TRANSMAT2020's Kenneth Sharp Console

[TRANSMAT2020]

Hi there,

I thought I'd start to post a few photos of my new build of a 1971 Kenneth Sharp console.  This has always been my favourite of all the consoles!

I used the superb plans by Tony Farrell and everything seems to be fitting together beautifully!  Thanks, Tony for the amazing amount of research you put into this!  After the first few weeks of measuring, marking and cutting, I could begin to turn my 4 sheets of 8' x 4' MDF into something more tangible!

Some of the basic components, which are Clamping Knobs (for the large sliders), wooden balls (for the small lever tops), plastic hemispheres (panel lights), Butler Side Lenses (Telepathic Circuits), and four dish shaped disco light filters, which will be cut down and re-tinted for use as the Symbolic Indicators

The cut sections of the table section roughly placed in position to check the fit


The base section screwed and glued together - this comes in two parts and will be bolted together.

I'll post more photos but not before I have checked that these actually display properly in the thread!

[TRANSMAT2020]

Hooray!  They did! I was a bit worried that they wouldn't work!

Well, on with the next lot!

A picture of one of the large slider controls, the base made in thick plastic cut with a Stanley knife and glued with Plastic Weld.  There will be two more of these on the console.  The knob is a modern day Bakelite knob, easily sourced from eBay, though managing to identify what its description is wasn't too easy!

The trapezoid shaped panels and dividers now secured with blocks, screws and glue.  I'm going to be using CLS timber for the structural front of each panel, with MDF and finally aluminium angle in front of this.  A piece of CLS timber is placed here to check the size is ok.


The front structural wood is fitted and for the first time the six tabletop panels can be placed on to the base section.  This was tricky as before they could be bolted together they had to be supported by struts.  Even once they were all bolted I kept some of the struts in place, as the structure isn't completed yet.

As I took the panels down I decided to take a photo of the partially complete structure.  It's still not self supporting at this stage.  The base section has been bolted together at this point.

Anyway, I'll post further photos of my progress!

[russellsuthern]

This is great!

Can't wait to see more!

Russell

[TRANSMAT2020]

Some more photos!

In this photo I've now attached the supporting struts at the top of each table section and it's now self supporting.  Again I used mitred CLS timber.  The whole structure is much more stable now.


Some of the controls: three of the slider controls made from thick plastic, with the two telepathic circuits made from plastic boxes surrounding the Butlers side lenses. The boxes will be sprayed black, with the lenses carefully masked and sprayed silver.  The slider switches will be sprayed silver and have a mechanism fitted to enable the knob to slide up and down.  I think I'm going to line the insides of this with black foam sheet so that the knob can slide but stay in position where it's left, rather than flopping around.


Here I've started to attach some of the removable panels to the console base.  These are held in with magnetic catches attached on to the base.


And here's a close up of the console interior.  the magnetic catches can be clearly seen on their supporting pieces of wood.  I want to keep the interior as clutter free as possible to allow for the rise and fall mechanism.

[TRANSMAT2020]

A close-up showing one of the removable panels, as well as the bolts (on the right) holding together the two base sections.  I've put white "C" handles on to each of the base panels as a stopgap but will replace them with actual aluminium ones of exactly the same dimensions.  This view also lets you see the aluminium "U" section fitted to the uprights, which helps protect these against bumps and knocks.  This is notched at the top and sits proud at the bottom, a time consuming task with a hacksaw!  In fact, here the left section of channel isn't cut to length yet!  I've also still to fit the horizontal sections.  It's expensive stuff and you need lots of it!


Here is a good low angle view showing the bevelled sections now fitted, made from white faced hardboard and glued in position. This took quite a bit of coaxing and chamfering with a surform, which is an invaluable tool for a job such as this with its many angles.  In this view you can see the fins fitted under the top section as well as the MDF facings fitted on to each panel front.  These will be covered later with 3" x 1" "L" section aluminium angle for a smooth, knock resistant finish.  It's funny seeing a console from this viewpoint looking pristine, as most of the low shots of K9 from the console's late 70s episodes highlight the many scars caused to its underside by pyrotechnics.  I hope this won't happen to mine!
 

A shot of the base on its own and the attached support fins can be clearly seen.  The 1971 original had the fins as part of the top sections, but mine are attached to the base.  You can see the top sections stacked in the back of this photo and if the fins were attached to these I couldn't do this! I spent a while mulling over how to neatly make the fins removable and I decided to use some of the left-over aluminium channel to make fixings for these.  The channel was screwed into each fin and enables the fins to be attached to the base using bolts and wing nuts.  I'll have to cut some of the bolts short and carefully file them smooth as they are quite long at present, but that can be done later.  Having these means that I don't need to use any supporting struts when assembling the console now!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy these photos for the moment.  It's beginning to take shape and as I said, Tony's plans are fantastic and everything fits together beautifully!  One thing I won't be doing, however is painting the console light green.  It's going to be used in front of a greenscreen and although the green itself wouldn't be a problem to key around, the spill suppression on Adobe After Effects tends to do strange things with green tinted things.  Instead the console will be painted light grey!

