Police post (bricked up) on Channel 4 news just now!

[Mark]

Hi LG,

On the Met style Police Boxes there were definately four support poles/struts around the lens.

On the TYJ TARDIS which was of course piloted by Dr 4,5,6 and 7, the fresnel lens had three support bars.

Depending on what version you were going for - everones a winner

No need to apologise, sharing and asking for information is what I believe this board to be all about.

[starcross]

I have been thinking quite seriously about how easy/difficult it would be to get a cast of the lens somehow and then create a full mould. Obviously the cast would have to be from one support pole to another but is it feasible?

Oh its very possible, I plan to do just that in two weeks time.
I use a two part Silicone Putty (called easy mold) to make the mold and then cast it in plaster or sculpy clay later.
The mold is even suitable for up to 400F so you can even bake in it or cast in low melt metals like pewter (338F-446F).
I've had the molds I made for two years now and they are still as good as the day they were made.

As for how much you need, if I were to do a mold intending to cast a full lantern, make a mold of half the lens.
This way you can find a clear glass or plastic tube and cast half the lantern around it, and then the other half with the same mold.

The way I do it is pull a mold of an inch or so strip, then cast half of it in plaster to make the profile.
Then scan the plaster profile, and use the computer to make a digital 3D object.
The 3D object can then be printed if someone was so inclined.

Casting of the Northwood Police Post Lantern Link


Casting of Police Pillar Lantern Glass No.40 Link


Casting of a Met Post Crest Link

[DoctorWho8]

Hey you have paint swatches.
Bill "the Doctor" Rudloff

[starcross]

Unintentional paint samples at that.
Whoever decided to paint latex over oil needs to be dropped off in a dinosaur infested area.
There was so many paint chips falling off the Post that we had them in our clothes, hair, and even stuck in our teeth for hours afterward.

The trip out to Northwood was worth it to get a nice castings off the post.
I only wish there wasn't so much paint covering it all, it smooths over quite a bit of detail work.

Odd bit of trivia, but it is likely the only place that has in place an original brass handle on the telephone door.
I'm not sure that the Crich box has the same hardware, I didn't get very close to it last time.

[Mark]

The Crich Police Post doesn't have the small brass handle rather it has the boxey kind of handle.

Speaking of paint samples, when I first visited the Tramway museum I obtained some. I was a kid so it was alright  . In all serious the paint was peeling in quite a number of places so it would have fell off eventually.

I eventually laminated the said samples so they wouldn't break more than they had during the following years which may or may not have been a great idea.

[starcross]

The Crich Police Post doesn't have the small brass handle rather it has the boxey kind of handle.

Out of the 40 or so Police Posts I know about, none except Northwood have the brass handle.
All Other Posts have the cast iron Pull Handle.
Various Archive photos show many posts had the brass handle, but those examples don't seem to have survived.
The drawing for the door was changed in 1955 to show the common cast iron pull handle, so that may have something to do with it.
Since Northwood and Grosvenor Square are PA No.2 types from 1938 they should both have the Brass handle, but Grosvenor doesn't. 

Anyway what I meant was that The Crich Mk2 Box doesn't have the same style of brass handle as all the other photographs I've seen.
As the image below illustrates, Northwood has a brass Bow Handle with 2 screws, so does the barnet box, and so does some random police box. However the Crich Box has a different single screw Bow Handle, which is why I said the crich box had different hardware.


Archive photos - Met Police gallery Source

[Mark]

Sorry Starcross, I misread your post and presumed we were still on the subject of Police Posts.

The door handle to the actual main door on the Crich box is quite a oddity as well compared to all the other police boxes. It' enormous!