BioDoctor900's Eccleston/Tennant Console

[BioDoctor900]

Hey guys,

So one of the things I've not really been happy with is the panels on the console, obviously the originals looked like cracked ice, and speaking to Mark Corduroy, he told me...



Now obviously I don't have the money for that, but the panels I have on the console currently are the panels I cut years ago, and so there's about a 3 inch gap between the edge of thee panel and the inside of the rim, and it's always bugged me. Fortunately I was given a large sheet of perspex that was being thrown out from a shop, so I snagged it and brought it home.

It's been sat on my balcony for the best part of 4 months, with the intention of cutting 4 new panels, so today I did exactly that. I measured roughly how big they needed to be and made up a paper template. The panels are 18" at the widest points in both directions, with an 8" top. I had some clear hemispheres from my mates dalek build, the side with the penny slot in, and I found these were the ideal size for the paperweights. So I cut out three holes in the panels, one hole on one and two on the other. I then got glued the hemispheres behind the holes



I had experimented a bit earlier in the day with how to try and create the crackle ice effect on the cheap. I toyed with the idea of using hot glue, and then realised I'd be there forever and use tons of hot glue, plus the hot glue tended to smooth out, rather than give the slight rough texture I was looking for. I then tried using cling film (plastic wrap) and using PVA underneath and then scrunching it up. It sort of worked, but the PVA was taking forever to dry and the cling film was quite flimsy in other areas. I also tried using the heat gun to bubble the surface, this didn't work as it just clouded the surface.

Then I had a bit of an idea. What if I just wrapped the panels with the cling film and then seal them up with PVA? So that's what I've tried...





If the worse comes to the worst, I'll just take the cling film off, and the panels will be undamaged, but hopefully, the PVA will help to make the cling film solid and create the ridges and bumps in the surface

Hopefully more soon

BioDoctor900

[BioDoctor900]

So it worked! I'm rather happy, I had to trim a couple of the panels down to get them to fit, but the cling film seems to work well once the panel is covered, and surprisingly the components actually stick to them with hot glue



















Next job will be to make the rim out of wood

BioDoctor900

[russellsuthern]

I love that picture taken through the doors.

It looks amazing & really realistic.

Well done!


Russell

[BioDoctor900]

Thank you Russell, there are still things that need tweaking and adjusting, bum I'm slowly getting to a point where I'm really happy with the results, there are bits I've sat and hated for ages, like for example my old time rotor, which was too narrow, and the fact that I used to have the foam rim, its all about change and progression, and looking back 10 years at some of my older pictures of the console, it was originally made using cardboard and celotape  she's come a long way, but there's still things to change and update

BioDoctor900

[superrichi1a]

An ingenious solution! Almost wish I'd thought of it myself It strikes me, though, that Glen's method was actually very close to what the show did...

Fantastic looking panels, they really add something to the console!

[BioDoctor900]

Rich,

It seemed the cheapest way of doing it as it cost me nothing. I contacted one company about getting 4 cracked ice panels, at 19 inches square, and they wanted £165! Im pretty sure that Glen cast his for cheaper than that

BioDoctor900

[galacticprobe]

I contacted one company about getting 4 cracked ice panels, at 19 inches square, and they wanted £165!

Wow! Thats $211.72 US, and works out to £41.25 ($52.93 US) per panel! (Still a large sum.) How thick did you want them to make the panels? I remember reading in one of the behind-the-scenes tidbits (possibly transcribed or quoted on TB somewhere) that the original panels were 2 inches thick. (Then again they were about twice the size you wanted your panels, maybe even larger, so they'd need that thickness for strength; but I think that behind-the-scenes info also said they'd alternated layers of clear plastic with the resin, which would have given the original panels the strength they needed.)

I'm just curious how thick you asked to have your panels made in because that would definitely have had an effect on the cost. (The question is, by how much?) Trivial info, I know, but it does make me curious. And knowing how much that resin costs even in the private sector from listening to model-builders talk, I doubt one would be able to afford to cast one's own panels like that without hitting the lottery.

I think your method is a great one, BioDoc. Glen's was also good, as was Richard's. And I'm sure there are other methods equally as good for making those "cracked ice" panels. (Though now that we've got the proper name from the maker himself - "crystal panels" - maybe we should adjust our terminology? After all I think I just started the whole "cracked ice" thing when I described the panels looking like they were made from cracked ice. Not all that technical, I admit, but I couldn't think of anything else at the time.)

Dino.

[BioDoctor900]

This was the quote they sent me....



As you can see, they're only 6mm. I still prefer cracked Ice panels, I think it describes them better 

BioDoctor900

[Scarfwearer]

I think a 1200mm x 600mm crushed ice lighting diffuser panel is usually about £10, but they're very thin - maybe 1mm. If you could find something clear to back it with to make it rigid you might have a cheaper solution.

[galacticprobe]

...they're only 6mm.

Roughly .25 inch then. Still pricy. I don't blame you for wanting to make your own.

I still prefer cracked Ice panels, I think it describes them better  

Cracked Ice it is, then. (Heck, like I mentioned, I think I'm the one who started that anyway when trying to describe them.) And yes; it does describe them much better.

I was going to suggest what Crispin did (but he beat me to it ). I've seen those panels in home improvement stores and they are not expensive at all, and do come in clear. Such stores also sell clear perspex sheets at .25 inch (6 mm) thick. I'm not sure how much those go for because everyone on TB that's mentioned getting hold of some said they'd gotten something like 2-foot x 2-foot cast-offs on the cheap. And since the panels you had gotten price quotes for were 6 mm thick, those 6 mm thick perspex sheets would make a perfect backing for the cracked ice light diffuser panels Crispin mentioned. (I believe those panels are smooth on the reverse, so if you wanted to slather some liquid model glue - also known as "Liquid Cement" - across the perspex panel and then clamp the light diffuser panel to the perspex to fuse the two together with the liquid cement, you'd have a nice solid panel to work with. And at the size you're using they would be plenty strong for any controls you want to put on them.)

I hope some of this blithering helps.

Dino.

[BioDoctor900]

Well I've started updating something that's bugged me for quite a while...The rim. Over the years I've made the rim out of several things. Originally it was just a thin piece of cardboard, then I used pipe insulation, then I used car sponges with mod roc over the top, and then I made 3D ones using cardboard and Papier mache. The most recent ones were only meant to be temporary, but I decided I wanted to make them out of wood. So that's what I've been doing today. I went out and bought some 18 X 70mm strips of wood, and some thin hardboard, and a bunch of screws and a couple of pots of paint. All in total cost £25.

I cut the main structural shapes out of the timber strips and then cut the rest out of some of the hardboard and the old flat circle for the console controls







So far I've made 2, and in the process of making the 3rd. Once all of them are done, I've got to fill all the gaps, cut the ovals and back them all. Then paint them up, and repair the rotor rings, and then paint those the same colour

More soon

BioDoctor900

[whokids]

Your console is a bit small but it's amazing

[whokids]

I'm going to get  bubble paper weights cuz I don't have any and there like20$ on eBay and you got them for 2$ but the  closest  thing I have is a glass ball

[whokids]

You did a good job on the  Direct 1 label thing

[whokids]

Can you send me and my dad those  labels so I can make my own