1:6 Scale Metropolitan

[Andrew Harvey]

I have reservations about MDF. Its very porous being basically like a fine mash chip board. I would do a dummy run on something else, perhaps you could rig-up a door and frame up to see exactly where your hinge should go. You might need to give the edge of the door a curve too ( sand paper it 'round') I would recommend using several dabs of super glue on the surface to be glued first, it will soak into the MDF and hopefully prevent damage later on. PVA would quite likely cause it to warp. Incidentally, those hinges look as though they would work for the windows too. How big/small are they?

[rainybox]

I've actually bought some MDF wood to practice chisling a rebate - I don't want to limit my skillset because that would just set me up for failure!

The hinges I've just shown are 60mm long (not sure how wide) and the windows I think are 6cm along the bottom. I'm no expert but that sounds like it could work, but I won't presume because, look at the title below my profile picture.

[Andrew Harvey]

Which one? 'Hello there' or Newbie? ( A rather revolting American sounding term me thinks). Isn't 6 cm the same as 60mm? I am interested to know just how high these 1/6th scale models are. I have a bit of an interest in 1/8th, because of the Comet Daleks. I built one years ago, and often thought it needs a bit of company. And a Doctor to keep it in line! Of course, If I did build a 1/8th police box I would be very tempted to cast it in cement. I could have it in the garden then. I think the Denis Fisher Tom baker toy works out at 1/8th too.

  Glad you had the foresight to get some extra MDF to practice on. Practice after all, makes perfect.

[rainybox]

Yeah, I just wrote my measurements down in cm and I had that on my mind when typing my message, oopsie.

That's very interesting, I've often thought of having my own PCB replica made from concrete (maybe when I'm a millionaire big time filmmaker the metropolitan police will gift me a real box they had in storage for decades). Do you know of PB Props & Models? He got me into the idea of building my own TARDIS way back in 2018/19. Can't believe it's taken this long!

Still not out of the water yet though, I know this build will be nothing short of "well that's not what I expected". Which is why I plan on making another, and another, and so on. Some may call it crazy, I call it progress (that hasn't happened yet). Hopefully this practice (like you say) will give me a perfect PCB Model! In 10 years. Gonna be worth it.

[Andrew Harvey]

One of the major advantages of small scale model building is being able to build up a large collection and get all that practice! They take up less room, and its all the same techniques you would use for larger scale miniatures.
  An advantage with mould making too; you only need to build one wall of a police box, and then you can cast the rest! ( That is how I would tackle the cement cast box....) Ever heard of linka? They were flat moulds for plaster of Paris buildings. Great idea. By blocking off parts of the mould you can make the doorway and the telephone cabinet. All from one side. Food for thought...
  Yeah, I would love to do a full sized concrete job.

[rainybox]

Hello everybody! No picture updates yet, but I have started gluing it together. Not looking great, had to move stuff around. Lotta hard work for a newbie but it's fun - I'm sure I will be burned to the ground if I show pictures of my build at the moment! On that note, I am changing up my plans a bit, going for a more battered, end of its life box for no reason in particular...

[Andrew Harvey]

Oh come on! Lets have a peep! After the chat in recent times I am very interested to see what progress you are making. I note you have changed your little picture to one with a Police Box being hoisted about on a crane. I have not seen the before. Is it one on this site? Or is it one from somewhere else? Where is it? I should very much like a better look at that too!

[rainybox]

It's on here somewhere, I think Police Boxes in the Media. Here it is though! Got another one saved from this site also, can't remember who posted these (possibly pete wilson), but yeah, they are awesome. They fall in line with my signature at the bottom of each post.

I will share my photos I've taken, might as well give you a visual aid so you can better understand the situation (which I am determined to rectify with milliput and glue).

[rainybox]

Here's what I've done with the first panel (one of the side panels). Pretty good eh? Nothing has changed since the photos were taken.

[Andrew Harvey]

 Oh dear, Thats pretty bad! I think though it is easily repaired with PVA. If you give both the broken surfaces a thin coat and press them together precisely and firmly they should set well. The frame part for the sign might be more tricky, so save it till last! I think if you wet the two ends the frayed parts will be more easy to get back into shape. Then perhaps with a layer of paper or thin card (you could glue them onto a piece just to add a layer of strength) they would mate quite well. A bit of milliput and you'll be smiling again. You can cut away the excess paper/card after they have set. ( I would also recommend drilling and pinning with small bits of wire).

