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1/13 Mid 60s TARDIS Console Room Diorama

Started by jamiebate, Jul 12, 2015, 02:25 pm

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jamiebate

Jul 12, 2015, 02:25 pm Last Edit: Jul 03, 2019, 04:53 am by warmcanofcoke
Hi Guys,
I've been working on a few projects, but now I'm going to do something a bit different, I've decided to build a diorama of the mid-sixties console room in 1/13th scale, with a mind to buying a Hartnell/Troughton figure or whatever to put in it, I might even try reconstructions! but lets not get ahead of ourselves. The walls I'll be building will be the flat backed ones seen from The Chase onwards, I think it's just a personal preference. I've taken Tony Farrell's plans for the roundel walls and made a version on 2D Design as close as I could get it with my half a millimetre grid size, with a mind to having them laser cut online (I know longer have access to one myself  :-[)
I realised the idea of having working hinged doors wasn't so outlandish even at that scale, you can get miniature hinges of 8mm size here:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/390396551323?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
I've previously made walls at college using acrylic cast sheet in glossy white, but always hadthe doors fixed and just suggested with an engravement of their outline, thinking there would be no way of attaching hinges, but then it struck me - the answer was super glue, and it could be done. I don't know how strong these (brass I believe?) hinges are, but I'd be prepared to bet that two could hold up a 15cm plastic TARDIS door without breaking. For cost and just general convenience, I decided to compromise on the depth of the roundels, the originals being 9 inches which scaled down is 18mm approx, my compromise being 10mm as this seems to be a limit to what people can cut as well. I then saw a seller on ebay offering to cut 18mm plywood to a custom design using a CNC machine, which attracted me primarily as it's the accurate depth, and also I'd be able to paint them the proper colour of that mint green/sage or whatever. I'm hesitant mind you because I know plywood can be brittle and it breaking would be the worst kind of horror.
I drew up therefore a compromised set of plans based on Tony's originals, just widening the spaces slightly so the distance between cutting lines isn't as close, the smallest now being 3mm which I can live with  :D
11667943_1146320482051215_1181201799_n_zpsq8vrvr2z.jpg
I've also widened the doors themselves slightly as part of this. What you'll also see either side of the wall are two pieces which will fit together like finger joints and act as sort of bookends or just ends to help the wall stand up, I'll super glue these in and make them nice and neat and the end result will be a nicely stable strong thing with little chance of tipping over at inconvenient moments. You'll also notice I've made the areas where the hinges would go slightly taller as well as wider to allow the hinges to actually fit into the gap (assuming I've mastered in my head how a hinge actually works, they'd open the right way wouldn't they? Here's a quick diagram of how I thought it should work:
IMG_20150712_150328462_zpsxfnasxbz.jpg
with the version on the right being a more simplified compromise of the hinges just fixed to the front. I wouldn't mind this too much but it wouldn't be ideal.
My somewhat limited budget means I'll only be having the door wall and one other six column wall but I don't mind as both were rarely used together to my memory, The Rescue/The Time Meddler and The Power of the Daleks excluded. The basic set up everyone remembers is a door wall, a wall and something on the right, at least that's what they built for pretty much every story after the first season.
Then finally, they'll be backed with a thin layer of clear frosted perspex which in my experience give the desired effect and can be lit just like the original walls.
As well as the walls, I'm thinking about making a console, tiny impossible controls and time rotor aside, the structure of the main piece - any ideas on materials? I've seen some marvellous models on here using plasticard or something? any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, I shall keep updated with my progress!
Thanks

galacticprobe

Jul 13, 2015, 05:21 am #1 Last Edit: Jul 13, 2015, 05:21 am by galacticprobe
Good luck with that project! With Tony's measurements (painstakingly calculated over the course of at least a year), you should have no troubles at all building this and I, for one, can't wait to see it as it progresses!

Dino.
"What's wrong with being childish?! I like being childish." -3rd Doctor, "Terror of the Autons"

jamiebate

I've decided to bring the console forward to the first thing I make, I've ordered parts to be laser cut from 3mm white acrylic sheet and I'll be making the finer details (fins and what have you) with plasticard. Any helps with pieces for the controls would be great, as of the moment I'm just on the look out for anything and everything that might work for them.

galacticprobe

Jul 14, 2015, 06:36 am #3 Last Edit: Jul 14, 2015, 06:36 am by galacticprobe
Well, depending on how large your console is going to be, some of those super-small LED faerie lights could work for the controls Tony's labeled "Function Indicator Lamps". Some of them may even be bright enough to backlight the "Symbolic Indicator Lamps". Of course if you don't mind the indicator lamps all being on and not blinking, you could always use one or two high-brightness LEDs inside the main part of the console to backlight all indicators, including the "Movement Sensors".

