The Makers Thread

[Puppet Guy]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Hrmm, now you are inspiring me to create a floppy drive Star Ship in a bottle. Can you share a picture of some of the tools you use to make it happen? I have a hammer in mind, but perhaps something more delicate is called for...

Here you are:

[Fuzz]

Ooo, my wife has some super long tweezers she uses in her aquarium. I may borrow...now i just need to empty the appropriate bottle. Sorry dry January, sacrifices to be made.

[Puppet Guy]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Ooo, my wife has some super long tweezers she uses in her aquarium. I may borrow...now i just need to empty the appropriate bottle. Sorry dry January, sacrifices to be made.

Make sure you have a bottle with a wide opening (about 2 cm).

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Ooo, my wife has some super long tweezers she uses in her aquarium. I may borrow...now i just need to empty the appropriate bottle. Sorry dry January, sacrifices to be made.

Based on those tools, bonsider buying a dental tool set for <$15.

https://www.amazon.ca/Dental-Tools-S...45&sr=8-5&th=1

It'll have the tweezers, hooks, pokey tools etc.

TBH, I also use the hooks when doing DIY projects that need a little bit of strength and finesse. Stuff like clearing old and loose silicone/mortar etc. that things like utility blades etc. aren't great at doing. Plus dental tools are slightly stronger metal, so I'm less likely to snap the tip when trying to do this type of stuff.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Puppet Guy

Creativity and curiosity can lead you into weird places...

After my last ship in a bottle I started to think about what else could be put into glass. Then I thought "instead of a sailing ship, how about a STARSHIP?". Here we are - the USS Enterprise in a bottle!

This project can be summed up with two words: perseverance and flexibility. It really was a grand experiment and presented a whole bunch of challenges. During construction the stand I built inside the bottle snapped, which resulted in me having to remove it and then reconfigure the inner display. Once I got that figured out, the neck connecting the upper and lower hulls wouldn't connect with the plug system I configured it with. The upper hull had to be built outside the bottle, cut into smaller pieces, then put back together once inside. This forced me to actually make tools using sticks, wire and whatever I had on hand in order to get things set up (which is ultimately the point of this type of project). It was a total basement project, meaning I bought no materials for it (it's dowels, scrap basswood and the base is a simple piece of plywood painted up). Had to take several breaks from it to make sure I didn't destroy it (or my sanity), but had a breakthrough yesterday morning and here it is!

It's far from my best work (to me the upper hull looks like it has gout), but given how unorthodox the whole idea of it is I can't say I'm unhappy with it. Based on internet sleuthing I couldn't find evidence of anyone trying this idea anywhere on the planet (or in the Federation for that matter), so based on audacity alone I'm very pleased with it. And because it was done once, that just means it can be done again and improved.

Now to slug some Saurian brandy to celebrate...

Spoiler!

What I've occasionally wondered is why I don't see more combinations of bottle painting and bottle models. Nothing insanely exotic, just like... a basic signature or glow in the dark paint dots for stars. More exotic might be like clouds by day, stars at night.

[Fuzz]

My wife has these giant ones:

[surferguy]

Are those for trying to handle your wiener?

[Fuzz]

Pickle pincers!

[Puppet Guy]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

My wife has these giant ones:

...you mean these things exist, and meanwhile I've been trying to make my own tools like a sucker?!

[Ironhorse]

Originally Posted by Puppet Guy

...you mean these things exist, and meanwhile I've been trying to make my own tools like a sucker?!

My son has a set for feeding cheese bois to his snake. Got them from the reptile store.

[Titan2]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Ooo, my wife has some super long tweezers she uses in her aquarium. I may borrow...now i just need to empty the appropriate bottle. Sorry dry January, sacrifices to be made.

Originally Posted by DoubleF

Based on those tools, bonsider buying a dental tool set for <$15.

https://www.amazon.ca/Dental-Tools-S...45&sr=8-5&th=1

It'll have the tweezers, hooks, pokey tools etc.

