So I'm going to help a friend build her TARDIS in the spring. My idea is to help someone with theirs then I'll know all the pitfalls when building my own.... haha sucker! (Shelby if you read this know that I am kidding!!)

Anyways I always liked the Cushing TARDIS use of a real St. Johns Ambulance shield with the full title. So if you recall I built the model of it in 3D and sent it off to Shapeways to be 3D printed.


**Note: Sadly 4D printing where the model arrives before you even start designing it is not an option

Here is the printed version. Notice the blue blemish that showed up when being printed.


After giving the shield a few coats of spray-paint to help seal the model up I used modelling clay to secure it to the bottom of an old ice cream pail that I cut up.


Using rice to figure out the volume of silicon rubber to mix up.


Before mixing up the silicone rubber I used isopropyl alcohol and soap to coat the model to help with 'release' from the silicone. Interesting smell that mixture. Now waiting for the headache to go away


After coating. Let it air dry


Mixing up the silicone rubber to the desired ammount. With this particular brand I have 45 minutes work time. Usually it's like 10-15 if you're luck


Pouring the silicone rubber into the mold cavity.  Remember to pour slowly in a thin stream into the lowest spot. The silicone will spread out from there. This helps reduce air bubbles.


all done. Now to wait 24 hours. The box says 90 minutes..  but I am not in any hurry.

I hope the mould turns out okay. One thing, though; it looks like you've got a variation on a real Met Box St. John logo. The Cushing box had only a small "dot" at the bottom, with no crosses around it:

(This is the best image of the Cushing box I could find. I'll be including it in the Table I'm working on.)

It's difficult to tell, so it could go either way, and once cast, it would be easy to sand away the cross pieces if you only wanted the dot. This way actually gives you more options. But that 3-D printing looks amazing! (Now, if when you make one from casting it, if you could fill in the recessed areas with white enamel, and then paint on the black part, you'd have one smurfy logo!)

Dino.

Ah yes, the Cushing sign.

I did those captures many years ago from the Region 1 DVD's. They were very small parts of the frame, so about the best one could get off of DVD quality. Here are the others --





These three shots (including the one posted by galacticprobe) were about all that was useable of what I could find in both films, but you can see in the last one that it is definitely a dot rather than the ornate cross.

Since then, I also found this from a lobby card (only the sample version, unfortunately, as the price they wanted for the actual card was a bit steep) --



A blowup --



Brilliant idea, though, rob49152. If memory serves, the original of what you used as a basis was done by galacticprobe from images posted by ironageman and scarfwearer (if not, then my apologies to whoever did do it) as his idealization of the Cushing sign based on a combination of the info we had at the time, ideas brought up in the thread, and personal preferences/aesthetics. The result did take a few liberties compared to the original, but as you can see the effect was marvelous.

Even then, however, I knew it was technically a bit inaccurate to the film, and since then some photos have cropped up that cast a tremendous amount of light on the issue. The images were from another one of our members (my apologies for not remembering who it was) of the sign on the door of one of the two Mark 5 boxes (what we formerly called Mark 3's) that were being refurbished for resale a few years ago.

Here's a cropped image of that sign --



In examining and comparing the many details, I am almost certain that this is the same type of sign that was used on the Cushing Box.

Even what at first look to be differences turn out not to be. If you look carefully at the Cushing sign captures, what looks to be an outside line is actually very probably only a compression artifact - on close examination it really looks like it indeed had a white edge just like the above 2-hole Mark 5 sign. Very few St. John seals had that detail, even when made into a plaque.

Most telling, though, is that in my experience the spacing of the letters (to say nothing of their shapes) and the interplay between them and the central cross are very much like a fingerprint, and when you compare this Mark 5 sign to the one on the Cushing box they are virtually identical - the points of the cross point to the same spots on the letters and the letters look to be the same shape and proportion. With all the variables in typography and graphic layout when the masters are made, the likelihood of this occurring in two signs of different manufacture is astronomical - as borne out when you do comparisons between the St. John seals from various periods and sources.

Also, since the Mark 5 boxes date from the mid 50s to early 60s and the 2-hole sign used on the Cushing box was evidently also an off the shelf sign from St. John, they are almost certainly contemporaneous (noting that the earlier 4-hole signs used on the Mark 1 through Mark 4 Met Boxes were quite a bit different).

Likewise, the size, shape and spacing of the animals is quite consistent with this being the same type/vintage of St. John sign (it's hard to tell for an absolute certainty only due to the blurry nature of the original Cushing captures).  

