Here's how to Stop the World & Melt With You.

With instructables, there's nothing you and I can't do. It's not too early to make plans to Stop the Earth next Valentine's Day. This would make an ideal wedding proposal, or to mark an instant of childhood an unforgettable, eternal moment.

Stopping time is very rare, yet sometimes desirable in this all-too-short life. This instructable may not qualify as a pilgrimage to save the human race. It does qualify as instructions to stop time for a special moment before the race has long gone by. 'Tis a relatively simple task with Time-Journey Tool 6 of 6.

Recommended Materials & Arrangements:

ï· Computer with internet access
ï· Someone you love
ï· Silicone mold-making putty
ï· Stove, metal pot, water
ï· 3d scanner, access to a 3d scanner, or download my scans for free
ï· Access to 3d printer (I use Shapeways.com)
ï· 2 flights on a Boeing 757
ï· Chocolate

Note: The novel "Atlas Shrugged" refers to a metaphorical stopping of the world. This instructable is more literal. It explains How to Stop the World & Melt with You(r) Loved One.

Step 1: Choose Your Fellow Meltee

Select someone you love, with whom to stop time.

Step 2: 3d Scan You and Your Fellow Meltee

Unless you're a sculptor as great as Pygmalion (who's beloved sculpture Galatea came to life), then I recommend using a 3d scanner for you and your prospective meltee. (note: this is not the radioactive, sexual-harassment-type TSA scanners, safe white light only.)

One way is to get 3d-scanned is to use a 3d scanning service bureau. For an earlier project I went to a company called Anthrotech to get me and a loved one scanned. Anthrotech is at 503 Xenia Avenue, Yellow Springs, OH 45387. There are also instructables on how to set up and build your own 3d scanning systems. I have not tried those out yet.

For this project, I was lucky enough to have access to an Artec MHT™ scanner. It is a mac daddy of high-quality, hand-held scanners. 3d scanners are awesome. They even capture a moment in time in their own modest, techy little way.

If you want scans of us instead of yourselves, to get started, download them for free here:

http://www.123dapp.com/AssetManager/Publisher?stgAction=getProduct&intProductId=603632

and here:

http://www.123dapp.com/AssetManager/Publisher?stgAction=getProduct&intProductId=603628

Here's a video from the manufacturer showing the Artec MHT at work:

Step 3: 3d Models

Here's what the lowered-resolution 3d models look like.

(I had added loops to the heads for potential use as pendants.)

Step 4: Print It UP!

Here's a screenshot of my fellow meltee uploaded to Shapeways.com. I ordered three 3d prints from them: one each in stainless steel, nylon, and glazed ceramic.

Other available Shapeways materials include sterling silver, ABS plastic, ceramic, gypsum composite, and so on.

Step 5: 3d Print Materials

I received the three objects from Shapeways. Of the the materials, the Nylon 12 and stainless steel worked great. The glazed ceramic didn't have high-enough resolution for this project. Shown from left to right in the photo are nylon, ceramic, and stainless steel.

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Step 6: Skip This Step!

Oh, you are soooo lucky! Skip this step.

The first time I tried to make molds from the 3d prints, I used a silicon caulk & glycerine mixture. It was a mess. Don't do this!

I found a solution about a hundred times cleaner, quicker & easier. It is the next step.

Step 7: Make Molds

The best material I found for this kind of product is AeroMarine QuickMold Purple Silicone Putty. It is food grade. It has the clean, simple consistency of Play Doh.

It is $30. bucks from:
http://www.aeromarineproducts.com/silicone-mold-making.htm

Just knead the two parts together then push it onto the two 3d-printed likenesses of you and your pal.

One note of caution: I have hot hands. I tried to knead enough putty for both molds and it began to harden in my hands. Fortunately there was enough material do make more. Just do it quickly!

Step 8: Liquify Chocolate

Once I made the molds it was time to reduce the chocolate to a liquid state. I'd never done this before, and I didn't have a double burner. (I don't know if a double burner is strictly necessary).

I put some white chocolate in a little saucepan. I put that saucepan in a bigger pan with about 1.5 inches of water in the bottom. I set the heat on the electric stove to 5. I stirred it continuously. After a few minutes it liquefied with the heat, I poured it into the mold.

Then I cleaned the pan. I subsequently liquefied the brown chocolate in the same manner as the white and filled the other mold.

Step 9: Freeze It

I stuck the two molds in the freezer and the chocolate solidified almost instantly. I'm not sure if it could have been frozen to a harder state. Perhaps I should have let it freeze over night or put it in the zero-degree freezer. --But I was too excited to see the results!

When I removed our chocolate doppelgängers from the molds, a bit of her hat brim broke off in the mold, but it still looked great.

Step 10: 59Â°N Parallel

Book round-trip flights for you and your accomplice between a city north of the 59°N parallel and a city south of the 59°N parallel. Choices to the north of the 59th parallel include Stockholm, Sweden; Oslo, Norway; and Saint Petersburg, Russia. Choices to the south include pretty much everywhere else, probably where you live.

The key is flying in a westerly direction a few miles north of the 59th parallel. It'd work in the southern hemisphere too. I'll leave it for you to work out the down-under details if it's more convenient for you.

Book your flight on a 757. I can only vouch for the 757's. I'm sure some other planes do too. Delta, United, and American Airlines have 757's. Delta has 169 of them.

Step 11: Relative Ground Speed

Either your outbound or inbound flight should cross the 59°N parallel in a southwest or southeast trajectory of Oslo, Stockholm or St. Petersburg. Whether inbound or outbound, you need to choose the easterly-direction flight (SW or NW).

At the 59°N parallel, the relative ground speed of the Earth on its axis of rotation is 534 miles per hour. Oslo, Stockholm and St. Petersburg are between 59°21′N and 59°56′N. The 757 cruises at 533 mph, Mach 0.8. Depending on your itinerary, you will be traveling SW from one of the aforementioned cities or NW to one of the cities.

When your tack is westerly and your plane reaches cruising speed, the plane's velocity curve and the Earth-spin curve will intersect. Between the 59th parallel and one of the aforementioned cities, the plane (and you) will catch up to the spin of the Earth. At that moment you will be in geosynchronous orbit. Time, as we measure it on Earth, will be at a standstill. Check your sundial. The shadow stops(!)

hint: If you have a GPS, you'll know when you are ready to cross the 59°N parallel. Otherwise ask the crew. They'll appreciate your romantic nature, a quality I like to think shared by instructables contest judges.

Step 12: It Is Real

This is your chance. It is real. It is not 'a state of imaginary grace'. Quick! Grab your chocolates, McFly.

Step 13: How You Do It

Whether whisper, telepathy or passionate shout, tell your loved one, "I'll stop the world and melt with you!"

How you do it is up to you. The melting point of chocolate is between 86° F and 90° F. It'll melt in your mouth. If you're not too cool it'll melt on your skin.