Russell's TARDIS

[superrichi1a]

Frankly, if you ask a "mere mortal" to draw "The TARDIS" what they'll give you is a rectangle with windows (with often 9 panels), 2 huge panels below the windows, a sloping roof and a circular light at the top. Then other mere mortals will look at it and go "yeah that's the TARDIS" and have done since 1963. To us, it's a monstrosity, to them and their uneducated eyes, it's a TARDIS. I think I may have just broken a taboo by saying that
Dino's more fair minded approach is, of course, more desirable, but is also possible that's what he meant
I reckon think that's a major skill of the prop builder, actually. Most people see a blue rectangle, we see intimate details of a prop and a piece of history. Most people see a copper thing with green tip, we see 4 claws and a leather handle. Most people see "chocolate" I see a perfectly crafted Yorkie bar with 6 blocks and a space where a hilarious "Not For Girls" logo used to be, placed in good humour, before political correctness came in and ensured it vanished, whereas most people see "a chocolate bar". I think I've illustrated my point. Essentially, we have a superpower


And... I should point out Yorkie did also do a version of their bar called "For girls" -  it used to be the big thing in the playground, blue vs. pink Yorkies. The way the world is going that sort of healthy competition and light-hearted fun is becoming rarer and rarer. Fortunately, I think TARDIS Spotting is moving in the opposite direction thanks to the Smith box as, whereas most casual viewers cannot tell the difference between a Tennant and Smith prop at a glance, many do seem to be aware there is a difference. I was mighty pleased when I showed an old friend of mine a picture of my build earlier this year, when it still looked a bit like a Smith, and he immediately assumed it was an old Tennant prop I had bought. Far off the mark, but at least he recognised it had changed!

[darth_baldrick]

Frankly, if you ask a "mere mortal" to draw "The TARDIS" what they'll give you is a rectangle with windows (with often 9 panels), 2 huge panels below the windows, a sloping roof and a circular light at the top. Then other mere mortals will look at it and go "yeah that's the TARDIS" ..."

bah ha ha ha... i think you've just described my build from the "plan" that I scribbled on the back of fag packet (not literally but you get the idea) showing a tall wonky rectangle with more rectangles on it.... 

Merry Xmas all.

[russellsuthern]

This isn't technically an update, but I thought some of you guys might find it interesting...
I teach archery as part of my classes, but I find normal sport archery, just firing at round targets a bit boring, so I'm always trying to come up with new ideas to make things more interesting.
Recently I decided to try a sci-fi theme. I painted a starscape backdrop onto a big blue sheet, then made some spaceship targets using cardboard.
I did a TARDIS, a Dalek saucer, The Millenium Falcon, A TIE fighter, the SS Enterprise & a Klingon bird of prey.
You had to either be a "goodie" & shoot the villains, or a "baddie" & shoot the heroes!



Everyone was worried about going for the TARDIS, knowing my love of Dr Who, but I assured them the TARDIS was indestructable, & it wasn't the first time it had been shot at by an arrow!
It was very exciting, but the thing that made me think was that, here, amongst all these gleaming, super-cool sci-fi spaceships, was an old battered blue Police Box, looking completely at home & not out of place!!
Thanks to a British sci-fi programme, this iconic piece of British history will always be remembered, up among the stars!
It brought a smile to my face that a quirky, 50 year old British programme could achieve this!
I wonder all the other mega-bucks franchises think of this?!
Basically, what I'm saying is, all hail the TARDIS, the quirkiest, coolest, most amazing space ship ever created!


All the best,

Russell

[superrichi1a]

That's a fantastic idea! I do love archery, but I tend to get the chance to do it maybe one of two times a year when on holiday at Centre Parcs or the annual village fete. But I'm actually surprised how right you are, it doesn't look out of place at all does it? That's very eye-opening!

[russellsuthern]

Hi, all!

The lovely wife got me these for Christmas:

Always nice to have new books to add to the collection!

