I am currently in the process of creating a http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?action=post;topic=6249.0 (link to build diary), and having modelled it on the computer and about to start printing it. Not my first build, I successfully did the same thing with the http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?action=post;topic=5689.0 , close to a year ago now. Being the glutton for punishment that I am, I decided to embark on a 3rd, just for a change of pace!

I am now a veritable expert on TARDIS interiors! As anyone in here knows, in attempting to model these things, or plan them for construction, you need to research, research, research. If you're lucky, someone or someones on here has/have already done it, and done a fairly thorough job of it. If not, it's hours perusing video and screenshots, measuring and estimating etc, etc...

Having done a couple already now, I can whip together a 3D model in a couple of days. That's largely thanks to the fact that the Beeb re-used everything, or at least built there new props based on old props... mostly! Some things you still have to go searching for, but I will admit it has become a lot easier... or, perhaps I'm just getting lazier, and am not being as picky as I was originally... I digress...  

Suffice to say, here are the first images of the 3D model:



The Mark IV Console. Dimensioning made easy, thanks to Scarfwearer mainly. Although, having modelled the Time Monster console, there wasn't much that really needed to be altered to get it to this level...




Still some work to, but the Room has taken shape quite nicely! I do my best to get them as screen-accurate as possible, but since this will end up being an actual scale model and display surface area tends to be at something of a premium, I use a bit of license in the size. Mainly, it's orienting the walls at certain angles. On-screen, the sets were generally much more open and wide than you might necessarily realise, as they often try and give the impression of a much cozier room. I suspect it's largely to be able to have the room to get the shots; I know they move things around in there between shots for their camera angles! I've looked hard at a lot of footage now, and it's pretty obvious! Can be a real nightmare when you're trying to get things as accurate as you can, but there's no one right way to do it as a result of wandering walls and props! So, I don't feel so bad about taking a bit of license.

In addition to many screenshots taken and working backwards from there, I also took some references from the Brachaki plans, made possible by Tony Farrall (http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=4825.0), who has done incredible work in putting that together. The reason I used them as a reference, is although the size and design of roundels has changed significantly over the course of the show, the positions remains relatively constant ie the centres. Since wall heights either remain unchanged or seem to be scaled, and everything new being built has to fit in with whatever was old, plus it's just EASIER than starting from scratch by using the old as a template, it seemed like a logical thing to do, and appears to have worked! I spent 16 years working in engineering, mostly trying to reverse engineer the thinking behind what we were trying to re-create. Time and Space may change, but people seem to use the same rules of thumb wherever you find yourself...

Also, a big thank you to Hastran, who is my predecessor in modelling this console room (http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=1760.0)! He has some fantastic layouts, and a good eye for detail, and I used some of his designs as my reference material. I actually originally came across his work on Turbosquid, but didn't realise that he had actually started that model here, only when I went looking for reference material!...





... and the view of the Main Door. Most of the detail for this console room I took from Tom Baker stories ie The Leisure Hive through to Logopolis, as the best angles to view the walls and how they join can be seen there, particularly in Logopolis! Sticklers for detail are going to be quick to point out that the main door-wall didn't look like that during the Tom Baker era, and not like that until much later in the Peter Davison era. Again, a bit of license. The main door wall of this version of the console room was pretty basic and ugly during the Baker years.

So, that's the hard bits done. Now for the hard bits...!

D33j, did you ever wonder about those "fluted" columns between the wall sections? those columns were made like that so those "ridges" could be used to reposition the wall panels and slot them in place at whatever angle was needed to fit in other parts of the sets needed for a particular story. That's the main reason why the walls moved from story to story (and sometimes from episode to episode - that Architectural Reconfiguration System not withstanding).

As for the walls themselves, from Season 15 on, the roundels were shallower, more like the way you have then on the main doors wall (same style of roundels as on that wall, only lighted, and not recessed as far as your current other-wall roundels). Other than those suggested alterations to the roundels, you're pretty well within the ball park. With the walls moving position based on need, you don't have to worry about taking any "artistic license" with how you position them; the BBC did it, so you can do it as well.

Dino.

Have finished modelling the Roundels and Main Doors...



... coming together quickly and nicely...




