MagePro's TARDIS

[magepro]

About that pesky light up top. We went through several interations about what type of glass lamp to use up top as well as the control ability to make it flash with the proper effect.

As much as I really liked GrayDaves' use of the modulator, it was too much orientated by the amplitude of the sound and not on just a steady flash. The good parts about it was the light didn't start until there was sound and killed it when the sound was done. Way cool. A small change to the circuit and it will turn on for any signal and stay on for as long as there is one. I'll go into detail on what I did to change the circuit later. This is great as it can power our timing circuit.

For the timing, I started out with a 555 (timing/counter) chip, a hand full of resistors, a pot switch (to control the timing) and a couple of capacitors. I took the guts from another modulator circuit (the part that allows you to seperate your trigger signal from the AC mains) and threw it together.

It worked, but then the same guy that sent us the BOSS car stereo and speakers, gave us a "Chaser Pack" and a spot light from his DJ outfit he didn't want anymore. The Chaser Pack allows you to hook in 4 lights and have them 'chase' eachother in a rotation. By plugging in one, I get a nice delay that I can adjust as needed.


We tried using incandescent lights, but they had a very quick ramp up and down on the current so it was either on or off immediatly. The spot lamp was different. This little spot light is used to shine on one of those disco balls, so it's really bright.

It also has a slow ramp up and down which means that when power is applied to it, it will slowly get brighter. When the current is off, it slowly dies down. This gives us a very nice effect rather than just a quick blink.

As I've seen many successfully do, they've opted to go for the newer look of the garden lamp on top. However, we wanted a touch of the old-school look and went for the fresnel lamp. Yeah, you can pick a small porch lamp up for $4 at Lowes or Menards or just about any hardware store.
In the initial tests with our light, the glass produced a cool effect as the light beam seemed to just sit in the middle of the glass. But it was missing something. Evidently, we were loosing our light out the top. We cut out a bit to tin foil and placed it shiny side down on top. This increased the effect and we were able to get a great example of the fresnel function.

(I did a little movie, but it didn't turn out to show here)

However, there was a major issue in my eyes. When placed on top of a 9 foot structure, it nearly disappeared unless there was a tall box that pushed it up higher.  I have been talking with a company called Perco who has made the fresnel lenses for marine uses for over a hundred years. They are sending me a sample of 2 sizes that should arrrive about the time we are ready to finish the roof.  

While waiting, I ran out to Menards and picked up a lamp that had a fresnel pattern that was much larger and had more of a pronounced effect. Here's a comparison of sizes.

And, notice the pronounced change in how it grabs and focuses the light...

This is taken indoors with lights on and a lighted background, so you can see the pronounced difference using the right lense means.

It wasn't that much more expensive to get it through Menards as the real deal costs about the same after shipping. However, I am anxious to see how great that difference is.

Wood-working is up next...

[magepro]

Not a big day in the progress department considering all the time. We worked on the doors/walls today and smoothed out the seems in the base. I spent some time on the phone with our designer today and he says we will have the completed roof diagram by tomorrow (8-4) so we can start work on it!

We put the doors/walls together today and put the oil-based primer/sealer on one of them. We didn't putty in the little gaps in the wood work as I thought we were going to do as 'the Boss' just wanted to get it done and did the primer on REALLY heavy. As a matter of fact, he poured it on. Surprised me the effect it had. He took a can of Rustoleum Enamel Engine spray paint and lightly sprayed it. The enamel came to the top of the wet oil primer and gave an intense aged look before we even put on the first coat of the first color.


I did a big-time goof today in 2 ways. First, I didn't know that the panels were not 1/4" like they said, but a little bigger. Trent-the-Builder had used the router to thin down the panels so they fit perfectly. I tried to jam the first one in un-routed and snapped the channel. It didn't completely break off thank goodness. It was too late to do too much with it, so I just glued it too and held it in place with a clamp until it cured.

The second was one of the bottom cross pieces on the wall that will become the door was larger than one on the other side. I figure I can just trim to bottom a bit to make it all fit. I don't think it'll make a difference later, but it was a noticable goof.


Tomorrow, I pick up more enamel spray paint and more paint. I think we have enough Primer/sealer to do the whole TARDIS, but I'm not sure. We are using two colors on top of the Primer. More pictures and stats tomorrow. When I get the electronics done and in their box, I'll share that too.

[magepro]

Update - We do have confirmation of the new work area. We do not have an exact move date yet. I'm really looking forward to getting the old girl done and ready for transport to this years' Gencon.

[magepro]

Good news!  We have moved the box out of storage and into our store/shop.

Here's what we've done in changes so far:
I wired the lights for the Police Box signs and tested them.
The windows were just a slight frost and had no grids.
     We did a heavier spray-on frosting and have the grids in now on both sides of the window - Still needs the lower corner windows treated.
The boxes and corner covers were not done as designed, so we had to...
     Cut gaps in the tops of the corner units and add pins ot the bottom so that it lock into place and doesn't shift.
     We dropped one and it split, so we had to screw it back together. Looks bad.      Maybe we just call it "Character"
We had to trim the Police box corners and level out the edges so that it looked close to what it was spec'd to do and the Police Box box fit properly.
When we moved the box out from Gencon last year, I dropped the actual light bulb. We are trying a different one this year that's brighter... maybe.
The roof is REALLY heavy (not the slanted roof) and tends to droop on the open end.
     Last year, we put a post on the 4th corner to prop it up.
     This year, we have built the display area that crosses the middle. The center shelf helps to prop this up. It still droops a little.
          We may remedy this by shortening the middle post by 1/4"
     The top corners were not completed on the fouth side. Except for the completed paint job, they are in place, but not fastened.
I'm still thinking that with the glossy finish and any amount of light, the color is too light. I want to do a light brush of darker blue or black in places to darken it up a bit.

Lights & Sound
Started to work on the control box again. Did some re-wiring and labeling so I could remember what I was doing and where I was going.
Don't have the RF remote control in yet. I wanted to get the basics working first.

In the next post, I'll have pics and some detail about the display area and the EFX box. You'll get to see how some of the changes were made and how they look.

I will get a bunch of pictures tomorrow in the shop to show you what I'm talking about.

[magepro]

Almost ready for Gencon! Made the needed changes as noted earlier.

Things to be finished...
* Lamp on top is crooked and needs to be leveled.
* Light needs to be higher in lamp so filiment focal point is centered.
* Window treatment for bottom outsides need proper treatment.
* Audio clips need programmed.
* RF remote control needs to be installed and programmed/wired.

Here's some pics...

The Light bulb doesn't come up into the light fixture enough, so we will be raising that a bit.
I needed to work on the timing for the flashing of the light. I'm close, but not quite. You can hear the music.

[magepro]

We got so busy during the move and getting ready for Gencon 2010, that I hadn't had time to visit with my friends here. I have some photos from the new shop as we made some changes and some pics after we got back and put it all back together again.

We had some issues that I'll discuss later due to the move and observations by others.  Some pics from Gencon 2010 and details of some fixes we mentioned PLUS some additions we didn't mention that came as a surprise for us as we were getting ready to open are coming up in the next day or two. Stay tuned.

[DoctorWho8]

A friend and fellow CIDWFC member Ian made a trip to Who North America's shop.  While there, he encountered MagePro's TARDIS display, still looking good.


Bill "the Doctor" Rudloff