2010 TARDIS Console Plaque

[The14thDr]

I wasn't sure whether to put this in the reference section or the workshop section, so I'll just put it here and hope for the best.

After seeing the fantastic TARDIS plaques that greggnowling made over on his First Doctor TARDIS console thread, I was inspired to create these templates for anyone who might be interested in making their own TARDIS plaque. After Dino told me the name of the font used on the original plaque (Courier New in bold), I searched Google for a good head-on image of the plaque. After that I created a text box in Publisher and placed it over the top of the plaque image. From there it was simply a matter of typing in the text and playing around with the font sizes and spacing until the letters in the text box matched up with the letters on the image.

For anyone who doesn't have access to a laser cutter, the first image can be printed out, glued onto a piece of cardboard (or MDF, or any other similar mount), and hung up wherever you want. The second image is slightly more printer-friendly, with black text over a white background.



After an interesting conversation on greggnowling's aforementioned TARDIS console diary, I decided to create these slight variants of the original plaque, with the words "Shadow Proclamation" replaced by "The High Council of Gallifrey". Again, these can be printed out and mounted on another material to be hung around the house (or TARDIS ).



And just for fun I created brushed copper and brushed aluminium variants of the two plaques.





Kind regards, The14thDr

[Angelus Lupus]

Very nice! Only be warned - once you start playing around with variations you'll find it hard to stop  I had a similar fun time making Starship dedication plaques (Star Trek). You play with the background, modify the wording... next thing you know you're learning how to do 3D text effects for raised or engraved lettering. 

[The14thDr]

Too late. I'm already planning on making aged bronze, scratched iron and even rusty metal variants (if anyone else has any requests for materials, let me know and I'll gladly post new plaques). And those 3D effects would be really good for making the lettering look engraved, I'll look into it soon.
I wonder if there's a way of making the plaques editable so that members can download the ones they want and maybe change the build date to the year they finished their TARDIS. Thoughts??

Kind regards, The14thDr

[Angelus Lupus]

Well, I make my dedication plaques in GIMP as vectors. The cool thing is that you can apply an effect to an object (or text) but it's still editable. So I only had to go through the process of tweaking the filters to get just the right effect once, and then I can change the text as often as I like.

EDIT: Ok, I feel like an idiot. (insert facepalm meme of your choice) I clearly meant Inkscape, not GIMP. Inkscape is the vector graphics program. GIMP is the more tradition (photoshop) type. I blame the fact that I use both regularly, they're both free and come with a ton of tutorials.

[Bob's your Uncle]

Very nice. I may have to borrow one of those.
Can anyone point me to a photo of this on the console. 


Greg.

[The14thDr]

Thanks Angelus Lupus. I'll take a look into Inkscape (it might offer more options for creating graphics than Publisher).

Bob's your Uncle: Here's a close-up of the plaque on the "skirt" (not sure on the technical term) of the console.

And again showing the entire panel:


Kind regards, The14thDr

[galacticprobe]

Great work on those plaques, 14th! (Too bad the actual set designers didn't think to use "High Council of Gallifrey" for the wording; it does sound much more appropriate, and it looks good on the plaque!)

Here's a close-up of the plaque on the "skirt" (not sure on the technical term) of the console.

I think with this one, as with the other consoles, it's been called the "rim". Granted, this console sported the widest (tallest?) of the rims, but since it runs all round the outer edge of the console, "rim" seems the most appropriate term.

Dino.

[The14thDr]

Thanks Dino. I wouldn't have been able to make the plaques without your identification of the fonts use on te original. And yeah, "rim" sounds better than "skirt" (skirts belong to Daleks )

Kind regards, The14thDr

[hellofabird]

Long time fan of this site, so I finally made an account

I am trying to get a custom metal plate made of this, since Rubbertoe's replica is long sold out, so I used The14thDr's awesome work as a springboard, and dove deep into the specifics.  I wanted to share some comments and additional data on layout that might help others replicate it themselves.

Font:
On close examination, it appears that the original and the Rubbertoe replica are almost identical but not quite.  The letter shape differs in a few spots.

But neither is exactly the same as Courier New font, however.  The original font has shorter serifs, and some of them taper/curve (like on capital T) differently.  I could not find any font that is closer to the original, unfortunately, so I went with Courier New.  Non-bolded is too thin, and bolded is slightly too thick... but if I put horizontal scaling at 90%, it gets it VERY close to the original.

Size:
Per other threads, it appears the original is 4x9 inches.  I scaled mine to be 3x7 inches to fit where I need to put it. 

Layout:
Note that these font sizes/spacing are for a 3x7 inch plaque.


Plaque Size: 7" x 3" & rounded corners
Standard bolt holes in 4 corners
Font: Courier New (bold)
Kerning: Optical
Horizontal scaling of characters: 90%
Tracking (horizontal spacing): +50

Line 1:TARDIS
Font size: 20 pt & Leading: 24 pt

Line 2:TIME AND RELATIVE DIMENSION IN SPACE
Font size: 20 pt & Leading: 24 pt

Line 3: [blank line]
Font size: 20 pt & Leading: 22 pt

Line 4:BUILD SITE: GALLIFREY BLACKHOLE SHIPYARD
Font size: 20 pt & Leading: 24 pt

Line 5:[blank line]
Font size: 20 pt & Leading: 24 pt

Line 6:TYPE 40 BUILD DATE: 1963
Font size: 20 pt & Leading: 24 pt

Line 7:AUTHORISED FOR USE BY QUALIFIED TIME LORDS ONLY
Font size: 15 pt & Leading: 18 pt

Line 8:BY THE SHADOW PROCLAMATION
Font size: 15 pt & Leading: 17 pt

Line 9:MISUSE OR THEFT OF ANY TARDIS
Font size: 11 pt & Leading: 22 pt

Line 10:WILL RESULT IN EXTREME PENALTIES AND POSSIBLE EXILE
Font size: 11 pt & Leading: 12 pt

Photos

• First pic is my version with metallic background (3x7 inch)

• Second pic shows my version overlayed onto the original (skew-corrected but proportions maintained)

• Third pic are the original and Rubbertoe replica side by side

• Fourth pic is my version overlayed onto Rubbertoe replica (most straight-on photo I could find, no adjustments)

I think I nailed the line spacing.  All that remains is to adjust the Tracking of each line to match.

I also am likely changing the shadow proclamation line as discussed.  I agree that it's unlikely the boilerplate of a TARDIS would have truly referenced an external legal entity rather than an internal Gallifreyan authority.  I read some of the other arguments in another thread on whether other elements of the plate are truly in Gallifreyan character, or just a sort of Easter Egg for the cast/crew.  I can see that being the case, but it's nonetheless a nice replica to have