TARDIS Console Part in New Series of Primeval

[jontennant]

Good News Everyone!
I don't know if you have seen it, but there is someone in our community who has one! His name is Luke Newman. Heard of him? I believe he made a build diary on His TARDIS. He does a series on YouTube by the name of DW2012 check out one of his episodes and you'll see. I will try and get in contact

[Cardinal Hordriss]

Found the ball!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/SmallRig-Universal-Magic-Accessory-Adapter-1923/dp/B01NATRXE6/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1508966957&sr=1-2&keywords=MULTI+MAGIC+BALL

[galacticprobe]

Good spotting, CH! A little over a year ago Amazon had some blue ones (and I think red ones), and Rob even found a black one. (No gold ones, but a good lick of paint can take care of that.) All listings back then were reading "Only 1 left!" in bright red letters, so it's nice to see that there are a more back on the market.

The gold and blue car tire valve caps are easily found on eBay on the cheap. The parts we're still having difficulty locating are those silver "arms" that connect the ball to the valve caps. They look like some sort of coaxial cable connector - or at least part of one - but so far no one has been able to ID which part or what type of connector they may have come from. (I've worked with dozens of those kinds of connectors in my career, so has Chris (Davros Skaro), and we've had no luck pinning down an ID for them.) We and others have gotten close, but unfortunately not close enough to say "that one will do; it's good enough".

So the hunt is still on for the elusive silver arms. (With luck like yours, CH, I wouldn't be surprised if you posted tomorrow saying "Oh, you mean these?" with photos of those silver arms!)

Dino.

[Cardinal Hordriss]

I only wish I could post saying I'd found the silver arms but no. I can't even find the yellow/orange/gold caps, found the Blue though. I'll run it past my work colleagues, they've all got backgrounds in metal work, manufacturing and design, one of them might know what the silver bits are. Unfortunately we haven't a metal lathe at work yet so we couldn't copy them from an image.

On a slight side note someone posted a picture in another thread of a complete one they found at Bob's Bits but with silver bullets so it's possible there is more than one of these thing knocking about.

[BioDoctor900]

The really annoying thing, is that Bob from Bob's Bits told me what the silver bits were, but I can't for the life of me remember, but if i remember rightly, he said they had to add in threads to them so they could screw into the centre section and to add the valve caps

BioDoctor900

[timewomble]

Well, simply knowing that the parts in question didn't come with screws makes identification much simpler; I think it was looking for screwed versions that was causing difficulties before.

[rob49152]

Found the ball!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/SmallRig-Universal-Magic-Accessory-Adapter-1923/dp/B01NATRXE6/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1508966957&sr=1-2&keywords=MULTI+MAGIC+BALL

I got one off of ebay for much much less than that.

[galacticprobe]

The really annoying thing, is that Bob from Bob's Bits told me what the silver bits were, but I can't for the life of me remember...

Think, man; think!

but if i remember rightly, he said they had to add in threads to them so they could screw into the centre section and to add the valve caps

This would make perfect sense especially if those silver arm bits are indeed parts of a coax cable connector. The connector (at least that part of it) would be a sort of 'through-sleeve' for the cable to pass through. Any threaded areas would be inside those "arms" for the connector pin and locking nut ends to thread into.

Looking at some of the extreme close-ups of the Atom Accelerator in the Reference Section, I wonder if some of those caps were just "friction-fitted" into the ends of the arms because some of them are skewed, and some are missing (not the ones they left off intentionally - those near the bottom of the ball - but some of those on the side and top of the ball that should be there, but aren't anymore).

I only wish I could post saying I'd found the silver arms but no. I'll run it past my work colleagues, they've all got backgrounds in metal work, manufacturing and design, one of them might know what the silver bits are. Unfortunately we haven't a metal lathe at work yet so we couldn't copy them from an image.

Hang in there, CH. You may stumble across them yet. I don't know if any of your colleagues have electrical or electronic backgrounds, but I have a strong feeling this is where the source lies. Those silver thingies really look like some sort of coax cable connector part, and maybe one of your colleagues will have some ideas as to what they are (and where to find them).

I can't even find the yellow/orange/gold caps, found the Blue though.

Allow me to help with that, CH. Here are some gold ones listed on eBay: Gold Anodized Tire Valve Caps. They're an exact match and come in packs of four. (They ship from Hong Kong to all over the world. I would ask the seller about combined shipping since you'll need more than one order.) Hopefully they're listed on eBay-UK as well.

