M.D.s console

[DoctorWho8]

Hulk smash?
Bill "the Doctor" Rudloff

[museumdave]

Hello All
first-  I should apologies for my outburst.  I have had to put the build on a back burner for a couple of weeks and it was starting to really frustrate me. If a little more time had passed and more pressure from work was added I may well have turned green and started to smash things! Good thing I got some tardis time in on the weekend

Secondly- In case there is any doubt left in anyones mind DINO (Galacticprobe) is a DUDE!  (in a good way!) The guy has spotted some great stuff and is always very helpful.  I was mulling over panel material and he has some great thoughts on that.

Thirdly-  I should say that this is not really an update on the build so much as a review of an experiment that may not be part of the build at all.

On to it.  I have been scratching my head over a material for the panels for a while. Plexiglas would be great, but expensive!

I have a number of thoughts- about the Finnish of the panels; Light defusers, clear bathtub mats, car mats, bubble wrap, glue, fiberglass resin....

But all of this would need a good solid base that would let the light through.

I have made a number of things in the past out of plastic barrels- The 45 gallon barrel that you might think of as going under a dock or as a water barrel. Some of them will let a certain amount of light through. The white ones in particulate are fairly translucent.

After scouring the images posted by KINGPIN (another DUDE! by the way)  I noticed that some of the panels have a green tint. seemingly when not illuminated. Like this

So I thought I would try a green plastic barrel as a base.

I found a guy who had barrels (blue, white and green) and got one for $15. The way I figured was it is only 15 bucks if it doesn't work no big loss!



I made a quick template and then cut out a panel with the handy jigsaw. The stuff cuts like butter (love my jigsaw!). the panel was then screwed from the bottom into the plywood sections of the ribs at the top and bottom. This was a pain. IT was tricky to get in there but most of all to secure it. just when it was almost taking hold the thing would fall on my head....




Then to cover the glaring green plastic I put in a light defuser panel.



At this point one is not blown away by this, but hey more stuff can be filled in to make it less glaringly green. The real test is when it is back lit. So I grabbed my green flood light and clamped it onto the area at the bottom of the ribs where the hose will stop (the little sticky up thumb thing). The light was aimed at the panel and then at twilight I turned it on - all ready to 'ooooh' and 'awwww'.





well I did 'Awe' but it was more of a 'awe Man! '

there is light coming through, but not that much!

here it is with my hand under the panel

So to try something different the light was moved to just bellow the top spacer between the ribs. once clamped in place the stunning effect was... well less than stunning



So.... um, well , ya So

here I am.  Yes the green would let more light through if it were thinner, and yes I could heat it and stretch it and sand it thinner, but... what a paint that would be.  I could try a white barrel.  Now I know that at this point barrel plastic doesn't;t look to be the thing AT ALL.  the thing that I really like about it (aside from the small cost) is that it is really sturdy.  It isn't going to crack and break and it adds real stability to the whole console.  layers of light diffuser panel might look better, but in my experience the stuff cracks way too easily.....
Transparent roofing is okay it could be flattened and sanded on the back to make it more frosted, but it too will crack if stressed.  Plexi would be great, but way out of my budget right now....

Before Dino saw the images he suggested maybe a white light-  I could do something like a LCD  spot and that  might do the trick.

At this point what I have is an experiment that still needs work.  It is not a finished product, but I thought I would share anyway.  Maybe some of you out there have some experience or idea that could help.  I would thank you for your thoughts.


Lastly on Precipitation.

It is raining and calling for snow tonight... yippee-  As you will note from the images the console is still out side covered by a tarp.

Mrs. Museumdave as relented and the console will be moving to the attic soon. (and there was much rejoicing 'yeah')
the space has been partially cleared and 2 green bulbs have been put in the light fixture it will sit under.  I hope this move can happen this week, but I will need to wait for the rain to stop and since not all the controls are installed yet it will have to be taken apart and moved by hand and reassembled rather that just dematerialize there and re materialize here   tee hee

as always thanks for looking, thanks for the encouragement
thanks for sharing ideas and Dino is a DUDE!

cheers

Dave

[warmcanofcoke]

that looks really nice !

[atomicgraph]

i don't know it doesn't look that dimly lit. and thats a pretty good idea using the barrel. i'd probably try one of the white ones and use some sort of green translucent paint on it (if they make such a thing) if not try coating a white one with a clear epoxy paint with a green food die mixed in. the white material should carry the light. have you sorted out how your gonna make your center ring section yet?.

[museumdave]

re materialization

Hey all,

thanks for looking, and thanks for the kind word.  I think the picture may look betterthan it did in person.  Never worry I am not dejected or defeated, I just need to play with it for a bit and figure it out.

I got a different bulb tonight, and some other small bits.

The big thing is that my tarps blew off through the day...  there was a small bit of damage age when the textured goo got wet some of it reverted it its former gloppy state.  Rather than let more damage happen I moved the console into- what now seems like a small and dingy unfinished attic.

Funny when moving it- it didn't go vwooorp voooorp  vooorp- it did make noises, but it sounded a lot more like a guy with bum knees carring a heavy load up attic stairs repeatedly.  Well maybe it will sound better with all the bits on .

More soon

again thanks for looking, and thanks for the encouragement.

