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3 Dark Eyes Sonic Screwdriver Replicas

Started by the doctor who2, Feb 18, 2020, 10:31 pm

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the doctor who2

20 July 2019

1 of the collars needed a bit of further work as I was unable to procure a larger diameter ASA plastic tubing, instead I used strip length plastic, plasti-welding it onto the tubing and wrapping it around to make the thicker rim detail as you can see below. Unfortunately the join was not as tidy as I wanted so I used Milliput filler to fill in any imperfections.

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Here are all the various size tubing which will make the main body for 1 of the 3 Sonics, these include all of the extra detailing collars and rings. As you can see some still required a lot of work to make smooth.

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21 July 2019

Time to finish off some untidy rings with a lot of fine sanding, the electric drill and attachment came in very handy to quickly sand the collar smooth and removing any access plastic or Milliput.

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"There's no point being GROWN UP if you can't be CHILDISH sometimes!"

The Fourth Doctor - Robot, S12 E01

the doctor who2

11 August 2019

In preparation for staining I cut down all the wood to the correct sizes, I made a spare set just in case something happened to a set during staining. Every wooden strip was sanded with very fine grade sandpaper and the chamfer was added to all sides mimicking the detail from the original Sonic prop. All the holes were also drilled and countersunk again thinking ahead to ensure all elements that needed completely staining were ready.

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"There's no point being GROWN UP if you can't be CHILDISH sometimes!"

The Fourth Doctor - Robot, S12 E01

the doctor who2

18 August 2019

The next challenge I decided to look at next was the clear omitter which would be mounted to the top of the Sonic. This was always going to be an interesting and potentially difficult challenge as I knew creating a moulding and casting the piece may not work as I don't have any kind of vacuum chamber which would remove any of the bubbles. Also purchasing clear cast resin was very expensive. Instead I worked with an inch thick piece of clear acrylic rod, this was sanded roughly into shape. Once I was happy with the initial shaping I started adding further detailing and finer sanding. This process initially took a couple of hours as I used a rotary tool with a small sanding drum. I would later purchase a belt sander which would vastly sped up the process. Even though it would take a long time I did come out with a stunning proto-type for the omitter.

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"There's no point being GROWN UP if you can't be CHILDISH sometimes!"

The Fourth Doctor - Robot, S12 E01

Davros Skaro

Nice job with the emitter end, it's looking really great, keep up the good work.
Chris.

the doctor who2

Quote from: Davros Skaro on Sep 20, 2020, 12:22 amNice job with the emitter end, it's looking really great, keep up the good work.
Thank you! It took a lot of work but i was so proud of how it turned out.
"There's no point being GROWN UP if you can't be CHILDISH sometimes!"

The Fourth Doctor - Robot, S12 E01

the doctor who2

Sep 20, 2020, 11:46 am #20 Last Edit: Sep 20, 2020, 11:49 am by the doctor who2
2 September 2019


The next job was to start assembling the larger pieces together including making the metal ring or hook that's attached to the main lower body.

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8 September 2019

To ensure all the pieces had a clean snug fit they were all sanded by hand, the base pieces needed a cover which was the same size as some foam pads I had lying around. I covered the foam with some 0.5mm plastic sheet and filled in the base.

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Here is a progression shot of the main rings and collar pieces with a selection of rings and collars attached to the main body.

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Finer detail has been added including all the main rings and the metal components at the base, any drill hole details and pilot holes for the screws, nuts and bolt details which would come later.

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"There's no point being GROWN UP if you can't be CHILDISH sometimes!"

The Fourth Doctor - Robot, S12 E01

Volpone

It's amazing, how cool you can make seemingly boring raw materials look. 
"My dear Litefoot, I've got a lantern and a pair of waders, and possibly the most fearsome piece of hand artillery in all England. What could possibly go wrong?"
-The Doctor.

russellsuthern

Enjoying your work & process.

Particularly loving the crystal emitter!

Can't wait to see this come together.


Russell

the doctor who2

Quote from: Volpone on Sep 21, 2020, 02:46 amIt's amazing, how cool you can make seemingly boring raw materials look. 

Thank you! I tried to make the photos informative and interesting, its starting to get cooler now things are being put together.

