Goldendale's First TARDIS

[Bob's your Uncle]

It's getting really close to TARDIS Blue time.  

Robert, my THD paint guy, mixed up three samples of blue Behr paint. Two of the samples were color-matched from the toy TARDIS that I keep on my desk, the results were very different (left and center). The third sample (right) is a color that Robert chose called Sapphire Sparkle.



After submitting the color samples to the ''TARDIS Research and Development Department'', it was determined that the center sample was the only choice. In fact, it took less then a second to make her choice ("That one. Duh!")  


So, in the meantime, I found a can of Navy Blue spray paint and thought that it would be a close enough color for the top lamp. And it was Free!



I need some advice on how you would attach and seal the glass lens to the metal base. The glass sits on a rubber ring on the bottom of the base and held in place by two metal clips on the top. It will need to be watertight to the base, and hopefully last forever. Clear silicone is the only thing that I can think of. I'm just not sure how long silicone will last out in the sun. If you know of any better ideas, please let me know.


Thanks,
Greg.

[Bob's your Uncle]

Just having fun with the camera. Sorry.







I took the dimensions of my Police Box and compared them to the measurements of the Crich Police Box. Here's what I came up with.

The width of the base.
Mine: 51"
Crich:55.75"

The widest part of the roof.
Mine:44"
Crich:49.5"

From the bottom of the base to the bottom of the "Police Box" sign.
Mine:82"
Crich:92"

The width of the "Police Box" sign.
Mine:42"
Crich:46.5"

My doorway measures 17" x 73.5" giving me one inch of headroom. I have to turn sideways to get in, but I won't bump my head.  

Averaging it all out, my box is about a 90% replica of the Crich box. I would never have been able to fit a full sized one in my garage, as it is now, when the garage door opens, it clears the top of the lamp by 1/2". I would love to say that I planned it that way, but I just got lucky.  

[Bob's your Uncle]

Here it is. My wife just got back from work and brought the TARDIS Blue with her.





Tomorrow is the big day.


Today I finished the paint on the inside of the TARDIS. I used a high gloss white Porch and Floor paint.
Why did I use high gloss Porch and Floor paint? It was free!  
Well, not free. It was paid for years ago. I just can't remember what I painted it on.

[galacticprobe]

Superb texturing with everything in those close-up photos, Greg! And that is a really vibrant blue! (Of course it will probably be a hair darker when it dries; most paints do that.)

And with your measurements being off like that... you do realize that your TARDIS' Chameleon Circuit is going to be stuck in the shape of a Police Box, don't you? (Remember the explanation for that in "Logopolis". )

Now I can't wait to see the Old Girl in her blue dress. I  know you mentioned that you liked the white window frames of the Crich (and Hartnell, and Smith/Capaldi) box, but since the wife has the final say on the color, is she going for white window frames or blue ones?

Dino.

[russellsuthern]

Loving the close up shots.
Your woodworking skills are awesome!
Looking really accurate.
Can't wait to see her all painted up.

Russell

[Bob's your Uncle]

I've never seen the "Logopolis" episode, Dino, I will have to see if it's available on Netflix or Hulu today.....in between coats of paint.
The window frames will be white, though my wife will get to choose the glass that goes in them, considering all of the different Police Boxes and TARDISes, there are a lot of glass configurations to choose from. I'm partial to the blue panes, myself.

Thanks, Russell, I've loved woodworking since high school, but to be honest, putty, fiberglass and paint will hide a lot of defects. 



Greg.

[Bob's your Uncle]

NEWSFLASH!

Feb. 19, 2016
Goldendale, Washington

It can now be reported that the TARDIS has been coated in her first layer of blue paint. The P.R. department refused to comment, saying it would not release photos until the completion of the project. One source, a man who wished to remain anonymous because of the blue paint on his shoes, would only say "She's lookin' pretty good".

More updates as they become available.
Stay Tuned.


Greg

[galacticprobe]

I've never seen the "Logopolis" episode, Dino, I will have to see if it's available on Netflix or Hulu today...

You'll be out of luck, Greg. The BBC pulled all of Classic and New Series from both Netflix and Hulu about two weeks ago (because they want to start their own streaming channel - but they have no infrastructure for that in place yet) so they've left us high and dry on those avenues for streaming.

You might have better luck trying either YouTube or Daily Motion. They still have a nice selection of 'Who' episodes, especially Daily Motion. Just search for the story or episode title and you should find it. It's a good episode, if a somber one.

Dino.

[Bob's your Uncle]

And now, the moment we've all been waiting for.......



That took a lot longer than I expected.  

Two coats of oil-based primer.
Two coats of gloss white.
FIVE   coats of TARDIS blue!
Four complete coats and a fifth coat to touch up some problem spots.
Even after the fourth layer, there were spot were the primer still showed through. I probably should have had the primer tinted the same blue color as the paint.

It took nearly an entire gallon of blue paint to cover this portion of the TARDIS, and I still have wall panels to build.
And don't even get me started on cleaning paint brushes!!



The glossy spray paint that I used on the lamp is almost a perfect match for the rest of the paint. Just lucky.  



This next photo was taken between coats two and three. There were ripples in the fiberglass that weren't noticeable under the primer, but as soon as the blue paint was applied....WOW .  
A little more Spackle did the trick.



I'm very hap....I mean....WE'RE very happy with the results (This IS for my wife, after all!).
The Behr paint was the smoothest paint I've ever used. It covered wonderfully on the flatter surfaces like the roof and the base. It was on the upright corner post where the coverage problems occurred. I think that it will cover better on the door/wall panels because I can paint them laying flat.
No more ladders!  .

As far as the color goes... Robert, my paint guy at The Home Depot, did a helluva job!  



So, what's next, you ask?

Well, now that the weather is getting nice, I'm going to have a lot of yard work to do. The first project involves building a raised garden bed next to our patio. This is actually going to move the TARDIS project forward, as well, the dirt for the garden bed will come from the excavation of the TARDIS foundation. Two birds, one stone!  

In the meantime there are a few small things that can be done on the TARDIS, when some spare time presents itself.
I've already started revamping the top of the roof lamp (I'll have a new post in a day or two).  
I will cut the glass for the 'Police Box' signs, after I clear off my workbench.
I need to draw up plans for the door/wall panels, and start gathering materials together for when full-time construction can begin again.

I know what you're thinking...."You've gotten this far in your build without a plan for the wall panels??
Yeah, pretty much.  
But, it will come together. I'm still trying to build this on the cheap, so the more planning, the better. I think that I've got a good idea for the window frames (yes, it involves lots of Gorilla Glue), but I'm still a long way away from windows.

The concrete foundation will be a challenge because it's going to be near a large tree with roots. I'll probably dig down 12 inches or more to anchor this TARDIS down against the Goldendale elements. Moving the TARDIS onto the foundation is going to involve friends with muscles. And wheels!. I'll probably tip the TARDIS on it's side and attach wheels to each corner.  It only needs to roll out of the garage door and around to the backyard.

Then, once it's attached to the foundation, I can build the floor (probably Trex Decking), then install the walls (that aren't built, yet), then the door, the telephone box and door, the windows (will they open??), the lock, the door handles, the signs,  the lights, the sound............have I forgotten anything? (As my shoulders start to sag!)

I have no idea how long this will take, but it's too late to turn back now.
I can't wait to see how this turns out.


Greg.


P.S. I forgot to update the TTI. The gallon of paint was $36.98, the paint samples were $3.48 each, Bringing the Total TARDIS Investment up to $643.55

[jorwick]

Looks fabulous. Wish mine looked that good.

12 Inch Foundation though? Isn't that overkill?  My TARDIS has withstood 60MPH winds this winter. It isn't held down by anything  other than its weight. Its sits on cut up railroad ties.
I would think  you would be fine with a 3-4 inch concrete pad on the surface. (granted you may not what to SEE the pad...so maybe dig down three inches- not 12) , frame the thing with two by fours, throw in your rebar and pour.  If you really think it might move, stick a couple of anchor bolts up from the concrete and use those to anchor the TARDIS base to the pad. Now its REALLY not going anywhere. .

Or since you are planning to build a floor inside anyway, you could use the base as your frame.. either pouring a pad first and then pouring the floor inside, or making allowing the base to sit directly on the ground ( but it depends on materials and drainage or the base will start to rot..I made mine from treated lumber..)
Having a concrete pad inside as a floor will probably be cheaper then Trex decking. That stuff is expensive. Its great stuff, but it won't be exposed to the elements much anyway.. Of course that concrete floor makes that as permanent as it gets..



12 inches just seems really , really deep--  And that looks like a great old tree,  you really don't want to sever a TARDIS size hole in the root system - and you will if that picture in your profile is any indication..

[Bob's your Uncle]

Thanks, Jorwick.
You're probably right about the 12 inches. This thing is going to be heavy once the walls are in place, as long as I get a nice level slab to set it on, it should stay put. I'll dig around a little until my back goes out, and call it good. 


