I think it looks pretty good in the snow! It's actually been wearing a blue tarpaulin for the last few weeks as I have not had a chance to fiberglass the roof and it leaks in the rain, but I took it's coat off last week and then the snow came. It leaked again in the snow storm so it's got it's coat back on again now.

Great pic!

Can't have too many "TARDIS in the snow" pics.


I wonder if the BEEB look in on TARDIS builders every now & again for inspiration...?
In the new series, there have been loads of examples of the TARDIS in the snow, starting all the way back with "Unquiet Dead" & cropping up pretty frequently since. Did they get the idea from us?!...

Can't think of any examples in the old series.... Abominable Snowman", perhaps? Or maybe "Seeds of Doom?"

Although, I think in these, although the TARDIS is in a snowy environment, I don't think they took the trouble to actually put any snow on the actual prop itself.

Anyway, enough rambling, your TARDIS looks great in the snow!!

Keep warm.

Regards,

Russell

There was one Colin Baker story that took place on a funeral planet(?) that I seem to remember a TARDIS in the snow.  Well I remember the picture from this site, because that story wasn't in the broadcast package for RetroTV. 

That said, RE:  Snow on the TARDIS, I realized while mowing my lawn and getting grass clippings all over the base of the TARDIS, that unless the chameleon circuit was on its game, the TARDIS wouldn't have snow on it--at least not when it first materialized.  That's a tip-off when looking for a TARDIS.  If everything else has snow on it but that phone booth/column/altar/pipe organ, it's probably a TARDIS. 

Quote from: russellsuthern on Mar 06, 2018, 09:49 am
Great pic!

Can't have too many "TARDIS in the snow" pics.

I have to agree wholeheartedly with this! Nothing beats a "snow TARDIS" photo.

Quote from: russellsuthern on Mar 06, 2018, 09:49 am
I wonder if the BEEB look in on TARDIS builders every now & again for inspiration...?
In the new series, there have been loads of examples of the TARDIS in the snow, starting all the way back with "Unquiet Dead" & cropping up pretty frequently since. Did they get the idea from us?!...

Well, I think we already know the BBC does check in on us every now and then, which is why we have some of the rules we do - to keep us out of trouble and in their good graces. And I'm sure they get some ideas from us. (Moffat admitted to getting some idea from fans on YouTube, and with us being mentioned in several YouTube vids, and more than one issue of Doctor Who Magazine, and with the occasional 'Doctor Who' production staff member being a member here, I'm sure they do get some idea from us.)

I don't know how many photos of snow TARDISes we had posted before the New Series started; that goes back way before my time with TARDIS Builders. It could also be the person in charge of continuity realizing that if the TARDIS lands in a snowy environment and is there for a while, while it's snowing, it only makes sense that show would build up on the TARDIS by the end of the story. (We may never know.)

Quote from: russellsuthern on Mar 06, 2018, 09:49 am
Can't think of any examples in the old series.... Abominable Snowman", perhaps? Or maybe "Seeds of Doom?"

I don't know about "The Abominable Snowmen"; I haven't seen any photos from that story. But in "Seeds Of Doom", the TARDIS only made a cameo appearance at the very end of the story - the final scene to be precise. (It was the last appearance of the Brachacki-Altered console.) When the TARDIS landed, she wasn't there long enough for any snow to build up on her.)

Quote from: russellsuthern on Mar 06, 2018, 09:49 am
Although, I think in these, although the TARDIS is in a snowy environment, I don't think they took the trouble to actually put any snow on the actual prop itself.

Okay... I think I answered this one before it was mentioned! (Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey... ) Well, at least I mentioned why there was no snow on the TARDIS in "Seeds Of Doom".

Quote from: Volpone on Mar 06, 2018, 04:27 pm
There was one Colin Baker story that took place on a funeral planet(?) that I seem to remember a TARDIS in the snow. Well I remember the picture from this site, because that story wasn't in the broadcast package for RetroTV.

"Revelation Of The Daleks": planet, Necros (not to be confused with the alien beings, the Nekross, from the planet Nekron, in the RTD series 'Wizards vs. Aliens'). "Blue is the official colour of mourning on Necros, and women's legs to be covered at all times." -6th Doctor to Peri after she complains about the outfit he made her wear.

In this one (aside from having that cone-shaped lamp on her roof), the TARDIS lands in the snow, but it's not snowing. And if I remember correctly, all of the scenes on the surface of Necros never showed it snowing, just snow-covered. So there was never a chance for any show to build up on the TARDIS. And at the end of the story the Doctor and Peri have yet to leave the lab, so we don't get to see the TARDIS again before the credits roll.

One thing to think about is just how hot does the TARDIS get during flight? Certainly hot enough to burn off a covering of paper ("Vincent And The Doctor"), yet not hot enough to burn a person (Jack Harkness hanging onto her in "Utopia", the Doctor hanging on to be pulled out of that other dimension in "Hide", and Clara in "The Time Of The Doctor"). So how long would she need to sit idle before she cooled down enough to let falling snow build up on her without it first just melting off?