All that said, as you can see the originals were not really quite as pleasing as the version you used, which is really a combination of the Cushing sign, the seals used in St. John Ambulance's "First Aid to the Injured" books in the 1930s (particularly the bottom cross), and the more heraldic looking animals used in their logos from the late 1960s onward. In fact, I think in the long run you might be better off with the version you are using, unless you want to be 100% accurate to the Cushing prop.

As Dino said, the look of your 3D print is indeed, quite amazing!  

Yes, I did make a variation of the Cushing badge. I wanted the better detail lion and unicorn and the cross thing at the bottom. The whole design started with 'my own variation' thread which was me taking the parts I liked from all the box designs over the years and real boxes.
http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=4168.0

When I get around to casting it I am going to be using Black Onyx resin with  aluminum powder added. Afterwards buffing with steel wool. This should produce a look very much like the steel appearance of the new series cybermen. Then painted black and white. I think that over time the paint will chip off in areas and look rather nice and weather beaten.

Ah yes, my apologies. The one I was thinking of is here -- http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=806.msg11015#msg11015.

That one was, as I thought, done by galacticprobe and is indeed very similar in concept and execution to yours, but on looking at it again there are some notable differences. Thanks for the link and clarification - very nice work, btw.

EDIT: The link to the other version doesn't work correctly as it's an old thread (should go directly to the referenced posting, but dumps out on page 2 instead). The posting is actually on page 8 of that thread, about 2/3 of the way down - reply #115.

Ah yes. Thats the one I started off using as the 'base' shield. I changed the square in the ST to a dot. Went with more rounded letters for O and C. More Symmetrical S's and a thicker inner line.

Looks like you reduced the size of the animals to be more Cushing like as well.

I used the Matt Smith size lion and unicorn from Galacticprobes message in the thread listed above. I wanted to make them bigger but then they seemed TOO big.

The post hb is referring to should be this one here: http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=806.105.msg11015#msg11015 (yes; this link looks the same, but a little jiggery-pokery with a few numbers in the link's URL and now it will send you to the correct post).

Those were indeed early days, and tweaks were made... and made... and made... (and are still being made at the moment). So the "Cushing" logo in the linked post is not the current one I've been working on. I'm getting closer to getting all of these things finished so I can get a JPG/PDF Table for the St. John logo like we have for the Phone Panel and Top Signs. The Table project is taking far longer than I'd anticipated, so apologies for that.

As for the black outlining around the edge of the logo...

...if you look closely around the edge of the one in the above image (yellow arrows), you can see what looks like remnants of black paint. Also, that silver band around the white part is too uniform for it to have had no black border on it (rust marks aside). I'm guessing that while this box was being renovated, they didn't remove the St. John plate (if they had, one would think they'd have replaced it with new screws rather than the old rusty ones); they just worked around it, and it resulted in the black border being scraped/sanded off of the plate (and some scuff marks on the white, especially at the bottom from the "N" to the dot).

So there probably was a black border on these plates when they were made. As for the lettering - that is my nightmare! It's one of the things taking so long to get right (or as fracking close as I can possibly get!). Some of the letters look like "Keep Calm" font; others like "Arial"; others I can't find a match for and am having to trace them - at times - pixel by pixel. (Incidentally, I'm trying to use this image here for that, and having it at an off-center angle isn't helping.) So I've still got some work to do on these, and then convert them to 300dpi JPGs and PDFs, and hopefully have them set at the correct diameters for their versions (more on the diameters when the Table is posted).

Also, for that Table - as with the other ones - I'm trying to get the best images of the ones on the actual props that I can find for the Table's Reference column. (I'll use this one for a start - for Met Boxes - yes, I'm doing versions for them as well: not leaving out our Met Box builders.) I've got decent ones that people have sent me for the Hartnell, all Smith and the Capaldi Series 8 versions. The only Cushing version I've got is the one I posted, and I think I got that one from hb. So if anyone had a better image of the Cushing logo, or a nice image of the one above with the cross at the bottom (like the one Rob made), please PM me. This way I can make arrangements to get a copy from you for insertion into the Table.

Again, sorry that Table project is taking me so long to finish, and I have no doubts that even when I'm done someone with better eyes than mine will notice something that needs tweaking, and I'll be making revisions to my revisions. (I am striving for as accurate as practicable for our members' builds, and I think a little touch of OCD is creeping in as I tweak these logos! ) Hopefully soon, and the Table will be posted with links to the high-res JPGs and PDFs. Then it should be easy for anyone to download the version they prefer and have one printed out.

