The Original You Might Say

[Mark]

Thanks again Tailgunner, all input is helpful to me!

Well I'm making progress on the test box, admittedly slow progress but every little helps.

I going for 1/4 scale using 1.5mm mounting card which is deceptively hard work to cut. This is all getting stuck together using my childhood favourite, PVA glue (used to love gluing fingers and then peeling off the glue when dry.). When I started my aborted build a few years ago I found this method of construction gave quite a tough result.

Despite using the "measure twice, cut once" I have still managed to get a few inaccuracies, only a few mm here and there which should be unnoticeable with any luck.

Because I am building this model as close to the original box it means a lot of extra work. The sign box "ring beam" thing alone will have 62 separately cut pieces to achieve the finished look. The corner post will have 20 separate cut parts each excluding post caps and curved bevels.

I just hope it all fits together properly when I finish 

[tailgunner30uk]

Believe me I understand, no matter how many times I measure sometimes a gremlin will tweak a dial or nudge an indicator, meaning that some critical piece is that needed to be a tight fit, now rattles.  This usually involves a significant amount of cursing and remaking the offending part. 

I was going to post some pictures in my screwdriver diary to day, I might still, but most of the work today has been making needed parts, adjusting fittings and so on.  A simple task that should have taken 10 minutes turned into a 2 hour epic with parts flying across the workshop.  Finally with some really weird processes I got it done to my satisfaction.

I didn't get around to any of the interesting stuff.  But there is always tomorrow.

Anyway glad to be of help

[Mark]

You ain't kidding mate!

The air was blue because of those pesky measurement adjusting gremlins.

Damn them!

[lorisarvendu]

I going for 1/4 scale using 1.5mm mounting card which is deceptively hard work to cut. This is all getting stuck together using my childhood favourite, PVA glue (used to love gluing fingers and then peeling off the glue when dry.). When I started my aborted build a few years ago I found this method of construction gave quite a tough result.

Be very careful with the amount of PVA you use on mounting card.  Too much can cause the card to warp (and not in a nice TARDISy way!).  That was why I moved over to Epoxy resin as it doesn't soak into the card.

[Mark]

Too much can cause the card to warp (and not in a nice TARDISy way!).

That did make me laugh, but seriously that is an interesting point you mention which I had not considered.

I'll keep a check on my build parts as I go along, keeping an eye on warping.

Thanks for pointing that out, you may well have prevented potential problems for me.

[Mark]

When I started this thread all those years ago it was originally to be my build diary for a full sized Police Box accurate both externally and internally.

During the course of me planning this build I discussed various ideas and there were lots of very helpful comments, ideas and help from other board members which has ultimately ended up with this thread becoming more of a police box resource/discussion area.

Based on this I thought it might be best to start a new topic in the build diary area for the test model (http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=3267.0 ). When each part has been finished I will of course pop pictures over here for discussion etc.

Only took my 6 years but now I have two threads on these pages! 

[Mark]

Now here's a funny story.

Last night at work I thought I would do some clandestine printing of police boxes and to start, decided to do a comparison print with Chrich and Barnet both face on.

Each picture was to be on A4 sized photo paper and I set them off printing. When I returned a few minutes later I realised I had actually set them printing poster sized!  

Not wanting to waste precious photo paper I let the first picture which happened to Barnet finish before cancelling the print job and it was then that I noticed it.

The side panels on the box appear to have an extra bevel! I have never noticed this so checked a few more boxes of this style and they all appear to have this extra bevel but I can only make it out on the bottom of the panels.

The one to the left is the Hammersmith one and the one on the right is the one of the glossy police box near a petrol station with a policeman in a trench coat.

If I'm honest I thought it was just a glitch with the print heads but this seems to prove something.

Any thoughts?

[domvar]

Looks like every door i have ever gloss painted i think that when painted and repainted excess paint gathers at the bottom crich has been stripped for restoeation so that might explain it not beingthere on that one

[Mark]

I know what you mean Dom, although when ever I've painted doors with gloss I usually end up with brush strokes, big drip marks and the occasional bristle.

My opinion is that it is highly suspicious for the lines to appear almost exactly halfway on every panel and on several different boxes.



Looking at this grab it looks to me as though there is a shallow angled bevel up to the line and then a steeper angle from there to the actual inside panel.

[galacticprobe]

Is it possible that real boxes were cast with that bevel as a way to help shed water or other precipitation? Even painted concrete is porous, so water soaking in would cause damage, especially in cold weather when it froze and could crack/shatter the concrete: sort of like it does when it creates potholes in a pavement or a road. (The other three sides look like they have no bevel, but then water isn't likely to rest on them.)

Dino.

[Mark]

I agree with the reason behind putting the bevel/chamfer in to assist with preventing water pooling, I also figure it makes it slightly easier to pull during the casting process.

The chamfer has been a integral part of all TARDIS builds (as far as I can remember?) as it has been on the real police boxes although both with varying angles for each different versions. What I havn't seen before (or noticed) is the thing I outlined that looks like a double chamfer.



Forgive the rough picture to try and explain what I mean.

[galacticprobe]

The chamfer has been a integral part of all TARDIS builds (as far as I can remember?) as it has been on the real police boxes although both with varying angles for each different versions.

Actually, the original Brachacki and Brachacki-modified TARDIS (the Hartnell through early Tom baker model) had no chamfer on the stiles. They were simple square stiles. The chamfered/beveled stiles came with the Newbery model that replaced the Brachacki, and have stayed with all subsequent models.

Dino.

[Rassilons Rod]

Could it be that the moulds used to make the concrete Police Boxes were made like that to make release easier?

[action_mat]

That makes a lot of sense, I'm sure you're right.

[domvar]

I'm still not 100% convinced as crich does not have them. 

There were obviously different castings used at different times as the barnet dims differ so far from the crich ones.

could it be that putty was used to repair boxes ?