Celation's Hartnell/Troughton Console Build

[celation]

Well, this forum has inspired me to begin on building something in reality rather than in 3D, which is what I'm used to. No Ctrl-Z to undo, and the raw materials are a lot more expensive, but here we go.

I've always loved the Hartnell Console, and after reading Marc's (RassilonsRod's) threads about the console, I decided to go for it.

I've started small! The first bit I made was a lever, from sandwiched wood, shown below.



I've prototyped some of the stuff in 3D to test size and shape, then printed out plans to cut the pieces from, as you can see.

I then made a mould of the lever body from silicon, and duplicated a few in "resin plaster". I don't know how this will hold up.



Seems to paint up okay (needs a few more coats) - but I think the lever handle and rod may be a bit large. I could do with some tips from someone like Scarfwearer on how they would eventually be wired up, if possible. Still in prototype stage:



I also began building a switch body...



But wrecked it by painted it with water-based acrylic to test out what it would look like. Now it needs sanding again.

More to follow...

[celation]

Well after saying the switches were fairly solid, my son wandered up to me the other day, saying "oops" and handed me a red lever. Ah well - these things happen. Easily fixed.

No true updates, other than to say I have now bought two more large black lever knobs, and two more (beautiful!) meters. This now brings my meter count to five - all correct - which is handy as one was pretty rusty.

So now I have pretty much all the components I need - just not the space or the time to build it at the moment. (A TARDIS build lacking space and time - always amuses me!  )

Things should get better on this front in the new year. We're due to get a proper shed, and as other projects disappear, the time should be freed up. The crazy thing is, even a 10' by 10' shed leaves very little room around a console 7' in diameter!

To be on schedule, I really should complete another panel by the end of this year, but that's not going to happen.
That means two panels next year in order to be finished by the 50th anniversary!

C.

[celation]

Well, most of you have heard it all before, so I'll keep it short.

Current status...

Panel 6 nearly built - needs painting:



Central column - early days:



Panel 1 just begun:



That's it for now.

C.

[markofrani]

Not sure if this might be of use, but on closer inspection of this grab from 'The Time Meddler', there appears to be two extra cubes attached to the central pillar? One black, the other white? The longer rod on the outer ring has already been noted, but this pic gives a good idea of the size.

[celation]

Thanks mark - that'll come in handy.

I've spotted cube shapes on the central rod before - though never in that position - and I've thought that they might have been four mirrors attached around in a cube shape. I don't know if I'm right. I'll check the Time Meddler DVD for that footage - cheers.

In fact, thinking about it - the original had some square mirrors stuck diagonally to the rods on the sides of the central "paddle wheel". Maybe these are the same mirrors repositioned.

The upcoming Space/Chase DVD should also have some great shots on it of the console. Looking forward to that one! 

Really wish I had more time to work on it at the moment. Was rather annoyed to find that the central perspex rod which I spent ages sanding to the correct shape has now cracked through at the end. It's still in one piece, but has "fracture" lines all through the end that I shaped. Very odd.

C.

[Rassilons Rod]

Did you hear that? I think it was the crack of a whip

Great pics

[celation]

Keep cracking that whip - it's working!

I've been fixing up the black switch.

This lot:



Becomes this:



Excuse the crudeness... I haven't had time to paint it, but hopefully it's to scale.

The switch on the end will look like this:



And this is how the actual slider switch fits through the hole:



I was so tempted to prime it, but that'll have to wait for another night when it's not snowing/sleeting outside...

The main body has got to be primed and sanded again before casting, which will be quite tricky as there's a big undercut at the back. Not sure how that's going to work. I'm wondering if a split in the back of the silicon mould will be a problem...

When finished, the white section will probably be sprayed light grey gloss (except the red one). Don't know if you can see it, but there's a screw through the lower section. Should be bigger, and should be gloss as well. (Or should be a small light - Marc...?) Oh - and the screws holding on the plate may end up being smaller, and brass - possibly.

Funny - for years I thought they were all black, and that the light colour of the white section was just the surface catching the light.

Oh - the switch itself has a yellow chunk on it because it's had a section of Marmite jar lid inserted to give it a grip on the top. It's got to be fixed up with Milliput before casting.

C.

[kiwidoc]

Wonderful!    My favourite-ist thing is the piece of marmite lid - brilliant!

[lungman]

COOL!  Absolutely incredible!  Great stuff mate! 

[karsthotep]

WOW...now that is cool, I was never clear if the whole black thing was the switch or that bit at the end..that has cleared it up considerably.  thanks for posting.

karst

[Dematerialiser]

Brilliant thread - I'm addicted to seeing this all come together!

cheers
Chris

[celation]

Thanks guys!

Chris: I'm getting kind-of addicted to building it as well. Should be doing other stuff, really...

Anyway, yesterday was painting the five dome lights for Panel 1, and the Fast Return Switch.



And put together:





And here's the real one for reference:



It actually looks terrible in a close up, and far better as a small part of a big console. There are a couple of painting glitches that I'll fix, but overall I don't mind the slightly battered look. There are a couple of differences from the original, but not enough to worry me unduly.

The wires are for the red switch, which will be able to control something or other eventually.

Actually - looking at the reference image, I'm not sure I'm right in painting the entire switch red. It looks like it's just the top of the switch which is painted... Looks like I'll be making a couple of adjustments.

Oh - still missing a little detail on the RHS of the bottom bit. There's a small white button with a black surround. Not sure how I'm doing that yet...

Did a couple of other bits - masked and painted the other red display on Panel 6 (the design is surprisingly similar to the Starfleet logo, as far as I can make out); and painted the screws and washers for the same panel.

C.

[purpleblancmange]

That's really quite an impressive build there and rather inspirational.  I'm not sure that I'd want to build a full console myself, but to replicate something like the Fast Return Switch seems like a nice little project.  Are those rivets in the removable section?

[celation]

Hi Purple,

Thanks. Yes - they're rivets. They split the plastic nicely when I put them in... Plenty of Milliput to fix the joins!

C.

[Rassilons Rod]

Thats looking fantastic Touch up the paint as you said, and it'll be perfect

-Marc