ConnieTheDeluded
New member
Firstly I'd like to give a huge shout out to Vyacheslav Talanov, and their plans entitled "Season_5_TARDIS_Plans_v4". These plans were the spark I needed to make my own Tardis after many years of dreaming.
My design stage began on the 7th February 2026, by making a 3D shell using the above plans, after many iterations I eventually locked in a final design on 20th of April. I took ideas from other builds and these helped me made some key design decisions.
Firstly, my Tardis will be collapsible, becoming 16 pieces in total; the base, 4 pillars, 3 wall panels, 2 doors, 4 lintels, the top pyramid section and finally the lantern. I hope this will make transport more practical.
Secondly, I have designed my Tardis to have as few parts as possible while still meeting all my requirements for looks and functionality. The part count stands at 286 in total (-screws).
177 (62%) parts will be cut out of plywood using a CNC machine, reducing the workload.
84 (29%) parts will be engineered by myself, and
30 (9%) will be bought off the shelf
By making efficiencies and removing any redundant parts I was able to reduce the count by approximately 19% in total.
Thirdly, its mobile! 4 heavy duty castors on each corner of the base will provide 6cm of clearance. The castors are retractable with foot operated pedals inside, which I'll cover in a later post. Sadly i made the difficult descision to remove the castors (for now) see Update 4 for more details.
Thirdly, I have allowed for bulb and lantern access from within the Tardis, the bulb will be mounted on a platform that pivots 90 degrees allowing easy access for changing the bulb. I need to consider how to attach the lantern easily and safely, I want to avoid resting a ladder on the old girl, and I'd rather minimise leaning over the Tardis. In a dream world, one of the roof panels would swing up allowing internal access closer to the platform it rests on.
The CNC items all fit snuggly inside 7 sheets of marine plywood, 3 sheets of 18mm and 4 sheets of 12mm.
Like all Tardis Builders, I am working to a strict budget, my initial aim was to keep costs below £1,000, and I’m glad to say I’m on track. So far the cost of the build stands just above £780, which includes all the materials I require, thanks to my efficiencies and discounts I was able to secure. This leaves roughly £200 for CNC machining costs (fingers crossed).
The final design does slighlty deviate from the Talanov plans, most noticeably the lantern, which is slightly too large, but I can’t argue with £30. The diameter of my lanterns base is 220mm and the lense itself is 7"h x 9"dia.
As for paint, after much deliberation and many scrutinised screenshots, I am going with a 2.5L tin of Valspar Garden Exterior Wood Paint in RAL 280 30 30.
My design stage began on the 7th February 2026, by making a 3D shell using the above plans, after many iterations I eventually locked in a final design on 20th of April. I took ideas from other builds and these helped me made some key design decisions.
Firstly, my Tardis will be collapsible, becoming 16 pieces in total; the base, 4 pillars, 3 wall panels, 2 doors, 4 lintels, the top pyramid section and finally the lantern. I hope this will make transport more practical.
Secondly, I have designed my Tardis to have as few parts as possible while still meeting all my requirements for looks and functionality. The part count stands at 286 in total (-screws).
177 (62%) parts will be cut out of plywood using a CNC machine, reducing the workload.
84 (29%) parts will be engineered by myself, and
30 (9%) will be bought off the shelf
By making efficiencies and removing any redundant parts I was able to reduce the count by approximately 19% in total.
Thirdly, I have allowed for bulb and lantern access from within the Tardis, the bulb will be mounted on a platform that pivots 90 degrees allowing easy access for changing the bulb. I need to consider how to attach the lantern easily and safely, I want to avoid resting a ladder on the old girl, and I'd rather minimise leaning over the Tardis. In a dream world, one of the roof panels would swing up allowing internal access closer to the platform it rests on.
The CNC items all fit snuggly inside 7 sheets of marine plywood, 3 sheets of 18mm and 4 sheets of 12mm.
Like all Tardis Builders, I am working to a strict budget, my initial aim was to keep costs below £1,000, and I’m glad to say I’m on track. So far the cost of the build stands just above £780, which includes all the materials I require, thanks to my efficiencies and discounts I was able to secure. This leaves roughly £200 for CNC machining costs (fingers crossed).
The final design does slighlty deviate from the Talanov plans, most noticeably the lantern, which is slightly too large, but I can’t argue with £30. The diameter of my lanterns base is 220mm and the lense itself is 7"h x 9"dia.
As for paint, after much deliberation and many scrutinised screenshots, I am going with a 2.5L tin of Valspar Garden Exterior Wood Paint in RAL 280 30 30.
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