B4DW0LF's TARDIS - Tucson Az

[b4dw0lf]

Heres the photo of the St Johns Ambulance enamel badge on the door. 

[deck5]

Very nice badge! 

[rocket]

Oooh nice, the perfect finishing touch.

[b4dw0lf]

Ok Ive a question....

I like to make stuff that looks battle worn, I wanna build the rusty K9 eventually, I built the Special Weapons Dalek some time ago and now Im thinking of giving my TARDIS some battle scars, what do you think?  have others tried this?  whats the best techniques youve tried....

Thanks

[galacticprobe]

This is a tough one to call. Since the Eleventh Doctor's TARDIS has recently "rebuilt" herself, she hasn't had the time, or been through enough to get any battle scars. She still looks rather pristine.

Now any earlier version and there would be a number of ways to accomplish "weathering" so to speak:
-throwing some black wash over the shell;
-adding a few different shades of blue (possibly before the black wash);
-using a texturing paint to get that 'chipped, peeled, and repainted' look.

Just to mention a few.

Your build looks so good as she is, and since she's supposed to be an Eleventh Doctor version, IMHO, I'd leave her looking good.

Now the battered K-9... there's a build I'm sure we'd love to see!

Dino.

[b4dw0lf]

Thank you

Im be building my Steampunk'd Dalek before my K9, got some big plans ahead of me...

[larry cain]

Hey P.
My wife took a toll painting class years back and learn how to add shading to her art stuff, it was amazing how shading can change the looks of any art work. Unfortunately she is at work more then home since the kids have grown, she has little time for that now. Check your area. 

[willfleming]

Looks killer Paul...my wife and I are going to build one in our back yard once we fig out the measurments...their are so many and plans confuse me a little but I will figure it out...I think we are going to go as big as possable.we are going to try and make it solar powered and use it for a shed for our garden tools.
Will

[galacticprobe]

Hey, Will. There are so many plans because there are so many versions of the TARDIS and each one had revisions done to it over time.

Take a look at Bill Rudloff's "A Thousand Years of Phone Box Travel" comparison below to see the different versions.

A few key points on each:

The first image is that of a real Mark II Police Box (for reference), and is almost exactly what they used for the TARDIS in the two Peter Cushing 'Doctor Who' movies.

Next: The original Peter Brachacki box, used throughout the Hartnell and early Troughton eras. The frame around the phone panel went from white (in the Pilot) to blue; the panel itself stayed white with blue lettering. The window frames changed from white to blue during one of Hartnell's last stories; the doors were also replaced then and the front windows lost their extra little bar at the bottom; the lock moved from the left door to the right and the overly simplified St. John logo that had been on the right door vanished.

The "Modified Brachacki" (one of the versions not in this diagram): used from the late Troughton, through Pertwee, and early Tom Baker eras. This one had its roof lowered dramatically - in height as well as having a shallower pitch - and at some point its side walls became narrower than the front and back (so its footprint was rectangular rather than square, and the roof didn't always sit right on it). Its remaining original windows were replaced so the bottom bar was gone from them all. At some point during the Troughton era the phone panel lost its frame and became a flat panel that was level with the door stiles, and had a blue background and white lettering in a different arrangement than that on the "original" Brachacki. This remained for all of Pertwee's tenure, although at some point the phone panel's background changed from blue to black (the lettering stayed the same), and that lasted into the early Tom Baker era.

The Barry Newbery TARDIS prop: also had a low roof with a shallow pitch; the light on top gained a taller box under it. The stiles on the door and wall panels now had bevels on them, whereas before they didn't. The phone panel got its blue frame back; the panel was still black, but had white lettering in the style of the original Brachacki, though the wording had changed slightly. This version lacked the "three steps" between the top of the doors and the Police Box signs.

The Tom Yardley-Jones box: This is what most people think of when they hear the word "TARDIS" and was similar in design to the original Brachacki: three steps above the door; taller roof with higher pitch. The phone panel background returned to blue with white lettering: wording similar to the Newbery. The Police Box signs had their background changed from black to blue and went all the way to the side edges of the sign box frame. This prop lasted until the end of the Classic Series.

