11710/Summer Class - Polymers 101

Summer Class - Polymers 101
Date of Scene:	02 July 2020
Location:	Hank's Lab - X-Men Base
Synopsis:	Alice first lesson in Polymer Chemistry turns into planning to turn Dr. McCoy into Totoro!
Cast of Characters:	Red, Beast

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Red has posed:
With summer getting into full swing, so do the summer classes start. Which in turn brought Alice down to the elevator, out of the heat of the summer, into the cool underground halls of Henry "Beast" "Hank" McCoy's lab. Or rather in front of it as she couldn't go into the lab all on her own. That would break so many rules, the smallest of them OSHA.

Beast has posed:
Hard at work in his lab, Hank McCoy has lost track of time. He's staring at something in a microscope. He's also just wearing shorts and a muscle shirt. It's too hot outside for much else and he's not overly concerned with appearances at the moment. After all, it's summer and he doesn't have any classes... "Drat!" he exclaims when he realizes there's someone outside of his lab and what time it is. The scientist had gotten quite lost in whatever he was working on. Jumping to his clawed feet the blue guy grabs a labcoat and puts it on quickly as he heads for the door to open it for his student, "Alice! Welcome. Thank you for arriving so promptly."

Red has posed:
Alice says, "Seems like time flies as you work on things." Alice comments with a little chuckle, nodding as she steps into the lab upon invitation. "You wanted me to test some things, right? I mean, yu had mentioned some composite ideas and materials..." That's when she fully sees the extent of the lab cut into the bedrock. "Wow, that is all under the building? I mean, I have heard that there's pretty much a town down here, but this lab alone is like a gym!""

Beast has posed:
"Certainly, I've got a number of materials for us to work with," Hank says as he lets the student enter his lab. As she exclaims about it's size he laughs, "Yes. As much room as I need, most of the time. I've got a lot of experiments I'm working on at any given time."

The PhD leads his pupil further into the room, gesturing at things, "DNA sequencer. MRI. Electron microscope."

Red has posed:
Alice says, "And let me guess: half of that stuff is worth more than a house in the countryside or a coffin in new york?" Alice quips as she looks for what he might want to work on today with her. Though there is so much, it's hard to spot what he might have planned. "So, what's the 101 topic?""

Beast has posed:
"Much of it is incredibly expensive," Hank chuckles at the young woman as he shows her towards a work surface that's got a number of different cubes on it. Each one is a different polymer of differing hardness and heat resistance. "Since your abilities lend themselves towards manipulating polymers I thought that a course on their chemical compositions might be in order. This way we can help you to determine what particular properties make them easier or more difficult for you to work with. This way you can learn a great deal about chemistry while improving your knowledge of yourself." There's also a book on the table, which the large blue fellow taps, "And here's a text on the subject if you'd like to read further between classes. I assure you, however, that it's not a necessity, merely more information on the chemistry involved should you desire further knowledge on the subject than we'll likely have time to dig into."

Red has posed:
Alice follows to the table, eying the book first before spotting the cubes. "That is the non mandatory notes? What's the mandatory ones then?" she asks befre she steps over to look at the cubes more carefully. "Hm... I think I know that one..." she notes as she reaches over to brush over one silky colored one. "I think it's PTFE, am I right?"

Beast has posed:
"That, you should learn class. I'll be sending an electronic version of the text I'll be using to instruct to your school email," Hank says with a smile as he watches her handle the plastics. "Excellent! You hit the nail on the head with that one." The teacher moves to stand next to the work surface so he can watch Alice. "I'm sure you know a few uses for it already. What do you think of the other materials on display?"

Red has posed:
Alice says, "Teflon has this special color and texture and feel. I mean, unless you stuff it with color. So call it an educated guess?" Alice notes with a little shrug, eying the other samples. "Hmm, I suspect... uh... hard to tell... could be ABS? Thats like a butter and bread plastic, everywhere and strudy. Thouh could be just as well PLA from the look and feel, though that's not as sturdy... smells like suggar syrup if you heat it though. ABS stinks when you do that...""

Beast has posed:
"You know your stuff, Alice!" Beast congratulates the student exuberantly, quite pleased with her, it seems. "Now's the fun part, you get to mess with any of this stuff whenever you'd like to. And anything you see here that you'd like more of we can arrange, too. Make sure that we're able to provide you with what you need to make anything you think would be useful." There's a soft chuckle from the teacher, "I might even commission you to make me a costume. Isn't Dragoncon coming up?"

Red has posed:
"Happens if you work with costumes a lot. I mean, sure, DragonCon is usually end of August, sometimes into September. SanDiego ComicCon is first, but on a bit of a short notice. About mid July, but doable. Too late for Toronto ComiCon though, that was back in May. Comiket is more often, in late December and early August usualyl, so might even make the summer one." Alice rambles a little, then halts. "What did you have in mind anyway?"

Beast has posed:
"I think perhaps a Cylon from Battlestar Galactica. Something where I can wander around without people recognizing me, but that's just an idea I had," Hank replies with a grin. "I'm not totally sold on the idea and I'd be willing to try something else." Then he shrugs his shoulders, "DragonCon is the big one I'm most aware of after San Diego ComicCon."