... close up of the roundels. I did a roundel version for my first 3D print where I sort of guesstimated how the profile looked based on scree-grabs and closeups of old props. This time around, I had some help from scarfwearer in his post specifically about roundels (http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=2009.0). Of particular use was the image posted by purpleblancmange of his awesome side-profile sketch! I use Solidworks to create my models, and it allows you to do revolved extrusions of just such a profile! The end result is what you see above...  




... and finally a closeup of the doors.


I only really have the interior door left to model now. Once that's done, it's down to scaling the model for 3D printing...!  

Quote from: galacticprobe on Aug 15, 2015, 05:21 am
D33j, did you ever wonder about those "fluted" columns between the wall sections? those columns were made like that so those "ridges" could be used to reposition the wall panels and slot them in place at whatever angle was needed to fit in other parts of the sets needed for a particular story. That's the main reason why the walls moved from story to story (and sometimes from episode to episode - that Architectural Reconfiguration System not withstanding).

As for the walls themselves, from Season 15 on, the roundels were shallower, more like the way you have then on the main doors wall (same style of roundels as on that wall, only lighted, and not recessed as far as your current other-wall roundels). Other than those suggested alterations to the roundels, you're pretty well within the ball park. With the walls moving position based on need, you don't have to worry about taking any "artistic license" with how you position them; the BBC did it, so you can do it as well.

Dino.

Hey Dino, sorry didn't mean to ignore your comment, I just didn't see it until after I posted!

It didn't occur to me that that was why they were fluted, but I'm not sure it would have. I spent a while staring at those flutes in close-ups to try and get the profiling right, and too be honest, in retrospect they looked a bit flimsy, often enough there were flutes damaged and/or missing. But it makes sense now that you say it! 

And you're right about the shallower roundels too. From "The Invisible Enemy" onwards I believe, they used the same template as was used for the wood-panelled secondary console room, which were much smaller at 19.5" than the original 25" roundels that lasted until then. I had thought that the centre distances would remain the same (27" centres) as it would have made life easier for whomever was designing/building the sets and would normally be SOP in re-engineering, but apparently it's not the case for these; everything I've found out points to roughly around 23" centre distances... at least vertically anyway! It doesn't seem to apply diagonally anymore, instead being (again roughly) 24" horizontally between vertical centres...!

Well, they say variety is the spice of life, and it wouldn't be a challenge if it was TOO easy, would it...?

Thanks for the info Dino! 

Quote from: d33j r093r5 on Aug 15, 2015, 09:29 am
Hey Dino, sorry didn't mean to ignore your comment, I just didn't see it until after I posted!

No problems, d33j, I didn't think you were ignoring me; stuff happens, and I think we all know how that "stuff" gets in the way, especially when excitement levels are high.

Quote from: d33j r093r5 on Aug 15, 2015, 09:29 am
It didn't occur to me that that was why they were fluted, but I'm not sure it would have. I spent a while staring at those flutes in close-ups to try and get the profiling right, and too be honest, in retrospect they looked a bit flimsy, often enough there were flutes damaged and/or missing. But it makes sense now that you say it!  

Yup... that's the "budget of a nickel" for you! But let's face it; back then it all looked pretty much okay when we were watching the episodes, and no one at the time ever imagined that any of those episodes would eventually find their way onto something called a "DVD", where people like us would be wearing out that "PAUSE" button to scrutinize the details of sets and props so we could replicate them in our own homes!

Quote from: d33j r093r5 on Aug 15, 2015, 09:29 am
And you're right about the shallower roundels too. From "The Invisible Enemy" onwards I believe, they used the same template as was used for the wood-panelled secondary console room, which were much smaller at 19.5" than the original 25" roundels that lasted until then.

You believe correctly. They used the same moulds, only they painted those roundels grey rather than "wood" (of sorts), with what looks like some of the recycled wood ones getting a repaint. They also left them plain fiberglass so the light could shine through. In fact, they actually started using those types of roundels at the start of Season 14; as the Doctor and Sarah Jane are walking through the TARDIS corridors in the beginning of "The Masque of Mandragora", those grey roundels are all over the walls. It's not until a few minutes into the story when they stumble into the Secondary Console room that we get to see the "wooden" ones.