Bye for now!

[Volpone]

These pictures really convey how dang big the classic consoles were. 

[TRANSMAT2020]

I know what you mean about the size of these things!  I've got to make the console outside as it's far too big to be in my living room or dining room, and there's way too much stuff in my garage, including two Daleks and a Police Box!  I think my wife would object if it was in the house!  Anyway, I can do other tasks inside, such as making the central column.

So, as you'll see, I've been getting on with doing a little painting!

I've chosen the colour Johnstone's satin finish "Manhattan Grey", which is a light grey not a million miles away from the shade that the console would be if you simply used the correct light green shade and viewed it in b&w.  In the first photo it looks rather bluish, and in the second it's far more grey in tone. It's been applied with a roller.

I've now got to begin work on the upper collar section now, which I'll be making from thin MDF and screwing and gluing together. It will sit in the notches that I've cut in the top sections.  I'm going to make it in two parts, as per the original.

Below are three of the masters of the controls I'm making in their plastic enclosures.  They'll be filled with silicone rubber and then the moulds used to make multiple copies in polyurethane resin. I think I need 14 of the lever housings, 16 of the slider switches and 5 of the twist handles!

I do hope I can get the rest of the construction work completed before the weather starts to get too unpredictable!  I remember having to buy a gazebo so I could finish off a Dalek before it was due to be exhibited!

[Volpone]

The color choice is quite good.  I'd like a hint more green than blue, but it's very nice. 

[TRANSMAT2020]

The funny thing is that the colour I've chosen hasn't got even the slightest hint of blue in it.  It just looks that way in some photos.  Also, if the console did have any green in it, that would be filtered out by the Keylight 1.2 effect which I'll be using in After Effects, so that's why I've chosen a neutral grey instead.  I'm delighted with how it looks and the shade is dark enough to allow the use of white graphics on the panels, another important requirement.

[Volpone]

Makes sense. Grey is a neutral so if the sky is blue or there's something blue nearby it would make sense that it would give the grey a blue cast.

[TRANSMAT2020]

A couple more photos of progress!

The hexagonal collar is tested in position, cut out with a jigsaw from 6mm thick MDF, then fitted together and glued with PVA.  Handy stuff that masking tape for holding glued components!

A close-up of the collar.  I'll be fitting the bevels to these, after having made suitable templates using mounting card.  I'll then use these to make the hardboard versions, which will be bevelled at the edges with a surform and then ever finer grades of sandpaper.

I've also made the silicone moulds for the three different types of controls.  I think I'll wait for them to completely cure before I can start to begin the casting process.

Back soon! 

[TRANSMAT2020]

In this photo I've now completed the bevels for the hexagonal collar - very tricky but very satisfying when it's complete!

I've now fitted the six top panels, all individually measured just in case of any variation in sizes.  It's amazing how even a mm or two makes a big difference to how it fits!  They are just sitting in place just now but will be secured in place by the triangular fins which will sit between each section.  If I'd been doing the Season 15 onwards console I wouldn't have to bother with those!



Oh, some casts I've been making.  Still several lots to go.  I'll have to sand down the slider switches as I put too little catalyst in the silicone and it took ages to cure resulting in some unwanted bumps!  I measured it by volume rather than weight!  Oh well!  I'll only do that once!  The others came out fine becuase I did it the correct way!

 

[davidnagel]

Don't envy you on the silicon and resin front, gets tricky when one isn't paying full attention

[TRANSMAT2020]

It's ages since I had made any silicone moulds and it was a bit of a learning curve to get used to working with it again! With a little sanding they actually turned out fine and certainly look the part once primed and painted.  I'll just have to be a bit more careful in future!

I did manage to get some more bits and pieces painted, so here's the results.







The small lever controls have mini on-off-on toggle switches underneath, with brass rods Araldited on to the toggles.  This means that I can wire them up if necessary.  I've still to complete the mechanisms for underneath the large slider controls, so in the photo the knobs are just sitting on the top for the photo!  I think I'll use wooden dowelling, with the pivots made of brass rod and the whole thing given a bit of tension with foam pads on either side of the dowelling underneath.  This should stop them flopping around and allow them to stay in position.

[Angelus Lupus]

Those are some nice looking levers!