TARDIS Observatory (Mk 2)

[alistair]

The original TARDIS observatory I built about 6 years ago (https://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=7707.0) has a number of issues so I am building a new one.

The old one was about 3/4 - scale as I didn't have much space. We have since moved so I now have more space and a full-sized one will give me more options for astronomy kit inside.

The old one also suffered a bit in the move and the plywood doors are badly de-laminating. I thought of just replacing the doors but the rest is looking very tired as well and there are several fundamental build errors that I'd like to correct.

I'll post some pictures and more details of the new one shortly. At present I have the base, corner posts and one wall frame. My biggest mistake so far is that I took the measurement to the top of the doors as the full height of the posts. So they are a few inches too short and I will have to make some extension pieces. Oops!

[russellsuthern]

Look forward to seeing your progress.

Russ

[alistair]

Current state.

Cross-members on 3 sides hold it fairly straight and the one wall is just sandwiched between the posts and the cross braces (I'm paranoid that the walls will stretch and shrink width-ways so I will just fix them in the middle and allow them to move either side)

I think I'll make the stepped pieces and then see how much of an extension I need to make to the corner posts for the sign-boxes.

[alistair]

Bought the wood for the other 3 sides at the weekend and cut it all to size. So yesterday evening I drilled 120 pocket holes.



Why are my images so washed out when I upload them here? They're fine on the laptop. Aha! I think I see now.

[Volpone]

The board software they picked after the hack has an extra step.  After you upload a picture, you've got to go back and "attach" it.  I think it's a green button at the bottom right side of the page but I don't remember.  If you can't figure it out, I'll have a look, but I think it's pretty easy to figure out if you know about it. 

[alistair]

Here I'm screwing the sides together. It's tricky getting everything aligned and clamped together and the pocket-hole screws do tend to pull the slats a little proud of the verticals, which might cause me issues when attaching the backing boards. I'll see what that's like when the time comes.

Let's see if this one is not all faded.

[alistair]

All the frames are screwed together and cleaned up as much as possible so now it's another tedious job of gluing, screwing and clamping panels onto each of the 8 wall section frames, one-by-one.

[alistair]

Primer applied to base, posts and walls.

Things I've learned: fill any gaps with wood filler. Don't be a berk and try filling with silicon sealant: paint won't bind to it! I've bought some fancy Zinser primer which has stuck better but it still just rubs off. I'm going to have to dig out all the sealant and redo it next year.

[russellsuthern]

Great work so far.
It is a pain to make sure all your applications are compatible.
When I made my box, I was on a budget, so used any filler or sealent I could get my hands on.
Fortunately, my next step was to cover the whole thing with bitumenn roof repair which frankly sticks to anything!!
Keep up the good work.

Russell

[alistair]

Bitumen Roof Repair? Sounds interesting. I always think of that sort of stuff like a thick tar that would destroy all details, not be paintable etc so I've previously dismissed it out of hand. Should I not have? Could I just paint that over the finished product box next year wherever the current paintwork has failed and then paint the magic blue over the top?

[russellsuthern]

Well, the thick tar does cover any woodgrain detail, but has a very rough grainy texture instead, which makes the box looks "concrety", rather than wood, which I really liked.
Plus, It's oil based, so you can paint gloss straight over the top of it.
It's designed for patch up work, so you could use it when you need to do a repaint. Just whack it on, it'll go over anything, then put the blue paint straight over the top of it.

Cheers.

Russell

[Volpone]

They do make paintable caulks too.  You've just got to check the labels.  But I can't talk, because I'm pretty sure if I stuck my nose around the back of my TARDIS, there are a few spots where there's silicone caulk with traces of blue paint around it. 

[alistair]

So the Blue is going on. I figure once that is done and with a temporary roof, it could be assembled while I figure out how to do the next stage. Just one coat so far on the doors and pillars and two coats on the base. I think 2 coats should be sufficient. It's covered the silicon sealant ok, so long as you don't scrape it!

[alistair]

To gain some impetus, I've put it together as much as I can out near it's final position. I've put a tarpaulin over it while I figure out how to attach the doors.
   Then extend the pillars
   And build the sign boxes.
   And build the roof.
   And the windows.
   And the floor.
   And various bits of trim.

A long way still to go!

The left door has a darker half because I mistakenly bought a tine of gloss instead of matt. I'll need to sand that one back and then put at least one more coat of the correct finish on everything.

[Volpone]

That is the most "Logopolis" build photo I've seen on this site.