NST - 2013 Style

[stocklen]

[stocklen]

Step 8:  The Roof.

I constructed the bottom tier in situ, to make sure it fitted.  I also didnt have any more height in the conservatory to go any further upwards!

I then constructed the rest of the roof in more or less the same way as PMC.

I had to compromise on materials, as I didnt have the right wood for the correct height... but as it was only about 2cm lower than the 'plans' I didnt think it would matter too much.  After all, nobody is tall enough to be able to tell!

[stocklen]

[stocklen]

Step 9: Painting

OK, so heres my major insecurities, and ongoing advice happily received.

I have used the Cuprinol garden shades Iris paint - seems like a good colour and if you look at production photos of the upcoming series 7b.... you will see it is now a flat colour and the wood grain effect has disappeared (thankfully! i was never going to be able to reproduce that effect).  The cuprinol paint is a pretty good match to the upcoming TARDIS finish.  Great bit of luck there!

I am of course worried about all this hard work rotting away.

I painted all the roof, and the tops of the corner posts and the tops of the signboxes with the rubber paint as seen on PMC's build.

This proved to be... a bit problematic.  I just couldnt get a nice smooth finish.  It is truly awful stuff to work with.  In the end... the roof has been painted with 2 coats of undercoat, 2 coats of rubber.... i then disliked the finish so painted another coat of undercoat on top and then another coat of rubber.  Sadly this rubber coat was worse than the first but i admitted defeat and just went with it.  I then painted 4 coats of cuprinol blue on top.

Its not bad, but im hoping that its waterproofed enough.

The rubber paint was, however, a very welcome addition to the underside of the base.  I thoroughly coated the underside and all the floor joists etc.  Im hoping this is great protection from rotting.



The white windows are with a 10yr exterior guaranteed gloss paint so im hoping that will be protective enough.

The rest of the tardis is 2 coats of undercoat, and 3 coats of blue.


HOWEVER..... im going to jump forward slightly here....

As soon as it went outside.. literally the next day running water from the melting frost (it was cold on its first night in the open!) was leaving some unpleasant pale streak marks on the blue.   We have since had some rain and its really not behaving nicely out there... im not sure yet as I havent inspected it in detail but it is beginning to look a bit streaky.

All is not lost.. as I really did imagine that i'd need another coat of blue when it was constructed.... so I am considering another coat of blue, and then some kind of lacquer.

I want the water to bead off instead of streaking the paint.... so please... does anyone have any recommendations for an exterior clear matt lacquer product?

Im not worried too much at the moment as I will wait for the sun to come out in a month or so but would love to know what anyone recommends for protection.

There is one product in b&q which is an exterior clear matt lacquer and that could do perhaps?

[stocklen]

[stocklen]

Step 10:  Lighting and Windows.

Well, I gave this a lot of thought.

Im not taking anything away from anyone else who had done a build, but some of the lighting solutions do feel a little 'over done'.  Dont get me wrong, they all look spectacular but I wanted simplicity.

I was convinced that a single bulb in the roof lamp (of course) and then a single well-placed bright enough bulb dangling from the middle of the roof inside would suffice to illuminate all the sign boxes, the windows, and the PTO sign.  I think I was right, as the end result is great but see what you think from the pics to follow.  My advice is, dont get caught up in complex solutions as a good old single bulb will give perfectly acceptable results.

Windows.. a bit of a pain again.

I ended up getting 4mm glass cut to size.  Now, I wish I hadnt as it is fragile and I broke one on construction... though I did get a spare made just in case.  I wished I had gone for 3mm clear acrylic from my signwriters but hey there you go.  Hindsight is a great thing.

My helpful signwriters then applied a grey 't-shaped' vinyl piece to the back of the glass, and 2 'frosted effect' pieces to the front.  You will see how this works in the pictures to follow.


One particularly 'cool' thing I am quite proud of is the power supply.  Back to simplicity, the lighting is simply connected to an exterior socket in the garden.  I placed the socket behind the TARDIS and the socket itself is remote controlled..... so I can switch on and off the TARDIS lights from inside the house at will.  For those interested the product is:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004ZY0Y2Q/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Very cheap and very effective.

[stocklen]

Step 11:  Construction

The fun bit after all that hard work!

OK so firstly I decided to purchase a modular plastic shed base system.  This just allows the TARDIS to sit about 4cm off the ground and lets air circulate etc.  Its a bit 'belts and braces' as it is rubber coated underneath and would be sitting on raised patio slabs anyway - no water can accumulate but better to be safe than sorry.

I constructed the TARDIS and then on all the seams I applied an exterior clear polymer mastic.  Guaranteed for 10 years (apparently) and was easy to apply.  It is over-paintable and so I will be able to cover it when I get round to the final paint coat in the future.

[stocklen]

[stocklen]

The results so far....

Not much to say here - pictures below!

[stocklen]

[BioDoctor900]

A Brilliant build, in some ways I had used some of the techniques you have used on yours for my box. Like the posts. I must say though, that the paint does look more like the colour of the eccleston/tennant TARDIS, whether thats due to the lighting in the photos, but it is a fabulous box

BioDoctor900

[stocklen]

So thats it for now.  A whole build diary in one day!

Im more than happy to pass on anything I have learned and answer any questions (if i can!).

Building a TARDIS is a lot of work, but well worth it in the end.  If you spend some time thinking it through and planning, it will all go well!

I finally got my TARDIS in the garden!  Although I am being quite 'low key' about it - its not visible from the road etc... the neighbours that know it is there all love it.  As good as it looks, I try not to have it illuminated for too long at night, but that drew a moan from next door as they love to see it lit up apparently.

As I said before, I am not finished.  I need to sort out a few bits and pieces and definitely need to sort the longevity of the paint finish and protection.  Please, and suggestions willingly received.

what about this?
http://www.homebase.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=110&storeId=10151&partNumber=600060

[stocklen]

A Brilliant build, in some ways I had used some of the techniques you have used on yours for my box. Like the posts. I must say though, that the paint does look more like the colour of the eccleston/tennant TARDIS, whether thats due to the lighting in the photos, but it is a fabulous box

BioDoctor900

Thank you.

Colour-wise... maybe but check out the pictures of the latest series!  The TARDIS has had a new paintjob and i think they caught up with me :-)

[DoctorWho8]

Most excellent looking build.
Bill "the Doctor" Rudloff

[galacticprobe]

Ditto to what everyone else has said so far. And say what you will, but I think that PTO door panel was well worth the extra effort. The backlighting looks good and that glow around the lettering does give the illusion that those letters are a bit raised, just like on the original. Well done!

Dino.