Rocking Ship Clock - Early Conceptual Design Ideas

The mechanism went through several conceptual designs before the final was selected. Once I decided I wanted the water to move too, I had to determine how to make it look realistic. I also decided early on that there would be multiple rows of waves to add a depth perception. I knew it would not look good if all waves moved the same, so I went through several various ideas. Most were considered too complex to implement, but my favorite for the what I thought had the most potential for realism was the rolling waves concept.

An early concept included this design with a wider gap for the slot in the rearward row. This would create a lag and make it move less that the front row.

This was an attempt at individual waves. The waves would alternately either slide or rock. It was considered too complex.

This was an attempt at rolling waves, which I though would look the most realistic, but was also deemed too complex. It was like a ratchet mechanism that would rotate the wave 90 degrees each pass.

This design was getting closer to the final but still had more complexity than desired. It had two rows of waves with the ship in the middle, It was considered too complex to mount the ship. It was a better concept for having the closer waves move further.

Another look at the almost final design.