Restoration of the TYJ MK2 for the DW Experience

Started by DoctorWho8, Feb 26, 2011, 08:50 am

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celation

Timerotor - magnificent job! The TARDIS looks great - inside and out. Can't wait to see it - really must book those tickets...

C.

timerotor

Feb 27, 2011, 01:03 am #16 Last Edit: Feb 27, 2011, 01:11 am by timerotor
Superrich1a
I understand your point of view.
I'm sure many people feel the same.
I am duty bound to tell you that Olympia is ideal for this type of expo! LOL
despite its low ceilings, limited space and hardly any toilets in the foyer, it is simply the BEST!
authentic, inauthentic BLAH!!! If I had my way the complete 5 doctors console room would be as big a feature as the David Tennant set! - which is the real shooting set and no replica BTW.
I should point out, that it was Andrew Beech who lobbied long and hard to get said authentic/inauthentic relics from the past in there, and if you see him, go have a chat. He's often there for meetings, interviews and of course to visit me on my lunch break  :)I think he's keeping an eye on me, just incase the Tardis gets smaller day by day until its gone completely...
Seriously the mans a legend and no matter what past events or wrangles some may have had. its in the past, and we all owe him a big thank you - especially me! It simply would have been NEW series only if not for him!
I'm actually at my parents in Bristol.
I drove back today, I wanted to have a go at the roof, on my box.
Having seen and studied the TYJ, I feel I can correct it now...
Oh and by the way, of course I could go and fiddle with absolutely everything!
But I only go behind the barrier, when nobody is in there, and its usually first thing in the morning (8am) to pick up a sweet wrapper, mud or hair and bits of child debris... I sweep the floor and sometimes paint the odd patch thats got the floor glue from the carpet tiles that I ripped up - seeping through. (it looks like grease stains)
The only time I've gone IN the Tardis is to help Peter Davison - its not pretty and it stinks! lovely to look at, but yuk!
I thought about air freshener! HA!
ALL staff are not permitted to touch the exhibits. I am the odd job mending man, with my paint and stash of tools, but I don't 'play' with the console coz I'm used to it now and I don't want to be hypercritical, its the media and the Beeb that can't keep their hands off it! ;D
Mike Tucker is on call if anything on a larger scale needs repair tho.

Super Matt - that was close - glad you picked the message up in time!
May I ask a favour, give us a report tomorrow, on how you felt it went - & you can be my spy, & tell me if they managed to sync the timerotor to the sound effects in my absence please. ;)
off to bed now. nunite.
Mark
living, learning, loving, refurbing, & preserving!

fivefingeredstyre

Hi Mark,

Just wanted to say I went to the preview of the Experience on the 18th Feb, and seeing the "Proper" TARDIS in all its glory was the highlight of my visit...

I didn't realise it was a restored version of the knackered prop that has been on display at the BBC Centre, your restoration job has been breathtaking... You should be proud!

Bloody good work mate!

Steve


meantimebob

Quote from: timerotor on Feb 27, 2011, 01:03 am

I should point out, that it was Andrew Beech who lobbied long and hard to get said authentic/inauthentic relics from the past in there,


I'm glad that he did. The old stuff is the only reason I'll be going. I've got zero interest in the new series but I want to see the 5 Doc's console and the Yardley box. Looks like you've done a superb job there.

superrichi1a

I can sort of understand why it's at Olympia, but I still can't see the silver lining myself hehe.
VERY jelous of you. That... would pretty much be my dream job, aside from working on the active TV set of course - but then, at the Experience you have all the props in one place, day in day out, must be brilliant!
Always wanted to meet Andrew Beech. He's pretty much the "Don" of the classic prop world - is there much do doesn't own, we all want to be him in a way lol (sort of like Scarfwearer, unfortunatly I gather most wives don't agree that much with our point of view lol).
Isn't it how ironic that we have to think of solutions out of the box, in order to build our boxes a lot of the time?

action_mat

Feb 27, 2011, 09:03 pm #20 Last Edit: Feb 27, 2011, 09:04 pm by action_mat
Well done Mark.  I got a good look at your restoration work today, excellent job :)

My son was mesmorised from the start.  The staff couldn't have been nicer, the whole day was just brilliant.  I was impressed by the mix of era's, catering for us old chaps too ;D

I thought the layout and attention to detail was excellent.  There was more there than I expected and the interactive displays were great.   One of the papers remarked that it was the nearest you could get to being in an episode and I quite agree.   Top marks to you and your colleagues, we'll be back :)

For anyone who's driving there, the residential streets off the north end road are free parking on a sunday(in residents bays).  Just a 5min walk from Olympia and you can blow the tenner you saved on the NCP or a travelcard in the gift shop ;D

timerotor

Feb 27, 2011, 09:35 pm #21 Last Edit: Feb 27, 2011, 09:39 pm by timerotor
thanks guys!... all really very kind.