Red has posed:
"Cylons... 1978 chrome overkill, Reinvision "Longface" Centurion of the second Cylon war, First Cylon style, Andromus... Or you wanna go a numbered humanoid cylon? Might be a tricky to get you into that red dress of Caprica-Six..." Alice asks, chuckling a little. "Though if you get your hands on Cylon Organic Resin... could be interesting, if you can get the precautions done."

Beast has posed:
"I would totally want to go retro with it. Shiny and bright," Hank says with a laugh. "I just want something that'll look good, stand out and hide my identity so I can pretend I'm not famous for a while. Then if I get bored I'd can go out without the costume on and discuss science with science fiction fans for a while."

Red has posed:
"Hm. Totoro or Admiral Ackbar might also work. Both are classics, if you don't want to get tons of Rub'n'Buff. Though for Totoro we need a seamstress for the huge ammount of fake fur. But you'd get lot of hugs as Tototo." Alice suggests, tapping her chin. "If you got plans for the parts and the right ammount of polymers... It all can be done."

Beast has posed:
"I think Shannon is a seamstress, we may be able to get her involved. Make it an unofficial project for the three of us to work on together," Hank suggests with a grin. "Lots of hugs might be nice."

Red has posed:
"So we need a Totoro? Or a group of Tototo? On the other hand, might make quite easily get you a clonetrooper. I worked on like... some half dozen or so in the past."

Beast has posed:
"Let's go for a Totoro! I think that would be the most fun for everyone," Hank says with a big grin on his face. "I'm fairly certain that you, Ms Pryde and myself could design the costume using a 3D construction program, use the CNC machine to make the heavy duty parts. You do all the polymers and fine detail stuff, Shannon can work out the fur situation..." He nods and lets out another laugh, "This should be quite fun."

Red has posed:
"Well, Totoro actually is rather simple when it comes to the shape, the tricky thing is looking outside, staying cool and keeping the costume puffy. I mean, with the materials on hand and the someone to sew, you could make a Totoro over a weekend or two. Everything else, like supporting the costume on the shoulders instead of the head and managing a good setup to look out takes the rest of the time." Alice knws her costume stuff. "And measuring."

Beast has posed:
"We can put an air conditioner in there," Beast says after a moment of thought. "Use a Tesla battery, perhaps." He will overcomplicate things if allowed to, sometimes. "The internals are why we have to use the 3D draft program, is my thought." Then he nods and strides over to a computer, tapping rapidly on the keyboard to bring up the software, "We'll need to know how large the finished product should be. How we're going to structure the outside of it..." He looks over Alice's way and says, "Actually, lets hold off until we can bug Kitty and Shannon. I don't want to get too far ahead of myself and I've got a few other projects to work on before I dive headlong into this one."

Red has posed:
"Well, The basic shape of Totoro is pretty much an eggy thing, spade-bunny-ears, bear arms and legs, Owl eyes, cat whiskers... I bet there is a model on the net or ten." Alice notes with a shrug. "Even if it is a 1988 film. Ghibli has SO many fans, people love them."

Beast has posed:
"Oh yes. About seven and a half feet tall, I'd wager, with the ears going up another eight inches or so..." Hank is caught up again. The computer starts bringing up images of Totoro for the pair to look at. "Finding a model might make things too easy. I think I'd prefer for us to make our own, especially if we use a battery powered air conditioner in it. We'll need to make sure it fits inside the suit properly."

"I very much enjoy Hayao Miyazaki films. I believe Howl's Moving Castle may be my favorite, though."

Red has posed:
Pondering a few moments, Alice pulls out her phone to try to open a picture, then a database for average heights. "Well, about double the size of Satsuki, who's about 11, and half the size of the Cat bus. Assuming Satsuki is average height, he'd be more about... Nine and a half feet including ears and feet."

"There's lots of space in a six feet diameter Totoro, and while Hauru no Ugoku Shiro is nice, I prefer Kaze no Tani no Naushika, Tenku no Shiro Rapyuta and Heisei Tanuki Gassen Ponpoko and Mononoke-hime. I mean, the later four are all written by and for Ghibli, while the other one took inspiration from something already there."

Beast has posed:
"Nine and a half feet tall!" Hank lets out a low whistle at that number. "It'll be tough to get through doorways. Luckily it should be a pretty squishy costume." There's a little chuckle, "Good thing I've got super strength, too, because I don't know how easy it will be to move around in, otherwise."

"I think the anti-war themes examined in Howl really appeal to my sensibilities. All of his movies are great, though. Mononoke is another special favorite, but I haven't watched that one in some time."

Red has posed:
"Well, that does assume average size of a 2015 Tokyo girl. Might cut some inches for the 1988 statistics and some more for below average size... But we probably ain't gonna get below 8 feet 6 by 5 feet four without starting to go out of proportion too much. I mean, the average 11 year old is usually above 4 feet three."

"Depends on the construction. And Shiro Rapyuta as well as Naushika are nicer in how they packed their pacifism compared to Ugoku Shiro. I mean, Shiro Rapyuta has the flying castle literally being the reason the last world ended, Naushika fights the last remnants of large scale biochemical warfare."

Beast has posed:
"I can always bend forward at the waist to get through doorways in it," Hank says with a smile. "We can keep it at around nine feet tall, I'd say. I wouldn't want to do the character a disservice by shrinking him too much."

"Castle in the Sky was quite captivating. I like the steampunk and dieselpunk elements it features, too. I find those genres to be terribly interesting."