JW Tardis

[galacticprobe]

That's what I thought, after lightening the image some to bring out more details:


I've cropped the image to focus more on the PTO sign (and the giant sticky label - another prop for another topic!). But when I saw this, it made me think of the metallic labels (and some car number plates - even the strip on the dash with the VIN on it)... like this was stamped out of metal.

Of course this would get the same look to it if it was vac-formed plastic (think thin sheet styrene), and then painted. So maybe it could be either: metal or plastic?

I guess great minds think alike, jontennant. Well that, or you managed to find out some insider info on this one.

Dino.

[jontennant]

It's most likely pressed metal, being as by the looks of things it's been painted in enamel paint, like the stuff you paint models with, or you have on tin mugs. The letters are probably printed on. I had a souvenir from mini which was exactly like this sign. So we can assume it's metal.

[astromark]

I just noticed that the lock doesn't appear to be the traditional Yale lock, either. I wonder if this is a different (possibly a third) version of the prop.

[Kingpin]

Maybe an official touring prop?  Assembled in America for appearance at San Diego Comic Con, and to appear in one of the BBC America properties?

[galacticprobe]

...by the looks of things it's been painted in enamel paint, like the stuff you paint models with... The letters are probably printed on. I had a souvenir from mini which was exactly like this sign. So we can assume it's metal.

Possibly, but this same look can be achieved using thin, vac-formed plastic and enamel paints: paint the entire sign black, and then take one of those rubber rollers with some white paint on it and roll it over the tops of the letters and you'll get the same look at what we're seeing here.

So it could be either: metal or plastic. (It could even be 3D printed, and painted as mentioned, which would also give the same look.)

Metal? Vac-formed plastic? 3D printed? It's anyone's guess until we can learn more about it.

I just noticed that the lock doesn't appear to be the traditional Yale lock, either.

Good eyes, astromark. That lock actually looks very much like the lock the Sensorites removed from the TARDIS in the Hartnell story of the same name. Could be a throwback to that style of lock bezel; could be something put together for US touring. Again until we get to see more of the prop in the episodes, it's anyone's guess.

Dino.

[KIT-KAT]

if the lettering isn't metal it could be vacuum forming, Which would be cheaper, (when a sheet of plastic is melted over a pattern to indent into the plastic)

[Cardinal Hordriss]

Aluminium or tin would be cheap enough to emboss and then powder coat the black but that would leave silver coloured lettering which looks to have then been painted.

[galacticprobe]

Actually, if the embossing was done before any powder coating was applied, the entire "sign plate" would be black, even the lettering. Then a hard rubber roller (like the kind of leathery ones used on printing presses) given a light run over white paint, and then rolled over the tops of the lettering would give the sign the look this one has (black background and letters' sides, with white only on the letters' tops).

If the powder coat was applied before the embossing, then you'd end up with the powder coat cracking off of the letters' sides, flaking of it off of the letters' tops, and some crackling over the background. So chances are that if this is a stamped piece of metal, if it was powder coated (which is a very expensive process compared to spray painting), it was coated after the embossing.

I still think if it's not vac-formed plastic, then 3D printing of it and painting it is a strong possibility. 3D printing could be less expensive than creating a plug to vac-form the sign over. (But also on that note, you could 3D print the plug and then vac-form as many signs as you need, especially if you use black plastic for the sign; you'd only need to run that roller over the letters' tops to finish the sign.)

Dino.

[Cardinal Hordriss]

Apologies, I should have said that I meant the powder coating would be done after the embossing.

I think 3D printing is extremely unlikely for something like this, in metal it would be too expensive and time consuming and in plastics it would take a lot of finishing to make sure the paint coated correctly.

Maybe they just had a stock of letters which they stuck to a board? I suppose we won't know unless one falls off.

[galacticprobe]

Apologies, I should have said that I meant the powder coating would be done after the embossing.

No apologies necessary, CH. Thanks for the clarification, though; I'm sure it helps others understand the process.

I think 3D printing is extremely unlikely for something like this, in metal it would be too expensive and time consuming and in plastics it would take a lot of finishing to make sure the paint coated correctly.

In the metal, I agree; the expense would be too much. However with plastics, as others have mentioned in other threads, it depends on the quality of the filament used and the resolution of the printer. They do have black filament, and with a good resolution printer you could get a decent printing, and with a few coats of sealer and black paint, you could get the look of lightly pitted metal which the sign appears to have in spots. So it's possibility. And they could also use this for a vac-forming plug; the plastic would be thick enough to negate any of the imperfections in the printed plug. (Though I do think there might be a problem with getting the insides of the smaller letters such as Os, Bs, As, and such to sink in as far as they need to in the vac-forming process.)

Maybe they just had a stock of letters which they stuck to a board? I suppose we won't know unless one falls off.

This is an excellent point! Anyone who remember the brassy dedication plaque on the bridge of the original U.S.S. Enterprise ("no bloody A, B, C, or D") wouldn't have noticed it because it was never seen in close-up, but according to Greg Jein, who researched this like Tony researched his TARDIS articles, when Jein needed to re-create this original plaque, found out that is exactly how they made the original. It was a block of wood, lightly beveled around the edges, with different-sized wooden letters glued onto it. The plaque was then spray-painted with 20-30 coats of brassy lacquer; this is gave the lettering the rounded curves over the tops, and where they meet the plaque base.

So maybe some poor sod had to place all those letters on this thin piece of wood, and then spray it with multiple coats of black paint to get the "stamped metal" look it has, and then run the white paint over the lettering with that roller. (Another possibility... though it would make sense if they made the vac-forming plug like that - better chance of getting the letters to "suck in" when the vac-forming takes place: larger letters, better detail when vac-forming; end result after painting is what we could be seeing.)

Dino.

[Kingpin]

if the lettering isn't metal it could be vacuum forming, Which would be cheaper, (when a sheet of plastic is melted over a pattern to indent into the plastic)

I did some vac-forming back in secondary school, and I'm not convinced that's what we're seeing.  Vac-forming, from my experience, doesn't pick up small details all that well... They come out too soft, or not at all.  I suspect what we're looking at is indeed metal.

[karsthotep]

I am not quite following the "its too expensive to be embossed metal". I did a google search and you can get custom signs all over the web, embossed or otherwise.   What are we calling expensive here?  100 bucks?  My eyes see raised embossed lettering after the Dino's enhancement,  I don't think its plastic but obviously it can't be ruled out, based on one picture.  For all we know its made out of a plasma ball and a frisbee

[Rassilons Rod]

A bit like old fashioned car number plates.

[Angelus Lupus]

I think the likeliest options are: Pressed(embossed) metal - traditional, old fashioned and hard wearing. Vacuum formed plastic - easy to replace, lightweight, probably cheap. Both have the bonus of producing as many exact copies as needed.

[TheWitch]

Found this whilst floating around Twitter.