M.D.s console

[museumdave]

 Greetings all,
this past weekend was a long one here in Canada so there was a bit of time to work on things- time machine. The rim seems to be somewhat figured out and only in need of time to do it, so it would have made sense to work on that. There are 3 acrylic panels that could be mounted so it would make sense to do that. There is the perforated metal that would be fairly quick to cut and install that could have been done, but no, nope for some reason I started something else.  
I want to sure up the top of the ribs with a sturdy piece of ply wood and somehow that led to working on the collar for the central column and the time rotor.  
The base of this is the end out of a black plastic barrel and the side wall of a tire. on top of that is added the barrel hoops that have been somewhat cut down and bashed about to try to make them fit better.


To this there will need to be added a sturdier metal hoop that can pivot around the top of this collar.

Work also started on the monitor mount for the scanner.  I recognize that commercial mounts are available out there, but mostly they are rather expensive and don't really do what I want. So this is one from scratch. Started with a paper pattern and some sheet metal. The mount is really simple but should work okay ( I hope) and if the worst hapens it is only a $5 used monitor so -no big loss.

A bar was added to be the 'arm' and it will be secured in much the same fashion at the hoop end of the mount.



I am aware that with this collar and then the insulator rings there will be very little of the central column and the time rotor visible.  Which is a bit of a sad thought, although in part because of this I am playing with the idea of removing the bottom part of the time rotor for the time being.  It seems that part of the real issue with getting the time rotor to move is that there is a surprising amount of friction between the top and bottom halves of the rotor, and if the bottom section will basically be hidden why should I fight with it when it would move much freer as just half...

Any way that is all for now. The rim and panels will happen soon.

Thanks for looking

Dave

[galacticprobe]

Looking very good, M.D.! Your idea for the collar is something else I never would have thought of, and it looks the part very well. For the rotating part of the scanner screen mount you could use a Lazy Susan, at least to make the "ring" the scanner is mounted to spin. I've seen them in 12-inch diameter sizes with large openings in the center. So one of them just might work.

Dino.

Still... ENVY!

[atomicgraph]

Oh man that's all lookin great your build is very clever. I always look forward to an update.

[museumdave]

Hello All,

Things have been very busy lately, but I found some time last night and worked at tidying up a lot of little things. Sadly nothing too impressive though.
I started bending a band of metal to be the pivoting counterweighted scanner mount. This will take a bit more work but is started.

The thing that took a fair bit of mucking about with little reward was adjusting the top of the ribs and the rib spacers. The top was stretched out of a proper hex. So I took loads of measurements and fiddled with angles and cut down the spacers to get closer to the desired proportions and then added the top circle of plywood ( which also needed to be cut down). once this circle was added- everything firmed up and the one rib - the one with the demat lever- that had started to sag a bit in the middle of the top- is now screwed up into the plywood and no longer sagging at all.


also took some time to add measured markings to the rings on the collar They are just put on with marker- and sadly it shows with some of the marks, but overall not too bad


The collar was added on top of the circle- yippee!

Also the 3 section rheostat FINALY got mounted to the rib arm- It is secured from the bottom up through a piece of plywood into the sections them selves- which again really 'sures up' the unit - no more wobble there- though I will need to revisit the threaded rod, but later!
One of the air pumps has been fixed to the rib arm.

OLDER STUFF
The other week I picked up some snap on wire hose cover...stuff and I found a fun ball at the dollar store.  I have one bubble coloured glass paper weight. It was a good deal, but this is way cheaper and if you whack it it flashes red and blue

Also Don't think I ever posted a pic. of the new air pump- much like the first, but what the heck, here it is with the hose wire cover stuff


Lastly picked up a plumbing fitting on to which I screwed a spray painted juice cap.- ya it is basically junk, but it has the right sort of feel for the oxygen valve for the keypad panel.
Then just for fun I did a quick panel layout with some paper substitutes for some components


I am aware that as postings go this one kind of rambled all over the place, but that was very much the way last night went.

please excuse my disorder.

as always thanks for looking

Cheers

Dave

[galacticprobe]

M.D., this is still getting better and better! That wire stuff is called "wire looming", btw. And that "oxygen valve" improv is great-looking. (If you look closely at the original in one of Kingpin's photos, you'll see it has "FLUSH" on it somewhere. I think it may have been a vac-powered toilet flush button. We had them on the ships' toilets and some of them were spot on with that valve!)

