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It's About Time I Made a Box

Started by tinkering_timelord, Mar 21, 2019, 12:44 am

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tinkering_timelord

I've put this off for as long as I can, but now it's time for the part I've been dreading...

The roof.

Should I make it out of wood? Cast it in fiberglass? How can I optimize it to be both lightweight and strong? These are the questions I have not yet found the answers to. I'll probably spend the next few days poring over various TARDIS builds looking for solutions, but I also wanted to ask you lovely folks if you have any suggestions, or links to previous builds with some tips and tricks. Also any advice for things I should definitely NOT do?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!  ;D

Volpone

Since you asked, I'd say wood with a fiberglass overlay.  My first roof was basic tar paper, stapled and glued on and then painted.  It got the job done for a long time, but fiberglass is a lot simpler and more convenient that you'd think.  Just get fiber cloth instead of non-oriented strand, lay it out, mix the resin and hardener, and slap the bugger on.  It's easier than you'd think.   
"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

If you can fibreglass, then fibreglass.

If you can't fibreglass, then you can try what I did on a plywood roof:

1)  Cuprinol wood protect stain.
2) Undercoat.
3) Bitumen roof protect.
4) Exterior gloss (2 coats.)

Other things to remember are: make sure you seal any gaps in the wood first.
Flexible sealer is best as it should move with the wood as it expands & contracts with the weather.
Make sure the roof has a good slope on it.

Regular check ups to keep everything in order & prevent major problems occurring.

Finally, don't forget the base. Everyone worries about the roof, but in many cases it's the base that starts rotting first...

Hope that all helps.

Russell



tinkering_timelord

First the good news: The signs came in this week!

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The bad news is that they are all completely opaque, and so impossible to backlight. But since they were free I suppose I should have expected something like this to happen. I've ordered some translucent acrylic and plan on getting the stickers reprinted on that. I couldn't resist putting in the new signs anyways to see how they looked.

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I also started painting the inside of the box, but ran out of paint very quickly. I'll have to pick up some more next week.

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And here's a pic with an instagram filter thrown on so it looks closer to the right shade of blue.

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Volpone

I should remember this thread for the "what color of blue should I use" posts.  Because it illustrates the challenges of blue so well.  Half the photos are a perfect TARDIS blue and half the photos it looks almost toothpaste green.   Blue changes so much, depending on the lighting. 
"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.

tinkering_timelord

I had to disassemble the TARDIS today to trim down the corner posts (which were 1/2 inch to tall for some reason) so I thought I'd do a little test.


tinkering_timelord

And here's a time lapse of the actual assembly.


Volpone

Nice, fun, and very well done video.  And garage/workshop porn.  I always like seeing other garages and workshops.  Yours is very cluttered, but there's a definite organization and you've managed to make the most of the space and then some. Well done. 
"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.

tinkering_timelord

Starting in earnest on the roof, finally. I cut out all the pieces I need and have started gluing stuff together. It's extra tricky because the roof isn't going to be totally square, but I think I have the right measurements for it to fit properly on top of the rest of the box. Either way I'll need lots of woods putty, and probably bondo to get it looking nice and neat. Here's what I got so far.

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tinkering_timelord

Today was... interesting. The forecast said that it was supposed to be 76 degrees (Fahrenheit), with the weather otherwise being very chilly every other day this week. Realizing that it might be the last warm day of the year, I quickly pivoted from working on the roof to prep for painting. So of course, weather being what it is, the high dropped from 76, to 50, with the lows being cold enough for snow. Not ideal, but I did manage to get in a few hours of painting, and I'm pretty pleased with the results.

Here's the box with the lovely "toothpaste green" that everyone loves so much:
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And here it is a few hours later with the added wash of black paint:
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I tried to get the black paint into all the cracks and crevices of the wood grain, and wiped off the excess on the more prominent surfaces to create that weathered look. A definite improvement!



tinkering_timelord

Added a wash of the cobalt blue and black paint to half the box, I'll finish the other half after work tomorrow. Also gluing together all the pieces of the roof together.

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Angelus Lupus

Adding the extra blue into the wash suddenly changes it from looking like it's been dirtied down, to looking like it has years of ageing and subtle colour changes due to weathering!
A mixed-up non-conformist, trying to fit in.

russellsuthern

Box is looking great.
Shame you couldn't get the pics upright, tho' - I'm viewing this thread lying on my side!!!

Cheers,

Russell


tinkering_timelord

Quote from: russellsuthern on Oct 25, 2020, 04:13 pmBox is looking great.
Shame you couldn't get the pics upright, tho' - I'm viewing this thread lying on my side!!!

Cheers,

Russell



Are they sideways? They look okay for me. Is there a way to fix them?

russellsuthern

Hi,

All your pics are coming out landscape, which means the ones that should be portrait (upright) are lying on their side.
I think this is a feature of pictures taken using a phone or ipad.

(Maybe all your pics look ok when you're looking at them because you're viewing them on an ipad?)

I always download my pics onto a computer, then rotate the ones I need to, then resize them before uploading them onto the site.

It's a bit of a faff, if amyone knows a faster way of doing it, I'd be grateful!

Hope that helps,

Russell