Volpone's TARDIS build...

[Volpone]

A quick update:  This was the most miserable winter I've experienced in Portland, Oregon.  Statistically the wettest October on record and wettest February on record.  And it has not stopped raining to some degree in days (I mean sometimes it is only a mist, but there's always water in the air).  We had a couple miserably windy days and nights, one of which blew the lamp housing off and into the neighbors yard.  Luckily I'd put a burned out lightbulb up from the bottom (it's lit by a solar lamp in the housing) for effect and that kept the glass chimney from blowing off and breaking. 

I reengineered the housing and thus far that has held up (albeit unpainted and held in place with duct tape because it has been too cold and wet to finish permanent repairs). 

My hoped for solution of rubber roof patching compound has failed me--there are hairline cracks opening up a couple places on that.  To be fair, that is to be expected, the instructions say you put a layer of cloth tape over the repair and then another layer of rubber.  I may try that this summer.  The good news is, apart from the corners of the roof, and some occasional puddles below the signal lantern, the interior seems dry.  The corners of my TARDIS are 4x4" timber (retrofitted with a facade for the proper dimensions) so I'm not terribly worried about them rotting. 

I'll recap for just a second and say I had a lot of rot on my most recent renovation--to the point where a couple of the bottom wall panels had rotted through along with a couple sections above the POLICE BOX signs and, amazingly, the 2x4 base on the corner the phone panel is on.  That got cleaned out and a new chunk of 2x4 was fitted in.  The rotted plywood got replaced with Hardiboard product I had leftover from tiling and siding projects--so I'm closer to a concrete police box than most people. 

About half of my homemade "pebbled glass" inserts have popped out.  They were just fastened on with Elmer's spray adhesive and I suspect between rain and ice and temperature changes...and wind.  OK, I'll come back in and start again.  NOBODY EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION!!!!...  The effects of the elements caused the inserts to pop out.  The good news is that they're far sturdier than you'd expect acrylic craft beads that have been baked into sheets in a household oven to be, so for now they're in a drawer until the weather warms up and I think I'll put the buggers on with silicone caulk. 

And of course she'll need a fresh coat of paint over all the black rubber roof patch compound, but she's holding up OK for being...5 years old?!  OK, maybe a TARDIS isn't the best form factor for an outdoor storage structure.  That said, it reminds me of perhaps my favorite Dr. Who serial:  "Pyramids of Mars"--"A priesthole in a Victorian folly?!  Preposterous!"  "Follies" were odd little anachronous structures wealthy eccentric people built.  Some would even hire dwarves to live in them--kind of like Lawn Gnomes of the Rich and Famous. While I'm not rich or famous, I think a garden shed in the shape of a TARDIS certainly qualifies as a folly. 

[Volpone]

Sometimes your TARDIS will talk to you.  Mine is based on the 1963 prop with design cues from an actual police box.  But it has the distinct Barachaki roof.  And there really wasn't any way to change that. 

Well last night as I was settling in for the night I looked out the window and a light came on.  It would be pretty easy to cut the corner posts down to a more TYJ/police box height.  Then I put a round of 2x4 just above the POLICE BOX signs and I've got a 3 stepped roof.  Still not a steep slope like a police box and the steps will be a little shorter, but it might look pretty good.

[Volpone]

OK.  I decided to monkey about in my little photo editing software to see what it would look like.  I don't completely hate it.  But it really is a compromise.  Without completely redoing the roof, you're never going to get the big majestic stack of a real police box.  And even if you did, you'd still need the big majestic base and cornerposts to make the look work.  I'll have to let it sit and see if it grows on me.  But there's something about the classic 1963 shape.  

The good thing is, I think this modification, done right, would make the roof more waterproof.  Here's the photomanip and the source image, side-by-side:

It just might work at that.

[barnacle]

The ultimate rule, IMHO, is if you find it aesthetically pleasing, carry on.  I think you're on to something!

May I ask the approximate dimensions of your Fresnel lens?  I just found that you can get brand-new ones from Perko, in two sizes.  I've just made paper mocks of the cylinder size to compare, but you've actually got one on an actual box, and it's aesthetically pleasing. 

[Volpone]

According to this:  http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=753.135 (around Post #141) it is a 5".  A couple caveats: 
1) It's not an actual Fresnel lens.  It's a lamp chimney shaped like a Fresnel lens but there's no actual focusing of light from it.
2) The 5" is the diameter at the ends of the chimney; it specifies the size of lamp it will fit on.  The actual diameter at the widest spot is bigger (per the linked thread). 
3) This is for a box built to 1963 prop dimensions.  If I were doing one to actual police box dimensions, I'd want the 6" (or even bigger).  That said, a recent new series build used the 5" and said the 6" would have been too large. 
Cheers!

[barnacle]

Thank you for the swift reply!  I'm doing one that's about... oh... probably 5 feet at the base (the side panels in between the posts will be based on a 4' sheet of 3/4 plywood), and I'm thinking of going with a new one from Perko, if I can't scavenge one up somewhere.