Made a little box for the phone to sit on, so it looks a bit more prominent:


Finished my first two corner posts:




They are proving to be very time consuming!
As I said earlier, they are a bit thinner & a bit simpler than I would ideally like, but I think they'll look okay once it's all knocked together.





They remind me a little of the Newbery box posts, which I believe had a simple two-stepped construction?
Anyway, I don't think it looks too bad from a distance!




So that's where I'm up to for now.
Hope your builds are going well & the January weather isn't hampering you too much!

Russell

[Volpone]

Two observations:  OK, 3: 

1) For the archery shoot, you could have done it like a "Hogan's alley," where you have to hit the "bad guy" targets while missing the "good guys." 

2) It is interesting that the box isn't the right size for a telephone, because it was the right size for a telephone when it was designed.  The phone panel was designed for the old "candlestick" phones, so once those became obsolete, Scotland Yard had these great tall cubbys for relatively short phones.

3) It is a really nice and interesting build.   

[russellsuthern]

Hi, Volpone,

1) Yes, we've tried that one- makes it much more difficult! Sometimes I put balloons all round the targets which you have to miss- adds a bit of excitement with the odd loud bang making everyone jump!

2) Interesting point, I hadn't thought of that. I teach gentle excercise at a local care home which is full of vintage style decoration, including a fully operational candle stick style phone! I have been tempted a few times!! (Not that I ever would, of course!!)

3) Thank you for the kind words. I'm getting a lot out of building it!

Russell

[russellsuthern]

Hi, all!

Finally finished my corner posts, which is a great relief!
On to the base- (Because I'm all about the base, 'bout the base, no trouble...)
Fairly standard construction, but I am going to put a grill in the centre to aid air flow & hopefully reduce condensation...






The base shouldn't take me too long, then I'm looking forward to tackling the roof with it's steps & angles.
I'm starting to see the finish line...

Russ

[galacticprobe]

Wow, Russ; that's some seriously cross-braced base you've got there! That should be able to take some weight like it was nothing. I looked back through your diary and my stanky old wizzard eyes couldn't find it, but is your Old Girl going to be an outdoors TARDIS? (Something tells me I did see that somewhere, but because I'm looking for it, I can't find it.) If she is, you might want to consider incorporating some filter material into your floor vent. That way you can still keep your added air flow, but also keep the bugs out. The stuff I'm talking about is like a squishy foam mesh - not the stuff you put in central heating/air conditioning intakes - but over small air flow places like PC fans. (Though, at worst, that blue stuff used in the heat-a/c intake should work.)

Keep up the fantastic progress! Things are really coming together beautifully.

Dino.

[russellsuthern]

Hi, Dino!
Yes, it's going outside in the yard out front of my training hall to keep all my junk in to give me more room in the hall. Should shock a few new prospective students as they come in!
Good idea about the filter, although the grill i'm using, (again, found in a skip!) has pretty small holes anyway, (pics coming soon) so I might be okay without.
I don't mind the odd bug finding it's way in, as long as it isn't of the memory- wiping sort!
I'm getting quite excited about how close I'm getting to the grand 'putting up' ceremony!

Russ

[galacticprobe]

...the grill i'm using, (again, found in a skip!) has pretty small holes anyway, (pics coming soon) so I might be okay without.
I don't mind the odd bug finding it's way in...

Well, great find on that grille! Some money saved there, and every little bit helps. But the bugs! I also don't mind the odd bug (well, depending on how "odd" it is) and living in a house that's surrounded by trees and shrubbery (on a small lot - I'm the only house on the block that's in the woods!) I deal with all manner of bugs, and of all sizes. But I've found how the horrifying way that what once was a tiny spider that slipped in through a crack had become what could only be best described as close to tarantula-sized in no time at all, so I've gotten a little more than paranoid. Normally, as long as they're outside, they can stay where they are, and I can usually avoid them. Usually.

