Scarfwearer's Season 14 Wooden Console

[dalekstorm22]

Looking good so far, can't wait for the finished product!

[type55tardis]

Sir,You are the true master of the console build 

[the_temporal_mechanic]

Anything new going on with the console sir? 

[Scarfwearer]

Alas not yet. Thanks for the chivvy though - I really must get back to it...

Crispin

[the_temporal_mechanic]

So sorry sir, I did not mean to harass or annoy you.

[Scarfwearer]

Not feeling harassed Perhaps chivvy was a poor choice of word for me to use.
Quite the contrary - the encouragement is welcome

Crispin

[galacticprobe]

Then, sir, I encourage thee with a quote from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" (as this console is the Holy Grail for some of us): "Get on with it!"

<cue maniacal laughter>

Dino.

[Organic Mechanic]

This is coming along great. Can't wait to see the finished product. 

[Rassilons Rod]

Indeed, I'm still excited about this one

I know that the woodwork will continue to be superb, so I'm particularly curious to see what will be done with the unseen panels, that never made it to our tv screens...

-Marc

[galacticprobe]

...I'm particularly curious to see what will be done with the unseen panels, that never made it to our tv screens...

-Marc

Well, at least one of those panels was shown once in "The Hand of Fear", when the Doctor shows Eldrad where to enter the expansion factor (before rattling off an alphanumeric sequence so long and fast that it makes your head spin). Eldrad's back is to the viewer, and the panel that's shown is identical to "Panel One", the panel the Doctor uses most throughout that console's reign.

"Panel Two" I would guess is the one with the writing desk in it, to the left of Panel One, as that is the panel we saw next in "The Deadly Assassin" when the Doctor uses it to leave the warning note. "Panel Three" is that to the right of Panel One as seen in the excellent overhead shot at the beginning of "Robots of Death" (seen here in this thread: http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=1027.0, about a third of the way down page 1). This one, though, looks like it was created by simply painting large colored circles onto a flat background panel, with a matt black surface, to give the illusion that more than one control panel exists. And in that quick shot and never being shown in close-up as Panel One, it worked at the time.

It only makes sense, knowing the budget for the console's construction at the time, that to show this "fourth" panel, the console was simply turned around for the shot, but it does give a hint that at least two of the panels "may" have been indeed identical. So the possibility exists that a "fifth" panel would be identical to that third one, and also to the right of that fourth panel (again basing my guess since the console was turned for that shot in "Hand").

So all that leaves us with is the unknown "Panel Six", which when you see some reference photos of this panel that faces the entry steps to the room from the outside world (see link above), does show it open and with another writing desk. More speculation on my part, but knowing that only three panels were actually shown during the episodes, and considering the console being turned around for certain shots, it may be safe to simply make two of each panel, setting the identical panels opposite each other.

That is, unless someone has a copy of plans, written descriptions, etc., of what was supposed to be on each panel had the budget allowed for them to be built. (Although, Archie's Other Consoles thread has a model of the wooden console that looks rather plausible as far as what some of the other panels could look like: http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=1196.0.)

Dino.

[lespaceplie]

I believe I have found a closer version of the ram's head. It's not a furniture adornment but a 1970s belt buckle (hardware removed in Photoshop). The little cavity under the chin seen in the screen grabs is probably where the screw goes. The head adornment appears more stylized in this item than in the screen grabs, but that's not a difficult change to make.



I can sculpt one of these in Fimo then make a plaster mold. I might be able to get my old sculpting professor to throw some in with the next bronze pour. What are the approximate dimensions for this piece? Also, isn't there a smaller ram's head or something at the top of each division between the lower panels?

[galacticprobe]

Some screen grabs in this thread (http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=1103.0) show the smaller "heads" to be more rounded than the ram's head, so they may be lions' heads. Also in that thread there are some photos that show there is one at the bottom as well as the top of the divisions between the plinth panels.

Dino.

[Scarfwearer]

I believe I have found a closer version of the ram's head. It's not a furniture adornment but a 1970s belt buckle (hardware removed in Photoshop)....

That looks pretty close! I'm going to have another go at sculpting a copy of the rams head, and then make molds from it - probably in plaster - which I'll then paint with gold/brass paint. I'm not very skilled at sculpting, but I'm going to make my best effort. With prop-building for me it's the doing that matters.
The rectangle they fit on is 3.5" x 2" by my reckoning, so my sculpt is just a little smaller.

And yes, there are little bosses top and bottom of the plinth edges, but I haven't seen a good photo of them, so I'm just going to have to guess what they are. They look like they're about 1" diameter, though. I'm hoping I can find something off-the-shelf for these.

I'm really going to have to get back to this...

Crispin

[type 83]

I agree that a clockwork mechanism in a dome would work great for a Jules Verne-ish time machine.

[doctor varney]

I'm going to have another go at sculpting a copy of the rams head, and then make molds from it - probably in plaster - which I'll then paint with gold/brass paint. I'm not very skilled at sculpting, but I'm going to make my best effort. With prop-building for me it's the doing that matters.
The rectangle they fit on is 3.5" x 2" by my reckoning, so my sculpt is just a little smaller.

Yeah, I know what you mean about "The doing of it".  It's the satisfaction of working things out, isn't it?

Hey, I was wondering if  you could use a casting resin, if you can get your hands on the materials?  Normally, you'd imbue the resin with a bronze powder (or a mixture of iron and copper powders to suit) and then wire-wool the resin to expose the metal.  You'd then be able to drill the resin to create the holes for fixing.

Or, if you're feeling particularly pyromanical, you could try a low-melt casting metal, which you can smelt in a ladel on the kitchen stove.  I know it's a bit fiddly for a one off, small part but who knows... the equipment might be a nice little investment, if you plan on making custom metal parts for future projects?

Beautiful job so far, by the way!  Looking forward to seeing the finished article.

Dr V