[Volpone]

3/4" ply will be plenty strong.  And heavy.  Best of luck. 

[barnacle]

Well, when I build something, it stays built. 

Seriously, though, I know it'll be heavy.  But since it's going to be built around4x4 PTs in concrete fencepost footings in the ground, I'm not planning on moving it.  I hope. 

[Volpone]

Mine's got 4x4s in the corner posts, a 2x4 base, and the POLICE BOX signs were originally solid...2x8s?  So my plywood was quite light and even though a lot of it has rotted out the box isn't going anywhere. 

After awhile here, I realized 4x4s were too thin to look right so I added a facade to them made of 6" nominal width fence boards. And I cut the bottom off the 2x8s so I could add a slightly undersized stepped lip.  I also cut out the centers so the signs could be lit up. 

[Volpone]

I think I will add another roof step, but that's a low priority in life right now.  But I had some time and decent weather a few days back, so I got out the silicone caulk and stuck some of my "pebbled glass" window facings back on in a way that I hope will be more permanent (they were just on with a spray adhesive and kept coming off in the cold and windy weather.  Happily, they are a lot sturdier than I thought they'd be so they'd just fall down and I'd pick them up.)

I also slapped paint onto the rubber patch compound--even though it has developed cracks with the temperature change too--and the redesigned lamp housing.  Now that the housing is all blue, it has a bit of a TYJ/Newbery refit vibe to it--the base looks markedly taller.  Pictures the next time I charge my phone. 

[Volpone]

OK.  Nothing to exciting.  Touched up paint, repaired pebbled glass, and painted the reengineered signal lamp housing. 

[Bob's your Uncle]

Beautiful lawn.
Your neighbor could use some help, though. 

[russellsuthern]

And so the constant maintenance goes on...

Looking good, tho'...

Really must get round to giving my old girl a lick of paint this summer...


Russ

[Volpone]

With all the rain, and then the sun for a bit, you really needed to mow every 4 days or so. 

When I uploaded these so I got to see them on a big screen, I really liked how the shade made the blue turn almost black. 

Bah. I was thinking I'd hold off on adding a roof step until after I move, but I realized then I won't have my scrap lumber pile, so I need to do it now.

The plan is...

When I built this, the priority was a simple build while minimizing cost, so the corner posts were 4x4s and they went to full height without necking down.  But this made the Barachaki profile even boxier than it already was, so I got up on the step ladder with a circle saw with the blade extended as far as it would go and notched out the tops of the posts (no, it wasn't a smart plan, but it worked and I still have all my fingers). 

Then I decided to make the build more accurate by adding facings to the 4x4s to widen them (there's more to it than that, but I'll keep it simple). 

My next step (no pun intended) will be to get up there with a hand saw to finish cutting the capitals off the corner posts.  Then I'll go down 2-3" and cut the facings off the 4x4 to create a new top.  Finally, I'll put a 2x4 just above each of the POLICE BOX signs.  This will give me a 3 stepped roof like a real police box. 

There's really no way to make the base taller or to further widen the corner posts, and the roof slope will be flatter than a police box, but at this point it should be closer to a police box than any of the props. 

Then I need to try my using fiberglass resin to turn the top row of windows more clear (it sounds crazy, but we'll see), adding one of those plastic sheets for magnifying print, rolled up inside the signal lamp housing to make it look more like an actual Fresnel lens, and installing a military surplus phone in the phone door (and of course making it so you can actually open the phone door). 

After that, I'll be hard pressed to come up with more things to do to this build. 

[Volpone]

Well this is a new and interesting development:  I'm selling my house and one of the realtors, after scheduling a showing, asked if the TARDIS was unlocked so she could peek inside.  I said I'd unlock it--and found I couldn't.  The key would turn about 1/8" either way.  Pulled out the another key that would fit that lock to test if I'd somehow switched out and got the wrong key.  The house key didn't turn the lock at all, so I knew I had the right key. 

After a minute or two of jiggling and fumbling, I got out the trusty (non)sonic screwdriver and got to work on the phone panel door.  My phone door doesn't open right now and I hoped the last time I worked on structure and weatherproofing I hadn't done too good a job.  Luckily, I hadn't and the only 2 screws holding the phone panel shut were the ones that hold the handle on.  (There's a board behind the phone panel at that point, so I just used over-long screws that go through the phone door and into the wood behind it--the "hinges" are fake; designed to look like the Barnet box hinges.)  I opened the phone door enough to get inside but I wasn't able to turn the inside latch.  But I was able to operate the locking mechanism that lets you lock the bolt open (or closed)--it had been in a halfway position between locked and unlocked.  After that the key worked in the lock. 

Once safely inside, I fought with the manual latch for a couple more minutes before giving up.  I either need to take the thing apart for more extensive repairs or just buy a new lock.  For now I need to remember not to let the bolt engage when I'm on the inside.  Or make sure I have a screwdriver so I can take the lock off the door.  Otherwise I'll need to smash something, tell someone where to find the spare key, or just die inside my TARDIS.