Kiwidoc's Console

[museumdave]

Hey Glen & all,

So sorry I could not find my original template.  So what I did was take apart the lever and took tracings.

So here is my version (far from perfect) in place


I used 3" wide bar stock steel about 1/8th of an inch thick.
The tracings look like this.
The area between the 1st and second bend there seems to me to be a touch too big- the area indicated by the red arrow here. If I were remaking this I would make that section smaller.  
another view




Sorry for the raft of photos, but I hope that is of some use to you.

I look forward to seeing how you make out producing your version.

Cheers

Dave

[kiwidoc]

Pictures:
[attachid]2013-09-23_07-39-33_3.jpg[/attach][attachid]2013-09-23_07-39-14_691.jpg[/attach][attachid]2013-09-22_17-56-13_859.jpg[/attach][attachid]2013-09-22_17-52-28_474.jpg[/attach]

Thanks for your work Dave - I had already started my main lever but I'm not sure that I'm happy so if I remake I'll be following your plans more closely - you've definitely got that dog-leg in it worked out well.

Handles made from 18mm (3/4") MDF run over a low table saw blade.  Levers made from 4mm perspex bent after heating with flame.  Sooty and tedious!

Trim wheel made from a small Frisbee (aka "Flying Disk Fun") and spray can cap - still some details to work out.  Tried to form some shapes in the frisbee by heating it but the plastic must be the wrong type and it wouldn't play ball.  Not worried enough to obsess about it, will be fine!

Everything just mocked up for test fitting.  Trim assembly is a bit narrow but I can live with it...

Oh, and the little turbine thing has plastic sides now.[attachid]2013-09-22_17-52-28_474.jpg[/attach][attachid]2013-09-22_17-56-13_859.jpg[/attach][attachid]2013-09-23_07-39-14_691.jpg[/attach][attachid]2013-09-23_07-39-33_3.jpg[/attach]

[kiwidoc]

Some didn't upload:

[galacticprobe]

Wow! My meter is reaching an all-time high. It should blow soon! You'd never know those levers were made from perspex; they do look like metal! And I just love that turbine thingy. (I'd really love to know how you made it; it really looks like it came straight off of the original console prop!)

Dino.

[kiwidoc]

Wow! My meter is reaching an all-time high. It should blow soon! You'd never know those levers were made from perspex; they do look like metal! And I just love that turbine thingy. (I'd really love to know how you made it; it really looks like it came straight off of the original console prop!)

Dino.

Thanks Dino, but pictures are probably a bit deceiving - the perspex control levers may not hold up to regular use (especially if anyone except their builder wants to have a go and gets too enthusiastic!) but we'll see.  As for the turbine thing, I think I post some pics earlier of how I put it together but the only thing I missed out was smoothing some ofthe gaps with modelling clay before painting.   The thing is basically 3 discs of wood, the centre of a CD case, 6 bevelled strips of timber and lots of glue!

I appreciate the comments though, will keep you posted!

[galacticprobe]

As for the turbine thing, I think I post some pics earlier of how I put it together but the only thing I missed out was smoothing some ofthe gaps with modelling clay before painting.   The thing is basically 3 discs of wood, the centre of a CD case, 6 bevelled strips of timber and lots of glue!

Er... yeah. I just went back through your build and saw that. (Guess I should have done that first. Duh . That's what excitement gets me.) I still say it looks really great, just like the rest of your baby! And I think your perspex levers will hold up pretty well, especially if you leave some "slack" in them - not tighten them into place too much - and use some felt as a sort of bushing so they move easily, but still not slip and slowly move on their own. Then if someone does try to have a go at them, there would be no need for them to put any force behind it; they should feel that as soon as they start moving the levers, and unless they're clones of my cousin Ed who doesn't know his own strength, they should use a gentle hand.

Dino.

[kiwidoc]

Hi folks, just a wee project yesterday and today.  I estimated these at 6-7 cm across (2.5") and used some scrap MDF, the lid from a jar to mark a circle, a broken ruler and some shoddy guesswork at the centre of a circle then a 30mm hole saw to make the key shapes.   I'm pretty happy with the result so far - I know it could be better but once I apply the PORT/STARbd graphic and the bar with an arrow and paint them up I'll be happy enough.  I plan to mount them on the screw top lid of a milk bottle or plastic container of some sort so that they turn but with some end-point.

Pictures should be self-explanatory:














PS, I've also attached my frisbee to the spray can top and it spins nicely.  I plan to no-more-nails the top to the side of my lever housing once all painted up and then probably hide the lid with a strip of black something that covers the area.

[galacticprobe]

Interesting way to make those PORT/STARB knobbies! (Probably less tedious than trying to follow that scalloped edge with a scroll saw.)

How thick is that MDF? Looks to be about a quarter-inch or so?

Dino.

[kiwidoc]

Cheers Dino.  The MDF is 10mm thick, roughly 2/5ths of an inch.   Might be a bit thick but it was the closest size of scrap I had to hand!  My knobs have ended up being about 7cm across from point to point so my printed graphic will be about 5.5cm across the widest part.   I could have tried a scroll saw but there is no way I could have done a tidy job with that many turns and lines to follow!  Plus the whole thing took about 30 min for two knobs so feels like an efficient way to do them.  Thanks for looking!

