Piano Player Automaton (MOC)

After building many Lego Ideas contest submissions, I decided it was time to build a product idea. The result: this fun and interesting automaton. The sad thing is, Lego just announced a piano set idea, so the chances of my idea being approved once it reaches 10k are slim at the best. However, I'm still submitting it - all product ideas help by giving you more followers and badges, which help while constructing later projects. The hands on this model move up and down as if pushing the keys, as do his feet, which are working on the pedals. The head of the figure also rotates one way and then the other as if reading the notes he has laid out before him. The inner workings of this model are very complex: the mechanisms consist of many gears, treads, propellers, and other bricks that help the model function as it should. Click here to visit my profile on Lego Ideas where my model shall be available after passing moderation. For all those Troopers fans out there I am happy to inform that because I've finished this MOC I now have the time to create more comics.

Approximate build time: About 4 hours

Number of pieces: I'd say about 700

Availability of the pieces: All of the pieces used are fairly common, the rarest pieces being most likely the treads used in the center of the model (invisible on the pictures)

Favorite part of the build process: Not sure, I guess it was building the figure so that the head and neck would rotate, however the body would not. To do so I had to use a number of different pieces including lightsaber hilts!

Level of difficulty: Hard. Placing all of those gears in their exact correct spots is hard enough, however mounting the figure on the rest of the build without moving the Technic axle it rests on takes a lot of patience, time, and skill.

You can see this model in action in the video below: