Panel Build: Frame and panel or Overlay over Plywood Construction

[philipw]

Looking over the info on the builds I've been doing here, I haven't been able to tell if the screen used props are constructed as true frame and panels or if they are a build up of overlayed styles and rails over plywood (which is definitely easier to do).

The photo I saw here of the NST side panel laying on the ground showing its inside with the windows covered up with illuminated panels makes me thing at least the NST versions are overlays.

Is it known which it is?

[mordrogyn]

The NEW 2010 NST is overlay.
The Tennant prop honestly I dunno, it could be either, but the siles and rails are routered afterward as opposed to before being affixed to the ply

[galacticprobe]

I would think that the overlay method, besides being the easier method, would also give a sturdier result. (Possibly the one time when doing something the easier way might also be the better way as well?)

Dino.

[philipw]

I would think that the overlay method, besides being the easier method, would also give a sturdier result. (Possibly the one time when doing something the easier way might also be the better way as well?)

Dino.

I agree with that. In this case where the back side of the panel doesn't also have to appear to be frame and panel, this would help make it more strength. Allowing for movement between the frame an panel is difficult at best on something that's out in the elements and the overlay method solves most of that issue.

[mordrogyn]

Of course the overlay method leaves the ends of your plywood exposed to the elements and general battery....
Which is why I copied the rebate overlay method.

[philipw]

Yeah, I guess that's true if you aren't permanently attaching the panels to the posts and weather-proofing.

Has anybody used MDO plywood for their build? MDO is known commonly known as signboard, and is what outdoor signs are generally made of here in the US. It is plywood, with smooth paper overlay that waterproof, as well as the ply is waterproof. Generally the smooth surface is a benefit but in this case where you might want some grain to show, this would not have it.

[mordrogyn]

Well, it's supposed to be more for the doors, so you don;t see the plywood and so that the hinges have some proper wood to screw into, though I used the method on all side as all sides will be hinged

[philipw]

Well, it's supposed to be more for the doors, so you don;t see the plywood and so that the hinges have some proper wood to screw into, though I used the method on all side as all sides will be hinged

Yeah, good call all around I think.

[Scarfwearer]

Yeah, I guess that's true if you aren't permanently attaching the panels to the posts and weather-proofing.

Has anybody used MDO plywood for their build? MDO is known commonly known as signboard, and is what outdoor signs are generally made of here in the US. It is plywood, with smooth paper overlay that waterproof, as well as the ply is waterproof. Generally the smooth surface is a benefit but in this case where you might want some grain to show, this would not have it.

The panels on my build are MDO, as I was not looking for wood grain. Most of my TARDIS interior is also MDO, for the same reason. It has the additional benefit of being a lot lighter weight than MDF, and much nicer to cut (less dust).

Crispin

[galacticprobe]

Yeah, I guess that's true if you aren't permanently attaching the panels to the posts and weather-proofing.

Has anybody used MDO plywood for their build? MDO is known commonly known as signboard, and is what outdoor signs are generally made of here in the US. It is plywood, with smooth paper overlay that waterproof, as well as the ply is waterproof. Generally the smooth surface is a benefit but in this case where you might want some grain to show, this would not have it.

We always referred to this sort of ply as 'marine grade" because it's what the guys at the Coast Guard Boat Shop use when they have to make new dayboards to replace the ones that are worn out. (For those who aren't familiar with the term, dayboards are those square and triangle shapes on pilings driven into the bottom of rivers and bays where the water isn't deep enough to justify using buoys to mark the sides of the channel.)

Dayboards get replaced about every 3 to 5 years depending on the rate of deterioration. Mind you, these things are sitting on a telephone pole sticking out of mostly salt water areas and are battered by this on a daily basis, and they can last up to 5 years. A TARDIS shell made of this stuff sitting in someone's yard should last far longer, especially if the upkeep (checking the paint every so often for cracks and chips, things like that) is done every so often.

On the down side, that MDO isn't the least expensive ply around. I'd love to get my hands on about 6 sheets of it, but the boat shop guards that stuff like it was gold and they were Fort Knox. (And as 'un'luck would have it, all of my buddies who used to work there and might have been able to help me out have transferred, so I don't know anyone there now, and I'm lucky if I can get a small scrap about 2ft x 3t without having to explain away my life story.)

Dino.

[atomicgraph]

cosmetically the frame construction would look great from the inside, also the craft mans ship involved would be very impressive as well. i'll also throw in that the designers of the show intended to want this type of look. the tenant doors imply this and also the episode fathers day when the interior of the tardis disappeared and what was left was the empty shell.
as cool as the tardis looks from the out side its a little disappointing opening the doors and just having flat walls with windows.  i'd also imagine that it'd be a little lighter in the end too

[galacticprobe]

One thing to keep in mind with "Father's Day", for the "empty" TARDIS shell, the reason the interior looked like it did was because they assembled the box inside-out, so what we were looking at while the Doctor was standing inside the shell was, in fact, the outside sides simply turned around.

And with the above references, maybe we should refer to this as the "2005 TARDIS". Almost everyone seems to call it the "Tennant" TARDIS (and I admit I am also guilty of this sometimes), and forgets that it started out as the "Eccleston" TARDIS. And Christopher Eccleston is the one who brought 'Doctor Who' back to the screen. So calling it the "2005 TARDIS" would give credit to both actors, especially since they essentially used the same "box".

As to the design of the inside, when the crew isn't using the backdrop of the console room on the rear wall, they've got a green screen insert so they can put the TARDIS interior into the scene in post production. As some of the TARDIS assembly photos in the Reference section show, the inside walls are indeed flat, and painted black. (So was the Classic Series TARDIS prop, and this can really be seen in the final moments of "The Three Doctors" when everyone has returned to Earth and is talking outside the TARDIS with the 2nd and 3rd Doctors; both TARDIS doors are wide open and the interior, though painted black, is lit enough that you can even see the block-outs on the back wall's windows.)

Dino.