About 3-4 weeks ago, I started an update on this build. I wrote a fair amount. Time was not my friend at the... err... time, and I spent waaaaaay longer on it than I should have, but I was endeavouring to be thorough. I was called away and, in an effort to preserve everything I had done to that point, hit the "Save Draft and Continue" button...
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... for whatever reason, there was a blip in the connection, an error on the site or with my browser, I don't know what, it froze in the act of saving/refreshing and wouldn't reload. I lost a good portion of what I had written, and was left with little more than my pre-amble from a previous save. (/* end rant */)...

I have now finally moved past that unfortunate incident and am ready to continue with the build progress, albeit a much abbreviated one. Which means, I'm just gonna show you pics...




... the first wall... well... HALF of the first wall. Note that I've decided to go with the same sort of split as I used in my http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=6249 build. It actually makes the split less noticeable, and means the 2 halves lock together a lot more seamlessly without any annoying gaps...




... and the second half. You see what I mean, yeah...?




... first buttress...




... and the first 2 columns. I spent a lot of time ranting about this in the post that I lost. You can see that they're both unfinished. The first one got to 93% complete, and then suffered an extended packet interrupt, which I couldn't recover. The second one got to 96% complete, and then lost the signal! What are the freaking odds?? Given that these columns take 11 hours to print A PIECE (20 hours when combined with the top and bottom sections of the columns), and are the most resource consuming part (in terms of filament... not to mention time), this was frustrating in the extreme.  A few choice words spoken loudly and vehemently. I will NOT share them...

... I decided to press on with the build and come back to these 2 at the end, given time and enough filament...




... the top and bottom sections of the columns. I printed all the internal ones in one hit  a) get them out of the way in one hit  b) saves time  c) was running out of filament on the spool. I didn't want to have to change to a new spool mid-print, let alone middle of the night. Safer to print all the small bits, just in case you run out half-way through. Which did happen. A couple of times. Honestly, I haven't had this much trouble with a build / printing in general since I was a noob and first got the printer!




... botched column 1...



... Aaaaaand botched column 2...     








... SUCCESSFUL COLUMN 1...   






... switched out with botched column 1, so we can actually SEE how it's supposed to look...

I think that this was the point at which the post died on me, as I have no more photos from this point until I completed the console itself. I jus' coulnt be bovvered! It was demoralizing! Sorry, I'd put a lot of effort in and was endeavouring to actually do the right thing and save as I went, but lost it all anyway! Aaaaanyway....

Fact is, I still seem to be having problems uploading to the site. I'm saving my drafts every few sentences now, and every few pics, and taking the precaution of copying all my text and dumping into an offline text editor before hitting the save button. I am not sure what the problem is...

I'm going to post this now while the going is good, and start a new update continuing on from this one... see you there...

ok... part 2... finally...

I printed the rest of the wall components more or less without incident. Fortunately, no more of the columns failed. I ran out of filament on a couple of the smaller items because I misjudged how much was left on the spool and was either asleep or not home to change it out! Additionally, I printed the scanner wall (both halves) and it's buttress, AND the rear door, before deciding that I wasn't happy with the size of them. I finished everything else off first and went back to them at the end. I shrank the Scanner Wall down (it was waaaaay too wide. The scanner itself I think is still too big, but I'm going to live with it) and the Rear Door Wall (I did that before printing it, which was fortunate, but not before printing the door - it was a small item, it was near the end of a spool earlier on in the piece, eeyah deeyah deeyah...) as well. The outer columns, left and right, being end pieces don't have holes on their outer faces; nothing for them to join to, so no need to have them there. However, I DID print the lower part of the right hand column incorrectly as one of the inner column bases. So it has a hole in it. I'm going to wear that too. Seriously, what is going on with this build?

So, we come to the console. I sub-divided it up into sections according to colour, so that I could print it more accurately than the original, white version I made. The results are most pleasing... 










... You can see where the pieces on the underside are going to go. You may also notice the gaps left on the top of the console where controls will be placed once I have printed them. IF I can print them, some of those gaps are REALLY small... this console has by far the most intricate and detailed controls of any of the consoles!

