I just noticed the "Product note" they put on their
website:
"Regarding our product, the COO, Sommelier and product specialist of Silver Screen Bottling Co., Ryan McElveen, has written a note to our customers about the story of the intentional and complex design of the Nuka Dark Rum product.
The packaging of Nuka Dark Rum was a design that was months in the making and we went to great lengths to ensure that no corners were cut. It cost over 2X what it would have if we would have simply cast a glass mold. We went through many prototypes. In fact, in all, we had four different iterations of the design, two of which were glass exteriors. We determined that a glass bottle alone would not have been dramatic enough for the look we wanted. We wanted something big and bold for the loyal Fallout fanbase – something that honored the game. Over 100 hours were spent just writing the code to create the 3D-printed prototype of the shells. The “bottle cap” which is actually an integrated cork/cap, was engineered and re-engineered several times to ensure it fit on the bottle in a manner that looked exactly the way it is supposed to inside of a cork finished bottle (not a screw cap). A design created, specifically, for rum. The idea was that the bottle was housed in a “vault of its own.”
The dimensions of the entire package are 13”x 6”. It is roughly 60% larger than a standard 750 ml bottle and It will stand out on any bar. This is a project we are extremely proud of and we are sorry that you feel that you were in any way deceived. We were very deliberate in the creation of this product and paid great attention to the brand and the quality. Not just the presentation, but the rum inside the bottle as well. We can’t wait for you to see it in person and taste if for yourself, we’re not sure that the images or videos do it justice. Now, if you don’t agree when you receive yours please let our team know by submitting a form in the “Questions About My Order” section below and we will work to make it right."
At first I thought it was blow-molded plastic, but taking another look at the images posted reveals that the plastic has snaps on the edges. This means they have to do two separate two-part injection plastic molds, one for each half of the bottle. Even a cheap plastic mold of this scale costs >$10K.
The in game the bottles are not liter sized, so I don't get why they went "Big and bold". Other than they had to fit the bottle shape around a pre-existing bottle.
100 hours of coding to 3D print the prototypes? Were they writing G-code by hand? Perhaps this is just bad wording for all the time they spent on design.
The integrated cork cap idea seemed like a very odd and expensive design choice. Of course the rum dripping over the edges of the plastic just looks horrible. Glass bottles have a lip for a reason.
My theory: They tried and failed at least a few times to make a glass bottle, or a some other variant of this bottle. In the end they ran out of time, and simply rushed the plastic over an existing bottle design. They had already announced the liquid capacity, so that set the bottle size, and this is why it is way over sized.
Here is how I would designed, if I was told that the fins at the bottom aren't possible in blown glass:
- Create a more traditional glass bottle, something that is accurate to the shape of the in-game bottle. This shape is possible, because they make it all the time for lava lamps. Lava lamp bottles even have a traditional bottle caps on top!
- Then design a plastic molded base, something that adds the fins to the existing bottle shape. Mold this out of a very clear plastic, at the same thickness as the glass surface.
- Then you fill the clear base with a acrylic adhesive, tinted to match the alcohol content inside. The acrylic adhesive would be used to bond the molded base to the glass bottle. It would bond with the surface of the glass, and make the base of the real bottle less visible, especially through a dark liquid.
- The tinted acrylic would create the fake effect that the bottle was completely full, including the fins.
- Finally, fill the bottle with a genuinely dark alcohol. Not a cheaply tinted drink.
- Put a regular bottle cap on top! The cap alone could have been a collectible.
While I am writing this in hindsight, I may take some time and actually 3D model this. I might even record a video of the CAD as I go.
