User blog:Xenodrone98/The Lego Cyclops Project

Hello! I am Xenodrone98,

Most recent update(s)
1. 9/21/18 I haven’t done much since last week, thinking, as I analyze official Lego set instructions I marvel at how well they are made and I’ve been trying to find ways to utilize more methods using technic parts.. second note it’s my birthday, so I plan on rendering the Seamoth with nicer colors. Price update: looking at bricklink I managed to sort out 1115 parts and the price added up to over 340 dollars not including shipping -3- I think I might need to go with crowd funding to finish this

2. 9/12/18 great changes. I have always been looking for someone who could help me. People came and go, barely leaving a mark on the project. But now I’ve finally found my match. Someon who’s skills surpass me in detailing. Flop. The cyclops is no longer a solo project

3.Over Half a Year later, 9/5/18 Looking back, the real reason I stopped wasn’t because I had too much work or was too tired. It’s because I lost my motivation to work on it. I didn’t have the same motivation to do this as I did when I first started. But as I’ve slowly been getting back into Subnautica that motivation has started coming back to me. I know it’s not enough to drive me to the finish, and I’ll probably have another period of distancing myself away from the project. But until that happens i’ll get back to work.

The challenges that I was posed with last time I worked on it was: doors, Upper levels, sorting parts and part count (each room alone was over 1k parts. Most giant Lego sets don’t go over 3k), the hatch in the cyclops, a working one, side thrusters. the main window, structural integrity overall. Weight. And it’s been so long that I don’t have the original files and images I used to reference and try to accurately get the correct size.

I’ve only been able to address and figure out a few solutions. Upper levels: make 2 files, one for the Lower half and one for upper. Window: the power of clear resin Price: suck it up and save some cash, it’s gonna cost a lot. Sorting: stud.io Hatch: nobody cares. I don’t care. The dome viewport was one of the biggest issues, and when one looks at the cyclops, other than the body that’s one of the first things They notice. Since there is no Lego part large enough to suffice, I can make my own, after discovering clear resin I realized I could make this dome. The same goes for the little cyclops hologram.

So here are some updates, including good news and bad news.

The Bad News
bad news. This thing is going to likely sell my organs unless I do crowd funding, and I’m not interested in selling my organs. So that leaves one option left. (340 dollars for 1,115 bricks, out of the over 5k current bricks used for the current state)

The Good News
I have said in the past that the cyclops was an impossible project, that getting it done would take forever and be too difficult; aswell as saying that if I would do it, it would be done far off in the future. In other words I didn't plan on making it, I didn't bother to check the difficulty or details or size, I just didn't want to make it. Until about 3 weeks ago that is, when I think I remember someone saying the actual dimensions of the cyclops, even though it was on the wiki, this was the first time I discovered the cyclops's dimensions. My curiosity lead to me wondering how long the Seamoth would be, and the rough estimate I received in return was 3 meters in length. 3 meters in length, while the cyclops is 54. After that I wondered about how long a Lego cyclops would be. So I measured the Lego seamoth, then did some calculations to figure out the size. The calculations estimated the Lego Cyclops would be 7.3 Ft. Long. That is pretty large, but made me have the urge to create it. So the cyclops is out of Developmental hell.

I've been working on it for over a week now, so here are some photos:

So I plan on adding exterior and partial interior lighting to the Cyclops, along with having the rooms removable without damaging the wiring. The Dock was by far the hardest part I made, and might be the most difficult one. I made an identical opening mechanic to that in game using technic parts, and it can hold the Seamoth. But not too well. Eh. I may have to modify the Seamoth design to work with it a bit better. But I am making the cyclops, and already it has exceeded 2,000 parts at its current state. So buying the parts might take a while.

When to expect it
I don't have any "due date", I'm just working on it until it is done. Me and the Technician are working on it at the moment. And I will go silent about this in terms of imagery, so the photos you are seeing now are the only ones you will probably see in a long time. Until something happens in development, then i'll come back and add more to it more.

Estimated Price
Oh boy, it will certainly be a lot more money than I have, which is why building it will take so long. Since it will be pretty expensive to build.

After I'm done
After I'm done, I may possibly send it to a Friend, the Technician, or to the developers if they have room for it. Or just keep it.

The future outlook
Next year is a do or die deadline, meaning if it's not done before 2019, I'm dumping the project. Productivity for this has been on and off, the technician quit, and now I'm the only one working on it. I won't give out a date of completion, but I am pushing for it to be end of this year. If i can't finish it, i will hand it over to someone who will.

10/2/17

Updates
I will try my best to update the blog with news every once a week, I'm finishing up the locker room this week

Week 5, Monday, 4/10: locker room isn't done yet, technical difficulties. A new part count is in for the locker room at the current status, it has over: 1444 bricks, which is less than $200, that's my estimate, but I expect it to contain another few hundred parts when the locker room is done.

Week 6, Monday, 4/17: My vacation this week was cut short, so instead of being back around Sunday, I will be back to working on the cyclops tomorrow instead. Since I'm on break, I will have around 5 days to work on it instead of the usual 2 only on the week ends.

Week 7. Monday 4/24: I didn't get too much done, but I am almost finished with the mini segment room behind the Dock. If I'm lucky, if, I will be able to have the room done by this weekend.

9/21/18 I haven’t done much since last week, thinking, as I analyze official Lego set instructions I marvel at how well they are made and I’ve been trying to find ways to utilize more methods using technic parts.. second note it’s my birthday, so I plan on rendering the Seamoth with nicer colors. Price update: looking at bricklink I managed to sort out 1115 parts and the price added up to over 340 dollars not including shipping -3- I think I might need to go with crowd funding to finish this.

2/24/21

It feels like an old dream at this point. I came in ambitious but didn't realize the scope of what I was working with and my current skill. It's not impossible to get a to scale MOC cyclops done. But How I approached it in terms of build ideas and methods was a bad starting ground that made it more difficult to try to get to the top half than it should have been. I've pretty much ceased work on the project. I might come back one day when times are better, restart it from the ground up. But that wont be in the near future.