Saturday 6 March 2010

Plastic Play


Lately I have been looking at the materials that I would use when making my product. From the start of the play stage I have always considered using white high gloss plastic but which kind of plastic I haven't thought of.
I had a look throught the material library today to see what was available, and it's fair to say there's a lot to choose from.

The first samples that I came across were white perspex sheets. These have a high glossy finish and a reflective surface that I'm looking for.
^^white perspex sheet with a pearlescent finish

^^perspex sheet with an opal colour

^^another opal shade of perspex sheet

Initially I was thinking of using an ABS plactic as from my research this is what the 13"macbook is made from and this is the type of material I see the camera having. The only ABS that I could find was this one in black. What I liked about this material was the unfinished surface on the opposite side.
Pete had suggested using a leather looking plastic, similar to what the Diana camera uses. I really like the idea of this and the finish it has but I plan on using an orange leather panel across the front of the camera so this there would be too much going on and too many textures on the camera. I still like this plastic and the rough finish so I won't discard the idea just yet.

I then came across more shades of the white perspex sheets in shades of opal. This made my decision of which material and shade to use more difficult. They all have a nice shine to them so I just need to decide which shade of white I would use if I use this material.


What I think I need to do is to look at the mechanical properties of these materials to see which one is most suitable for the conditions it would be used in. It will also be useful to see how these materials are manufactured and the cost of them.

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