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Attempts at 3d modelling TARDISes

A bit of an experiment; I've never actually 3d modelled a proper Metropolitan Police Box* before, so I'd thought I'd give it a go.

I'm also trying out the PerspectivePlotter Addon for Blender, it's very similar to FSpy where, you can try to match the camera perspective of a reference image. Except for this addon, it's built-into Blender when installed. Which makes it a lot easier for me. I wanted to try and 3d model it from using references instead of plans or blueprints, also.

*EDIT: Please correct me if I've got the police box names wrong because whilst searching for reference images for the Metropolitan variants, there
were tons & tons of different police boxes & designs etc.,
1748202162507.pngmetbox image ref.jpeg
 
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MSharif3d said:
A bit of an experiment; I've never actually 3d modelled a proper Metropolitan Police Box* before, so I'd thought I'd give it a go.

I'm also trying out the PerspectivePlotter Addon for Blender, it's very similar to FSpy where, you can try to match the camera perspective of a reference image. Except for this addon, it's built-into Blender when installed. Which makes it a lot easier for me. I wanted to try and 3d model it from using references instead of plans or blueprints, also.

*EDIT: Please correct me if I've got the police box names wrong because whilst searching for reference images for the Metropolitan variants, there
were tons & tons of different police boxes & designs etc.,
View attachment 772228View attachment 772229
Click to expand...
Btw is this a Metropolitan Police Box just for clarify? @Volpone @rassilonsrod @dr hue

I did a reverse image search on Google, and results were telling me that this police box was in Hammersmith, London
 
Concur. That's a fine reference of an actual Met box. And I will mention, don't worry if you see a different Met box and it looks different. First of all, like the shade of blue, the roof "stack" can look radically different, depending on the angle it was photographed from. More importantly, the roof stacks WERE radically different. Too lazy to look it up or see if it's still here, but there used to be an excellent analysis on the different roof configurations, depending on when they were built.
 
Thanks @Volpone for your input! I've managed to make some more progress with the Met Box model, here's what I've done so far. I didn't know this project would be turning out better than I anticipated. So far this has been a combination of reference research and some guess work, for 3d modelling it. There is some parts of the model where it doesn't match the reference view (it's more prominent in the corner posts) but it's the best which I could do.

1748352458682.png1748352490242.png

Here's what the model looks out of the camera view
1748352776768.png
 
"This has been...an absolute joy." A bit of a diversion from my MetBox project but I wanted to make this in tribute to the 15th Doctor.
In the scene where 15 regenerates,
I was heavily inspired by the nebula surrounding both the him & the TARDIS. So I wanted to recreate a similar environment in this project and this is how it's turned out!

'Hope you enjoy!
15thDoctor Regen Nebula Final.png
Software Used & Credits

Blender
Affinity Photo 2
Substance Painter (for the Textures of the TARDIS)
13th-15th TARDIS exterior plans provided by @Aidan_Wilk!non
 
Another year, another TARDIS-even though it's the same one... 😬

I'm currently making textures for the 13th Doctor's TARDIS exterior. From what I could see, from screengrabs & behind the scenes photos, the AWJ box initially had a more 'blue-y' tone, with shades of darker blue and light teal to contrast. (Am I correct as to say this technique is called layering for any IRL TARDIS prop builders out there? @davidnagel @Volpone ).
1767811055625.png

I wanted to recreate that sort of effect, I just messed around with fill layers with dirt generators & varying grunge maps within Substance Painter. Coincidentally, I also recreated the effect where the woodgrain appears slightly lighter (or darker), in colour too, which I think is a neat touch! I want to thank @Aidan_Wilk!non for the feedback for that!

Here's my recreation of said woodgrain effect in Substance Painter (left img), compared to the one seen in the actual prop (right img). It's not going to be 1:1 perfect as I'm making my textures from scratch but, I think it looks close enough.
1767811439016.png1767811957954.png
 
I am honoured you would consider me off the bat for real life box building queries. Errr yes its very possible that its a layering of different paint jobs. Its also possible that its a unique paint itself that gives it a different tone. The single paint I use for the McGann box is different colours in different lights, just like the real boxes on TV, so it only adds to the confusion about colours.

The paint I'm using for my Jodie box does the same but its the only colour going on and it does the same thing, different tones to different lighting and angles.

Paint be confusing on the ole big blue box.
 
Thanks for your answer & no problem at all! Your TARDIS builds are amazing and I'm looking forward to see your Jodie box fully built! 😁

I feel like replicating this sort of paint-effect, from scratch, is even harder virtually! 'Can't imagine what I'll need to do for my updated 11th Doctor (Series 5) TARDIS 3d model 😬
 
lol. I have some experience in theater and art and the techniques to get effects in painting and lighting are so different (and in art painting and scenery painting) that I don't know how much help physical TARDIS painting will have on virtual builds. A bit like reading the Logopolis corridors build thread and how the things that were simple and effective for 1980s BBC set decorators were a huge pain in the butt for a virtual build.

All that said, I will share what I've learned from having an outdoor TARDIS for 10-15 years: First off, you CANNOT go too dark (other than maybe the 2005 TARDIS Eccleston had) on a TARDIS. I thought my first blue would have a nice, dark color, but once it was on and outside I was disappointed that it was too light and too blue (like the early 70s props). Initially, my weathering consisted of watering down black paint and applying it to nooks and crannies with a rag--and then wiping off excess until I thought it looked right--and using something similar to chalk or other solid pigment to highlight edges and corners. Basically the technique you use when painting little lead gaming figures.

Eventually I hit on using premixed "thinset" mortar (like you use to tile floors and walls) to apply texture. And by this point (5-7 years) the TARDIS had acquired a fair share of actual weathering, so I used artificial highlights and shadows less and less. (I still wouldn't mind applying some "dirt" with either shoe polish or wood stain, but that's neither here nor there for this discussion.) I was still trying to find the "right" shade of blue--but was fast realizing how much lighting (which is outside your control on an outdoor box) plays a role in how blue looks on a physical box--and I suspect as I was applying a coat and didn't get perfect coverage (often I'd run out of paint but not need enough to justify getting another can so I'd lay it on very thin) and realized it looked better than my artificial shadows and highlights. These days that's all I do when I paint--I intentionally use a different shade of blue and make little effort to get full coverage. I've been pretty happy with the effect of this. (The only new wrinkle is that the newest can has an almost purple hue to it while the previous coat had a much greener tinge and the effect was very jarring so I had to go through and make sure I had even coverage.

So how does all that apply to doing a virtual TARDIS? Particularly if you're trying to get the effect of a specific screen-used TARDIS? I have no idea. Maybe you can use opacity levels to the layers of color you apply so that different blues can bleed through each other. I have no idea but I hope maybe this sparks some ideas.
 
Volpone said:
So how does all that apply to doing a virtual TARDIS? Particularly if you're trying to get the effect of a specific screen-used TARDIS? I have no idea. Maybe you can use opacity levels to the layers of color you apply so that different blues can bleed through each other. I have no idea but I hope maybe this sparks some ideas.
Click to expand...
That's, in a nutshell, exactly the way I did it for my virtual model of 13th's box! Though it took quite a lot of painstaking hours (with breaks inbetween) to get it where I'm mostly okay with it. Thanks for your input by the way, Volpone!
 
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