it a lasting treasure for anyone’s desk or display shelves.

Get ready for November 9th’s Crowdfunding excitement and be sure to check out the project page for any possible updates to the project, timing of the crowdfunding, or to leave comments. And of course, share the links with your friends and social media to help ensure that the Clockwork Aquarium is in the first 5 to 3000 pledges so it doesn’t get dropped forever.

Once again, here is the link: Bricklink Designer Program Clockwork Aquarium

And as Always, thanks for the tremendous and continued support of this fun and unique project!

Posted by Farquar in Lego, 1 comment
26
Mar
2021
Clockwork Aquarium invited to Bricklink’s Limited Run!

Clockwork Aquarium invited to Bricklink’s Limited Run!

For everyone that was disappointed that the Clockwork Aquarium was not turned into a true Lego Ideas set, well it has a second chance at being produced. Lego recently purchased Bricklink and has invited past rejected 10k achieving projects to a crowdfunded limited run. If the Aquarium gets a mere 3000 pledges, it will go into production with New Parts, fancy Box, and digital instructions.

Check out the project page here: Bricklink Clockwork Aquarium

Check out the dynamic mechanical Aquarium in its original form and in action:

The designer program consists of a few phases: product design updates, community pledging, and then production and shipping. Check bricklink for phase updates.

As I am updating the aquarium to use only current day parts, let me know in comments which themes and features you are hoping for so I can prioritize those. Also, let me know if you would rathe several full themes for more money, or fewer and more affordable.

This is an exciting time for the aquarium but it will take a lot of us to express our hope of its creation for it to turn into a limited special run Lego Bricklink set!

Posted by Farquar in Lego, 0 comments
10
Dec
2019
Clockwork Aquarium reached 10,000 Supporters!

Clockwork Aquarium reached 10,000 Supporters!

This is the little Aquarium that could as the Clockwork Aquarium has achieved the support of 10 thousand Lego Ideas Fans which means it goes to the Lego Review board. This next step in the process will take months as Lego decides if this has potential as a marketable product. I’ll keep you posted on the status of the review and if the project is selected.

Once again, I’d like to thank all of those who supported this project. For those of you interested in instructions, I’m working on them now and will post them to Bricklink Gallery when I’m ready and after asking the Lego Ideas team if that’s okay.

Bricklink Stud.io Gallery Version!
And finally, here is the original video once again!

Posted by Farquar in Lego, Promoted, 2 comments
04
Mar
2019
Release the Kraken!

Release the Kraken!

This comically tiny EPIC battle between the mighty Kraken and an unfortunate vessel comes to life by turning the crank. This and several other alternate themes are meant to serve as inspiration for what a Lego fan could do with the Lego Ideas’s proposed set: Clockwork Aquarium. Please free support/vote for this idea at: https://ideas.lego.com/projects/fa8f5… If it gets to 10K supporters/voters, Lego may turn it into a real Lego Set and then you too will be able to Release the Kraken!!

This variation features:

  • A Sweet Mini Kraken – this took me quite a few iterations and I’m really happy with how this tentacled, spooky-eyed, sharp-beaked “monster” came out.
  • Micro Ship – this also took a lot of tinkering to develop as I needed it to be both small and detailed.  The canons on one side and windows on the other were a last minute addition!
  • Underwater and above views – I added clear blue windows under the normal clear windows to create an underwater and above water look.  There are plants, the majority of the Kraken’s body, and even a crab down below, and the ship, kraken’s tentacles and beak, cloud, and mountains above water.
  • I also developed a new way to hold the poles to the mechanism down in the cabinet.  This made it so their was no extra length of pole sticking up above the fish and the boat!

I hope you like this theme and please do support the Clockework Aquarium!

Check out the original video here:

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Posted by Farquar in Lego, 0 comments
01
May
2018
Finding Nemo Theme for Clockwork Aquarium

Finding Nemo Theme for Clockwork Aquarium

Here is an exciting update for the Clockwork Aquarium Lego Ideas project: a second alternative theme inspired by the Disney/Pixar movie “Finding Nemo”! Since the Clockwork Aquarium is of course, made out of Lego, it can be modified to the extent of the builder’s imagination. The “Finding Nemo” theme is another demonstration of how Lego fans could customize the Clockwork Aquarium to their liking.

This project is on a long journey to reach the Lego review board. Your free support at the Lego Ideas Project page would be greatly appreciated!
Lets start with the video which shows the Theme in Action:


Now lets break down the specific elements of this Aquarium theme:

  • The “Printed” Swimming Fish: It was a hope for this project from the start that if it was picked up by Lego, that the set would include colorful printed fish, even if the set was not Finding Nemo Theme. I have carefully hand painted 3 Lego fish (to the best of my ability) to resemble they type of fish that “Finding Nemo” characters were based on. In other words, the fish are meant to be more like real world fish, as opposed to cartoon fish.
    • Clown Fish – Nemo and his dad Marlin were both Clown fish
    • Blue Tang or Surgeon Fish – Dory (She was never in the fish tank in the movie Finding Nemo, but this theme is of course, only inspired by the movie and not meant to recreate it.)
    • Moorish Idol – Gill (from the fish tank in the dentist office of Finding Nemo)
  • The Treasure Chest: This moving feature replaces the jumping crab in this theme. The treasure box opens and shuts as it does in the movie fish tank to release bubbles, which are of course closely guarded by the Yellow fish named Bubbles. The treasure box can fully close, but last second before filming, I stuck two gold coins inside it which make it not fully shut. I think I will leave those out from now on.
  • Spinning Starfish: Representing Peach from the movie, the spinning starfish continues to add another motion to the life-filled aquarium. It is not the exact right color for Peach, but will have to do for now.
  • Scenic Elements:
    • Mount Wannahockaloogie – Potrayed in all its glory is the Volcano from the movie aquarium. I would like to mention that when I first started working on this theme, I tried to make the Volcano the centerpiece and have it look like Lava was bubbling up at its top. Even though I have a working version of just that, I was more impressed by the treasure box’s motion that I used it instead. The Volcano is once again a hand painted Lego piece. If this set was picked up, I would hope Lego would print a volcano pattern onto the sloped piece. I did try the similarly sized craggly wedge pieces in trans orange with black printing. It looked perfect, but the studs prevented the fish from swimming by smoothly so I had to use the sloped piece with no studs.
    • Jacques and Helmet – The shrimp and helmet from the original theme came over as well since they represent Jacques and his dive helmet quite well.
    • Tiki Mask – The movie aquarium featured tiki mask decorations. This mask comes from the collectible minifigure series 11 Island Warrior. It takes the place of the Easter Island head from the original Clockwork Aquarium theme.
    • Lots of Plants/Coral – the fish tank in the movie “Finding Nemo” was abundantly populated with lots of coral and plant life. I squeezed in more plants and added more Pinks and purples to create the illusion of dense plant life.
    • Blue gravel – Some people may notice that I changed the sandy bottom for blue in this theme which is of course to represent the aquarium from the movie. My “gravel” is in normal blue but ideally it would be in more of a teal blue color.

The original version of the Clockwork Aquarium continues to be my primary push for the Lego Idea. This Finding Nemo them, and the previous Spongebob theme are mainly intended to demonstrate some flexibility and the capability for customization. Of course, if Lego picked up the project and decided to package it with two or more themes in the box, then I’d have no objections at all.

Do please follow this Link to Lego Ideas and click the support button for the Clockwork Aquarium. It is on a long Journey to 10000 supporters and could very much use your support!

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Posted by Farquar in Lego, 0 comments