Interesting

Resin Casting

The resin that was in the workshop was awful, one tin wouldn't even open and the other was pretty much crystallised, gave it a go anyway to see what would happen, it looked green before it got poured in but it came our clear alright

The resin really wasn't in any fit state to be worked with. So for the time being until i can get my grubby little paws on some better stuff, decided to make them out of J-Cast instead. Made another silicone mould so that four halves (two pills) can set together at the same time 

(as you can see, didn't make the same mistake twice with the silicone..)

When roto moulding with J-Cast, i've mixed in pigment before pouring it into the mould but didn't quite get it right on the first attempt here, its a bit too pink

After that though i got the hang of it and they came popping out like a dream

Colour continuity is still a little bit of an issue though. J-Cast might not have the same shine as resin will be but i quite like it!

Just need to get them finished off and joined together now!

Pills

To make the pills look more effective they'll be cast in resin. Turned on a lathe to start with the block of material had to be cut to shape for the lathe to hold onto it

Pretty hard thing to get to grips with this lathe business. I kept getting confused with lefts and rights and ins and outs and almost completely destroyed it a fair few times. Because it had to be millimetre perfect it took me ages to get i down o the right size, through fear of stripping away too much material. Leaves a really nice finish on the surface of the material though. 

The rounded edge was created with a bit of free hand filing while it was rotating. Don't have many photos of the process, all my time was spent concentrating on not ruining it.

So to cast them in resin a little silicon mould had to be made, 

(the pills were made in two parts as they are eventually going to be different colours, so both ends clear and coloured can be left to set together), two moulds in one

The silicon looks so awful because the while part, which was the RTV that was poured in before the catalyst was added, poured back out off of the side of the jug... brilliant...

Hopefully it should still work the same though, if not, lesson learned!

Packaging

So with the glue holding the foil and plastic together the fake pills were put it before it was sealed and this was the outcome. Obviously the cavity is too big for them but the wooden mould that was used was meant for the liquid ones, but i thought i'd pop the pills in one just to see what it looked like at this stage.

Problem is thought they're too big for the box, either the gaps in between the cavities have to be reduced( but i'm not sure that'll work as the spaces for the hole on the vac former are pretty far apart and it's important that the wooden moulds sit on them properly) or i need to knock up a bigger box...

This plastic is pretty awful, i think it's HIPS plastic. Reminds me of the kind of plastic things get packaged in and sealed then when you try to cut it open it rips your hands to shreds... got a fair few cuts off of this stuff so the sharp edges on the plate will have to be filleted for sure. 

For the ones containing liquid the cavities that were made were built to hold a volume of 25ml (one unit of alcohol), wasn't too sure how well glue water and foil would mix, i don't think this would be very safe to drink from but for now this is just to see what it would look like...

And as i suspected it doesn't mix very well, soon as it started to leak there was no chance the glue was setting, took a fair few attempts to stop the liquid coming into contact with the glue, but got there in the end. 

 At the same time i also tried to re make the sachets with one of the original thicker plastics and moving the sachet a few time while it was being sealed to ensure there were to tiny air flows in it; I left them all sitting on my desk over night to see if they would leak, left them sitting on top of the cardboard topper on my desk incase the liquid that escaped evaporated overnight and it wouldn't be visible in the morning, this way if there was a leak, however small the cardboard underneath would warp and you would see exactly where the leak was coming from

 Night

 Morning - no leaks! :)

Amazingly, this time, i've cracked it!

Foil + Plastic =

Great success. Trying out different glues to add the foil tops. 

Heat sealer

You are my nemesis! Spent a whole evening making sachets and they instantly started to leak. A whole night - wasted, thank you very much, you piece of soon to be scrap metal.

Manly Happenings

Proper deserve a pint after an afternoon in the workshop doing manly things

Making draft angles allowing the wood to be released from the plastic when vac formed

MDF is rubbish!

You know you've accomplished something when you leave the workshop in a state!

A range of moulds to go try out on the vac former

Hate this machine, never works for me...

As usual, I can never get it right

Only had a small amount of plastic, so had to re-heat the duff forms till I eventually, with the Doigsters help, managed to get something that resembled what i was aiming for

The Red one Or The Blue One

Making fake little pills for visual effect...

Used "Sculpy" clay to replicate real sized pills and a few exaggerated sized one. Good stuff to work with, takes quite a bit of heat from your hands and a lot of kneading to get it in a workable state but it's pretty dry and doesn't leave any residue on surfaces, makes your hands feel odd though.

Put them in the oven, like a mini kiln, to harden. When it cools down it's like porcelain. 

Pretty much ready to paint once it's cooled, I didn't sand it, probably should have but these are only for visual effect don't want to be spending loads of time on these

Nice little production line going on

Hope they don't look too real, will have to keep them in a safe place to stop any idiots trying to take them...

DOH!

Once i experimented with the sachets i left them sitting for a couple of days.... only to discover they have all started leaking!

Good job they were left sitting in cups of that could have been a nasty surprise!

So whats happened?

1. I havent done it properly
2. There are holes or gaps in the seal
3. A water tight seal isn't achievable with this method

Either ways it's back to the drawing board!

Leaflets And Boxes

My take on the medial information leaflets that are put in all medicine boxes. From the culture probe experiment a little list of (non-medical/not scientifically correct?) "side effects" were produced. Mocked up to look like real pamphlets it makes it look official and serious but theres a hint of light heartedness to it...

Painted and built boxes to house the final product, complete with brail. First coat of paint dry, ready for text to be added...

Individualising Units

The dreaded, notoriously difficult to use, Heat Sealer! Aaaaaaaah!

First attempt went pretty well once i got the right temperature and stopped melting/burning the plastic...

The plastic was film of of a massive mothers day card (don't say i'm not resourceful!) not sure exactly what type of plastic it was but it was the kind of stuff that wrinkled A LOT and cracked instead of tearing, not very good when it comes to opening it up, the liquid would be everywhere and anywhere apart from in the glass.

Second attempt was with a different type of plastic, the soft stuff project folders are made from, you can see where the plastics been drawn/extruded the marks are really clear on it. It was quite thick and didn't feel fragile in your hand it didn't feel like if you held it properly you would burst it of rip it inadvertently  and had to be pulled hard to get it to rip, again no good when the liquid is likely to go everywhere.

The third plastic I experimented with was chopped up bits of a carrier bag I found in my desk drawer (just saving the planet...) It bonded really well, it was light and felt fragile, but had a toughness to it and was easier to open. 

But I did have an accident

The perils of working with liquids - and some shameless self promoting

Some good results came out of this session. Each compartment contains 25ml of 40% ABV. equivalent to 1 unit of alcohol: