New build

[galacticprobe]

...the Bracaki box had all manner or lights during its time.

There is a thread I believe which talks about just when each lamp appeared. Im pretty sure in the first few episodes it had a round top with a dome though.

You're right, Mark - on just about everything. (Okay, being nit-picky in a joking way there ); the Brachacki prop has two sub-boards devoted to it, with multiple threads in each, in the http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?board=24.0 Section:
http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?board=43.0, and especially http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=2654.0;
http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?board=44.0. Threads of particular interest in that sub-board might be http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=221.0 (I know this has the same name as the previous link, but whereas the former is the sub-board, the latter is a thread), and http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=3900.0.
Other than the joking around bit, Mark is right on the money!

There's a lot of reading and discussion in the above threads. The condensed version for the full-sized prop - leaving the model TARDISes out since they differed greatly sometimes from the prop: Starting in the Pilot and close to the Second Season the prop had a Fresnel lens capped with a disc that had a shallow dome in the middle of it (the dome was about the same diameter as the lens), and the cap was connected to the little box at the lens' base by four struts at the little box's corners. There are some photos of this, and in particular a nice behind-the-scenes photo from "The Keys of Marinus" in the 1963 link above.

As of "The Web Planet", the Fresnel lens is gone and in its place is a plain, translucent cylinder, and now the lamp is capped by a square top with a narrower, taller (almost hemispherical) dome, yet this cap still retains the four struts. (Again a great behind-the-scenes photo of that, and one from "The Chase", is in the 1963 link: "The Chase" on Page 3 and "Web Planet" on Page 4, even though "Web" came first.) The square and round caps were used interchangeably until "The Savages" when the square cap became the permanent fixture.

In the 1966 link you'll see that while the translucent cylinder was the (mostly) permanent "lens" for the lamp, the cap changed during the Pertwee era of the 'Brachacki-Altered' days of the TARDIS prop; at least as far as up to "Invasion of the Dinosaurs" it still had the square cap, though at times it lost the dome on top of the cap. At the start of "Planet of the Spiders" the lamp cap became a basic, round top on the lens; there wasn't any "overhang" as there had been on the previous caps, and thus the struts vanished. This is how the prop was fitted for the final year of the Pertwee era.

The lens stayed as it was during the Tom Baker era, but the cap eventually returned to something very close to that of the original 1963 lamp: a disc with a shallow dome the same diameter as the lens, but it was still missing the struts going from cap to base. (One notable exception is the story "The Android Invasion", where the TARDIS lamp appeared to regain its Fresnel Lens, struts, and cap - looking very much like it did in the early Hartnell days.) The prop remained mainly with the frosted cylinder lens and round, domed, strut-less cap until the Brachacki prop was retired and replaced by the Newbery version in 1976. (The last 'Brachacki-Altered' appearance as the sole TARDIS prop seen on screen was at the very end of Tom Baker's story "Seeds of Doom".)

That's the digest version; I hope it's helpful.

Dino.

[Senseidale]

Thanks Dino
Quite a bit to read and very informative again thank
The build is getting close to the end of stage one
Stage two the paint job been looking different shades of blue I think Oxford blue is r
The best so far unless any one knows better.
I have asked a friend who is an artist to do the paint the inside to give it some depth any thoughts.

[galacticprobe]

You're more than welcome, senseidale! Well, the inside of the original Brachacki prop (and probably its successors) was painted black. You can really see that, as well as the window block-outs, near the end of "The Three Doctors" when everyone is in the UNIT lab and both TARDIS doors are wide open.

If you're looking for a backdrop to create a forced perspective, to make it really look bigger on the inside, for the Brachacki TARDIS you could try having one of these images photo-enlarged, and though they'd have to be cropped they could always be wrapped around the sides of your TARDIS's interior before you cropped them. And of you did a wrap-around, carefully rounding the corners so they weren't sharp (and didn't look like a three-section photo) it could have a great effect.


I really like this one because it almost makes you feel like you're standing just inside the TARDIS threshold. (If your browser adjusts the image's size to fit your screen, just open the image in a new tab or window to see it full size.)


This one is okay, too, as it gives you the impression that everything is deeper into the TARDIS. However, it's missing the TV monitor and some furniture, and is seen from a different angle.

I've had these for some time and can't remember who created the renders, so if anyone here recognizes them please speak out so proper credit can be given to the images' creator.

Dino.

[Rassilons Rod]

Top one is our Rob Semenoff

[Senseidale]

Hi Dino not one to cuss but Bl00Dy great pics has given me some (what i think) good ideas.
another  Q  what to use so the lamp will pulsate I have been looking at flasher units but they flash to fast
there must be something out there that i can use
again any thoughts

[Senseidale]

Been playing with the Lamp, not there just yet,
need to add the struts and look at something for a better dome.

[mechanoid]

I cannot find it just now, but I have an image that shows a flattened dome on top of the lamp housing for this prop, at least in its early years.

