Introduction: Metro 2033 Last Light Analog Survivor Watch

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About: I am a maker of props and gadgets for airsoft, LARP and cosplay

Being a fan of the Metro 2033 series of games, I decided to make a real life version of Artyom’s watch. There are two versions. The most common is the 4 digit nixie tube version and the rarer analog version. This instructable is for the latter as it is surprisingly easy to build.

The core component of this project is a second-hand Fossil Q Explorist Gen 3 smartwatch. I picked up a grade C watch in the UK from CEX for £30. There is a free Metro 2033 watch face from Facer.io app. You could stop there, but where's the fun in that?

This build has a functioning light meter that turns blue when in direct light and then fades to off when sneaking in the dark shadows

Supplies

  • Fossil Q Explorist watch
  • Leather watch band
  • Double CR2032 battery holder
  • 2 x CR2032 3v batteries
  • 2 x M3 x 3mm countersunk screws
  • 1 x M2 x 4mm countersunk screw
  • GL5537 Photoresistor
  • 5mm blue LED diode
  • Facer.io mobile app
  • Metro 2033 watch face (free)
  • 2 x Flat spade connecters
  • 3D printed model of LED enclosure
  • 30awg wire (optional)
  • 3mm heatshrink tubing (optional)
  • Hot glue
  • Superglue

Step 1: Set Up the Watch

I have used the Fossil Q Explorist Gen 3 Smartwatch as it was the closest match to the actual Metro analog watch. These smart watches are quite cheap second-hand. Any round smartwatch will do. I would recommend a watch compatible with the facer.io mobile app as it has a free Metro 2033 watch face. Facer works with Android phones, Google WearOS and Tizen. Facer.io also works with Apple, but I think all their watches are square-faced and therefore would not suitable for a Metro watch. WearOS and Tizen provide many more options and I found the Fossil Explorist being the closest match.

Simply connect to watch to your phone and search for “metro 2033” on the Facer app. There are a few different free versions to choose from and after trying a few out, the Last Light - CMD was the one I liked the most. It also has a night time all green look.

You could stop the project there and you’d have yourself a nice little Metro watch. All of the following steps will take you closer to the actual Metro watch.

Step 2: Watch Strap

The actual watch strap in the game is a little unclear and some versions of the watch are seen worn on a forearm bracer. For this project, I opted for a military style wide black leather watch strap. I found one on Amazon for £8.95 and it comes with the watch pins. The Fossil Explorist needs a 22mm wide strap and they are easy to fit. 

Step 3: Light Detector - 3D Model

This is where we take the watch much closer to the actual Metro watch. The light meter consists of a 3D model, Blue LED, photoresistor and a battery

The 3D model is in 2 parts. The LED holder and the main body which sits at the top of the watch.

Ideally the 3D model should be printed on a resin printer as the parts are small with some detail. You could print the body on a traditional FDM filament, but if you do, I’d recommend that it’s printed at a super fine layer height.

I have used light grey resin for the main body and a transparent blue for the LED holder. If you don’t have any transparent blue resin, you can use clear transparent resin with a drop or two of resin pigment stirred in.

If you don’t have either a resin printer or the transparent resin, you could swap out the 5mm blue LED for a giant blue 10mm LED.

There are three versions of the LED mount model. Two versions with a small hole at the back to screw it to the leather watch strap. The other version has no hole and you can either zipper-clip it to the watch or glued it in place. See Step 6.

Attachments

Step 4: Wiring the Components

This will be the fiddly step as everything is quite small. For this step we need to wire the blue LED to photoresistor and then to the spade terminals

The tricky part is getting the assembly into the housing. If you solder the LED pins directly to the photoresistor pins and then directly to the spade terminals, you will have a hard job fitting everything together. Instead, I would recommend cropping the component pins to the minimum you feel comfortable soldering to. Then use some super flexible 30awg silicone insulated wire to hook everything up. Not only does this provide insulation to prevent shorts, but offers some flexibility when stuffing everything inside the 3D printed enclosure.

The order I put things together were:

  1. Solder wires to spade terminals and put them in the enclosure
  2. Poke the red wire through the top hole
  3. The black wire from the other spade comes out of the main opening
  4. Solder another red wire to one pin of the photoresistor
  5. Either pin, as it is not directional
  6. Solder the red wire poking out of the hole onto the other photoresistor pin
  7. Feed the red wire back through the top hole and push the photoresister into place
  8. You should now have a black and red wire coming out of the main opening
  9. Solder these to the blue LED
  10. Push fit the LED into it's transparent holder

The photoresistor is a tight fit and it's best pushed through from the top and then use a hard surface like a tabletop to push fit it flush with the body.

For the spade terminals, these are 1mm thick x 6mm wide. I have removed the original sheath, cropped the wire end short and then soldered.

Now you can assemble the LED holder to the main body. I would refrain from gluing anything just yet until we have tested it. It's also important to remember which spade terminal is positive and which is negative.

Test that the LED and photoresistor are working with the battery (see below). If everything is working you can finalise the assembly. I put a drop or two of hot glue in the bottom on the main body to hold the spade terminals straight and in place. There was no glue applied to the photoresistor as it was a tight fit anyway. Finally a spot of super glue for the LED holder, but again it was a tight fit.

Step 5: Adding Power

Now we need to add power. This is done completely separately from the watch itself.

I have used 2 x CR2032 button batteries in a slim holder which also has a ON/OFF switch on it. These are cheap from Amazon or eBay and come in a pack of 10.

This double battery holder is mounted to the back of the watch strap. Flip the watch strap over, mark the two holes with a pen and then careful punch a small hole through the leather strap. I used a couple of M3 x 3mm countersunk screws to then attach the battery holder to the back of the watch strap.

Trim the battery wires to the right length and use a piece of 3mm heatshrink tubing to cover the wires. Remembering which is positive and negative, solder the wires onto the spade terminals. Switch it on and give it a test. In normal light conditions the LED should illuminate. If you place you finger over the photoresistor, the LED should turn off. The brightness of the LED is determined by the amount of ambient light the photoresistor is detecting. The more light, the brighter the LED

If it appears to not be working, check the CR2032 battery orientation. It took me a moment to realise one battery is positive up and the other battery is positive down.

Step 6: Fixing the Light Meter to the Watch

If you are happy that everything is working, you can now fix the light meter above the main watch face. There are a few options here.

You can simply glue for zipper clip the part in place. Hot glue probably is not strong enough so superglue would be better. Be careful that the glue does not interfere with the strap pins.

I made a version of the 3D model with a tiny M2 mounting hole and then poked a small hole through the leather strap and secured the light meter in place with a M2 4mm screw. At the the first attempt at this, I didn't consider the curvature of the strap and the photoresistor ended up facing to far backwards and was partially obscured.

I then made another version of the light meter with a different hole position and this turned out to have the photresistor be in a better position. So try the models out and see which one fits best.

The last thing I did was to zipper clip the battery wire to the side of the watch to keep everything snug.


Job done - You now have a unique and very cool Artyom Metro 2033 watch!