I've had to "Frankenstein" a couple of the logos to get the animals right, but beyond that, if anyone wants to "Frankenstein" a logo (like Rob did ), well, you'll have to let me know what you want and I'll try to get it done. Otherwise, I would leave that up to you (helps to avoid lots of back and forth exchanges, many tweaks, and wear and tear on my stanky old wizzard eyes).

Dino.

So This is how the mold turned out. Not bad. Just a bit of cleanup needed around the edges.


Now to test out the casting.


I've brushed on aluminum powder. This stuff is EVIL!!! It gets everywhere and my hands look like the tin-woodsman.  Didn't the actor die from that stuff??


Mixing up the resin 1:1  with the powder added. Turns out adding it to the black liquid first works better. I have to work fast with this stuff. It sets in 4-5 minutes. NOT a lot of time. 11th Doctor was sooo wrong.


Now to wait overnight to see how it sets.

I do not know if this will help you Dino, it's my version converted to Ai and EPS. It will need a little cleanup.
http://www.interocitor-media.com/_st_johns.zip

Thanks for the ZIP, Rob! That will certainly help me with those accursed animals! (Though, on the Series 6-7a version, those animals are really bad: not sharp at all, like the guy painting them didn't want to be bothered. So to make that one as accurate as possible I'm leaving those animals as they were. But for the other versions that ZIP is a Godsend! Thank you!)

And your mould looks great. Good luck with the casting. And yes, that aluminum powder is nasty. You are half right about that tin-woodsman (from "The Wizard of Oz"). Back in 1933 when they started work on the film, they used that powder to turn actor Buddy Epsen (the Tin Man) silver. He did have a reaction to the powder and was rushed to hospital. He almost died, and his recovery time meant that the production team had to replace him with another actor (I can't remember his name at the moment). But they also replaced the powder with a silver paste make-up. Buddy Epsen would go on to have a fantastic film and TV career, starring and guest-starring in many TV westerns, at least one film with the late Shirley Temple, and he would eventually play the famous roles of Jed Clampet in the TV series 'The Beverly Hillbillies', and Barnaby Jones in the TV series of the same name. (In his late years, he reprised his role of Barnaby Jones in a cameo in the film "The Beverly Hillbillies" which starred Jim Varney - famous for his character of Ernest P Worrall - as Jed Clampet.)

Epsen was a Coastie like me (he was an officer, lieutenant) during WWII. He passed away at 95 in 2003, long outliving the entire main cast of "Oz". (But back to your comment that started me on this - do wear one of those dust masks when working with that aluminum powder stuff. Epsen had that reaction that almost killed him because he inhaled some of it, and you do not want that happening to you! I don't think any of us wants that either!)

Dino.

Quote from: galacticprobe on Feb 18, 2015, 05:59 am
As for the black outlining around the edge of the logo...
(snip)
...if you look closely around the edge of the one in the above image (yellow arrows), you can see what looks like remnants of black paint. Also, that silver band around the white part is too uniform for it to have had no black border on it (rust marks aside). I'm guessing that while this box was being renovated, they didn't remove the St. John plate (if they had, one would think they'd have replaced it with new screws rather than the old rusty ones); they just worked around it, and it resulted in the black border being scraped/sanded off of the plate (and some scuff marks on the white, especially at the bottom from the "N" to the dot).

So there probably was a black border on these plates when they were made.
(snip)
Dino.

Dino - take a look at a couple of blowups --



See what looks like curled edges around the darker bits? Always seemed more like the white paint had been chipped down to metal to me rather than it being remnants of black paint.

Also, if memory serves (it has been awhile), when you look at the relevant clips in the Cushing films in motion the reflections and lighting give a very strong impression there was no black at the outer edges. I remember being surprised by this and more than a bit in disbelief, only for it to seemingly be confirmed when the photo of this sign showed up.

I see where you're coming from, hb, but it's still hard to tell. It would be great if someone could find a picture of one of these plates before it had some sort of abrasive taken to it. As for the one on the Cushing box, well, those images aren't the best because they never really gave us a good shot of the logo (like they have on the other boxes), and the enlargements are pixelated. Also, the images are dark (where the TARDIS door meets with the logo) and if you try lightening the image you get so much flare from the white parts that it obscures some of the black lettering, as well as that thin black ring between the lettering and the center black disc. So using that to try and tell if the Cushing box logo had a thin black border around the outer edge doesn't work all that well. (I'd love to get some inside info on that box's logo as well.)

Dino.

I must admit from the other reference material I always thought the badge had a black outline and it looks more like worn black paint to me. But each to their own!

Edit - Just checked a couple of ref images I have on my HDD saved from this site (The Chiswick High Road box?) and there is definitely a black outline to the sign.

Regardless, cracking work Rob!