Greg. 

[Volpone]

Very nice build (to date).  I don't want to jinx you (and I'm almost superstitious enough to keep quiet) but I don't think you'll have any problems with rot or water intrusion. 

Yeah.  Add that to another of the first time TARDIS build worries.  The most obvious is that it is a lot bigger than you realized.  Even looking at your blueprints and measurements that say 9', it doesn't register.  I built mine a little differently--in 4 sections, on the ground and then stood them up and screwed them together--and even though they were taking up the entire floor of my garage for painting, it wasn't until I started thinking about where I was going to assemble them that I truly realized how big a TARDIS is. 

And speaking of dragging... that was my worry too--that some nefarious thug, vandal, or pumpkin smasher would steal my precious TARDIS.  And then I had to drag the parts of it across my yard.  It was going to wind up 4 times heavier than each side.  More, because there would be a base and a roof too.  So mine has a brick under each corner and enough rocks to hide the gap under it when the grass isn't grown up.  I'm not worried about anyone stealing it.  In fact when I became aware of the shortcomings of TARDIS 1.0 and someone on Facebook expressed interest in it, I tried to get rid of her so I'd have an excuse to build a better TARDIS.  They begged off when they found out how much of a pain it would be to transport it--and how much it cost. 

That's the 3rd thing:  it is always surprising to me, how much it costs to build a TARDIS.  It's like "All I need is 5 sheets of plywood, some 2x4s, some 1x3s, some blue paint..."  and figure you can crank one out for $200 or so.  Unless you're a master scrounger, I'd say the bare minimum you need to plan for is $700.  You might be able to pull it off for $500, but have that cushion for things that don't pan out like you hoped.  Shoot, even my refit...I thought "This will be cheap!  I just need some 1x3s, some plexiglass..."  I think for the paltry amount of lumber I picked up to do the refit, I still wound up spending around $150.

So there you go.  My top 3 TARDIS lessons learned:  They're bigger than you think, they're heavier than you think, and they're more expensive than you think. 

[russellsuthern]

Loving everything about this build!

Great craftmanship & the colour looks spot on!

(Ps: Volpone is spot on with his top 3 tips!)
Pps: You will be grateful for all that paint once she goes outside, really helps against the elements.
As for cleaning brushes... I'm such a lazy git, I buy all my brushes from the pound shop ( five for £1!)
This means when I use gloss, I just throw the brush away after using it & get a new one.
(Sorry if that upsets anyone!)

Looking forward to further updates!

Russell

[Angelus Lupus]

Wow!

This whole build - the sloping edges on the roof-layers, the beautifully finished quarter-rounds... THIS is what the 2005 (or even the post-explosion 2010) Tardis should have been. And, yes, I'm saying that before you've made the walls., but given the quality so far, I think we can safely assume those will look great! To my eye its has the best of the Brachacki original, the chunkiness of the Hudolin and the "blue-est blue" of the 2010 refit - with a little genuine Police Box for good measure.
Any plans on weathering this, or will you leave it in its pristine gloss and let the elements do their thing?

[Bob's your Uncle]

Wow!

This whole build - the sloping edges on the roof-layers, the beautifully finished quarter-rounds... THIS is what the 2005 (or even the post-explosion 2010) Tardis should have been. And, yes, I'm saying that before you've made the walls., but given the quality so far, I think we can safely assume those will look great! To my eye its has the best of the Brachacki original, the chunkiness of the Hudolin and the "blue-est blue" of the 2010 refit - with a little genuine Police Box for good measure.
Any plans on weathering this, or will you leave it in its pristine gloss and let the elements do their thing?

Thanks, Angelus. I'm going to let Mother Nature do the weathering, I don't trust myself.
The walls (when they finally get built), will have the 'Police Box' look with the wider 'rail' on the bottom. I like that look better than the walls on the TARDISes. It just looks "right" to me.

& the colour looks spot on!

(Ps: Volpone is spot on with his top 3 tips

Russell

Agreed. My wife has an eye for TARDISes.  

Exactly right Volpone. The lumber and plywood is affordable enough, but it's the 'extras' that really add up, like glue, screws, lamps, putty, handles, paint etc. etc. etc.

I don't want to jinx you (and I'm almost superstitious enough to keep quiet) but I don't think you'll have any problems with rot or water intrusion.  

I'm keeping my fingers crossed, though it will probably be next November before it gets it's first real test.


Greg.

P.S. Dino, I think I've figured out the quote function. Thanks again.