Mat, glad you had fun! will give your positive feed back to the staff - and nice tip about Sunday parking.
Look out for the single yellow lines around the area tho, as some are unclearly marked Monday to Sunday no parking from 7am - 7pm and I got a ticket coz less than a car space away I read a sign that said Monday to Saturday ??? Grrrrrrrrrr....
Anyway. I've had a nice few days off and can't wait to get back to London!
hope you guys can come visit the Tardis sometime soon.
Mark
living, learning, loving, refurbing, & preserving!

timerotor

Aug 29, 2011, 12:12 pm #22 Last Edit: Apr 25, 2013, 10:15 pm by timerotor
Hi Guys,
Happy BANK HOLIDAY!
I have a day off (bank Holiday blessing)
- and I just wanted to post a quick check list of the actions that I carried out on the 'restoration' of The Tardis prop now on display at The Doctor Who Experience at Olympia 2.
I want to clarify this as, apparently (I've been told) that a fan, somewhere has stated on a blog elsewhere that it was 'simply a cosmetic operation', superficially 'tarted up'. (some people eh?!  :P )

Firstly I want to state that I was contracted by the BBC as props restorer & DRWHO expert (they said that - not me it's laughable!).

All the previous 'refurbishments' which had been done to the Tardis in years gone by had left quite a few inaccuracies and mistakes - which were stripped down and removed before I proceeded.
My first action was to scrub all the thick dust off with soapy water, let it dry and then lightly sand down and make sure the inner structure was sound before I began to restore the prop. (I got expert opinions on this)

(if you wish to see pictures click the following link)

http://news.thedoctorwhosite.co.uk/the-restoration-of-a-tardis/


1. I totally rebuilt and restructured the base plinth - as none of it was left.
2. I extensively rebuilt and strengthened the sign boxes or over head lintels as they were crushed, cracked & collapsed out of shape.
3. I cleaned out tons of black muck and goo, which had been used to keep the old signs from coming unstuck! YUK!
4. I worked on the pillars filling gaps, holes, mending them and texturising them.
5. I worked on the body as a whole, filling and texturising, mending dings and breakages. (deciding to keep the ding under the 'door pull' sign.
6. I strengthened the windows from inside and out and filled and mended any snaps or fractures.
7. I replaced any broken and warped window pains, with faithfully handmade replicas.
8. I hand painted the signs above the doors and matched them EXACTLY to an original screen used one.
9. I hand made the door pull sign, matching it exactly for the one seen is season 18.
10. I spent three months painting mock-ups - every shade of blue, experimenting with texturizing, distressing and weathering.
11. I spent endless hours watching DVD's stories such as 'Warrior's Gate' and 'Full Circle', 'Meglos' and 'The Leisure Hive' - to name a few...where I got a feel for the paint tones under different lighting and the possible application and techniques used.
I had many conversations with Andy Hopkinson - who worked on the show with Mike Tucker and borrowed genuine Tardis parts from both Andrew Beech and Andy Hopkinson - to match paint samples and 'excavate' to see how it was originally achieved, and then pain stakingly applied these techniques to get the finished Tardis prop looking the most splendid she has, ever since 1980.
Mike Tucker admired my work and actually said, he couldn't have done a better job!
ALL done in just TWO WEEKS!

In no way can you call the extent of the research and work I carried out, simply a cosmetic 'tart up'. Not to mention the actuall full size replica standing in my parents back Garden as a thorough research project and 'trial of a Tardis' - pun intended! LOL ;D ;D ;D

I would like to take this opportunity to say that if you ever hear/read anything about the Doctor Who Experience, which is negative, you should ignore it.
Many fans have a tendency to slag off something which they actually love, because it was done without them and realised by others, so they feel a slight twinge of bitterness or resentment, when actually they too think ITS FANTASTIC!!!!

