Bearded4th's wrinkled K-9

[bearded4th]

Hello again! My first build diary!

Since a TARDIS needs a yard, and I currently find myself without one, I decided to take a stab at building a K9 to go with my 4th Doctor cosplay.
I started by printing a template for the head. (The plans I took the template from said to print it double sized and that's when I realised K9 is huge!! So I'm making a half size build). I traced the template onto a beer box and cut it out, then started paper mache to hold it together and hide the logos, etc.



Here's the head when I finished. Another benefit of making it half-size is that I had crafting matchsticks available for the eye visor and they were roughly the right size.



I made the body the next day out of another beer box (yes I like to drink  ). The exact dimensions are where I started taking liberties with the design. I worked from the online plan and a K9 keychain I own. I figure if the head looks the part and the details are there, no one's going to get a ruler out to make a fool of me.



I don't want to overload the thread with pictures, so I'll jump ahead a bit. I used paper mache to cover everything up again and then to sculpt some of the extra shapes and features. More cardboard used for hard shapes. An interesting thing happened when I tried tissue paper to hide the seams in the mache; it wrinkles. I thought this had an effect that looked like fibre-glass, so I decided to make it a feature



When everything was sculpted I bought some silver touch up paint and went 'round to my brother's house to use his back-yard. My little nephews have been following my progress on Facebook, so they were pretty eager to help me paint. The end result looked like I had used tinfoil from the start. I was a little disappointed  , but hoped dirtying it up would fix things.



And it did! I just watered down some black acrylic and went over it with a brush and it looks great IMO - Also, I painted the visor and logo (and monitor on the back, which is just plain silver ATM).



The neck was a pain in the A. It's a piece of vacuum cleaner hose, but the hardest part was getting it to keep a curved shape. In the end it was achieved with a combination of hot glue, metal wire, some strategic cutting, and wadded glue-soaked tissue paper on the inside. (phew). K9's nose is a plastic foot I stole from the back of my wall clock. I plan on using 2 more at the base of his ears.



I made K9's ears with soldering wire (the round frame), cut up "jumbo" paperclips (the stalks), and backed with material from a placemat that looked very sci-fi as it was woven plastic and silver. I hot glued it all together and then went over it with the silver touch up paint I'd used earlier.



Here is k9 with his ears sat in place and the bowtie that came with my 4th Doctor's vest.



And that's it so far. I plan on attaching his ears properly and putting those clock feet at the base of them. I have a TV antenna ready to do the tail and need to do something with his control panel. I'd also like to do something clever with the monitor (maybe a mirror?). Hope you all like it

Stay awesome Tardis builders!  

[russellsuthern]

That is a very funky little build.
I actually love the "wrinkly" look.

You are tempting me to try a K-9 build next!

If you don't have room for a TARDIS, maybe try a half sized Dalek build next? I'd love to see you putting that together!

All the best,


Russell

[warmcanofcoke]

This is going to be an awesome Cosplay prop! I can just imagine him on casters and dragging him along on a dog lead. 

[bearded4th]

Russ, a Dalek build is definitely in my future! There's an awesome Dalek at a cafe, not too far from my place, and I've seen a few youtube videos on how to make one on the cheap

I didn't want to call him "burn victim" K-9, but that might be his back story.

Nathan, dog lead was exactly what I was thinking. Oz Comic-Con is on again this year, and I hope to attend

[galacticprobe]

Wow. This is a very clever build, indeed! I think the "tin dog" came out looking just fine so far. For the control panel on top, maybe you could get one of those 1/16th-inch thick strips of wood they sell at craft stores and hobby shops (you'd know the width needed) and then cut little blocks from the strip to use as the buttons. Once cut all you'd need to do is throw a lick of paint on them and then stick them to the control panel. (Some hot glue should work for that, or something like Elmer's, depending on how porous the paper mache is; the wood would be porous enough if you don't paint the part that gets glued, but if the paper mache part isn't porous enough for Elmer's, then hot glue would be the way to go.)

And just two more things: 1) never worry about overloading us with photos - we love photos!; and 2) if anyone does start measuring out K-9 to see if the dimensions are all correct, even at half-size, you whop them over the head with one of those large foam noodles and chase them away while shouting at them "RIVET COUNTER; BEGONE!".

Great job. Take lots of photos at the Comic-Con!

Dino.

[Osric]

This is brilliant! It reminds me of the K-9 I made with my dad back in 1983 for a school project. We made him out of poster board and mounted him on a remote control car but I ended up just dragging him around on a leash most of the time

[galacticprobe]

Hay, Osric! Nice to see you back in action again! You've been away for too long. (Hopefully for good reasons.) At any road, it really is nice to see you posting again, and I hope we'll see more of you now that you're back.

Dino.

[bearded4th]

Tiny update on the ears/tail... My glue gun died, so I used "Shoe Goo" to attach the clock feet to the ears, and the ears to the head. The tail is a TV antenna slotted into place.

I'm pleased with how the shadows worked in this photo. You can see the nose and the metallic shine it has in real life.

