Eccleston/ Tennant Console at Doctor Who Experience

[galacticprobe]

Those smaller tubes do have that point on them - could never figure out why. Glass is glass and if you could round off the tops of the larger tubes, then why not round off the tops of the smaller ones as well?

At any road, even those 12AX7-types do come in different sizes. Some are taller (like the one on the top of the console frame). Some are shorter, and even wider (like the tube pictured in TG5's second photo). I remember being able to go into the stock room for parts, open a drawer with those small tubes in it, and see a dozen or so tubes and each one would be a different size. Again it all depends on what's inside the tube which determines what it's used for. Diode tubes are the same diameter as tetrode tubes (which can be amps or pre-amps, or even oscillators if they're biased right), but the tetrodes are taller because there are more things inside them (and they have more pins in their base).

The best thing, depending on the size of your hand, would be to look for a tube that's about the size of your thumb or index finger (tip to second joint). That should get you a tube close to the right size, basing this guess on comparison between the size of the tube in my photo above with the Halsford gear knob on the left edge of the photo, and my fingers with my gear knob (a tube about an inch in diameter and about 2 to 2.5 inches tall).

Dino.

[timegalaxy5]

I believe the small ones (12AX7) are pre-amp tubes and the large ones (6L6) are power tubes. Don't ask me more than that cos don't know

But... The ones in the console look about 12AX7 size to me. They have this sharper point (if I'm not mistaken) that isn't there on the larger tubes.

my dad just had given me some tubes the other day and he said, "Hey son, could you use these 12AX7's on your time machine?" ha, he gave me three of them and i told him afterword that there actually are some on the console and that i was talking about it on this form haha, funny how things work out. The three he gave me all say that they are made in a different country, like one is Russia, and another Japan, and cant remember the other, but they look allot similar to the ones on the console, like the bits inside and also the tipped top to it. Glass things with bits inside are cool 

TG5

[galacticprobe]

And that silvery stuff on the inside (mostly at the top) will turn white if the glass cracks and it loses its vacuum and air gets inside. (Their glass is thicker than that of a light bulb, but they'll still implode/explode like a bulb if you drop them, only the shards are thicker, so handle them with care, do.)

Dino.

[timegalaxy5]

I shall 

[wayne venomous]

Just browsing through these 2005 console images again (seems I can't get enough of them) and I was wondering if anyone has yet ID'd this part:


I know it's not the clearest image, but it's the best close-up of this lever I could find from Kingpin's images (cropped here to focus on the lever).

Dino.

Just been watching Christopher Eccleston's final episode where he regenerates. As he's about to change, there's a close-up of his hand and a very clear shot of this part from the top. I'd only ever seen this on an old CRT Television prior to this but last year we finally upgraded to a new Plasma HDTV and now I've noticed (although I'm not 100% sure) in the casting of the part what looks like the flash "L" in the Lucas logo:
[noimg width=492 height=115]http://www.cbccarspares.co.uk/ekmps/shops/cbccarspares/images/lucas-logo[ekm]492x115[ekm].jpg[/img] Lucas do (or at least did) make Bus and lorry brake parts so it would make sense.

[wayne venomous]

Also, looking at Halfords "Ripspeed" range, the wheel spacers they sell seem to be more like the ones used on the TARDIS console:

Here's an interesting thing I read today in an old issue of Doctor Who Adventures magazine, the guy who built this console claims this part is the clutch plate from an F1 car! I've seen an F1 clutch plate being made on How It's Made on the Discovery Channel and although it is fairly similar looking, it's clearly not the same part.
Was he trying to lead us off the trail or just sound good for the magazine I wonder?

[Rassilons Rod]

Nothing in this search looks like that... Except that they are round.

Google image search

[wayne venomous]

The plates that come up on Google search look more like standard car clutch plates anyway. The frame of the outer pressure plate before it's assembled looks a tiny bit like the wheel adaptor. Either way, it's not a clutch plate F1 or otherwise.

[galacticprobe]

I think I read somewhere that this is the "anodized" F1 clutch plate in question:

(9th Doctor console version: notice the gear teeth on the inside. Open this image in a new tab or window to see it full size as your browser might auto-size it to your screen.)



(10th Doctor console version: the teeth are still on the inside, just not so easy to see in this photo)

I have a better photo of this thing which someone can use as a guide to scratch-build one from plastic (with or without the gear teeth, depending on how much detail you want). I'll post that tomorrow as it's on the other computer, and I'm about to collapse into bed at any moment.

Dino.

[kiwidoc]

I haven't seen those pictures before, very nice!   It's amazing how clean and tidy everything looks!  Obviously there were quite a few changes after this - did the anodised piece survive through to now in the exhibition?   Oh, and is that the bus brake with a handle I see there?

Interesting, thanks Dino!

[galacticprobe]

Here's that better detailed photo of that F1 anodized clutch plate:


(I know your browsers probably resized this to fit your window, so... you know what to do.)

It looks like someone used this in their console build of sorts. (If this console is someone's on here, please let yourself be known. I don't remember where I found this photo.)

This shows all of the small holes, notches, gear teeth, etc. in the plate. A place called Morlock Enterprises (http://www.morlockenterprises.com) whose owner I spoke to at last year's Nekocon (his said call him Jim) said they can make anything out of anything (cast, cut, or pressed metals, vacu-formed plastic, resin, etc.). Just contact them on their web site - just about everyone working there has an e-mail listed, including Jim - and tell them what you want, send a photo and some dims and details (such as how much detail you want in it and what you want it made from) and they'll give you a quote.

From the items they had on sale at their Con table, the prices looked very reasonable. I haven't contacted them yet as I'm nowhere near ready for one of these, but if anyone else is check out their web site. They could probably also make those little three-"legged" aluminum-looking domed things (but I'm not ready for any of those either, although, from Kingpin's photos of them, I still think they look like they might be the top of a tripod-type device).

Dino.

[wayne venomous]

Great photos, Dino! 
Looking at the article again, I suspect the person who did the layout of the article didn't quite know what part he was referring to.

Great shot of the lever of the handbrake too. It is very similar to the one on the top right pictured here (minus the black plastic trim and a few mounting bracket parts):

I'm sure I've seen this type used in a lot of buses in Newcastle, it was mounted high up next to the steering wheel so I'd often see the driver flip it down once the bus came to a stop. In which case it would have been a Leyland Atlantean bus, but I do suspect it's been used on many other buses. A Leyland bus is a pretty good bet though as Lucas made most of the brake and electrical parts for these.

[galacticprobe]

That top right handle just might be it, Wayne! (Got any junkyards nearby that might have one of those buses in it? )

Dino.

[wayne venomous]

Unfortunately it's difficult to find Leyland Atlantean buses in a "breaking" situation, they're tough old things and tend to get shipped around to somewhere else rather than junked.

I know some have ended up in Australia and even a few in America! I've seen one in NCIS being used for the "Hollywood tour" and I think there's one in Austin Powers II (where Elvis Costello is singing in the street - the same bus drives past several times!)

[galacticprobe]

Time to start checking that old reliable ebay again. (Not that I could afford it if I found one, unless I get ridiculously lucky.)

Dino.