I'd write more but I'm on a laptop and the battery is about to die, so I'll close with...

ENVY!!!

Dino.

[galacticprobe]

M.D., one of the things I was going to ask you before my laptop battery died yesterday was where you were planning to put the phone. On one of the ribs as I believe it was before the move to Upper Boat? Or on the metal grille panel (opposite side of the console from the one with the "switch/keyboard" and compass on it) which is where it was after the move?

Also, the phone moved higher up on the grille panel between the 9th and 10th Doctor. Which version are you going for if you're putting it on the panel? I've got some photos I can post if you'd like to see them and they're not already in the Reference Section.

(That will have to wait a day or so until after I get back home. Taking a short jaunt with the wife for our 30th anniversary. Having great fun, and getting exhausted from the sightseeing. So at night we take turns with the laptop to keep up on e-mails and such as we relax.)

Dino.

[museumdave]

Hey all,

Dino, -um I had not really thought too much about it.  The reference images I have been using have been the ones posted here largely posted by Kingpin  (thanks Dude!) of the DWE.  I know the console changed- developed- sagged- burnt and blew up over the seasons it was in use, but I don't have a great handle on the specific changes that occurred.  Part of me really likes the look of the console when it was *new* It was tidier and the panel layouts tend to be more symmetrical.  Though I like like the crackle finish on the rim and the insulation rings better as the second version..... I had figured I would put the trimphone on the metal grill panel as seen in Kingpin's (DUDE!) photos.

Part of me had thought- If we were to do fan films - the way to do this would be to make it very much as the console appeared in "Rose" episode one- so that we could slot our films in as pre -Eccleston and - post McGan which would also explain the smallness of the room; it has not yet grown to the size it is when seen in 'Rose"... But film making is not really the point of this......
I don't really like the look of the phone on the rib-arm, but from a practical stand point, if I do wire up a smoke machine under the metal grill - it would be nice to have it NOT under the phone.

I guess the the honest answer is 'I don't know'

You know I should really rethink the my habit of responding to questions, before I know what I am going to answer.

I would however be interested in your- and others opinion


Cheers

Dave

[13drwho]

I think you can go crazy trying to replicate every detail. The console sometimes changes from episode to episode depending on what the story requires. I think you should use the details you like best from all the episodes and combine them however makes you happy. It's your console, you have to love it when it's done.

I think your console is already amazingly accurate and when the finished article is all done no ones going to notice little details that are"wrong".  I knew I didn't have the space, money or skill to reproduce any of the console from the series new or old. So I desided to design my own. I guess it's a cop out, but I actually like the thought that it will be unique!

Anyway, I look forward to more updates on your console... it looks... FANTASTIC.

[galacticprobe]

I agree - one can go crazy trying to get every little detail "correct", especially when the details change so often (like the location of the phone or the compass housing). Hmmm... maybe that's my problem - I'm already crazy!

And as for this:

You know I should really rethink the my habit of responding to questions, before I know what I am going to answer.

Now where would be the fun in that?

As for my thoughts, well, I think you already know how I feel about this build. But I do agree about the console looking neater in its earlier version, a la Eccleston. When I finally get the room to build this glowing goody full scale, that's the version I'll be going for. (And just me, personally, I like the look of the phone on the panel rather than the rib, but if you like it on the rib then that's where it should go. I was just curious since we seem to be thinking so much alike on this, I wondered what you thought of the phone location.)

Dino.

[museumdave]

Hello All,

13drwho- you bring up a very valuable point, the console did change a lot from episode to episode let alone from year to year. You are absolutely right!

I have always said I am going for the right feel and look rather than an exact replica of the console from any particular season or episode. Having said that I do want to use the screen used prop as a reference. With absolutely no disrespect to yourself or others who build costume consoles- I love your work and it shows a great creativity while still being rooted in the show we love,

but for for my self-  I re purpose so many things, bits of junk (car tire, juice caps, scrap plywood, plastic barrels and soon flying saucer toboggans) that if I don#t have a good idea of what #right# looks like than I think it would start to feel like just a pile of junk in my attic.