[galacticprobe]

Hi Dino not one to cuss but Bl00Dy great pics has given me some (what i think) good ideas.

You're very welcome! I'm glad they were helpful.

another  Q  what to use so the lamp will pulsate I have been looking at flasher units but they flash to fast
there must be something out there that i can use

Well, I don't know how well versed you are with electronics, or if you know anyone who has worked on small electronic projects, but here's a very simple flasher circuit for a 12-volt bulb, such as a car's tail light or turn signal:

Every part (maybe not the bulb) can be found in stores like Radio Shack. Basically, this is a flasher circuit modified to use a bulb instead of an LED; the bulb will give you that "fade/fade off" look whereas an LED would just "blink" on and off.

The circuit uses a common 555 timer IC chip (sometimes seen as NE555), also called a "clock chip" among other things - very durable, practically bullet proof. The bulb's flashing rate can be varied from very fast to as slow as once every 1.5 seconds by adjusting the variable resistor VR1. You can increase the value of C1 to get a slower flashing rate if you want to (a larger value, such as 100uF, will really slow the rate to once in 10 sec, so you can experiment with that if the flashing rate isn't to your liking by just adjusting VR1).

Instead of using the TIP 31 for T1, you can use the easier-to-find (and less expensive) 2N3055 power transistor. The 3055 can handle up to a 55 watt bulb - which is a bit excessive, really. Using the brake light part of a tail light bulb or even just the tail light itself should be plenty bright and won't put so much of a power draw on the circuit as a 55 watt bulb would, so your battery would last longer depending on how much you intend to run the flasher. The key is to get your bulb in the middle of the Fresnel lens where its light will be refracted  the most, thus yielding the brightest light.

Also, you can power this circuit with a decent wall adapter, just make sure that its output power rating isn't at a lower wattage than the bulb, or the draw from the circuit will seriously overheat the adapter in no time causing its case to melt, and could cause a fire.

This is the simplest way to flash a bulb, and from working with buoys as I did early in my Coast Guard career, I can say that buoys use bulbs not unlike that of a brake light, and I think everyone knows just how bright those bulbs are when they flash through a Fresnel lens atop the buoys. So you should be in good shape with this. The Radio Shack-type store will also have circuit boards that are already perforated with copper solder pads on them, so it will be easy for you to solder in the components, and then solder wires to connect them. They'll also have "project boxes" that you can put your circuit in so it's not all out in the open.

I know this looks like a lot, but I hope this is helpful.

Dino.

[Senseidale]

Again Thanks Dino
I am not Versed with electronics but I know a man who is.
He is trying to take my cars remote  and put it in a sonic screwdriver
I will have a word with him today he might even have something half made 

[tony farrell]

I cannot find it just now, but I have an image that shows a flattened dome on top of the lamp housing for this prop, at least in its early years.

Is this what you had in mind?



The more rounded lamp housing dome appears to have survived the 1966 (War Machines) refit of the Brachaki Police Box prop:





But seems to have been replaced at around the time the original phone panel was swapped to the wrong front door (i.e., April 1967).
The first really clear picture I can find is from Seeds of Death (above).
These are pictures from the Pertwee era showing the shallower dome cap which survived up to its final appearance in Monster of Peladon:




So, if you want to be screen accurate, a more rounded dome is appropriate for the version of the lamp housing in use from season two to the April 1967 refit (see www.tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=4489.7)

Tony

[Senseidale]

Started to put on the undercoat what a dull task

[Mark]

Might be dull but it means you will soob be gong for the "blue bit" which is far more interesting!

Might sound like a ball ache but if you are strugling for an appropriate dome for the lamp how about making a cast from a balloon? You can inflate it as much as is required for the correct dome shape (trial and error) and then make a plaster negative for making a positive, mayby plaster?

Just a thought.

[Volpone]

It is coming along very nicely.  I hesitate to offer advice because you've got a much nicer build than mine and it looks like you're shooting for a more refined build but here's what I did for my lamp top:  I bought a cheap 7" plastic plate at Wal*Mart and cut the center out of it with a Dremel.  Then I bought the biggest solar accent light I could find at Lowe's and glued that on top of it.  My actual lamp lens is much too small but I think I got the top pretty good.  And without any wiring the lamp comes on when the sun goes down. 

[Senseidale]

Gota say thanks to all you guys for your support on this build (Mark you gotta come over and sink some beer) I am a complete novice in building but think if a job is worth doing then bugger it do it well,  I have had some help from friends in the build, they have been only to willing to help, gone over budget a little don't tell the wife and I do hate painting so do my mates funny that.

Going over to one of oldest mate on Sunday doing a bit of shooting (target) he has a wood turner and says he will make a dome for the lamp (forget the shooting lets get the dome sorted)
will post more pics as things progress, again thanks every one. 


SenseiDale

[atomicgraph]

nice build its looking very tardis"y"  now. good luck with it, she's turnin out great