I was thinking of doing something Steampunk themed for Halloween, and thought I might spend a few hours prototyping a ‘raygun’ prop. This aether cell as far as I got, it would serve as the ‘ammo cartridge’ for the raygun, sticking out of the back at a slight angle.
It’s got a red LED, a cyan ultrabright, and a UV LED, and the fluid is a mixture of diet tonic water, vodka, and highlighter fluid, so you get a very nice eerie glow with the UV LED on.
One reason I didn’t go further is because Mighty Putty sucks. I had purchased some on sale at Target because it’s supposed to be waterproof, but it certainly didn’t form a watertight seal against my brass coupling and I’m glad I tried it here and not in an emergency plumbing situation! It also smells incredibly foul, far worse than other epoxies I’ve used.
Another thing I’d try differently next time is to omit the highlighter fluid. It does glow brightly, but it’s fairly opaque as well, making the mix look cloudy with the LEDs off and I think it limits how far the UV can travel too much.