Quote from: d33j r093r5 on Aug 15, 2015, 09:29 am
I had thought that the centre distances would remain the same (27" centres) as it would have made life easier for whomever was designing/building the sets and would normally be SOP in re-engineering, but apparently it's not the case for these; everything I've found out points to roughly around 23" centre distances... at least vertically anyway! It doesn't seem to apply diagonally anymore, instead being (again roughly) 24" horizontally between vertical centres...!

Falling back on a quote from Dr. "Bones" McCoy in ST: TMP - "I know engineers; they love to change things!" So, too, it would seem with 'Doctor Who', Classic and New Series.

Quote from: d33j r093r5 on Aug 15, 2015, 09:29 am
Well, they say variety is the spice of life, and it wouldn't be a challenge if it was TOO easy, would it...?

I think that's what they had in mind when designing the 2010 console room!

Quote from: d33j r093r5 on Aug 15, 2015, 09:29 am
Thanks for the info Dino!  

You're welcome, d33j. I know I say this a lot, but it's true; I try to help where I can. And this might help you out with the roundels; it just occurred to me, but there is some serious research and details in this thread that just can't be beat: http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=5122.0.

Dino.

You're right about Masque of Mandragora, I clearly remember the Doctor and Sarah walking corridors and pointing out a huge room:

"It's a boot cupboard."
"Boot cupboard? It's HUGE!"
"I've seen bigger boot cupboards..."

... right before Sarah discovers the secondary control room.

I think I remember that quote from McCoy too... I don't know about movie engineers, but in general engineering circles there is a philosophy of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!"... I suppose it might be different when it comes to the aesthetics of something, where look is more important than function...

I had a quick look at that link, http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=5122.0 , and it looks promising. I noticed that everyone eventually refers back to the same original sketch reference from purpleblancmange as the profile for the roundels though. On this link the profile looks a lot cleaner however. I'm not too worried at this stage, if I ever decide to build a full-scale console room it will become important, but the level of detail you see at 1/13th scale isn't going to matter a hell of a lot, as long as it's close enough. Thanks for the link though! *rubs hands gleefully*, knowledge, knowledge...  

Cheers!

Glad that other thread is helpful. I know there's a lot of referring back to what purpleblancmange said, and no one really contests him since he had probably forgotten more than any of us will know about 'Doctor Who' props and sets. (He's like a walking encyclopedia!) But things really get interesting on Page 5 of that thread because one of our members has a replica roundel cast from the mould used to make the originals.

I can't remember if he actually has the mould, or just the roundel made from it (I'd have to read through the thread to refresh my brain), but he's got some nice images of the contours, and for when you want a full-sized one, measurements out the ying-yang!

Dino.

Ok, had a look...



... Wow! I know how hard reference material is to get on this stuff. That something survived, someone restored it, and that it's now available for the community at large is astonishing!... I'm all inspired to make a full size console room now *sigh* time, money and materials, always comes back to that. So, I'm sure the feeling will pass. Good to know there is stuff on hand when I want to revisit it...! 

Ta Muchly once again Dino... 

Just a quick update; the room is ready! At full scale, in any case. I need to scale it to 1/13 before I can print it, and add fixing points, which is always fun and challenging. Modelling the controls is still something I'm working on; my 2 previous consoles are currently sadly lacking, on one because they are just far too small, on the other because I'm still working out the logistics of it!

In any case, here are some pics:



Nice view showing that the rear door is in...




... better view of the rear door...




... over-head shot better showing the layout.

Will post more soon!

Ok, so, I've been ignoring this project for a little while now. Had another one to finish before I really ramped into this one, and a whole lot of other stuff besides. I was feeling productive, and motivated, so I jumped right in. Or right back in. Or something... I'm here posting anyway, so something happened...  

The point I had left it at was contemplative; which console layout should I use? This console saw more change in a shorter span of time than any other, with panels being swapped, damaged, swapped back, altered, moved around etc etc. I'm useless at making decisions, and so had left it. There may have been arm waving and muttered cursing. Returning to it yesterday, I quickly picked one and decided that would be the one I made, hang it all if it's not 100% accurate:



... this was the layout I decided on.

I've found the quickest and easiest way to design controls is to use images like this as an overlay template on my 3D modelled console. It has to lay flat on each panel, so out come the image and photo editing programs, so I could have separate images for each panel...






