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Russell's K-9

Started by russellsuthern, Apr 21, 2020, 03:38 pm

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davidnagel

Quote from: russellsuthern on May 16, 2020, 05:22 pm
(So does this mean you are building a K-9 as well as a TARDIS....? Let's see some pics!!!)



Yes! I'll start a thread...
Regards
David

lazeruslong

I need to preface this by saying I've never built a K9, or any other prop to drag behind me at a convention, so this advice may not be worth the paper it wasn't printed on.

However I think you are going to regret using 4 swivel castors on him. I've built a couple dozen carts for work over the years, about 30% of them needed to turn at both ends. I have never ever seen a 4 swivel cart track in a straight line. I once spent 2 weeks when work was very slow trying to make a fabric cart track straight behind a forklift. We made bridals, tow bars, adjusted cable lengths... everything 4 millwrights and 2 engineers could come up with and the final solution was to have locking pins that the operator could drop in to lock the rear castors.

I've very stubborn and don't give up easily, but I disbelieve there is any way to make 4 swivel castors track straight without stopping the rotation of the earth.
YMMV

Cardinal Hordriss

That gun metal look would be great on Time War K-9s MKI and MKII... assuming they're still around. I'm not hugely familiar with a lot of Big Finish.
I speak to you from the final days of Gallifrey. I am the past you have forgotten. You are the future I will not live to see...

russellsuthern

David:  Goodie, goodie! Look forward to that!

Lazeruslong:  Yes, swivel wheels can be a bit tricky to control, although during the test runs I did he ran fairly straight.
                   Although I was thinking it might be quite good fun to have him veer off at unexpected intervals, so I  could go through a whole "Bad boy! Come back here! Heel!! ... He's so badly trained, you know..." shtick.
I have heard that if you fix the rear wheels so they only go straight & keep the front wheels swiveling, then that helps keep him running straight, so I might try that if he proves to be too unruly...

Cardinal:  Yeah, I don't follow Big Finish at all, but I'm certainly thinking of going with the darker metallic grey as it looks cool, & I am hoping a darker colour will cover more imperfections. (Seems to work with Daleks... :)  ).

Watch this space...


Thanks for your comments, guys.  :)

Russ


redfern

Quote from: russellsuthern on May 18, 2020, 07:23 amLazeruslong:  Yes, swivel wheels can be a bit tricky to control, although during the test runs I did he ran fairly straight.
                   Although I was thinking it might be quite good fun to have him veer off at unexpected intervals, so I  could go through a whole "Bad boy! Come back here! Heel!! ... He's so badly trained, you know..." shtick.


I too thought what could be an annoyance could be played up as a strength with a bit of comedic "improv".

Sincerely,

Bill

russellsuthern

How do?

So, I found some foam insulation tubing.

IMG_20200519_103405.jpg

I have noticed that some people stick with grey, while others prefer black. I like black best, so I gave the tubes a coat of matt black..

IMG_20200519_103414.jpg

I am a bit concerned they might be a bit too thick... Trawling through all the build diaries I did notice that most people went for thinner ones, although one or two had thicker ones that looked ok.
I'll try them on & if they look too thick I'll get some thinner ones. No biggie.

I am using a marker pen with the end pulled off for a gun...

IMG_20200519_103437.jpg

Glued into place. It's not going to move in or out or anything, but I think it looks ok.

IMG_20200519_170035.jpg

So here he is with his final undercoat...

IMG_20200519_170107.jpg

IMG_20200519_170139.jpg

Looks very "invisible enemy",  But I am going to spray him a darker, metallic grey tomorrow.

I think I have found a great way to eliminate scratches & painting imperfections-
Only photograph your build in the shade!! ;D

More soon, hopefully,

Thanks for looking,

Russell

BioDoctor900

Just be careful of the paint on the pipe insulation, you'll find some paint will have a tendency to flake off. Looking forward to seeing him finished

BioDoctor900

russellsuthern

Jul 18, 2020, 02:52 pm #142 Last Edit: Jul 18, 2020, 03:22 pm by russellsuthern
Hey all.