Also, the red detailing at the top of the console, next to where the rotor goes? That's just a really, really fine permanent marker. Worked better than expected.

The next bits were the inserts for the plinth...






... they look pretty. But will they fit?...




... ta-dahhhhh...!











... the rest... yay!

... you can see the gaps underneath the console for the other inserts. Time for those...




... all the pieces are fitting like a glove! This is actually going very smoothly. Nice when a plan comes together...








... the remainder of the inserts for the plinth, including the lighter coloured hexagons. You can't see the smaller inserts for the underside of the console, but they're there, and they look fantastic. However, I'm considering printing the darker inserts again, as I think the grey I've used is a little too dark. I have a lighter grey than this, darker than the rest of the console though, which I think might work better, ie be more faithful to the original colours. I have to say though, I am liking the contrast this darker grey gives it... 


... so how does this all look so far? Well, since then, I've re-done the messed up columns, and printed a bunch of roundels as well...






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... all in all, I'm rather happy with the result. You can see the hole in the bottom of the right-hand side column that I mistakenly printed. But you didn't see it until I pointed it out, did you...?  For some reason the console looks a lot lighter than the walls in these pictures. They're actually exactly the same colour and shade. When it's completely finished I'll take some better shots...

I am actually finishing off the last of the roundels now. HOPEFULLY I'll be able to print more soon, but unfortunately today my NAS has decided to kick the bucket, and there is a real possibility that I may have lost all my data (long story). Chances are it's all still there, but it could be a while until my next post...

Lastly, just want to leave you with the contrast between my ORIGINAL 80's console room and this latest version. It's come quite a ways since my first 3D printing attempt...







 

D.

This looks amazing, I hadn't found it before I seen the link on your "Sonic stand" build. Very cleverly done. So what do you do with the bits left over e.g. bits replace etc.? Just wondering.

Chris.

Wonderful stuff.

Thanks Chris, thanks Kingpin,much appreciated...

Chris, when you say "bits left over" or "bits replace" I'm a little uncertain exactly to what you're referring. If you mean the pieces that don't print correctly i.e unfinished, bad prints, generally not happy with etc, then they get discarded. I used to keep them all, but it just got waaaayyyyy out of hand. Now, they get put into the recycling. If you mean the original, all white, rather clumsy first attempt at this console room, I kept it for about a year or so after I finished the updated version. I gave it to the daughter of a friend about 8 months or so ago. She's quite young and just beginning her Who journey I posted it up on FB asking which friend(s) wanted it as I had moved house and no longer had room (let alone a need) for it, and she was the first one to answer.

I realise that there are probably many people on this forum who might have wanted it. At the time I was in a hurry to get rid of it so I could finish sorting out my house, and a local friend grabbing it ASAP was a better option for me. There is also the slight issue of advertising DW stuff on this forum. There are some rules and guidelines. For instance, nothing can be advertised to be sold that someone has made pertaining to IP owned by the Beeb. While giving something away isn't selling it, it nevertheless opens up a can of worms; if one person receives a give-away, others may want one and try to solicit buying one. I'm not going to encourage that, there are too many potential legal pitfalls to worry about. I realise that this isn't what you asked, but thought I'd address it in any case... Also, just in case I completely misunderstood and gave you entirely useless information, did that answer your question, or where you asking about something else...?

If you're interested, I have 2 other Galleries on the site (well, 3 now including the War Doctor Console Room, but you've seen the build diary for that already):

http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=6277

and

http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=6249

 

D.

EDIT:

... I should probably post an update on this build as well; the roundels were all finished some time ago. I was busy and STILL haven't finished the Half-Roundels. Nothing to stop me now I suppose...

D.

You got my question right & that's what I was wondering!  Wasn't sure if the stuff could be "reused" either, but obviously not if it gets dumped/recycled. So all's good this way.  

Cheers,
Chris.

Edit: I did go through your other builds, & they are just as marvelous as this, they are all brilliantly done.

That be pretty