Hello all! This topic is going to be documenting a very exciting project, but first I'll explain some backstory.

I currently work for a prop making company called "Little Shop Props" (LSP), there's a team of five of us and we make and sell a variety of replica props. But as we're all huge Doctor Who fans there are some side projects that sometimes catch our attention. One of the directors of LSP, Dan, has always wanted his very own full size K9 so when I casually mentioned at a comic-con that I had the space to build and paint a K9 the wheels immediately started turning. Of course, we all also wanted a K9 for ourselves, so this build diary will be documenting the building of not one, not two, but FIVE full size K9's. Some of these will be fully motorised with remote control, and others will be a static display piece. We will specifically recreating the clean version of K9 from "school reunion".

[Note, at present there is no plan to sell K9 replicas]

Dan has spent a lot of time staring at photos and produced a wonderfully accurate 3D model, from which plans can be made to create all the pieces. This 3D model took a lot of time to make and will allow our K9 to be as accurate as we can possibly make it.

A few of us are all working on our own little bits, with Dan and James currently taking charge of the details such as the ears, tail and collar. We've sourced a rubber part for the tail, and the aluminium tails will be turned on a lathe at some point to get the telescopic look. The name tags have also come in, and are made from aluminium.

Sourcing fabric for the collar was quite difficult, as it's quite a specific pattern, but we've managed to get a fabric custom printed, and it looks amazing!



I've been tasked with making the larger bits, starting with the main body of K9. As we're making multiples, we are going to build a master body out of MDF, then take moulds from that and create fibreglass castings. Having recently completed my own personal build of a full-size Dalek I have what I think is enough MDF left over to build a master part for the body, the main parts of the body are made from 6mm MDF, simply because that's what I had available. Here are some photos showing a quick dry assembly of all the pieces I managed to get cut out today, I'm surprised how quickly this is coming together.

V excited to see these puppies grow!
Five K9's is extremely exciting!
I do love a good K9, me!

Keep up the good work and post lots of updates!
😁

Russell

These builds always torture me.  When I built my A-Team van, I used a "brushed steel" countertop laminate for the interior cabinetry and I can't help but think what it would look like on a K-9. 

Custom printed plaid fabric?  Next up:  Tom Baker vests! 

You can already get custom printed Tom Baker waistcoats, Volpone... But they do cost quite a bit...
But to drag us back on topic, that custom printed tartan looks great.
Very authentic.
Much better than my bodge job!
I just chopped up an old tartan scarf I found in a charity shop!

I think your dog collar is going to look fab.

Russell

These are going to be very cool, and the team is very excited to see where they go. Who doesn't love the Doctors iconic robot companion!

That fabric is pretty much spot on, it's amazing. It'll look even cooler when it's turned into a collar.

This weekend I managed to get all the pieces cut for the body, and have started gluing them together, it's really starting to take shape. Im having to do the glue up in multiple parts to ensure everything can be clamped in place as the glue dries.

We've also made some progress on the ears, and have located a usable mesh. Photos of that to come later.

Over the past few days I've been getting the body for K9 assembled, gluing the "roof" on involved a lot of tape to hold the fibreboard to the curved shape, and I was worried that it wouldn't stay in place, but it all looks good! Once the glue was all dry I started flushing everything up, and gave the whole thing a coat of primer. I find that MDF generally needs a coat of primer before the final sanding to stiffen up the fibres. Iv'e also started to use some car body filler on the seams and the next stage will be to sand that down.

Looking good.

Is yours the group run by James Sutton?

On Etsy all you sell are Doctor Who replicas so what else do you do?