Quote from: russellsuthern on Sep 21, 2020, 07:28 amEnjoying your work & process.

Particularly loving the crystal emitter!

Can't wait to see this come together.


Russell

Thanks! there is a lot more still to come. You'll get to see more of the crystal soon as I had another 2 to make!
"There's no point being GROWN UP if you can't be CHILDISH sometimes!"

The Fourth Doctor - Robot, S12 E01

the doctor who2

Sep 21, 2020, 06:11 pm #24 Last Edit: Sep 21, 2020, 06:17 pm by the doctor who2
15 September 2019

After I'd completed all the elements on the main body, something sprung to mind. With the release of the B&M War Doctor, 5th Doctor, 10th and 11th Doctor Sonics I could potentially add working lights and sounds. This was something I had decided against at the time as purchasing these can be quite expensive, and second hand ones may not work. But with B&M re-releasing them this meant they were a reasonable price.
After a trip to B&M I purchased 5 10th Doctor Sonics seeing as they are the correct blue colour. I soon ripped apart the plastic coverings for the electrical components which would include the battery pack, LED light and the Sound chip and speaker. This did also mean I had to cut open the perfectly finished body of each of the Sonics.

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24 September 2019

What I thought would potentially be a fairly easy job...well it wasn't. 4 days of soldering, rewiring and stress to get all 3 Sonics lit and working. What was made difficult was the size of the components and the thickness of the cable, let's just say they weren't made to be repurposed. Using my own Sonic as the proto-type I stuck all the vital components into the body of the Sonic only to find the cable had detached, nightmare! This would take me at least a day to fix, even then there were times it would work and then not work. But once all the elements were stuck and forced into place it seemed to remain working. After a while though I was successful with 3 working lit and sounding Sonics.
In hindsight I would have done this very differently if I'd originally planned to install electronics. Maybe something I will look at if I make more.

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"There's no point being GROWN UP if you can't be CHILDISH sometimes!"

The Fourth Doctor - Robot, S12 E01

No More

What B&M re-releases of sonics?

I may have missed this with the revamp of the site, but I'd not noticed anyone mention this on the "Props from the Shops" pages.

(Sorry for what's now an off-topic question.)

the doctor who2

Quote from: No More on Sep 22, 2020, 01:10 pmWhat B&M re-releases of sonics?

I may have missed this with the revamp of the site, but I'd not noticed anyone mention this on the "Props from the Shops" pages.

(Sorry for what's now an off-topic question.)

This time last year the B&M re-released a load of Sonics, it was probably mentioned back around September 2019. Apologies for the confusion I'm having to back date my old build diary that I did from last year, it was a secret for a long time so couldn't do it as I was building!
"There's no point being GROWN UP if you can't be CHILDISH sometimes!"

The Fourth Doctor - Robot, S12 E01

the doctor who2

1 October 2019

After installing the button, the lights, speaker and battery pack I sealed all the Sonics back up. Unfortunately if the light does fail these cannot be replaced, as they had to be hot glued into place to avoid any movement in the fragile circuitry. With this in mind I was still happy enough to at least have a light and sound chip that worked.

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I couldn't help myself but see how this looked with my proto-type omitter.

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"There's no point being GROWN UP if you can't be CHILDISH sometimes!"

The Fourth Doctor - Robot, S12 E01

No More

Quote from: the doctor who2 on Sep 22, 2020, 04:39 pmThis time last year the B&M re-released a load of Sonics, it was probably mentioned back around September 2019. Apologies for the confusion I'm having to back date my old build diary that I did from last year, it was a secret for a long time so couldn't do it as I was building!

Ah yes, I'm forgetting you're working through a temporal displacement on this build.

the doctor who2

4 October 2019


To clean up all the bare edges all the seams and the gaps between the switch and the body were all Milliputted and sanded to a fine smooth finish, it was like it was never cut up.

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7 October 2019


The next detail needed was the supports that would hold the wooden slats. These were made from small ASA Plastic tubing, carefully measured and glued into place.

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"There's no point being GROWN UP if you can't be CHILDISH sometimes!"

The Fourth Doctor - Robot, S12 E01