Russell's TARDIS

[russellsuthern]

Hi, all.
Someone was chucking this huge pine bed out, so I nabbed it!



Can you imagine how much this pine would cost if you tried to buy it new?

Iv'e made some progress on the next two panels. Panel 3 just needs a few more coats of paint, & panel 4 has the backboard on it ready for the timber covering.




Once they are done, that will be the two sides all but finished. The back will just be a plain board, so that should be easy, then the front panels, which will be a bit trickier, because they have the door & the phone box in them.

Cheers,

Russell

[superrichi1a]

It's just more and more staggering how this is being made! You see a few builds that get made out of found materials but never have I seen one look so damn good! And hit so close to the mark of looking an accurate, authentic police box prop. Credit to you!

[russellsuthern]

Thanks so much for your positive comments.
The support everyone gives on this site is a great motivator to keep going!
I just hope the finished product lives up to expectations!

All the best,

Russell

[russellsuthern]

Hi, all,

Painted the back of my panels with white gloss...




However, disaster struck!
The windows are two layers of perspex with bubble wrap sandwiched batween to create the pebbled glass effect.
The inner sheet of perspex cracked due to age, & the gloss seeped inbetween the two sheets and spread!



So I had to cut out the affected sheets & replace them, cursing in several alien languages!!



Mostly done, just sanding  & re-painting & it will be as good as new...



So, this is where I am, 3 panels, with yet another application of undercoat...




By the way, DJ Postironic, in his build diary, said building a TARDIS makes you look at things in a completely different way. I know what he means, I'm seeing bloody TARDISes everywhere!




That's all for now.
Good luck with your own builds!

Russell

[superrichi1a]

Once again the sheer neatness that comes out of nowhere is staggering! Mr McGoo and I wondered briefly on it a while ago, what exactly makes a built a "neat" piece of woodwork, and we decided it came down to skills/experience, tools and space (in varying quantities) - from what has been on show so far it's the first you must be excelling at! In one of those pictures it looks like one window has had something else done to it to get the pebble effect, was that detailed earlier, have I missed something?

[russellsuthern]

Hi, Richard,
You are right, I did do something else. Basically, the bubble wrap didn't stand out enough on its own, so I gave the back of the panels a translucent black wash, then picked out each seperate "pebble" with white emulsion. Looks better from the front than the back!
The other panel will get the same treatment once all the glue is dried.
Thanks again for your positive comments. This build is really stretching (& improving!) my somewhat limited woodwork skills!

Russell

[dj postironic]

My front door would have 8 panels rather than 6 if I could afford to lose the natural light ( the hall has got dark enough already just losing a third of the glass )

[Tempus Fugit]

Loving the build so far. A reclaimed wonder. I'm sorry if you've mentioned before, but why are you building the doors/panels so tall? What's your masterplan?

[russellsuthern]

Thanks!

I'll try to explain what i'm up to...
The panels are 93", which is up to the 1st step on the roof.
The doors I'll just cut with a saw to the right height. (About 78" or 79")
The idea is that I'll just nail the 4 panels together & bung the roof on top!
Hope that makes sense...
If not, I'm sure it'll  all become clear as the build progresses...

Cheers,

Russell

[russellsuthern]

Hi, all.
Time for an update.
This is where I'm at so far:



The big flat panel is going to be the back. The space I'm fitting my TARDIS in is very small, so the back needs to be as thin & smooth as possible. I'd prefer it to be one piece, but the skips didn't yield one bit big enough! so I had to glue & nail 4 bits together to get the right size.



The other bit Iv'e nearly finished is the second half of the second side. It just needs a window added & the blue undercoat.



The reason they are both black, is that Iv'e given them a coat of rubber paint. This is because these bits are going to be tucked round the back & therefore more difficult to reach for maintainance. Being round the back means they'll either be better protected from the elements, or they'll get more dripped on & rot away double quick! So I'm taking no chances, these panels will get rubber paint, undercoat, exterior emulsion, varnish- the lot!
With any luck this will be enough to keep it in good nick.

Anyway, that's where I'm up to now.



Once Iv'e finished the panel, I'm going to start on the front portion.

Wish me luck!

Russell

[russellsuthern]

Hi, all.
So, while my last two panels were drying I decided to have a crack at the lamp...
These are the bits disassembled. The top is from an old cookie jar someone threw out. The uprights are cut from the handle of an old carpet sweeper someone threw out. The glass was a jar of gherkins from the pound shop! So, unless you count the quid I spent on the gerkins, the whole thing cost nothing!

Bits assembled..
.
Coat of paint...




That's it for now.
Hope your builds are going well.

Russell

[superrichi1a]

A good Dalek photobomb, that's what we like! Our Daleks could start a business together.

But that lamp is SERIOUSLY creative, I'm gobsmacked at how good it looks all assembled - it's no easy feat to cobble together a lamp from bits and find it still looks and feels so close to a a real set up with a fresnel, not even the BBC managed it in the 70s, so well done, it's looking good!

[russellsuthern]

Thanks, it means a lot... My Dalek is very nosy...He's always looking over my shoulder!
I know the lamp isn't 100% accurate, but I'm very happy with it. I think It'll look just fine sitting on top of my TARDIS.
Who knows, if I find a fresnel lamp for tuppence ha'penny in a boot sale I can always swap it over!
Anyway, now for the million dollar question- white or blue light?
My head says white but my heart says blue. Even though the light has always been white in almost every episode, I always see it as blue & people always say, "are you putting a blue flashing light on it?"
I think it's because in the opening sequence of the last Pertwee & early Baker series there was a picture of a TARDIS with a whacking great big blue lamp! Seeing that must have seeped into the public consciousness...
Anyway, here are a few different attempts of lighting I tried...
First, I shoved a lightsaber up inside it (sounds painful)

Then LEDs...

Blue light...

White light...By far the brightest...


I'll probably make it interchangeable depending on my mood!
That's all for now,
Thanks,

Russ

[russellsuthern]

Hi, all.
So, the missus & I had a rare morning off to visit the local boot sale. A great place for picking up prop-building nick nacks.
Firstly, I found this to add to my TARDIS collection. A fish tank decoration that fish can actually swim in & out of!
I think it looks kind of funky, especially for only four quid!

But I was actually after perspex picture frames. Perspex is so expensive, but some of these frames go for as little as 50p each!
If I want a frosted look, I just go over it with some sandpaper.
Clear on the left, sanded on the right...

Used it to make another window...

With a coat of paint..
.

I'm gathering together quite a collection of TARDIS bits!


That's all for now.
Hope your builds are going well.

Russ

[superrichi1a]

You're ingenuity in finding TARDIS materials is just staggering! Wish I could do that :p Looking good! I really love the look of sanded acrylic windows, they seem rather ghostly! I accidentally made mine very dark by spraying a little black onto the back and then sanding this back again - my windows now alternate from white to dark grey depending on angle and light conditions. I admit it's not an effect I was hoping for but just a point of interest, looks a bit like how the classic boxes looked with dirty windows. I also found going over it in smoother sand paper in circles looked quite cool!
The bubble wrap windows are looking especially good there too, I must say!