Food for thought...
MBH (timerotor)
living, learning, loving, refurbing, & preserving!

exleo

As one fan who has as yet not been able to visit the exhibition, the only thing that really excites me about going is the chance to see this original TYJ PB and the loving and exact restoration job you have done on it!
So, to create harmonic balance, one supposed fan may have said it was a quick tart up job, but THIS fan says an enormous THANKYOU, for all your hard work and dedication in regenerating one of the most iconic memories of my past and keeping it alive so that one day i may get to see it in all it's glory with my own eyes and feel the wonder and excitment of a time so very far in my past...... and I hope to one day meet yourself just so i can personally say thankyou for keeping a significant part of TV history in the real world!

timerotor

Thank you very much  :)
it's a very kind thing you just said.
all of the staff are very proud of that particular exhibit and the 1983 area as a whole. It's very special.
We were all rather upset last week when someone got too close and actually pulled the door sign off!
I was annoyed and angry for a while, but after a quick repair, which has left it slightly damaged, I simply thought..."well... It does say PULL" LOL  ;)
If I'm there when you come to visit, please say Hi!
Regards.
Mark BH
living, learning, loving, refurbing, & preserving!

superrichi1a

Quote from: timerotor on Aug 29, 2011, 03:30 pm
Thank you very much  :)We were all rather upset last week when someone got too close and actually pulled the door sign off!
I was annoyed and angry for a while, but after a quick repair, which has left it slightly damaged, I simply thought..."well... It does say PULL" LOL  ;)


When my 10 year-old cousin came to see mine last week he did exactly that, too! I wasn't there at the time, but he is a right mischeif, and I was told afterwards by his mother that he got angry when it wouldn't open (because it was bolted shut from the inside) he used all his weight to drag it down. No lasting damage was done, though, and since I'm currently having to replace all the top signs and repaint the inside it wasn't too much of an inconvienience :)
Do you find you ever get people jumping up onto the Smith Box's plinth to get a better look? Everyone seemed to be doing that at Earls Court in 2008, but, then again, there are more staff around at The Experience... ;)
Isn't it how ironic that we have to think of solutions out of the box, in order to build our boxes a lot of the time?

timerotor

That's so funny- determined children eh.?!  ;)
it must be instinctual.
Well at DWE we have many staff in position, but you can't look at everything all the time,
no matter how vigilant we are there is always someone somewhere jumping up onto a blue plinth to take a closer look.
It's not just The Season 5 New Series Tardis,
but also Captain Jack's coat and Davros,
The 1983 Tardis exterior (as mentioned)
and David Tennants coat which get most people trying to touch, measure and feel and photograh!
We have extensive CCTV so nobody dares try to steel anything, but things always get fiddled with!
People either get defensive or plead ignorance.
I think the Blue plinths are a strong indication of 'out of bounds'
but there's always someone who isn't satisfied with just standing infront for a pic.
Actually it's usually adults :-)
 
living, learning, loving, refurbing, & preserving!

gerald lovell

I will be visiting the Experience in a couple of weeks, Mark, and know the highlight will be to see the reburbished TARDIS.  I will resist the temptation to pull to open (!) but will register now my total appreciation of keeping such an iconic piece of television history "alive".

G

timerotor

Aug 29, 2011, 09:56 pm #28 Last Edit: Sep 09, 2011, 12:08 am by timerotor
Thats FAB!
cheers for that,
I think its magic and I fully understand why some people just want to stand there for quite a while and soak it all in, if you're anything like me, its something you've been waiting for all your life.
I'm so glad you feel that way.

As for the door pull incident, I was just glad that it lay there in all its damaged glory and someone hadn't tried to make off with it, as the spare I made is inferior to my mind. The one on there is a good accurate copy of the one seen in season 18 and into 19 - like Logopolis when Tegan is outside the door of the Tardis Telling Adric she is staying there with The Doctor, NOT going in the Tardis with him & Nyssa!

anyway, off to work tomorrow - see you in the Tardis! lol
MBH :)
living, learning, loving, refurbing, & preserving!

cathlyn847

I was there the day the sign was yanked off! [wasn't me].
I was very sad that I was not able to snap a photo of her in a complete state.

Thumbs down to the fan who pulled off the door, but thumbs up for not stealing it.

Anyway the exhibit was XLNT but the lighting is "very theatrical" and I found it hard to take pix with my little
point 'n shoot camera. [not enough light]
I'd have gone through a second time, but I ran out of time.

What would the Doctor do?