The Richard Hudolin box: constructed for the 1996 telemovie. About as tall as the Yardley-Jones box, but a little wider and with a thicker base. The phone panel door hinged on the right rather than the left. The panel's wording was the same as on the original Brachacki. The Police Box signs were similar to that on a real Police Box.

The Colin Richmond/Edward Thomas box: This is the current TARDIS prop, designed for the 2005 series return to TV (the New Series). It drew on bits of its predecessors. It's not quite as tall as a real Police Box, but about as wide (making its proportions look a little off next to its predecessors). It has no steps above the doors, like the Newbery. It's light has a lower box under it, and also has a "lighter-background" phone panel with dark lettering like the original Brachacki (silver background with black letters from 2005-2009), but the wording was that of the Yardley-Jones.

For the 2010 series the Richmond/Thomas prop was given a refit (the other version not shown in the diagram), and returned to having white window frames; a phone panel with a white-ish background with slightly raised black letters with the same wording as the 2009 version, and its St. John Ambulance logo returned, only this time with some details to it. This TARDIS prop is also painted a bright blue - possibly bluer than any other TARDIS prop - and the way it was painted they really highlighted the grain in the wood.

So, those are some of the details of the TARDIS prop (in a nutshell), and the answer to why there are so many plans for the TARDIS. The best thing to do is pick your favorite version and build that. Some members have taken bits they liked from each TARDIS and built a sort of "hybrid" TARDIS. (Check the TARDIS Gallery: http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?board=14.0. Some of them will make you drool!)

And here is Bill's comparison diagram to go with the above:


I hope all of this was helpful to you.

Dino.

[willfleming]

Thank you Dino ...very helpful .I love the orig police box size and look.I found plans to the Peter Brachacki box in inches..it seams the easiest to read as far as measurements..but I will continue to research before I decide..thanks again for the great info.I will read it several more times to observe it all in
Thanks Will

[DoctorWho8]

Oh, that comparison chart isn't mine.  Whoever did it used my Newbury and NST drawings.  The others I think are lespacelie's.
Bill "the Doctor" Rudloff

[larry cain]

Hey all,
Get out there and give Paul your vote on his Tardis, support him and his little apprentice hope they win

[thowell3]

Looking at your build has given me thoughts for mine. Thanks for posting Pictures looks great. I am going to be doing the Newbury Tardis, With some modifications,Mostly in the high departments so that it can fit in a average sized room and maybe add some of the other series features to it like the St.Johns Ambulace sticker on the door .  Hope your TARDIS Lasts along time ^_^ Cheers

[b4dw0lf]

Just returned to the US Friday night after being away for nearly 4 weeks, and straight away I wanted to test out a few ideas and such Id had while away.  Firstly and this is something I think many might find interesting.  I was trying to figure out a way to make the beacon blink now I was looking into circuit boards and LED Flasher units but then I had an idea.  I remember years ago that my Dad used to have a plug that you would connect to your Christmas lights and it would make them blink. So I figured I could try the same thing, I found that ACE Hardware sells them still for about $2 and because Im using an energy efficient light bulb (Low Wattage) it worked. and the flash rate is near perfect to what I was hoping for.  Ill post some video soon to show the overall effect.

Now cosmetics and such:

Yesterday I decided to construct a telephone for inside the door, and seeing as I didnt really stick to any plans when building the TARDIS I decided to go ahead and design my own.  I went with a steampunk style and even added a sound module to it so now when you pick up the receiver you hear "Are You My Mummy?" a soundbite I got from the BBC website.

Heres the phone, Ill post another photo when its installed:

[geminitimelord]

Paul, yuppers that is where I got my flasher from.. ACE hardware. I posted it on my build thread last year.

It does work well but one issue I have discovered with the Low Voltage bulbs is that it blows them out in about 4 to 6 weeks. Maybe messes with the ballast inside the bulb?

I also have a timer in my box so the lights can be set to come on at certain times.