Hartnell Replica

[scurrie]

Thanks for your kind comments on the box everyone! The original Police boxes were concrete, and the doors were wooden. But when the Brachaki Box was constructed in 1963 it was entirely made of wood, and soon after it was decided to render it in order to give it an 'aged' feel as all that new timber looked so pristine. It was that look that I was trying to replicate with this box.

After a bit of experimentation I decided to use a UK product called 'No More Cracks', which is like plaster but seems to have some sort of glue additive. It is quite light and can be smeared on without drastically increasing the weight and does not come off easily. I then gave it a coat of paint using black and Oxford Blue paint. The result you can see in the above pictures. Once the first side was done I took some pictures and compared them to pictures of the original Hartnell box, and in particular the texture of the doors and panels. When I was happy that it was authentic I then proceeded on the other three sides,   

As regards the 60s Yale lock and 60s pebbled glass, I will openly admit to being a bit obsessive and something of a 'rivet counter' when it comes to building props ;-)

Stu

[galacticprobe]

Rivet counter? Yeah; I like that better than TARDIS Nazi, although that was just a carryover from my US Civil War living history "Stitch Nazi" phrase. I think one of the women in our group came up with that phrase when one of those super-hardcore types actually lifted her skirt - WITHOUT the lady's consent! - to see if she was not only wearing the proper number of layers beneath her dress, but also to see if things were properly "hand stitched" and slotted in accordance with proper period records.

Ah! Yes; that's right, it was one of our ladies who minted the term, and let me just say that things did not go well for the (as Batman would say) "poor, deluded fool". His brief yet violent journey through the lower troposphere drew much attention and earned him a trip to the First Aid tent where he was treated for mild concussion and some severe bruising. (I should probably point out that it was the wife of our "ship's cook" who was the object of the Stitch Nazi's inspection, and at the time she was holding a cast iron skillet in her hands.) I never knew, until that moment, that a skillet when swung properly could double as a cricket bat, and that in reality (for once!) the sound of said skillet making violent contact with someone's skull sounded exactly like it did in the "Fawlty Towers" episode "The Wedding Party" when Basil sneaks up behind Manuel in the lobby, and clubs him over the head with a (real metal!) skillet.

Sorry to drift so far off topic, but even the TARDIS has been known to do just that, and it is sometimes fascinating how life imitates fiction (referring to the sound of the skillet).

Dino.

[scurrie]

Hi Dino,

I would openly admit to being daftly obsessive about detail, although would mitigate it by saying that I respect people who aren't and who have built really nice Tardis props. I think that people who don't would probably deserve the iron skillet treatment. I hope that makes me seem less of a 'Tardis Nazi' and more of a 'rivet counter', I wouldn't fancy a pan across the head!

Stu

[galacticprobe]

Hey, Stu,

  Once I saw the term "rivet counter" I went back through all my posts where I used the "other" word, and did a very visible edit: now they all say "TARDIS Nazi Rivet Counter". Like I mentioned, that "N" term carried over from one of the women in my Civil War living history group, but I like rivet counter much better, whether it refers to something TARDIS, or 19th Century ships.

  And I also admit to being a rivet counter, but like you I do it within reason. I criticize myself to death when I do something, but when I look at others' works I stand there like a kid just going "Wow!" Eventually I'll be saying in my head whether the handle is too high or low, or the lettering on the phone panel should be a little more "like this" etc., etc., but I'll never say it to the person who built it. I praise the work they did and that praise is sincere (and I'll secretly wish I had one exactly like it, even with the little bits that might be off).

  The last "Who" convention I was able to go to was in Valley Forge, PA, in June of '85, when Jon Pertwee made me an honorary Doctor. (Ask me wife: every time I saw my reflection I was as giddy as, well, a... ALL RIGHT! A FAN BOY!. There: I said it. (I still get that way when I think about it; I'm a Fan Boy with a wife and two grown kids and over 28 years in the military. So that just proves it; fan boys come in all varieties.)
  Anyway, they had a full-size TARDIS prop set up on stage, and as the guests of honor came to the panels they came on stage through the TARDIS, as did everyone who was "Cosplaying" that night (back when it was simply called the "Costume Contest). That TARDIS was far from perfect, but even now looking at the photos we have of it, I would still love to have it in my house, and if I did I wouldn't change a thing about it.

  No TARDIS is "perfect" and that includes the actual filming props. (I think this forum has proved that time and time again.) So I would say that you and I are very much alike when it comes to appreciating the work people do with their builds. We may be "rivet counters" but I'd put dollars to Daleks that when we're admiring a TARDIS or any other "Who" prop that someone has built, while we're rivet counting we're still just as proud of what they've accomplished as they are.

  The skillet across the head thing - not happening to any of us. That was just a story I related to what happened to someone who was OVERLY obsessed with details and how the "N" term came into being when it comes to counting clothing stitches, or rivets (and here I really do mean rivets as well - you should have seen some of the arguments over whether the rivets on the model of the USS Monitor's turret were in the right place or not!). But for the stitching, I mean really... lifting the skirt of a woman you have never met before just to see if her Civil War underwear has the correct number of layers, and "openings" where the fashion history of the time says there should be? Yeah, and the bit about "Fawlty Towers" was just to show how life imitates fiction (when it comes to the "clang" of skillet meeting skull). I do find humor in the strangest places.

Dino.

[mordrogyn]

Oh I do so look forward to comments on my build when I get that far then... Cause I will be making sure the glass panes are where they should be and not where they were, and I will be centering the sign and possibly using a nicer font for it than the one they used.

[geminitimelord]

DINO,

I think I speak for most of the Forum here. I CERTAINLY HOPE YOU HEAL SOON!

[galacticprobe]

DINO,

I think I speak for most of the Forum here. I CERTAINLY HOPE YOU HEAL SOON!

Thank you very much.

(I think?)
Dino.