Sooooo glad to be back!
Some of you are aware that I finished my K-9 during the time we were offline, but I still want to do a build diary to document what I did.
So i'n going to do a retrospective build diary & pretend it's real time & you can all play along & join in the fun!

I sprayed K-9 the final colour I wanted:
k91.jpg  k92.jpg

It looks a lot darker in these pics that in reality.
I'll take some more to try to get a more accurate look.

Hope you are all well.

Regards,

Russell

russellsuthern

Hi all.

So here's some more pics that show the colour more accurately:

k93.jpg

k94.jpg

k95.jpg

k96.jpg

k98.jpg

I like the way his head leans to the side a bit.
It gives him a slightly quizzical look I'm definitely going to try to keep.

I have decided the bumpers are too thick.
I went for 2 inch, but I think 1 inch will look better.
Plus, BioDoc was right, the paint I used was flaking off them like mad, so I had to ditch them.

Fortunately they're not too expensive!

Thanks for looking.

Hopefully more tomorrow.

Regards,

Russell



phillbarron

Quote from: russellsuthern on Jul 18, 2020, 02:52 pmHey all.

Sooooo glad to be back!
Some of you are aware that I finished my K-9 during the time we were offline, but I still want to do a build diary to document what I did.
So i'n going to do a retrospective build diary & pretend it's real time & you can all play along & join in the fun!

I sprayed K-9 the final colour I wanted:
k91.jpg  k92.jpg

It looks a lot darker in these pics that in reality.
I'll take some more to try to get a more accurate look.

Hope you are all well.

Regards,

Russell


I can't play along! I've seen what's coming and it's too exciting!

russellsuthern

Phil,

Take some Torchwood "Retcon"  or stick a memory worm in your ear & you'll be fine!!!

Great to be back, isn't it?!


Russ

phillbarron

Quote from: russellsuthern on Jul 18, 2020, 05:33 pmPhil,

Take some Torchwood "Retcon"  or stick a memory worm in your ear & you'll be fine!!!

Great to be back, isn't it?!


Russ

Oh alright, I'll try. 😁

And yes. So happy.

Volpone

You really did a good job on the color.  It's funny, because if you asked someone to come up with the color for K9 just from memory, I bet it would be way off and you wouldn't be able to figure out why it didn't look right.  But if you actually research how K9 looked onscreeen you'd come up with a color you'd be very suspicious of...until you photographed it and would be like "That's perfect." 
"My dear Litefoot, I've got a lantern and a pair of waders, and possibly the most fearsome piece of hand artillery in all England. What could possibly go wrong?"
-The Doctor.

russellsuthern

Thanks Volpone,

Hope you are well.

Colour is a really tricky thing.
Firstly we need to take into account that the Mk 1 prop was a different colour than the MK 2.
(MK 1 was a lighter, mat grey, MK 2 was a darker, more metallic colour.)
And I think the prop as used in K-9 & company was yet another colour.

Secondly, what looks good on screen may not look good in real life & vica versa.
The prop guys would have known what to use to make the prop look good onscreen.

The colour also looks very different in photos when compared to "real life", especially under different light conditions.

I think in the end you have to just go for what you think & hope for the best.

I would prefer mine to be a little lighter, but I can live with it & I am glad I went metallic, which does look good in the sun!

Hopefully some more pics this savvy.

Cheers!

Russell

Volpone

Yup. Although it has a satin finish most of the time on the show, I went with a gloss finish on my A-Team van.  The other day I wanted to make a recording of what the engine and exhaust pipes sounded like.  Then, when I went to watch it I realized I'd made a video of my reflection in the black paint, walking around the van holding a camera.  What looks good in real life can be a real pain in the butt for television.  And the comm badges from Star Trek: TNG are very cheap looking IRL--spray-painted plastic--but they look awesome on television.
"My dear Litefoot, I've got a lantern and a pair of waders, and possibly the most fearsome piece of hand artillery in all England. What could possibly go wrong?"
-The Doctor.