Dino.

I'm fairly certain that in the unquiet dead, the tardis had snow on it when it materialised.

I think it was in my copy of the tardis handbook that I read that someone at the been wanted the tardis to fully interact with its surroundings. Apparently this is one of the ways they did this.
Correct me if I'm wrong...

Scary day today: it's gone into storage ready to materialise at the new house in a couple of days time. A few bits of damage so far in the process but all repairable I think. Just hoping it'll survive the rest of the journey.

Good luck.

I see your other TARDIS is disguised as a fridge...


Regards,

Russell

So now, after several years and a house move, my Tardis observatory is looking significantly the worse for wear. Mainly in the doors: the plywood has delaminated badly and is falling away.

I could either build new doors or build a whole new Tardis from scratch. If I build a new one, it will have to be full-sized as that will then allow a bigger telescope inside. The current one is I think 3/4 scale. Downside to this is the work involved and of course the cost which is likely to be several hundred pounds.

The current one used 9mm plywood sheets from B&Q for the main panels with 18mm plywood strips for the mouldings. It's the 18mm strips that have delaminated since their edges are more exposed. Does anyone have recommendations for better materials? Would it be worth forking out for marine-ply? Or just a better quality birch ply? Or is there a better non-ply alternative? I did think maybe I could soak some fiberglass resin into all those exposed edges before painting.

I popped over to your build thread to refresh my memory (https://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=7707.75).  I see it has a fairly conventional construction.  (For some reason I thought it opened on the top or some other thing that might make it more susceptible to weather.)  I see you also redesigned the roof to make it more weather resistant so you're definitely on the right track.  How has the redone roof held up? 

I have no experience with marine grade plywood but two things I notice on your build are:  being on wheels, it has good ventilation from below, but no ventilation up top.  Keeping water out is difficult but getting it to dry out more quickly helps slow water problems.  If you can engineer some kind of gap or vents under the POLICE BOX signs, water shouldn't get in there but it will create airflow to help get moisture out of the interior.  (I also set up my signal lamp so it has a small gap that lets air flow between the top of the glass and the rain cap.) 

The other thing is that the trimwork--particularly the tops of the horizontal surfaces--isn't beveled.  That's the way I built mine too, thinking the bevels were just cosmetic and I could simplify my design a little by leaving them off.  It turns out that if you don't have bevels on the trim, water sits on top of the trim and soaks through into the plywood. 

Finally, I should say I am definitely not an expert on preserving plywood. My solution has been: as the plywood rots away (it mostly rots from the inside on my box), I just screw Hardibacker cement board to the inside.  If it actually rots through I'll use premixed thinset mortar to plaster the hole.  The stuff isn't supposed to be rated for outdoor use, but I've had good luck with it (mostly).  As time and money permit I'd like to coat more of my exterior with fiberglass. 

Thanks Volpone for all these thoughts.

Roof is holding up extremely well. Whatever I do in future will again have fibreglass over the roof.

It does have ventilation up top: originally I opened the area behind one of the signs, then when I changed the inside lighting to a single central bulb I opened them all up. The only damp issue I have inside is the sheet of 18mm ply that is the base and is delaminating around the corners. I think that's due to water sitting on the plinths and seeping under the corner posts. The base has a hole where the telescope pillar comes through but that possibly could be wider to allow more airflow.

Definitely bevelling the horizontal trimwork would have helped, and bevelling the plinth might have saved the whole thing for a few more seasons.

I'm thinking right now of building a new observatory from the base up. I'll make the base in a similar way to before but full-sized. Whether I then go full TARDIS or a simpler shed will depend how I feel. I reckon though this time that I will make it so it can be dismantled. That would make it easier to repair/replace pieces as they degrade. And coat the edges of everything in fibreglass.

Here's my Sketchup plan for the base.
app.sketchup.com

It needs that slot in the front for the telescope pier. The base will be mainly made out of 6"x2" treated timber with a skirt of thinner timber around the edge which will mostly hide the wheels.

I'm planning on doing the corner posts and walls in a similar manner to Steve Ramsey from Woodworking For Mere Mortals: https://woodworkingformeremortals.com/build-your-own-tardis/

I'm aware that his is not built to be permanently setup where mine will be so I intend to add a lip in the base to which I will bolt the posts and walls using threaded inserts. I'll do something similar with the roof which will be like my current one. It's only the pillars and walls that I am using Steve's design for as I want it to be modular and dismantlable.

Any comments or suggestions are most welcome.

I've been working on this agonisingly slowly since my last message. The base frame and corner posts are done and today I did a trial assembly. The posts all seem to be vertical. I have another cross-brace to go below the roof to make sure I'm still square at the top.

I will probably put bolt inserts into the posts so I can bolt the cross-braces to them. I'll then put spacers in so I can sandwich the walls between the posts and the cross-braces. At least that's the plan.