Ok, so I need to move the fins down slightly so you can see them (or one at least) in the drum edge...

This is all looking fantastic!
Difficult to tell precisely, but could the drum fixings be door bolts? That way the drum could be easily removable...

Quote from: rassilonsrod on Feb 15, 2013, 10:45 pm
Ok, so I need to move the fins down slightly so you can see them (or one at least) in the drum edge...

Yes mate,
If you look at this screen grab,



we can just see the tops of the "Lita glass" rings but not the top of the fins. So, the fins must be taller than the rings.  I make the slots in the fins 4" and the rings appear to be the same amount taller. The bottom of each ring appears to be 2" lower than the base of the fins - so, the rings must be 10" tall.
The bottom of each fin appears to be set just slightly above the inside rim of the cylindrical drum - say 0.5". Because we can't see them, the tops of the fins must therefore be at least 9.5" above the rim of this drum. This means the height of the drum has to be at least the same - I've drawn the drum's height as 12" purely because it's a nice 'round' imperial measurement  .
Marc, you've said the thickness of the drum is 1" - I agree with this  .
I think the width of each of the diffuser's fins is 0.5". Judging by modern-day equivalents, the thickness of each 'Lita Glass' ring is just over 0.125" (probably three sixteenths, but no more or it would shatter when bent into arcs).
Tony
P.S., There are some really good photos of the brass candle stick on the 'Beginnings' DVD - it, along with the Tardis' Chinese Lion statue, is used as set decoration in Kublai Khan's throne room! I thought that was terribly nice of the Doctor to "throw them in" as well as gambling away the Tardis!!  


 

Quote from: markofrani on Feb 15, 2013, 11:42 pm
This is all looking fantastic!
Difficult to tell precisely, but could the drum fixings be door bolts? That way the drum could be easily removable...

I can certainly see what you mean when looking at the shadow on the right-hand one you've circled. This would make sense for storage reasons - the rings would be very fragile.
I can only get the one decent screen grab and this doesn't show the drum in full; in everything else the ceiling canopy is in the background so it's difficult to be exact. This aside, considering we started with next to nothing, I think we've done excellent work in pinning the dimensions of the ceiling canopy/unit/power octagon down! 

Tony, your second cross-section diagram on the previous page made everything fall into place (at least in my feeble head; I'm sure others caught on much faster than I did ). Great job on the measurements. Good Glob, that thing was really huge when you look at those numbers!

And Marc, I agree with Tony; you've got that latest render spot on! Bravo to both of you!

Dino.

Not at all Dino - it's good to clarify things. It not just me reading the various threads. In a sense, they (will) form an historic document for others to refer to in the future so the chances are that if one person doesn't understand an explanation, neither will someone else!

Marc's renders have really brought this thread to life ...as the old adage has it: a picture paints a thousand words!

I wanted to create this thread (and the pale green console one as well) as a kind of tribute to Peter Brachaki. To go back to where it all started and to re-create his designs.

Six months ago there was next to nothing 'out there' - certainly no floor plans, no detailed designs or anything other than best guesses for the colour scheme. Now, thanks to everyone that has contributed - I really do feel (in this 50 anniversary year) that I've almost achieved my initial aim.....

Now if I could just find out what colour TX40 is   

Quote from: Tony Farrell on Feb 16, 2013, 12:17 pm
Now if I could just find out what colour TX40 is  

So far all I've been getting Google hits for are types of flashlights/torches, Chroma Scanners, Electric Companies... I did finally find one hit for a "special concrete for micro-pile" called "Restauromix TX40 Color", and it looks somewhat like chocolate mousse:
http://www.archiexpo.com/prod/personal-factory-srl/special-concretes-for-micro-pile-89114-836170.html

Other than that, I can't find any other clue as to what color this might have been.

Dino.

As an ex-BBC guy myself, I'm fairly convinced that Tx is an abbreviation for transmission. I don't think this is at odds with what we know about the allowed paints for studios.

Looking at the plans for the original console it's construction calls for it to be painted Tx40 as well as the walls. It's described as 'Tx40 EMULSION & GLAZE". Seeing as we know the console was in fact light green I think was can assume that Tx40 is light green. Also Carol Anne Ford has been quoted as saying the walls were a pale green in one of the documentaries.

As with all blueprints text is in ALLCAPS everywhere so the fact that it's specifically written as Tx40 makes me think there was a reason for it.

the inside of the overhead hexagonal light (the plans call a canopy) is described as being painted with 'DRUM WHITE EMULSION' and thin lines of Tx40 painted within the centre at 9" apart.

There was actually a lot more to this 'canopy' than was built. There's a reason why there is a 6" gap between the first outer hex. Sadly I can't say right now as it would ruin a forthcoming project. I can say that hanging it at the angle was not the original plan.

Quote from: rob49152 on Feb 17, 2013, 09:15 am
As with all blueprints text is in ALLCAPS everywhere so the fact that it's specifically written as Tx40 makes me think there was a reason for it.

I'm totally in agreement with that

Many many thanks Dino, Rob and Marc - to try to keep the measurements and colour schemes as separate discussions, I've copied Rob's post over to here  http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=4139.msg50091#msg50091.

Nevertheless, Rob's comment about the canopy being originally envisaged as being mounted level and that there was a reason for the spacings between the hexagons is intriguing.....actually, thinking about it, the term 'canopy' itself is an unusual choice of word: Excluding specific meanings such as a 'forest canopy', cockpit covers and the like, a canopy is usually defined as a covering, sometimes made of cloth, suspended over a throne or bed or held aloft on poles above an eminent person or a sacred object.

I wonder if the hexagonal 'canopy' was originally designed therefore to sit on top of something else which was also hexagonal in shape? Not the console because at roughly 7 feet across this would be too big to allow room for the actors to move around in....

Speculation I know, but it does make you wonder just how far Peter Brachaki's imagination stretched and, if he'd been given more money, just how big and complicated the original Tardis interior would have been.

Tony   

Quote from: Tony Farrell on Feb 17, 2013, 05:31 pm
Nevertheless, Rob's comment about the canopy being originally envisaged as being mounted level and that there was a reason for the spacings between the hexagons is intriguing.....actually, thinking about it, the term 'canopy' itself is an unusual choice of word: Excluding specific meanings such as a 'forest canopy', cockpit covers and the like, a canopy is usually defined as a covering, sometimes made of cloth, suspended over a throne or bed or held aloft on poles above an eminent person or a sacred object.

I wonder if the hexagonal 'canopy' was originally designed therefore to sit on top of something else which was also hexagonal in shape? Not the console because at roughly 7 feet across this would be too big to allow room for the actors to move around in....

you are on the right track. I'll also add that it tied into the beige hexagon on the floor by the console. There was a reason for that being there as well.

So are you implying there would have been a a series of pillars connecting the canopy to the floor hexagon?
Bill "the Doctor" Rudloff

If the original intention was to have mounted the canopy on pillars, I imagine the idea might have been abandoned, not just on cost grounds, but also that it probably would have been awkward filming around these pillars. Especially if the canopy was in position over the beige hexagon, near the doors.

I don't want this topic to go too far 'off course' but here (on the basis that the designer would look to re-use the same elements in different ways), I've very crudely drawn the same dividing screens as appeared in the Tardis' bedrooms underneath the canopy. We end up with a kind of Tardis' version of a walk-through security booth!
It illustrates Jonathan's comment about being difficult to film around (to say nothing of the difficulties this might pose sound engineers with their boom mics). 
Tony