B) like Dino -I am already madder than a hatter.

- Dino - Phone is absolutely positively going to go on the metal grill panel...somewhere



Had a couple of good things happen last night.  I was able to pick up a number of old hard drives from the gentleman who does the computers for the museum here.

These will become the little silver push button looking things on the panels.



-  I still need more though.  I started to try to remove them, but that looks like it may be more of a challenge than I had imagined.  I removed the screws from one, but it seems it may have been pressed into place with an arbour press or something.  I have every confidence it will come loose even if I have to cut away everything I don`t want

Yesterday I also picked up some pipe hanging clips and used them to mount the air pumps.




Also for some time now I have been looking for a good substitute or source for the bronze valve handles that are on the console. There are lots of them; One circled above, on most glass gauges and also one on the side of a rib where the ballpin hammer and the mallet hang.  
Having little luck I found some old wooden spools, bought some dowel and had a go at making my own. The pivot is the spool with a hole drilled in and sanded on my belt sander (I love my belt sander).   I allow the spool to spin through the sanding process to keep the spool symmetrical. This is just the first and I am counting on them getting better as I go along.



Not perfect- But not too bad- and oh ya- I am NOT going for perfect.... right

Having the little bits getting mounted on the console it really feels like the build is starting to come together.  I love having bits on and bits of detail added.  It helps too when the girls and I `play tardis`  moving bits are fun. 

Thanks for looking and thanks for the support.

cheers

Dave

[museumdave]

Dino-  Can I get those other reference pics from you some how.  pm or posted or something please? 

cheers

Dave

[galacticprobe]

Only too happy to help out, Dave! (Open the images in a new tab or window to see them full size.)

9th Doctor era:

Phone on rib. (Very early shot. Look how shiny that metal mesh panel is: no rust at all! And it's changed so much since this photo. Probably before the move to Upper Boat.)


Phone on the (other) metal mesh panel, closer to the rim. (Probably after the move to UB. And notice where the compass is on the panel to the right, very close to the edge. It used to be in the middle of that panel. It slid down, and then crawled its way over to the mesh panel with the switch/keyboard on it.)
And another view of the phone on that panel from the side:

Looks like it's mounted on a plate of sorts. (Grey-painted plexi cut to size should do, rather than trying to cut a metal plate.) Also notice the tall pyramid-shaped clear pointy thing just above the phone.

10th Doctor era:

Phone moved up on the panel to accommodate the other controls, one of which looks like a silver combination dial for a safe and the one Martha uses to fast-forward the Doctor's recorded messages to her in "Human Nature/Family of Blood". Also notice that mounting plate under the phone is gone, as is the clear pointy thing that was above the phone. (I've got a much larger one - same image - and I could e-mail that to you unless others would like to see it posted. Byte-wise it will post, but opening it in a new tab shows just how "big" it is.)

Another view of the same panel. The only differences are the binoculars have been moved, and the T-handled hook used to pull up the floor grating has been repositioned. Other than that the panel is relatively the same as in the above photo.

Dino.

[type55tardis]

This is an absolutely magnificent build MD,I think when its finished you would find it hard to tell it wasn't the original,I wouldn't let nit picking little differences bother you,after all you haven't got access to the sort of funds or equipment the BBC had .

[13drwho]

Has anyone else noticed that on one of the consoles is the center piece of the 11th Doctors Atom Accelerator. It's the one on the new console that eddyc is building. Take a look at these photos...

[museumdave]

Dino,

I would be very interested to know where you found that first image with the phone on the rib.... if it was a screen cap or something because... well you could call me crazy, you wouldn't be the first but- i don't think it is the same console-  I mean the materials are the same- same finish - but the scale Feels wrong  like about half scale based on the size of the texture and the density of the holes in the mesh.  I do know that the that mesh stuff comes in different versions, but.... I am going to go back to the Ed Tomas 'designing Doctor who' extra and see if I can figure out when in the first season that was filmed, because that pic just seem .... well off.   If you could let me know where you found it. 

Is it possible the production team put together a scaled down travelling /promotional console ?  and that is what we are looking at, or maybe it changed more than I think over the years... or maybe, maybe I am just mental....

hmmmm
stuff to think about...

Oh ya thanks for sharing the cool pics

Dave