Cheers

Dave

[galacticprobe]

Dave,

Your console is looking great (and glad to hear you finally managed to get it out of the weather; sorry about the grief you had to go through to do it, though). And thank you for the praise. I've done a lot of scratching my head on this as well, and most of my thoughts came from pouring over those loads of photos from Kingpin and peterdalek, trying to squeeze every detail I could from them (which is probably why I need new glasses! ).

Dino.

[museumdave]

Greetings fellow time travellers,

My apologies to atomicgraph.  I didn't mean to ignore your question. It was a bit of a late night and I missed it the first time round. When you ask about the centre ring section, the lack of consistant terminology can sometimes get in the way here.  
I am planning to do the collar between the console and the 'insulator rings' with black barrel plastic with a couple of painted metal barrel hoops to be the bronze/copper rings and adding a ring that can rotate to hold the monitor, if that is what you mean.
I am planing on large hose under the rim of the console and the rim is still a work in progress, but with some luck could come together quickly. If I am not answering the question you want though, please let me know.

On another note- Peterdalek- another DUDE!. all of the great people on this board who share; whether it is ideas, feedback or photos are a huge help. The photos of Peterdalek and Kingpin are an immense help to some one trying this, particularly if like me their chances of ever seeing the DWE in person are next to nonexistent.

so Cheers to all!


So it took some work and a bit of grumbling but the ribs/arms were moved in last night. and after they dripped off a bit they were reassembled.  I hadn't really thought about the small nature of our attic stair way when the ribs were designed. There was not a lot of room to spare, but they did fit!

As mentioned before the attic is not a huge space and it is not a finished living space, but I think there is still potential.  I would have liked to put more work into the space before moving the console in, but I didn't want to wait once I realized that the console was deteriorating outside. In these photos it comes off as really grungy looking- another case of the flash showing more than natural light. Any how I think I am finding the condition of our attic a little embarrassing, though I am about to show it to every one on the board.

Any how I think it could really come together.  I have an office chair to turn into the 3 section bench.  I will do something with the walls, add some lights on a bar (catwalk style) and a railing, which we should really have anyhow.  I think it will really have the right feel. though obviously not the scale of the 2005 set.

Tardis s are grown right?!? Maybe I just need to find the right food for it.

any how take a look, let me know what you think


Cheers


and thanks for looking






Dave

[timegalaxy5]

Oh my gosh, I think I melted just like that head way back when on the console (Eclston years..) haha, wow, this is really looking awesome, my dad made the comment when I showed him this a few weeks ago, he said, "It looks like he found a flying saucer in his back yard" so yeah, this really looks out of this world, keep up the awesome progress 

TG5

[13drwho]

I have to say the attic photos really look good. I think the room is going to be awesome when you finish. The console looks more impressive every time I see it. Really good work.

[atomicgraph]

holy cow!!! man that looks so good up there it just looks perfect the way it is... looks right at home on the wooden floor and i gotta agree that it looks more impressive every time you post. great job!!!

[galacticprobe]

ENVY!!!

Dino.

[museumdave]

Thanks guys...
tee he hee,

there are days when I build just to get that reaction from Dino ... well almost.

I am glad you like the wood floor.  I have been planning a mesh floor covering- or perhaps if that turns into too much of a tripping hazard, we may just paint a floor cloth to have that mesh/steel grate look.

I had a thing happen.  I went to home depot thinking I was walking in to get more PVC clear roof material for the console panels.  Well just as I got there they were closing that isle to do some heavy machinery stuff- moving some stock.  So I figured I would walk by the Plexiglas while I was waiting to get to the roofing.  I had been looking on line and also taking to Dino about good thick plexi and how expensive it is.  So I find the plexi and semi transparent coroplast and I start digging through stuff.  Well they have there reasonably large pieces of Acrylic sheet at a fairly reasonable price.  Now the stuff is not very thick.  It sure looks more like the right stuff than barrel plastic of any colour.  It seems sturdier than the light defuser plastic.  And I figure what the hell- it is worth try, plus if it works and it looks right it will be worth the money,  I don't always need to cheap out.

I have cut a piece-  Now this stuff isn't lexan, or high impact-  It is just Acrylic, and it did crack a bit with cutting.  Which didn't fill me with confidence, but I am hopeful that this may work a charm.

I am doing some further experimentation tonight and will let you know.

Thanks for looking.

I love all the comments

Dave

[Scarfwearer]

You can cut acrylic sheet with a table saw, but you have to go slowly. This works for lighting diffuser also but that does crack a little sometimes. I had trouble cutting the vac-formed roundels I made, so I covered the cut zone in masking tape and went even more slowly. That was particularly difficult because the cut edge was not flat and hence unsupported, but I got there in the end. People sometimes score plastic with a knife but I've never had that work very well.

Crispin

[copernicus]

great build - found this on ebay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/STUNNING-GREEN-AND-CREAM-SNOWDON-TRIMPHONE-GENUINE-1980S-BT-TELEPHONE-/110858787837?pt=UK_Collectables_RadioTelevision_Telephony_SM&hash=item19cfb2dbfd

[timegalaxy5]

my friend and I once tried that scoring technique once on some plexi glass, we were making a wind shield for a dune buggy, if you just have a sharp enough knife then you just have to be a really waiting type of person, it does take about three dozen or so passes before the piece you want just goes off, hope this helps, along with the other things from other people 

TG5