On a slight side note someone posted a picture in another thread of a complete one they found at Bob's Bits but with silver bullets so it's possible there is more than one of these thing knocking about.

That was BioDoc who posted it. And yes, those things were all over the place once. Back in 2005 someone had mass-produced this "spiky ball". (Contrary to popular rumor it was NOT metal artist Chris Bathgate - see my comments on that one back on Page 4: http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=2495.msg75683#msg75683.) Production companies and studios sucked them up quickly. One appeared in 'Torchwood' (Series 1, Ep2 and others) on Jack's desk and the conference table; they've appeared (in multiples) on 'Primeval'; of course there was one on the 2010 console and her replica at the DWE; and lest we not forget on the "Groin Exploder" in 'Red Dward X'. So how one found its way to Bob's Bits is a good question.

In my hunt for info on these parts I learned that soon after the 2010 console premiered, Thinkgeek started selling a plastic version of this thingy. I've never seen one, but from what I'd read it wasn't the best replica (though it was very inexpensive); they sold out quickly, but never restocked.

I hope some of this helps.

Dino.

[BioDoctor900]

Well Bob's Bits have supplied for Red Dwarf and Primeval, so thats where it came from, if I remember rightly Bob said he had made a few up. The picture I posted, the ends on that one screwed in place, and I think he said they had to bore the tops out to fit the valve caps on. It maybe that it was a bolt/screw that sat inside the metal bit to hold them onto the ball....hmmmm



You can see that on this one they're using shorter bullet valve caps

BioDoctor900

[galacticprobe]

I think they're using a different type of silver "arm" on this one. If you look at the close-up of the actual prop piece from the second Ed Thomas console that whovian-almighty posted (http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=2054.msg42739#msg42739), you can see the arms are a little shorter, the slots in them are uniformly located, there are "ribs" (high and low grooves) on the arms between the slots and the ball, and there is a series of small holes around the arms right above the flange where the arms meet the ball. (I think I have a larger image of the Atom Accelerator someplace, but rather than post another image - unless someone wants me to - I think the one in whovian-almighty's post shows the details rather well.)

This latest rendition from Bob's Bits that you're holding, BioDoc, has arms that look similar, but they're not the same. These would, however, fall into that "close enough" area; even though they're not identical they're the closest things to those original arms that we've seen to date. So it would be really nice to know what they are (connectors? part of a connector? if so, what kind of connector they came from?, etc.). That would at least give us something to search for (and if we find them they would hopefully not cost us £400!).

Dino.

[Cardinal Hordriss]

I only wish I could post saying I'd found the silver arms but no. I'll run it past my work colleagues, they've all got backgrounds in metal work, manufacturing and design, one of them might know what the silver bits are. Unfortunately we haven't a metal lathe at work yet so we couldn't copy them from an image.

Hang in there, CH. You may stumble across them yet. I don't know if any of your colleagues have electrical or electronic backgrounds, but I have a strong feeling this is where the source lies. Those silver thingies really look like some sort of coax cable connector part, and maybe one of your colleagues will have some ideas as to what they are (and where to find them).

I can't even find the yellow/orange/gold caps, found the Blue though.

Allow me to help with that, CH. Here are some gold ones listed on eBay: Gold Anodized Tire Valve Caps. They're an exact match and come in packs of four. (They ship from Hong Kong to all over the world. I would ask the seller about combined shipping since you'll need more than one order.) Hopefully they're listed on eBay-UK as well.

Thanks.

I don't usually like ordering from Hong Kong, it's like throwing the thing into a tornado and hoping it flies out at the right person but if it's the only source...

[galacticprobe]

Thanks.

I don't usually like ordering from Hong Kong, it's like throwing the thing into a tornado and hoping it flies out at the right person but if it's the only source...

My wife has ordered things from Hong Kong with good luck so far. (And the nice thing about eBay is that they'll refund your money if you never get the item and the seller doesn't respond to you. But I recognized that seller and we've never had any problems with them.)

Dino.

[Davros Skaro]

I've bought plenty from Hong Kong on eBay, only ever not got half a dozen things or they have been damaged, but they have always refunded without question as long as you supply them pics.

I say go for it, nothing to lose.

Chris.

[Cardinal Hordriss]

I've had a notion RE the silver bits... could they be spotlight fittings?

[Cardinal Hordriss]

When they unscrew I'd guess the end in the main bar has a hole/slot for the wiring.



EDIT - I'm not saying that these are the precise ones but something similar.