[galacticprobe]

I'd say that's a little dog to be very proud of! Very nicely built!

Dino.

[bearded4th]

Not really a build update, but John Leeson (Voice of k9) is in Melbourne for SuperNova convention next week. I'm treating that as a mini deadline to finish this guy off so I can get him signed.

[galacticprobe]

Ah... there's nothing like a self-imposed deadline in order for you to meet a deadline that's been imposed upon you by an upcoming event. The wife and I last saw John Leeson in 1988 at a horribly overcrowded Creation Convention in Manhattan when I was living and stationed in New York. It was literally shoulder to shoulder, and as a native New Yorker I can tell you this was one time when New Yorkers were the rudest bunch I'd ever literally bumped into. They'd step on your feet and then yell at you for it!

That was 28 years ago and while I can't remember the stories John Leeson told the crowd, I do remember they were funny. At the time, though, there wasn't a large 'Who' presence. The rest was mainly Trekkies (yes: Trekkie - as in 'TOS' - "Trekker" didn't become the term until well into TNG's run, and they hadn't even completed their Season 1 yet). There were also the 'Star Wars' crowd, 'Alien' - mostly US SF fans. The British SF fans were few and far between. However we did make the walls ring when John Leeson took the stage. The only time the others overshouted us was when the other Guest of Honor took the stage: the late Jonathan Harris, Dr. Zachary Smith from TV's 'List In Space'. (As if the cheers weren't deafening enough when the MC introduced him, when things quieted down and Harris took to the mic, he uttered in that unmistakable voice, "Never fear, Smith is here," and I think the noise cracked windows for blocks around! (I swear it took days for my ears to stop ringing!)

So battle on, bearded4th! Get K-9 done in time! I'm sure John Leeson will be thrilled to see him, and sign him.

Dino.

[davidnagel]

Good luck with completing him! He's looking splendid already.

And boy does that Leeson get about, he's supposedly at an event here in the UK on the 23rd.

[bearded4th]

Okay. Finally got around to this. I've been overwhelmed with Uni stuff the last few weeks, but decided to treat this as my reward for one Assignment down (many more to go ).

K9 Goes to Supanova Pop Culture Expo!!!

Here we are at my front door, after realising we'd driven an hour down to Melbourne without him, and had to go all the way back! That's what I get for trying to juggle cosplay and a project like K9 at my first convention...



Here's what's underneath. It's a plastic sandpit truck. Buzz and Woody would be appalled at my disregard for toys in this instance. Also notice (in the pic above), he has buttons and bumpers now. Both made with paint and cardboard. The handles are balsa wood. His eye-cup was almost impossible to find, as they don't make "Indian" bow and arrow sets nowadays  


 
Here we are waiting in line to see John Leeson (who, by the way, is super nice!). He started to explain how my K9 reminded him of one of the lightweight props they had on set, but someone who tagged along with me tried to argue about photos... *Sorry Mr. Leeson*  
I was pretty popular for photo ops, and there were at least 3 other Doctors and 2 Rose Tylers wanting to pose with me. As well as so many little kids who recognised their Dad's favourite Doctor! - I do have the slightly pushy, but well-meaning tag-along to thank for some of that...



Meeting his bigger bro



And finally, the end result...
Caption from my Facebook post: I know you're thrilled about being signed K-9, but you didn't have to lose your head ‪#‎Supanova‬ ‪#‎JohnLeeson‬ ‪#‎Idroppedhim‬  

[galacticprobe]

Nice job, bearded4th! Sorry to hear about having to do all that extra driving to go back for K-9. (That sucks!).

As for this happening...

Here we are waiting in line to see John Leeson (who, by the way, is super nice!). He started to explain how my K9 reminded him of one of the lightweight props they had on set, but someone who tagged along with me tried to argue about photos... *Sorry Mr. Leeson*  

I would have given that tag-along a moderately gentle elbow to the ribs and said "Not now, you Rivet Counter! You can deal with that on your own time!"

Beautiful signature you managed to get. When I last saw John Leeson at that horridly overcrowded Creation Convention in New York City back in 1988 or so, my wife and I had no chance of getting close enough to get an autograph; the lines of people were just too fracking long and everyone was literally packed in there like sardines! Majel Barrett Roddenberry was even tucked away in there, and I would never have known if I hadn't plugged her lamp back in when some moron shoved me aside to walk by and kicked the cord out of the outlet. I just plugged it back in not knowing who was in the dark, behind that Great Wall of People, and then I heard her distinctive voice call out "Thank you, whoever you are!" I looked through a small crack in the crowd and saw her there for a brief second before that crack closed up. Didn't get her autograph until 1997. At the Creation Con with John Leeson, Jonathan Harris (Dr. Smith from TV's 'Lost In Space') was also there, and we couldn't get close to him either, so autograph, and never had the chance to see him again.

You are one lucky guy and have a lot to be proud of! Well done!

Dino.

[bearded4th]

More TARDIS stuff on the way, but I thought you all might like the way this fellow whovian responded to my K-9!