The meters I think will probably best be made from circular punched-out plastic with printed faces glued to them. Some of the knobbies on that console were really small, and when working on a small-scale model it's not always easy to replicate controls like that with 100% accuracy. (That is, unless you've got lots of patience, a very steady hand, and really good eyes!)

I do hope some of the above suggestions helped a little.

Dino.
"What's wrong with being childish?! I like being childish." -3rd Doctor, "Terror of the Autons"

jamiebate

Thanks for your reply, I wont be including any electronics, it's purely the aesthetics that I'm trying to create. I'm having the little dials laser cut from rings of black acrylic and I've ordered some grey/black plasticard to make quite a few of the panels and such like. I'm thinking of just working out a way of using map pins for the the little levers, the smallest I can find anyway, and I'll tackle everything else when I come to it.
I'm just having a bit of trouble with the little bulbs, as I've got the panels themselves made of acrylic, it isn't really possible for me to put anything into the panels as in into the surface so I'm looking now for some 3mm (the right size) semi-spheres which is proving a pain. Any ideas?

jamiebate

Ok, I've now got something in place for:
The little bulbs, in the guise of semi-spherical gold coloured glass beads.
The circular dials - Washers or different sizes
Covers for the dials - glass domes
Which is all stuff sourced from ebay. It may not sound like much but finding all I needed at the right sizes was quite a struggle.
The biggest problem I've yet encountered are the little levers, the sticks with a ball on the end. I thought of map pins but sadly they just don't make them small enough for this size, I'd need one with the head being about 1 and a half cm which just isn't possible. Any ideas here?
Thanks

galacticprobe

Jul 15, 2015, 04:18 am #6 Last Edit: Jul 15, 2015, 04:25 am by galacticprobe
Quote from: jamiebate on Jul 15, 2015, 12:26 am
The biggest problem I've yet encountered are the little levers, the sticks with a ball on the end. I thought of map pins but sadly they just don't make them small enough for this size, I'd need one with the head being about 1 and a half cm which just isn't possible. Any ideas here?


Jamie, do you mean 1.5 mm, or actually cm (because 1.5 cm is really large - larger than any map pin I've ever seen)? If you meant to say 1.5mm, have you looked in sewing shops for some of those pins that have small (I mean really small) bead-type heads on them? You will have to paint the heads, and cut the pins to length, but the heads should be about right. (You can also find such pins - almost in annoying quantity - holding a folded dress shirt together in its packaging. At least that's how they come in the States.)

But check in the sewing shops. Describe the type of pin head you need, and someone there will know what you're looking for. They may even have such pins with different sized heads for you to choose from. But if you really did mean 1.5 cm, then I would start looking to hat pins rather than sewing pins; they would have heads on them approaching that size, and I'm sure many of them would be round.

I hope this is helpful.

Dino.
"What's wrong with being childish?! I like being childish." -3rd Doctor, "Terror of the Autons"

jamiebate

Hi Guys, sorry for the delay, I've been getting used to the properties of plasticard (and going through an awful lot of it as a result!!! I decided to get rid of the laser cutting aspect as it wasn't offering me much and was a little costly. I've now decided, seeing how plasticard works, to go for the simplified Pertwee console, simplified in the sense of the time rotor - not nearly as gut-wrenchingly difficult to make I sure, as well as the 6 struts underneath the console being flat rather than 3D if that makes sense, which would have been a nightmare. I've ordered all of the little parts but now I'm wondering whether or not to just paint it after all - having decided I'd be happy having it the white colour of the plasticard. Can anyone suggest a painting process for a plasticard model - would some sort of primer be needed and then what paint would be recommended as a colour coat, and what would be the final layer (varnish?). After this, I'll attach the controls and make the detail on top of the paint rather than the other way around.
*Plasticard is otherwise known as styrene sheet or high impact polystyrene by the way.
So yeah I'm using a variety of different things to create the controls, from the tiniest sterling silver ball-headed pins to 'washer' rings of the exact sizes needed. As it is I'm having a whale of a time watching lots of classic who whilst working away at this, drawing out all the pieces and what have you. I've actually gotten through Day of the Daleks, The Ambassadors of Death, The Sea Devils, The Talons of Weng Chiang AND Horror of Fang Rock whilst working!
Anyway, back on topic, wish me luck! and any paint suggestions would be brilliant  ;)