(Mr. Arachophobia talking here: anything larger than the head of a good-sized pin and the world goes grey on me, knees give out, cold sweats. I've been known to almost go through closed windows to get away from one the size of a US Quarter! I accidentally came face to face - inches away - with one of those black and yellow ones that makes the round web with the large zig-zag down the center. The thing was larger than the palm of my hand! That was the last thing I remember until my wife was fanning my face while I was on the ground. Luckily I didn't pitch head first into it. And how did I get that close to it, one may ask? I was following The Evil One around when she was about knee-high, wandering through a Botanical Garden. I was making sure that she didn't trip on anything, or touch the wrong thing. Well, she was short enough to walk right under its web! Me? I'm just lucky I happened to glance up when I did. Another step and I'd have needed paramedics!)

So that's one reason I suggested the filter: a pea-sized "spider" of today that could get through one of the holes in that vent could very well be an alien face-hugger by tomorrow!

Dino.

[russellsuthern]

Blimey!
Are you living in America or Australia?
We don't get anything like that in my neck of the woods...
Well, that's probably because we are far away from any woods...!
We do get plenty of normal spiders, but I actually quite like those.
I don't mind the big hairy ones, it's the small, black shiny ones that do worry me a bit... although if one the size of a dustbin lid jumped on my back, that would be a different story!

Russ

[superrichi1a]

Ah! I see you have used the world renowned technique of designing your base by playing Tetris! By far the most fun way to build
Looks very sturdy, and the more I look at your sides in that blue the more jealous I become!!

[galacticprobe]

Blimey!
Are you living in America or Australia?

America: Virginia Beach, Virginia. We do get some big ones around here, especially in the botanical gardens where they have free run, so to speak. We get some big ones like that in our yard as well - we call those "seamstresses" because of the zig-zag they put down the center of the web, and they do get rather huge! We have other huge ones on orb webs - ones with a large ball-back. They don't get quite that big, but at least about the size of a US half-dollar. We have seen some wolf spiders that have gotten so large their legs turn black from about the second joint down; judging from the size of the brick it was hugging I'd guess it was at least 6 inches long! (At that point the Monty Python philosophy kicked in: "Run away! Run away!"

We don't get anything like that in my neck of the woods...

You are so lucky!

Well, that's probably because we are far away from any woods...!

Probably. Technically, so are we. We just happened to plant loads of azaleas, trees, and other bushes all round the house so it looks like we're in the woods. (Just for giggles:)

Courtesy of Google Maps; my house from above...


...and from the street. Everyone else's house on the block - both sides - is like a barren land... with manicured lawns.

We do get plenty of normal spiders, but I actually quite like those.
I don't mind the big hairy ones, it's the small, black shiny ones that do worry me a bit...

Now you're talking heart attack territory for me!

although if one the size of a dustbin lid jumped on my back, that would be a different story!

Okay... I've just flatlined (and I don't mean the 2-D kind!)!

Back on track now - away from tarantulitis freakmeouticus (as my trembling hands reach for those Drift Compensators).

Are you planning to add more "bulk" to those base sides? And how and what would you be using?

Dino.

[russellsuthern]

Hi, Dino,

You live in a nice place!
Re: the base, I'm not going to pad out the sides any more because I've measured it so that the sides of the TARDIS will rest directly on top of four of the supporting beams within the base itself.
Also, although quite heavy, the weight will be evenly distributed through the four sides, so it should hold quite easily.

This is the grill:


I also found a load of patterned perspex squares in a skip. The type they use to cover in-ceiling lighting:

I took 5 or 6 sheets, then realised I have already done my windows! So, I can either save it to repair my windows if they break, or I can use them to build a whole new TARDIS! (No, don't go there! That way lies madness!)
So this is where I am with my base at the mo:


So far so good!

PS: Watched "Dr Who- Earth Conquest" the other day, which is a documentary about the world tour the Dr Who crew went on to promote series 8.
It really was one of the funniest, most heart-warming programme I have watched in a long time!
The different fans are just amazing! Especially the ones in South Korea- well worth a watch!

Cheers,

Russell