1:6-scale Doctor's Bag

This is a 55-piece, 1:6-scale (one sixth 'normal' size) doctor's bag I constructed. A description/commentary of/on the 55 pieces:

- The doctor's bag itself. The handle, and the two, upper halves are articulated. Scale-wise, it ended up larger than I would have liked, but it was necessary to make it this big in order to fit all the stuff inside of it. I made the bag last, which is a good example of putting the horse-before-the-cart; in retrospect, I should have made it first, which would have insured it stayed the scale I wanted and would have forced me to make the correct amount of accessories to fit in it. This is made of cardboard from a cracker box, newsprint, a wire twist tie, white/hot glue, and acrylic paint.

- Three (3) sterile bandages in different sizes. These were made from material from an old, white T-shirt and Glad Clingwrap.

- Four (4) sterile gauze pads. These were made from Kleenex and Glad Clingwrap.

- Three (3) sterile tongue depressors. These were made from heavy paper stock and Glad Clingwrap.

- One (1) roll of adhesive tape. I was originally going to use real tape for this, rather than paper, but I later decided it wasn't worth the hassle. This is made from cardboard from a cereal box, magazine paper, newsprint, white glue, and acrylic paint.

- Nine (9) sterile band-aids (five large, four small). I was going to make more of these, and a box for them, but decided the bag was crowded enough as it is. These were made from heavy paper stock, newsprint, and Glad Clingwrap.

- One (1) pair of plastic gloves. Unfortunately, these don't actually work. I experimented with melting two glove halves together with heat, but the plastic melted too much, so I ended up with 'fake' gloves instead of working ones. These were made from a plastic grocery bag and white glue.

- Two (2) sponges (one small, one large). I was going to include a bar of soap to go with these, and had intended to cut a tiny bar off a life-size bar from the bathroom. But, giving it some more thought, I figured there'd be a good chance of the soap discoloring or otherwise damaging the other items over time, so I nixed it. Yes, I could have made a bar out of different material, but it's another thing that didn't make it into the final product. I cut these out of a sponge/sandpaper rectangle.

- One (1) tray. This is made from cardboard from a cereal box, hot glue, and acrylic paint.

- Three (3) tubes of cream/ointment (large, medium, and small). They don't open or have any goo inside of them, tempting as it was to do so. These are made from candy wrappers, newsprint, white/hot glue, and acrylic paint.

- Six (6) bottles/canisters of disinfectant/medicine in various shapes/sizes. These don't open or have anything in them. I was going to make some transparent ones too, but ultimately didn't. The labels are medical nonsense I cut out of various pharmaceutical advertisements from two copies of Time magazine. These are made out of newsprint, magazine paper, white glue, and acrylic paint.

- One (1) stethoscope. All of the wire sections are bendable. I was going to make a blood pressure cuff to go along with this, but again, it's an item that got cut, mainly due to space constraints. This is made out of wire twist ties, cardboard from a cereal box, newsprint, white/hot glue, electrical tape, and acrylic paint.

- One (1) syringe set. This consists of the syringe, four needles, and the case. The depressor/plunger on the syringe works, any of the four needles are interchangeable with the syringe, and the case folds in half. I was going to make another, smaller syringe to go along with the large one, but decided one was good enough. My sewing skills have deteriorated (or maybe I was never much good to begin with); after sewing the case up for this, I wasn't too impressed with the end result, which is why I went a different design route for the instrument set. The syringe is made out of newsprint, wire twist ties, a piece of a ballpoint pen, white/hot glue, and acrylic paint. The needles are made out of wire twist ties, newsprint, white glue, and acrylic paint. The case is made out of material from an old T-shirt, thread, and electrical tape.

- One (1) instrument set. This consists of three pairs of scissors (one small, one large, and one angled), two scalpels, one pair of forceps, one pair of pliers, two surgical saws (one hacksaw and one straight), a thermometer, a reflex hammer, a flashlight, and the case. The hinges on the scissors and pliers are articulated and the case folds in half. I would have liked to make even more instruments, but this thing, more than anything else, later dictated the size of the bag, and it's big enough already without adding to it. The scissors were made from clear plastic from a toy package, wire twist ties, hot glue, and acrylic paint. The scalpels were made from cardboard from a cereal box, clear plastic from a toy package, newsprint, white/hot glue, and acrylic paint. The forceps were made from clear plastic from a toy package, hot glue, and acrylic paint. The pliers were made from were made from clear plastic from a toy package, wire twist ties, newsprint, white/hot glue, and acrylic paint. The hacksaw is made from newsprint, cardboard from a cereal box, clear plastic from a toy package, white/hot glue, and acrylic paint. The straight saw is made from clear plastic from a toy package, a wire twist tie, newsprint, white/hot glue, and acrylic paint. The thermometer is made from a piece of a ball point pen, newsprint, white/hot glue, and acrylic paint. The reflex hammer is made from wire twist ties, cardboard from a cereal box, newsprint, white/hot glue, and acrylic paint. The flashlight is made from a piece of a ball point pen, newsprint, white/hot glue, and acrylic paint. The case is made from cardboard from a cereal box, electrical tape, and hot glue.