Can you believe that the beer bottle in the movie is made of sugar?

Review expert: Meng Meng, associate researcher at the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences Do you know where many props in movies come from? The elixir of immortality is Maltesers; the good medicine for the ladies in the palace is Coke or brown sugar water. There are even prop masters who were sentenced by the court because the prop banknotes in the movie were too realistic.

Source: pixabay

Beer bottles are a common prop that has been popular in martial arts scenes. But who would have thought that this seemingly lethal "weapon" is actually made of chicle or synthetic plastic.

Source: pixabay

The beer bottles in movies were never real

In the past, glass props were also called sugar glass, which was made of white sugar and corn syrup . After the raw materials were heated, formed, cooled and dried, they looked like glass. During the cooling and shrinking process, the stickiness of the sugar and the surface tension made the sharp edges that might exist smoother, greatly reducing the chances of people being cut by sugar glass fragments. Despite this, these fragments could still cause some harm to the actors. In addition, the condensed state of the sugar blocks is mostly brittle, and it is easy to disintegrate into small pieces after being stressed. Therefore , the dried sugar glass must be used for filming immediately, otherwise it will gradually become soft and sticky and will not work.

Nowadays, prop glass is usually made of plastic or resin. The more common materials are polyurethane and acrylic.

Polyurethane is a polymer compound, the chemical name is polyurethane, which is divided into two categories according to the properties of the monomers: polyester type and polyether type. Polyurethane is often used to make polyurethane plastics, polyurethane fibers (also known as spandex), polyurethane rubber and elastomers. In life, some artificial sponges are made of polyurethane.

Acrylic, also known as organic glass, is chemically called polymethyl methacrylate. Acrylic is an important plastic polymer material that was developed earlier. It has high transparency, strong chemical stability and weather resistance, is easy to dye and process, and has a beautiful appearance. It is widely used in the construction industry. Transparent acrylic sheet has a transmittance comparable to that of glass, but its density is only half of that of glass. In addition, it is not as fragile as glass, and even if it is smashed, it is not easy to form sharp fragments.

How to make a beer bottle at home that doesn't hurt when hit?

We can use the sugar glass method to make beer bottles. First, you need to prepare a saturated sugar solution. Mix white sugar, corn syrup and water in a ratio of 2:1:2, and add a little tartrate and pigment. The main component of tartrate is potassium hydrogen tartar, which can reduce the crystallization of sugars. Since white sugar is easy to caramelize during the subsequent heating process, and adding too much water to dilute it will reduce the viscosity of the syrup, it is difficult to form a thin layer of sugar glass. Adding corn syrup and tartrate can reduce the crystallization of sugar and help melt it. This is a key step to make the finished sugar glass more uniform and thinner. After the solution is prepared, it can be heated. Pay attention to stir it fully during the heating process to avoid crystallization. After the syrup temperature reaches 150 degrees, fill it into the oiled wine bottle mold while it is hot, cool it for more than one day and demold it, and you can make a sugar glass wine bottle that can be mistaken for a real one. The dried sugar wine bottle can be filled with water, but because the bottle is made of sugar, the load-bearing capacity is not strong, and the water volume generally cannot exceed one-third of the bottle.

Want to make a more realistic prop wine bottle? Learn about the popular 3D printing

With the development of science and technology, 3D printing technology has gradually penetrated into the field of movie props production. 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is a technology that uses a three-dimensional model as the basis to manufacture three-dimensional entities by adding materials layer by layer. Compared with traditional processing methods, 3D printing has the advantages of short manufacturing cycle, low cost, and high design freedom . These advantages are fully reflected in the production of movie props.

3D printer source: Baidu Encyclopedia

3D printing has high precision and can improve the realism of props. Take a wine bottle as an example. Using high-resolution printing equipment, the details and textures of the wine bottle can be accurately presented. Whether it is the label and trademark on the bottle, or the wear and scratches on the bottle cap, they can be perfectly reproduced through 3D printing technology. Such a wine bottle not only has a high degree of simulation effect, but also can add more realism to the atmosphere of the movie.

The manufacturing cycle of 3D printed props is also very short. Traditional prop production usually requires multiple steps such as modeling, material selection, cutting, polishing, and coloring, while 3D printing can transform complex three-dimensional models into physical objects with precise dimensions within a few hours. This saves a lot of time and cost for film production.

Moreover, 3D printing also provides greater design freedom for the production of movie props. Designers can freely design the shape, texture and color of the wine bottle through 3D modeling software, and then print it directly. This not only allows complex designs to be realized, but also allows for rapid iteration and modification during the production process to better meet the requirements of directors and photographers.

Urbee, the world's first 3D printed car

Source: Baidu Encyclopedia

3D printing technology is widely used, not only in the production of movie props, but also in medical, aerospace, military construction, furniture, daily necessities, stationery and toys. 3D printing is used in various manufacturing fields. The world's first commercial 3D printer based on FDM technology was launched in 1992 , and now ordinary families can also own 3D printers based on FDM technology. Just connect a computer to it and you can print out everything you want. If the requirements for precision are lower, we can use a more affordable handheld 3D printing pen to create.

Go make a beer bottle that is as powerful as the one in the movie!