Hi All,

I got this SEVANS box some years ago - I can't actually recall when, except it was pre-NuWho. As you can see, at that point I decided to build as the 1996 TV Movie box. The box has sat tucked away in various states of distress over the years in cupboards and lofts, and I've had it in the back of my mind to repair it and improve it for some time. The current global situation has encouraged me to take on a project, and this is it.

I was never very satisfied with the accuracy of this box. It is pitched (though not explicitly) as the TV Movie box, and has some nominal flexibility on which version you build as demonstrated with the decals that came with it. The main bulk of it, the doors and pillars are pretty decent, but the roof to my eye has always looked wrong and for some reason the 'glass' (which has now yellowed) was set back from the frames. With this in mind, I intend to keep the bulk of the parts, most notably the core doors and pillars and improve the roof, base and windows as far as my skill allows. I am still in two minds about whether to remake the sign boxes or make do with what is here.

Rather than repeat the TV Movie look, I intend to remake this kit as the Altered Newbery since this was always my favourite. The kit has limitations, as does my patience and I want to work with what I have, rather than be 100% accurate. If I can capture the essence of the box I will be very happy.

The first thing I have done is to take stock. The lamp and surround was broken some time ago, and the plastic itself has become brittle and broken in a few key areas, most notably the base which I am going to discard and replace with something thicker and wider (for some reason the base on this kit is nearly flush with the pillars, like the altered Brachacki box). I have also removed the handle, key hole and yellowed window panes, though I will retain them for now in case I need to use the pebbled effect in the manufacture of new ones.

I have now reglued the pillars to the door panels and removed the sign boxes. Looking at pictures (and Tony Farrell's plans) of this box, the sign boxes are quite a bit lower than they are on the TYJ and the 'steps' above the doors are absent. It should be a fairly easy to shuffle the sign boxes down to get the required effect here, but I am in two minds about re-using the existing sign boxes. The ones on the Black Orchid box are thinner, appear to be longer and certainly the actual signage area itself is wider than those that come with the kit.

I will update you as I rebuild over the coming days and weeks.

Some progress made, in between doing my day job - its the new tea break!

I have spent a fair bit of time studying the roof of the Altered Newbery. The most informative shot from Logopolis is Adric taking measurements on its roof. It looks like the Newbery 'first step' which seems to incorporate the corner detailing on top of the posts (is there jargon for this?) is very thin, translating as around 2-3mm thick on this 1/9 scale model. Then there appears to be 2 further steps which closely approximate those on the TYJ, so I am using the TYJ dims for the roof.

To reiterate, it is not my intention to 100% replicate this version, but get close to it using pretty much what I have in the form of the Sevans Kit and leftovers from previous projects, with minimal outlay on other materials. This is why I elected to keep the same top signs, even though they they are slightly too wide and the sign recess is shorter. Moving them down to cover the under sign steps (jargon?!) which are not on this box and expose some real estate above. This I feel really helps sell that this is a model of this specific box and not the TYJ.

Maybe difficult to make out on the photos, since the dark paint obscures detail....

I have remade the door panel sign too, from matches and left over styrene. The SEVANS one appears to be cast resin and is too chunkyand protrudes too far. Extra wide AN style base is made from foam, which since it is black will ding nicely over time.

I have remade the windows from transparent Sculpy, pebbles applied with the end of a pencil lead. I think I have made them a bit thick, so might review. They fit well in the frames - something I achieved by pushing the thin metal frames from the model into the Sculpy to get an exact fit. I'm not sure of the colour to be honest, rather yellow for my tastes, but I might have to go with it.

Next up, that pesky roof....

Bit of a bumper update (its been a nice sunny, productive day or two).

First thing I did was to cut very thin (3mm) styrene for the strips down the side of the doors (returns?). Similarly, I did a little one for the bottom of the doors (not shown). The windows as SEVANS had them set out were nearly flush with the outer wall of the doors, which didn't look right with reference to the photos of the prop, which are sunken at the same depth as the door panels. I decided to glue them to the inside rather than the outside, which looks better albeit there is now a 'lip', but at those dims its barely visible.

The roof is made from a mixture of 10mm foamex (first step) and 7mm foam rubber (second step). I then built the apex using the original roof with styrene stuck over it to get the right dims. The roof block is more of the 10mm foamex, sanded down a tad. The lamp is the original SEVANS clear acrylic tube, filed down by around 5mm to get the right height. Similarly, I filed off the SEVANS 'cap' and removed it from the square 2mm roof it sat on. I then glued the cap onto an appropriately sized washer. The struts are leftovers from the kit - I tried toothpicks but it just didn't work.

You'll note I have made the post caps from 3mm ABV, again in keeping with the look of the Black Orchid box. It doesn't appear to be present on the Logopolis configuration and the photos are unrevealing on this detail (no birdseye shots!). There are also 3mm strips that sit almost flush with these posts, the whole thing gives the appearance of a mini third step.

This is its current state - complete with quick drying polyfiller applied very thinly, to give some sandy texture. There is also a bit of P38 filler, which I've sanded back quite a bit as it was a bit overstated.

I've ordered paint, so can do no more for a while.

Nicely done!

It's got a kind of War Doctor vibe with its current color. 

How lovely.   Photoshop it blue and against a countryside setting and it'd immediately look like it's come straight out of Logopolis.

Thanks all for lovely encouraging comments!

By chance, I discovered the below in the back of my drawer, which is a better sized replacement for the existing lamp - with some trimming. I have no idea what it is (cap of a pen?) But it's meant I can do something whilst I wait for the paint to turn up.

The red you see there is my blood. I seem to have a new and unfortunate knack of bleeding over my projects.

Quote from: bobjohns on Apr 06, 2020, 11:43 amThe red you see there is my blood. I seem to have a new and unfortunate knack of bleeding over my projects.

Well, you know what they say about pouring your blood, sweat and tears into a project.

This is looking amazing! God speed Postie with the paint.

Quote from: Kingpin on Apr 06, 2020, 08:34 pm

Quote from: bobjohns on Apr 06, 2020, 11:43 amThe red you see there is my blood. I seem to have a new and unfortunate knack of bleeding over my projects.

Well, you know what they say about pouring your blood, sweat and tears into a project.

Literally in this case!

Quote from: kert gantry on Apr 07, 2020, 08:03 am
This is looking amazing! God speed Postie with the paint.

Cheers! Very impressed with your work.



This is how I spent Good Friday - painting out in the lovely sunshine. I caved in on the top signs and have added some thin styrene over the top to get the correct width for sign itself. The sign boxes are still too thick/tall of course, but I can live with what amounts to a couple of mm at most.

I think it's a bit too dark tbh, more Season 21 or 22 than 19, but I think I can live with it (famous last words, probably). Unfortunately, this might be the bright sunlight's fault! I know it's a trick of the exposure, but it's not a million miles away from the way it looks in the Castrovalva promo shots.

Just the signs to do now...

ooooh! That is gorgeous! A really nice modification

Quote from: fivefingeredstyre on Apr 11, 2020, 09:49 am
ooooh! That is gorgeous! A really nice modification

Thank you! And thanks for the advice on colours in your build - Vallejo Prussian Blue turns out to be spot on.



I had a go at lightening this today and I'm pleased with how it worked out, I'm getting a strong Black Orchid railway platform vibe here.

That looks so good.

Yeah, how about a Black Orchid railway platform diorama?

Oooh.  I like the darker bottom (scale) 6" or so.  Nice mud and grime spattering up onto if from the pavement.  I'd have never thought to do that but it looks so good.