TBH, I also use the hooks when doing DIY projects that need a little bit of strength and finesse. Stuff like clearing old and loose silicone/mortar etc. that things like utility blades etc. aren't great at doing. Plus dental tools are slightly stronger metal, so I'm less likely to snap the tip when trying to do this type of stuff.

My wife has a cadaver dissecting kit from school. I appropriated it to the garage. Works awesome.

[puffnstuff]

Originally Posted by Titan2

My wife has a cadaver dissecting kit from school. I appropriated it to the garage. Works awesome.

I have questions...

[Titan2]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

My son has a set for feeding cheese bois to his snake. Got them from the reptile store.

They sell them in cooking utensil sections as well. Lots of chefs use them. Maybe not quite as big as these but still pretty big.

[Puppet Guy]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

My son has a set for feeding cheese bois to his snake. Got them from the reptile store.

Originally Posted by Titan2

My wife has a cadaver dissecting kit from school. I appropriated it to the garage. Works awesome.

Originally Posted by Titan2

They sell them in cooking utensil sections as well. Lots of chefs use them. Maybe not quite as big as these but still pretty big.

Gonna have a look when I'm in the area for pet or chef supplies. I have a few sets of forceps that I've found in hobby stores but they're not always good for in-bottle work

[Titan2]

Originally Posted by puffnstuff

I have questions...

Sure. Just come on over to the garage and we can discuss them. btw I don't have a garage CAT.

On a completely unrelated note, has anyone here watched Dexter? Hundreds of times? Just wondering.

To be serious, she actually had a comprehensive education in the body and how it works, with a very similar curriculum and taught by the same professors from the University of Toronto medical school, but yeah, she's a quack according to most here.

[Titan2]

Originally Posted by Puppet Guy

Gonna have a look when I'm in the area for pet or chef supplies. I have a few sets of forceps that I've found in hobby stores but they're not always good for in-bottle work

I also have a set of small needle nose pliers etc. from Princess Auto.

Kind of like these but they don't seem to have the set anymore. https://www.princessauto.com/en/16-i...t/PA0002920270


Ooh, these look like they would work:
https://www.amazon.ca/MOUYAT-Needle-...6&sr=8-40&th=1

[Puppet Guy]

Originally Posted by Titan2

I also have a set of small needle nose pliers etc. from Princess Auto.

Kind of like these but they don't seem to have the set anymore. https://www.princessauto.com/en/16-i...t/PA0002920270


Ooh, these look like they would work:
https://www.amazon.ca/MOUYAT-Needle-...6&sr=8-40&th=1

They look to be too bulky for bottle work. The thing with putting ships into bottles is that literally everything (including the tools) depends on the width of the opening - if it fits through the bottle's mouth it'll fit inside the bottle. In most of the projects I've done the bottle's necks are at most little 2 1/2 cms wide. Tools are usually either home made or adapted from the intended use.

[photon]

Been using my FDM printer a bit more and trying to decide if I want to take the jump and get a resin printer.

So I've been trying to find some thing I can print and paint on my FDM printer that don't look terrible just to see if I'll like it.

First semi-done project:



I should have pre-shaded the head to give it some contrast.. also just have cheap Amazon airbrush paints and the white is too white, maybe should have tried to mix something less WHITE. Could have also gone deeper contrast on the cloak.. a bit of an oops painting the eye.

But as a "is this something I could spend time doing" test it was a success so far, first time using an airbrush on this project and it's very neat. I may try and building some model kits and use it too.

Have a few more prints to try and paint but if they go well I might be looking for a resin printer so I can make nicer prints to paint.

[Puppet Guy]

"Alas matey, 'tis no good - he's a goner!"

This poor sea dog is about to meet his fate at the hands - er, claws - of a giant crab. This is an old Lindberg kit I found for cheap a while back. a little oil paint makes the bones pop on these old scallywags.

Spoiler!

[Locke]

I love 'Coke Can for scale.'