The illustration of an atomic mishap

Making 'The Blue Flash': How I reconstructed a fatal atomic accident Ben Platts-Mills Reconstructing the blue flash In 1946, a dangerous radioactive apparatus in the Manhattan Project killed a scientist when his screwdriver slipped. Last week, BBC Future explored the consequences of this fatal accident in a specially illustrated story created by the artist and writer Ben Platts-Mills: In this gallery, Platts-Mills explains how he composed the illustrations, based on reconstructions created shortly after the accident, archive photographs, and his own mock-up of the apparatus built from household materials. These photographs would prove invaluable Marshall Wilder/Ben Platts-Mills.as would other photos like this extraordinary shot of Edward Wilder riding the "Fat Man" bomb in 1945, provided by his son Marshall Ben Platts-Mills As I began drawing from the photographs, I realised that there were objects in them that were unfamiliar to me and that might confuse a general reader For example, I wasn't sure what this device was, until a friend suggested that it's a signal amplifier, drawing a signal from a detector on the table Ben Platts-Mills I would have to strike a balance between making my drawings scientifically and historically accurate and telling the story in a clear, accessible way Ben Platts-Mills To help me compose the illustrations, I experimented by posing with household items – but this only took me so far Ben Platts-Mills So, I decided to build my own critical assembly, using mixing bowls, cardboard – and a spray-painted foam ball for the plutonium core Ben Platts-Mills This reconstruction would allow me to capture scenes from alternative angles, with the right textures and lighting Andy Sewell My friend Andy Sewell took a set of photographs of me posing with the assembly Ben Platts-Mills I then drew from these photos to show Slotin demonstrating the assembly with his screwdriver Andy Sewell The reconstruction allowed me to compose particular angles that weren't present in the archive photographs Ben-Platts Mills I drew from a combination of Andy's photos and archival ones to create the final artwork Ben Platts-Mills The final illustration of Slotin, based on a combination of my body, the mock-up assembly, and his face from an old photograph Ben Platts-Mills For the dialogue, I drew from primary sources. My research suggested it was based on a sketch by Slotin Andy Sewell We created this important shot of the radiation burst using a light placed beneath the mock-up Ben Platts-Mills Together, these techniques allowed me to create new images of important moments that were in keeping with the era but not available in the archive The final image of the Blue Flash story Thanks to the following people who helped along the way: Andy Sewell, Marshall Wilder, Richard Fisher, Nicola Stephanie, Glenn Adamson, Tony Hall, Sam Winston, Allex Wellerstein, Christina Petrie, Roger Sherman, Javier Hirschfeld, Joe Rizzo Naudi, Annie Hayter, Tiiu Mortley, Eleanor Nairne, Claire Crofton, Sasha Galitzine, Kirsten Duran, and Los Alamos National Laboratories.