Simon's Tardis

[SimonB]

Hey guys and gals, I am about to start my first Tardis construction and look forward to filling you in on my progress. The intention is to build it in time for Christmas for my three kids (aged 4,6 and at the same time trying to keep it secret. No mean feat with 3 very nosy children! Luckily I have a double garage which will be the launch pad for this feat, which is lockable. They are already asking questions as to why they can't go in the garage.

I have bought the initial wood for 2 of the door panels, and have put together my first door. Since this will ultimately end up in the garden, I will have to do the usual treatment - primer, undercoat and top coat with Oxford Blue (from Homebase) as my chosen shade. Tempting though it is to rush ahead and get to painting it blue....  

Because I wanted to create room inside for 3 kids, I started with the idea of measuring a suitable size square base. Unfortunately, my initial 2mx2m base would have created a monster over 4.5m high to keep it to scale!! Note: I am doing this with basic DIY skills and making it up as a go along.

I am also being cheeky and using some of the ideas already posted on here to create this vision. What I see in my head as the finished product and what I will create are not necessarily the same  

My estimate for the cost of the build is in the region of about £350. That's before I get to doing anything inside - when the initial excitement of seeing the outside has gone and they finally open the door on Christmas day, there might be a disappointed "oh, its empty!"

Hope to update you with some photos shortly!

Si

[lorisarvendu]

11 weeks to go.  Good luck!

That's the thing about very young kids.  They'll honestly be expecting to see the full console room when they open the doors. 

If only we could live up to their expectations!

[bluebellhillbuild]

I have made one side panel! Well, I have cut the wood, and temporarily put it together. I took a photo - only to find that my laptop wouldn't recognise the camera to upload the photo so I need to sort that out.

I have made the 'public telephone' sign by creating a word document and printing it on a colour photocopier in high resolution. I then did a simple run through my laminator to make it a bit more rigid (maybe slightly weatherproof). Although this was a cheap method, I am not sure about the durability of lamination -so probably will have to put perspex in front.

I am also meeting a printer for the 'police box' signs. All my simple options seem to create a lot of work - eg buying self adhesive letters and spraypainting over them onto perspex, laminating an A0 size poster of 4 signs... I then thought sod it, just pay someone to do it properly!

My problem so far has been drilling holes for dowels. Although my measuring seems ok, my accuracy on the drill leaves a lot to be desired  I can see a lot of planing and sandpapering occuring in the not too distant future....

[bluebellhillbuild]

Just to give you a flavour - it needs glueing and straightening. I wanted to motivate myself by seeing how it would look.

[atomicgraph]

its looking a little tardisy now. and yes there will be a lot of filling and sanding but its well worth it when you finish. great start, have a karma and don't paint it until you finished (as tempting as it may be) it'll get scuffed up like crazy while your building.

[bluebellhillbuild]

I have ordered the following as a simple sound fx recorder, I don't know if any others have tried this for the effects? It has a 3.5mm line in for direct input, but I don't know what the quality will be like.  I hope to use this as a means of recording the materialisation/dematerialisation sound. 2 minutes should be long enough!

http://www.quasarelectronics.com/3189-120-second-message-recorder-isd17120.htm

I have also been to B&Q to get the plywood backs for the panel today, so tonight I hope to finish the woodwork for one side.

[bluebellhillbuild]

I went to Maplin's today to get an electronic kit for the flashing lamp.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=25224&C=Maplin&U=SearchTop&T=timer%20kit&doy=2m9

This is a kit  but very easy to assemble, the instructions are easy to follow even for a novice like me! As this is going to be used by the kids, I decided that I didn't want a transformer or high voltage flashing lamp. This means that the lamp will be a maximum of 12v - limited to about 2W of light! Should be enough to keep the kids happy. All in all it took about 30minutes to solder the kit together. I now have to wait for the bulbs I have ordered to arrive (subject to the Royal Mail not striking....)

[bluebellhillbuild]

Work is progressing and I now have four sides. I will upload the latest photo shortly. I am going to have a problem with the roof - there is now no room to put it on!

I have made up the flashing light kit from Maplins and bought the following light from B&Q for £6.

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=9261645&fh_view_size=10&fh_eds=%3f&fh_location=%2f%2fcatalog01%2fen_GB%2fcategories%3c%7b9372112%7d&fh_search=garden+light&fh_refview=search&ts=1257605811969&isSearch=false

This has a great glass 'fresnel' type inner, and the 7w bulb flash really gives a fader effect.

I now have to wait for the glue to dry on the wood for 24 hours before I can sand down and begin the preparation for painting.
I also have to assemble the base - I have decided to have a plank based square, with 5mm gaps in between to allow air circulation and drainage, although I hope it will be waterproof not to need it.

Has anyone else had any accidents in building? I had a plank of wood fall on my head which I completely forgot was there!

[bluebellhillbuild]

Anyone else suffering from bare wood fatigue?

[bluebellhillbuild]

[avadh]

Simon that is looking wonderful and very inspiring too.

[bluebellhillbuild]

Thanks for the encouragement! I am inspired by all of the builders on here, I hope mine does itself justice.

Yesterday I primed the wood giving it two coats of wood primer. And then waited.........

Today I painted the panels with their first coat of undercoat. The colour is grey, but surprisingly, it appears slightly blueish under the light of the garage. Anyway, it is much more pleasing to see some colour now as I have got very bored with looking at plain wood!

Here is the latest piccy:

[TG]

That's looking lovely and the undercoat does look slightly blue - nice!
So exciting when it gets to this stage 
TG

[bluebellhillbuild]

Thanks for the encouragement Timegirl, it is much more fun once you get to the painting stage.

Not much to add over the last few days. I have given the side panels a second coat of undercoat and waiting to paint them with the final outer coat. I have also got some perspex sheets which will form the windows, together with some white frosted film to make them more opaque. Once the final paint is done, I can fix the windows and then get to work on the roof and finishing off how it will all fit to together.

I haven't thought about what to put inside it yet! The flashing light kit from Maplins works a treat as does the sound fx module. I downloaded a wav of the materialisation sound, and it is very loud.

[bluebellhillbuild]