[superrichi1a]

 Oooooohh I've just seen this, looks fantastic!
I am genuinely shocked and in awe of the amount of detail that you're putting into this thing. The 2005 is my on/off favourite (sometimes the McGann just gets me again, y'know?) but I get the feeling that if I were to build one, eventually I'd just fall into the trap of ignoring reference pictures and just say
"this random rusty piece of junk looks about right, I think I'll just shoe-horn it in here... oh no, I broke the console, no matter, I'm sure the real one looked a bit broken, I'll put  my rusty thing here instead. There, that looks pretty consoleish"
But ultimately, this console isn't a collection of random pieces of junk, it's a collection of pieces of instrumentation from throughout time that have been grafted to the core mechanics of the TARDIS to provide the best operational capability possible. Although with the shoe-horn method you can send up with a good-looking console, and actually there have been many INCREDIBLE consoles made like that, unless the console at least makes an effort to go in the direction of the BBC's one, using their ideas, I think in many ways it misses some of the finer charm about the console.
And there, in my roundabout way, is where I fit yours into my mind. Obviously the workmanship is top-notch, I think there are very few on this forum that have demonstrated similar patience and talent, but more importantly I think your console is 100% in the right vein to capture all the important aspects of the 2005 design.

[kiwidoc]

Thanks for that - I'm certainly trying to be as accurate as I can (on as low a budget as I can) but there will be some compromises.  I'm hoping to get most of the key recognisable things right then fill in the gaps with the bits and pieces I have been collecting instead of replicating every single thing every seen on screen.

That said, here is some more replicating...   I gave up on any hope of finding and buying these so...




Cutting circles of tube off some some spare glue





Colouring the glass subtley will come later - I'm thinking cellophane since the see-through paint I have went on too strong and was GREEN! instead of a nice mellow glass green.  Through the frosted perspex it should defuse nicely.  Perhaps.  


I put these at 17 long in the glass part of body, 5.5cm side to side of glass panel.  About 8.8cm across at the 'brass' ends and using 10-12mm thick mdf to make up the ends.    Could be off but look right to me.  They're a lot smaller than I'd expected after studying close up pictures for so long but seem to scale right against other known objects.

[kiwidoc]

I'm a bit glum right now.  At the weekend I moved the console into the house(!) and it's an okay fit in it's destination room but there's no space for anything.  But I digress...  now that I've got a couple of components made or bought at true size, I've tried laying them out on a panel space and compared it to reference shots - and my panels are definitely too small.  That means that my console's ceramic rim's diameter (6') is too small and my currently 100% solid ring now has to be either rebuilt (gah!!!) or cut into pieces.   And I'll need to figure out how to support the centre of the console and connect the ribs together.

I have around 14cm (5.5") of extra rib under the main dais part currently so I could pull the ribs outward a little, giving a wider diameter but I'll have to construct something new to sit in the middle and tie everything together.  Argh!  Just when I tohught I was doing quite well and moving it indoors, I'll have to do a lot of remdial work.   I *hope* that if I cut the ring into pieces (as per the TV console) the pieces will fit between the widened span of ribs, though I may have to make a few more divots in the outer rim.   Strictly speaking, the cut up ring wouldn't be perfectly round from above but it's probably close enough.   It also means a loss of some structural strength that having a solid rim had but I guess I can screw te pieces of rim to the back of the ribs so that will help a bit.   Sigh.   Might take me a little while ot get up the energy for this!   Will try posting some images to compare the sizing and show you what I mean.


Sizing:  My current rim is 6' exactly, outside diameter.  If I pull the ribs back to their maximum I can probably get close to 7' diameter which looks better in my mock-up though I'd sooo love if someone could provide some measures of the real console's panels.    Mark - are you sure you guys never stayed late at The Experience one day and measured heck out of it?  

Thanks for listening guys.

[kiwidoc]

Visual comparison.

Exhibit A  -  I traced my panel gap onto paper and laid out a couple of pieces of instrumentation



Exhibit B - the original panel



Exhibit C - Museum Daves much better looking panel

[galacticprobe]

Glen, this might help a little, at least with structural support (I borrowed one of your photos for this):

When you move your console's ribs farther apart, add a disc of ply or MDF where the red one is in this photo. There is one on the actual console, open in the center to let the light shine up through it to light the panels. That disc will support the console's ribs laterally at the lower level.

Enlarge the disc at the top of the ribs (yellow arrow) to adjust for the widened top, and you'll maintain the structural support you've already got there. (Your column collar shouldn't notice the difference in size.) I didn't draw it on this photo because it would have been too confusing, but as on the actual console you can add an identical disc (again open in the center so light can get into the column) on the underside of the ribs' tops.

And if you want to add the internal bulkheads as are on the real console (blue arrows above; two per rib), that's pretty much how they're shaped, only they're solid bulkheads. They affix to the top and bottom discs, and on the inside of the pointy shelf that supports the rim. (I think there are some "under construction" photos of the naked console in the Reference Section that show those and how they fit in with the upper and lower discs.) They'll give your console's ribs the vertical support so they don't sag. They also have a small ridge that runs along their top edge that the panels' sides rest on for support. (The corrugated black tubes that run around the base of the console pass through the slot between the ribs and the bottom edge of the bulkheads. Again the "under construction" photos should show how it all fits together, and Kingpin's nice close-up photos from the DWE will show more of what I'm trying to explain.)

And as for the rim not being completely "round", if you look at the photos of the actual console, you'll notice that the rim sections do sag a bit between the ribs, and I think enlarging your console as much as you're thinking of doing, you shouldn't have to worry about the rim not looking round if it's done in sections. It should still look plenty round enough.

Anyway, I hope this helps with your angst about having to spread your console's ribs out a bit to make the panels larger. At least it should give you some ideas to think about.

Dino.

[kiwidoc]

Thanks Dino, I appreciate the thought you've put into the help there!

I never knew that there was a bottom support on the console ,that's interesting!  I think I'll do what you suggest though I'm wary about putt too much structure down low because I intend to put a computer, lights, and washing machine motor down there (to drive the rotor) so it might be a frame with a gap in the middle, of some description!    Cheers, Glen