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Scarfwearer's TARDIS

Started by Scarfwearer, Apr 21, 2005, 04:44 am

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retfordlad

Aug 12, 2005, 04:06 pm #105 Last Edit: Apr 28, 2012, 11:45 pm by scarfwearer
 Hey C-Man,

Have to tell me which Home Depot handles you picked up then I can go have a shufti !

Incidentally, what I might try on the back of my pebbled glass is that ' etch spray' that frosts glass up quite nicely - - try peering thru that ! Now Im literally itching to get on with it !

Still waiting to get my plexi/acrylic lamp casing bits from the maker - cant wait for that either ! Few days left now according to turn-around time estimate - -

What a list Im getting into - - 

Scarfwearer

Aug 12, 2005, 04:57 pm #106 Last Edit: Apr 28, 2012, 11:45 pm by scarfwearer
 Oops, now that I come to think of it, it was Lowes where I picked up the new drawer handles. I think they have a slightly better range than Home Depot.

Crispin

hb88banzai

Aug 12, 2005, 05:03 pm #107 Last Edit: Apr 28, 2012, 11:46 pm by scarfwearer
 Yes, there is nothing like the heft of an old bakelite phone.    ;D

If you want a US equivalent to an old 200 or 300 type GPO phone, they can be had (Western Electric/Western Bell 200 or 300 series as I recall come closest (and Eastern Bell, et al, equivalents), though the US 200 series has a round metal base instead of the GPO's pyramidal form in bakelite.

If, however, you also want an old style handset that has a cupped/hooded microphone area like on the British phones, they are a bit harder to come by as they were phased out long before the bakelite phones themselves so even a lot of the originals were replaced.

I think the handset you want for an old Bell phone was an E1 (would work in any older US phone as long as it sets in the cradle OK) - they can be found separately on e-bay and are a snap to install the wiring as long as you have an existing newer style to guide you on what wires go where. That's what I did for the Assemblers Union TARDIS used at Gallifrey One. Found a couple old Western Bell phones (second as a spare should anything go out) and then replaced one of the handsets with an e-bay purchase (fifteen years later, mind you). Not a perfect match to a GPO, but even the original was enough to impress Sylvester the first time he used it. 8)

Just remember that all of these suckers are OLD, so the audio quality probably won't be anywhere near what you are used to when using the original mic and ear components, even when they are working 100%.

Scarfwearer

Aug 12, 2005, 05:07 pm #108 Last Edit: Apr 28, 2012, 11:46 pm by scarfwearer
 I can't help much with my specific phone: we were driving on a road trip a few summers ago and stopped at an antique/junk shop by the road-side. We walked in and there it was. I got them to plug it into the wall so I could see if it worked, and called the store on my cellphone to test it. Obviously someone had already done the conversion (to the newer jack at least). Amazingly the exchanges still support pulse dialling over here.
There're no serial or model numbers on the phone. It just says "Bell System manufactured by Western Electric F1" on the underside of the handset, so it's definitely American in origin - but made of bakelite so it's presumably not a reproduction.

Crispin

hb88banzai

Aug 12, 2005, 06:10 pm #109 Last Edit: Apr 28, 2012, 11:46 pm by scarfwearer
 Crispin - sounds like you've got a Western Electric 302 with the later (usual) F1 mouthpiece - just like I have.

Just to give people some visuals (all clickable thumbs) -

US Phones:

Here are a couple pics of a (US) Western Electric/Bell 302 w/ the newer style F1 handset (non-cupped mouthpiece):

th_WE302-F1-c.jpg

th_WE302-F1-d.jpg


And here are a couple of pics of an older (US) Western Electric/Bell 202 with the older style E1 handset (cupped mouthpiece):

th_WE202-E1-a.jpg


th_WE202-E1-b.jpg

hb88banzai

Aug 12, 2005, 06:24 pm #110 Last Edit: Apr 28, 2012, 11:47 pm by scarfwearer
 Note that the 200 series Western Electrics had a separate bell set, just as would be the case with a real Police Box.

hb88banzai

Aug 12, 2005, 06:34 pm #111 Last Edit: Apr 28, 2012, 11:47 pm by scarfwearer
 As a reference, here are British GPO telephones of the type we are trying to emulate (clickable images):

Type 300 (here 332s, I believe), which are the type used in "Logopolis" and "Delta and the Bannermen" (though unknown whether any 300s were used in real police boxes):

th_GPO-332-a.jpg

th_GPO-30x-a.jpg

th_GPO-30x-b.jpg


Type 200 (here 232s) - Probably the most common type used in actual Police Boxes, noting that in real Boxes they were black and the model without bell set, number tray, or dial:

th_GPO-232-Red-wBell.jpg
Red with matching bell set.

th_GPO-232-Ivory-woBell.jpg
Ivory without bell set.