... the background is transparent so I can see what I'm doing when I overlay it. Looks better in Solidworks because I'm on a light coloured background. Anyway, having these, I then overlaid them on my console:







I can now sketch the cut-outs for each section relatively easily...




... and then remove the images...





Once I have these sketches I can manipulate things to my hearts content. Being professional software, everything is dimensioned, so I have as much fine control as I want, if I think something needs altering to look or fit better. I'm actually happy with the way this has turned out. I think this will be the easiest console I have done because a) I have lots of experience already with my previous 2 and b) the console bits are all nice and BIG and spread out. And there aren't too many of them...  

In any case, this is how it looks with the sections cut out for the controls:






... and the whole console to date:






That's where I'm at. Next: Console bits and pieces!

D.

Quote from: d33j r093r5 on Oct 22, 2015, 12:37 pm
This console saw more change in a shorter span of time than any other, with panels being swapped, damaged, swapped back, altered, moved around etc etc. ... I quickly picked one and decided that would be the one I made, hang it all if it's not 100% accurate:

Lookd great so far, D. And you've said it yourself; this console, depending on when you look at it, is different 'today' than it was 'yesterday', and possibly how it will look 'tomorrow'. So even the actual console isn't 100% accurate when compared to itself! Therefor, battle on!

Dino.

It feels like a long time ago, but the reality is I last posted 4 days ago. Have got a lot done in that time, not just on this build, which is probably why it feels like longer...

I'm pretty much ready to start printing the next TARDIS. Except I need more filament before I get started. So this will be the last update until I source the right stuff...

For those of you who wonder to what I'm referring when I talk about filament and 3D printing, I think I've covered the ups and downs, ins and outs etc in fair detail in my other posts. For more info, see:

http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=6249.0

and:

http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=5689

So I have essentially modelled all the controls for this console now. One of the nice things about it is that everything is BIG. It means that when scaling down to 1/13th scale, you still have pieces of a reasonable size. Makes it that much easier to model, and to print. And almost everything had nice, simple, uncomplicated shapes, another plus. To quote 5th "Same cause and reason"...

Having said that, there is THIS item   :



... seen here from a couple of different angles, which no one has ANY idea what it is or where to source one. Reference pictures are your best friend when trying to model something, especially from lots of angles, but this little bugger has so many unusual angles, chamfers and radii that modelling it was a real challenge. Hands down, hardest item to model to date. I got SORT of something resembling it...











... but I'm not entirely happy with it. I've since got hold of another photo which shows it rather well, but I'm not certain I'm allowed to share it as it's not my photo/screen-grab. You can see it here though:

http://www.drwholongleat.com/id1.html

Turn your volume right down though, as there is sound and it's rather loud. In any case, having that new shot makes me think I'll go back and alter this piece. When it comes time to print the pieces, there is usually some on-the-fly re-design and re-jigging of pieces in order to make things fit better (or at all), so I'm not overly worried about it at this stage. I'm rather happy with the (current) end result.

Speaking of which...




TA-DAHHHH!    Top View (obviously)





Panel 1





Panel 2





Panel 3





Panel 4





Panel 5





and Panel 6!  


Just to be clear, the numbering I've given them is somewhat arbitrary. For this console configuration their basically in the right places, I just numbered them consecutively as I worked around the console clockwise, with "1" being the first one I worked on. QED.

Fun. Time to find filament...

D.

UPDATE:

Thought I'd better add these images too... just coz... 






Ok. I'm done now.

D.

I'm back, sooner than expected too...

I had another go at those tricky parts that I wasn't happy with:









A lot happier with them now. It's difficult to gauge how well or how badly you've modelled something complex without reference dimensions to begin with, so I rendered it to make it look closer to the originals. I'm happy with the result, certainly a lot happier than I was with the originals.

D.

marvelous work here. Awhile back I tried to get the colour pattern of the Colour stripe on the console just right.
just thought I'd post this here as a reference http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=3034.0

Thanks warmcanofcoke, in my searches for console reference material I came across the strip you posted in that thread a while ago. I ended up not using the colour scheme as I'm working with the colours that I already have and that either print well or I can touch up easily, given how small everything on this console is going to be. But it's a fantastic bit of work nonetheless, and the link is great if anyone else wants to use it...