Quote from: russellsuthern on May 12, 2020, 12:46 pm
If we get enough people building, we'll have to change the sites name to K-9Builders!!!

All in favour of changing the name of TARDIS Builders? Please cast your votes now.

"AFFIRMATIVE" or "Vwoorrpp Nooooorrpppeee"













That, I can admit, was not my best ever joke.

But not your worst...


Russ   

Sheeesh!
I am soooo sick of sanding, I can't tell you.

It just won't go as smooth as I want...

I might have to end up making a "School Reunion"  K-9 at this rate!!!

I didn't know how well off I was when I was making a battered, weathered TARDIS!!

Decided to have a break to let my RSI to subside & have a look at the ears.
Many thanks to everyone who helped me with advice & measurements.
I mocked up a pair of ears to make sure I was happy with the size, height, placement etc:





I have set myself the challenge of making the ears purely out of gubbins I have lying around, in the spirit of this being a lockdown build- so don't expect anything too accurate!!

PAINT:

Many thanks to everyone who helped me with advice & info regarding paint.
I popped down my local Wicks today.
They have quite a large selection of paints which are quite a bit cheaper than Halfords.

In the end I did manage to find a metallic grey which I'm going to use as my main colour:



I'm very pleased I managed to find metallic paint.

It does look a wee bit darker than the original prop, but I have noticed some fan builds that have gone quite dark & look pretty good, plus, I have noticed (much to my annoyance sometimes) that the final sprayed colour is NEVER as dark as it looks on the lid, so I think I'll be OK.

Now, if I can just get it smooth enough to start painting, we'll be good to go!!

Thanks for looking in.

Russell

When I was studying auto painting for the van, one of the painters said something along the lines of "Painting is 90% prep and 10% painting.  Repainting over bodywork is 99% prep 1% painting."  Another video, where the guy was showing how an amateur can get professional painting results, there was so much sanding that the comments were like:  "That's a $4,000 door," and "Now he's just got the rest of the car to do."  For added fun, the rolling on Rustoleum technique I used for the black involves sanding after painting.  Eventually I thought it was done and moved to machine buffing and polishing.  Actually, I need to go back and do some more sanding, but it's good enough for now.  Looks fine from 20 feet away and is plenty good for a $2,000 van with well over a half million miles on it. 

If you're interested I found a perfect match for the CO large classic K-9 toy at Halfords. I don't remember the name off hand but I still have some and can dig it out if you want.

Volpone:  You are so right.
When I was a painter & decorator we used to say the same thing, that a job was 90% preparation.

Cardinal:  Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll still with what I've bought & see how I go, but some of the other guys building a K-9 might be interested?


Anyhooo...

This is what I knocked up:







Certainly chunkier than the original ears, & a bit messy looking, but I think It'll look ok once It's been painted silver.

I might try to spray the tail & the ears tomorrow if I have the time & It's a nice day...

Thanks for looking.

Russ

Hi all,

Another day trapped in the Twighlight Zone...

At least it was sunny, so I decided to spray up my silver & black bits...

First I did the ears...
That's better! Looks halfway decent now...





Then I did his tail...



Next I sprayed his K-9 insignia, which I cut out from foam board, & the stalk of his sucker-antenna...




Then I stretched out his neck so I could spray that black...



After this I got to thinking... I was wondering what it would look like if I attacked the body with alternating layers of black & silver spray...
The end result was most interesting, although, OMG!- It really shows up every scratch & imperfection!!

First in direct, bright sunlight...







Then in the shade. What a difference! Looks like a completely different paint job!!





It looks interesting, but I won't keep it, I only really did it to highlight where more smoothing is needed, & got a bit carried away...

Happy to hear any comments or queries. 

Best regards,

Russell

He's looking really good so far Russell, and once he's got a new paint job, and all the greeblies and accessories added, he'll look great

BioDoctor900

I'm thinking your first impulse was right.  A less metallic finish will look better--at least on camera.  That said, you're doing what body shop people call "blocking."  The guy in the $4,000 door paintjob video did it ad nauseum:  Sand with the sandpaper on a long board so it would stay flat, spraypaint everything black and then sand off all the black (or add filler where required).  Keep doing it until you get it perfectly smooth.  Ugh.  And seconding BioDoctor's observation.  It looks literally a little rough around the edges now, but I can see where having the visor and the control panel buttons and the collar and all the other detail bits in place will help with the illusion and draw the eye away from paint imperfections. 

Finally, more for anyone else who's reading the build and hasn't settled on a finish, the more I look at the hardboard shaping, the more I consider countertop laminate.  Rather than have to do sanding and painting and precision cabinetry, I used a "brushed steel" laminate for the cabinets in the A-Team van and was quite happy with how it turned out.  The challenge is, you've got to get the placement absolutely perfect the first time.  With contact cement, once the 2 surfaces touch, they're not repositionable.  https://www.lowes.com/pd/Wilsonart-Satin-Stainless-Linearity-Laminate-Kitchen-Countertop-Sample/50034994?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_--_-google-_-pla-_-233-_-soscountertopproductandaccess-_-50034994-_-0&placeholder=null&gclid=EAIaIQobChMInLSTrJe36QIVCYizCh0RggTEEAQYAiABEgKqbPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds  (I won't post van cabinet pics unless someone really wants to see how it turned out, since this is a TARDIS forum and this is Russel's K-9 build.) 

He looks amazing Russell; I'm beyond impressed (and beyond jealous)!

Hi guys!

Thanks for the comments!

Yes, this shiny coat is designed to really highlight his imperfections.

Ill give it one more day of sanding & tidying, then go for the final coat.

His eyeplate, computer screen, etc, will cover a lot of sins & splashes of colour, like the buttons will draw the eye away from imperfect areas.
(This worked quite well for my Daleks.)
Usually, once a build is finished, you don't see the individual blemishes quite so much, but just the overall effect.

I think laminate covering for cupboards is a fantastic idea!
The only drawback, is as you say, a level of precision is needed, which I think will be a bit beyond me!

Stay safe guys!

Regards,

Russell

I've been thinking about getting some plastic for the eyes pre cut off ebay, want me to get enough cut for you too mate?

Wow Russell it looks fantastic! you've done a great job on it all even with this silver metallic basecoat its looking more like the tin dog we all love

Looking good. It would be interesting to see it painted like that after it's been sanded more.

Hi guys.

Thanks for your kind comments.
I'm happy with the shape, but I never manage to get a finish I'm completely happy with.
Eventually I manage to get it to a level where I can live with it.
Spent the day doing more sanding today.
Tomorrow yet another undercoat, then should be ready for a final spray sometime next week.

Thanks for the offer on the plastic, David. That's very kind but I have some bits lying around that I'm going to use for his faceplate, so I should be OK   (So does this mean you are building a K-9 as well as a TARDIS....? Let's see some pics!!!)

Regards,

Russell