Scarfwearer

Aug 12, 2005, 06:36 pm #112 Last Edit: Apr 28, 2012, 11:47 pm by scarfwearer
 Yup, that 302 looks just like mine. Thanks! It's nice to know what it is. And yes the audio quality is not exactly up to modern standards...

to-call-police.jpg

Crispin

hb88banzai

Aug 12, 2005, 06:46 pm #113 Last Edit: Apr 28, 2012, 11:48 pm by scarfwearer
 You should hear what it's like with an E1 handset!

Sounds like you are listening to everything from inside a tunnel or to an old gramophone - very, very tinny and like it's coming from far, far away.

Kinda neat, really.

Scarfwearer

Aug 13, 2005, 12:13 am #114 Last Edit: Apr 28, 2012, 11:48 pm by scarfwearer
 Finished sanding down the paint with an orbital sander, and wiped it down with a damp cloth.
Now textured the whole box with texture spray. I did this with it assembled so I only catch the bits that are external.

snow-storm.jpg
Looks like it's been frozen for 10000 years...

Crispin

Scarfwearer

Aug 13, 2005, 09:40 pm #115 Last Edit: Apr 29, 2012, 12:19 am by Scarfwearer
land-of-fiction.jpg

Scarfwearer in the land of fiction.

Hoping the primer will toughen up the paint job, as I saw some chipping as a result of painting straight over the texture.

I'll dismantle it before painting it blue again so the blue paint doesn't get damaged.

I'll have to put it together again before weathering it, so I don't get awkward discontinuities in the dirtying.

Oh well, it beats doing press-ups in the Gym...

Crispin

Scarfwearer

Aug 15, 2005, 03:30 am #116 Last Edit: Apr 28, 2012, 11:49 pm by scarfwearer
 Finally got the TARDIS apart again. Here's a panoramic shot of how my shop's become smaller on the inside, as TG puts it.
shop-panorama.jpg
This is actually 7 photos stitched together. Kinda fun!
The panorama makes it look much bigger than it really is.

Here's a shot of the edge of one of the wall panels, showing how it's built up. The big 2x8 along the back has warped a lot over the years, but it doesn't seem to matter.
wall-section.jpg gnarly.jpg
And after it a closeup showing what it looks like after 6 layers of paint and a layer of texture (the first 3 layers were put on in 2000). I suppose the real thing gets to look like this after a while.

Onward...

Crispin

TG

Aug 15, 2005, 12:57 pm #117 Last Edit: Apr 28, 2012, 11:49 pm by scarfwearer
 Great panorama (I usually save those for Scottish landscapes) but now I don’t just want your TARDIS I want your workshop too.

Really interesting to see the close up of the construction and that texture is looking really fine!
I’m convinced you don’t sleep   :)
TG

Scarfwearer

Aug 16, 2005, 06:29 pm #118 Last Edit: Apr 28, 2012, 11:50 pm by scarfwearer
 Well, the shop is not as big as it looks in a panoramic picture - in fact with the TARDIS in there I can barely squeeze around in it.

I managed to spend a couple of hours in there last night with some artists paint and a wet rag made of toweling. Here's the result so far:
weathered-day.jpg

I found it best to get the rag wet enough that I could push the paint around, but also saturated enough with paint that wiping hard would actually make the box dirtier, rather than wiping it cleaner... I also found I had to go back and re-wet the rag periodically, as some of the water stays on the box.
From earlier tests, I found it best to put the paint on fairly evenly, not in patches. It naturally varies enough in coverage whatever you do. Also I kept rubbing until signs of wiping disappeared as far as possible, as the weathering is supposed to resemble years of road soot.

Here's a close-up:
weathered-detail.jpg

Still quite a bit more to do - weathering the the top signs and making more windows. I think I'll also have to weather the fresnel too - even though it's smoked it's just too shiny.

Crispin

Scarfwearer

Aug 17, 2005, 06:29 pm #119 Last Edit: Apr 28, 2012, 11:50 pm by scarfwearer
 I spent ages cutting hammered glass, which is no joke if you're not used to it. I wasted quite a lot of glass, but fortunately ordered enough. The acrylic for the T-shaped pieces was much easier - it cuts almost like wood if you don't go too fast. The windows are now all glued in with clear silicone.
Here's a picture of it lit up:
lit-up.jpg daylight.jpg

Not too much more to do now - have to make a couple more top signs and end-caps and weather the fresnel. Oh and attach the new phone door, with its new insert...

Crispin