Thanks for finding the picture for me! Its great! I've saved it to my own folder here on my machine. Those old ones and all the derelict Glasgow boxes are my favourites.
  Have you used milliput before? Great stuff. A bit of lick or water on your tools helps greatly. It will set very quickly with some super glue too. (As I once found out by accident!) As you will know by now, its good once set to be sanded down. The dust is worth saving; you can mix it with a new bit to economize which also speeds up the setting time. I'm a bu**er for doing things like that; I learned whilst I once worked with a builder about using waste products as 'back-fill'.
  I had intended to start some 1/48th builds myself this week, but work and a lot of walking wore me out through the last few days, and I still have the finishing touches to do to my 1/48th scale figurine jobs. When I begin work on the Boxes I will, like the rest of you here include pictures of the progress. Anyway, I look forward to seeing your model repaired!
  Andrew

[rainybox]

Thanks for the tips! I don't know if you've noticed but you can look at the centre divider and see it's all wonky, which is why I tried to take it apart in the first place. You think I could get away with taking off the remaining pieces, and put them in the right place, or should I keep it all where it is?

I have never used milliput, but I have bought some. Looks like a great thing to use on stuff. You ever lose one of your miniatures? I could see myself not being able to find my comparatively huge box in an empty room haha!

[Andrew Harvey]

Now you call my attention to it, I do see they are wonky. Its a pity you do not seem to have used the 'Insert' button on your images. They come out more clearly when you use it. Did you use PVA to glue those centre 'dividers'  on? You might be able to lift them off by getting them damp, and using a scalpel very carefully. A bit of the milliput to fill in any gaps or holes left behind should hide the worst of it. Alternatively, I should carefully scrape the whole piece off, with a chisel edged blade and make another from balsa strip, or styrene strip. Or even , like in my kit patterns*, use several layers of card or wood on top of one another until you get the correct size.

  I have indeed lost one of my miniature Police Boxes. Last year I took one out to do some shots among some Lichens ( More of this coming soon....) and the poor thing fell down a massive cliff. Well, I say massive; The model was 1/100th so stands at about 38mm ( a human in that scale is 17mm) and the cliff was about three feet tall. Unfortunately, it had a huge forest of giant grasses and heather trees at the bottom and the Tardis was lost forever. I could not find any of King Peledons Stout lads to find her for me! It was however, luckily made of white metal from one of my moulds. ( The original being made from greenstuff) so I was able to cast another! ( See the advantages of mould making and casting?) I was more annoyed at the loss of the precious white metal than bothered about the miniature! Oddly, the figurines (1/48th) I am making now are about 37mm, but they tower over the tiny 1/100th box like giant trolls....
 
 *= I think you said you had looked at my stuff before, so you will have found where the model patterns are. ( 1/17th scale boxes etc) On those you can see i used three strips of card stacked to get the right depth on that part.

[rainybox]

That makes it sound absolutely doable! I was afraid I'd have to put everything back and keep it looking off. Gotta say though, I tried using a blade to get the glued things off (I didn't use PVA unfortunately) and I sort of cut myself... half a dozen times. Oops. Looking for thick gloves my dad says he had (as per recommended by a post from Dino/galacticprobe about TARDIS building safety tips).

I should learn to make resin moulds because they look handy as heck, they could very darn well aid in my building a scratch build later down the line. A prop maker I follow on YT makes moulds and his stuff always comes out incredibly.

[Andrew Harvey]

Yes, its do-able! You must get it right! So much more satisfying in the end! If you have no chisel type blades use a stanley blade. Mind you fingers! I can sympathise with your sliced digits; I was going to use glass on the floor of my 1/17th Tardis Interior, and had a piece, then decided to try my hand at glass cutting. The glass shattered and I managed to slice my thumb right down to the bone! Bled like **%)! everywhere. I had to bandage myself with one hand! Tricky.  After that I used some clear acrylic I had found!
  Ive never tried to put links on anything here yet, so it might not work, but here is a little video I found about building two part moulds. Single piece 'strip-off' moulds will do for Police Box parts and other types of architectural models

 https://sylcreate.com/how-to-make-and-use-a-two-part-silicone-mould-for-casting-resin/

[rainybox]

Well that is unfortunate. Glass must be the enemy of craftsmen, along with wood, metal, adhesives, any tools, etc.

That is helpful, I shall save that link!