It's Bigger on the Inside - New TARDIS Build

[Jintosh]

I bet your local hardware store LOVES you. All those clamps alone add up quickly. And where do you get the wood? Same place ?

 

[wbalzer]

First thing I need to do to build the roof is get VERY accurate measurements. Secondly, plan for an overhang. This will allow some room for error by trimming the top where it attaches to the center.



Using masking tape, not only helps the wood from splintering when it is being cut, but it also makes if very easy to see where the edge is. I set the skill saw to cut at a 12.5 degree angle so that any gaps, would be dealt with from the inside. I also have to make an additional cut where the two pieces meet.



Here it is attached. Well... so much for trying to be "perfect". Look at that gap! I could fit a small cow through that!



I am going to have to tape it up, and use Bondo to fill the gap. I figured if it works for cars, it should be able to work on a TARDIS.



It doesn't take long before the Bondo is set, and I can finish the rest of the roof. I add the spacer that fits between the sign and the roof. In my plans, this is 1 3/16" height x 1 3/4" deep x however wide between the posts. I left a 1/16" gap on either side, so that the roof "should" fit without it being too tight. I also add the end caps.



I made the lamp "plug" and stuck it in the top to be trimmed by a flush trim router.



Here the top is ready to be sanded, sand blasted, and finished.



I'm a little bit in a hurry because I'm getting ready to be interviewed by KJRH Channel 2 Tulsa, and I still have to get it painted.

 

[wbalzer]

I bet your local hardware store LOVES you. All those clamps alone add up quickly. And where do you get the wood? Same place ?

Yep. I have both Home Depot and Lowe's just a little over a mile from me, and I did buy a "bunch" of clamps that they had gotten on some special promo. My wood, I ended up buying mostly from a local place called M & M Lumber because they were quite a bit cheaper than Lowe's and Home Depot, and quality wise, it was "very nice". Most of my TARDIS does not have any visible knots except in the posts where that wood came from Lowe's. The wood from M&M was not only cheaper, but they had some very "nice" white pine that I was able to select from.

Granted... some of the wood, as soon as it was cut, had a mind of its own, but I think that is to be expected no matter where it came from.

Wade

 

[PolyversalAri]

Everything looks perfect so far! Bondo is a wonderful substance. I've been using it on some cosplay armor myself. Really looking forward to seeing this all lit and painted ^__^


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[wbalzer]

Everything looks perfect so far! Bondo is a wonderful substance. I've been using it on some cosplay armor myself. Really looking forward to seeing this all lit and painted ^__^

Thanks! I'm getting there. I will be going to Texas for Philip Wise's prop party this weekend, and meeting up with the same person who did his electronics.

http://www.therpf.com/f68/2014-north-texas-prop-party-204146/

My TARDIS will pretty much be complete by March 14, 2014 for this Doctor Who event.

https://www.facebook.com/events/493503050763746/

 

[wbalzer]

It has been a while since I have posted, so we are looking at photos from nearly 9 months ago. I will try and get caught up in the next few days.

Painting the interior black.


Sorry... forgot to take pictures of it being painted blue. Here I am assembling it placing the back on first. It turns out the pegs made it harder to assemble, so I ended up removing the pegs.



Here it is assembled. I have only one sign temporarily in place without the white acrylic back. It turned out better to apply the vinyl to the white acrylic rather than applying it to the back of the clear since I could not get rid of the small air pockets completely.



The next thing to work on is the beacon light.

 

[wbalzer]

For the beacon, it is a hacked up 14" oil anchor lamp. I bought mine from...

http://www.nauticaltropical.com/store/Lampspage3.htm



The topper is a cast replica of the one Rebelscum (Philip Wise) made. I don't know that it helped, but I painted it "brass" before painting it blue.



After cutting off the top of the anchor lamp, I made relief cuts to have something I could screw into the topper.



Here it is reassembled with a 12-20 volt 18 watt LED lamp (equivalent to 150 watt) bulb I got from Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009XBQ7YK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1



I used small brass screws to replace the rivets that were removed during disassembly.

 

[wbalzer]

Here is the GPO 332 phone I bought, and a Rotatone which converts the pulse to a tone.



Conversion process. I'm not going to bother explaining each detail here, but it was a challenge to hook everything up correctly.



Finally, got to add the armored cord to the 1956 handset. The GPO 332 phone was refurbished in 1964 so some parts are not perfectly matched, but only a trained eye would know the difference.



Now that the phone is dial-tone friendly, it can become a VOIP phone.

 

[Jintosh]

Making the old phone into tone is a nice touch. Not everyone would do that.

 

[wbalzer]

Making the old phone into tone is a nice touch. Not everyone would do that.

Thanks. It allows the phone to be able to make and receive calls on Google Voice with a VOIP adapter.

 

[Jintosh]

Thanks. It allows the phone to be able to make and receive calls on Google Voice with a VOIP adapter.

Yes, That's very good indeed. But can it call into the future ?

 

[wbalzer]

Behind the door sign, I'm adding hardware to hold the box that holds the phone. I'm using heavy duty bed rail fasteners which is more than adequate. I first created a template that I could use a router to create the mortise. I used a chisel to square up the corners.



I created another template in order to groove out the holes for the hardware, and painted it with a touch up pen/brush that contained the TARDIS paint.



Here it is complete.



Next... I have the phone box to build.

 

[wbalzer]

For the phone box, I spent a little bit of time at the Tulsa Fab Lab which has a CNC router called a Shopbot. It allowed me to create a recess for a small wireless keyboard, in a precisely made top and bottom.



Attaching the sides and back was a little tricky since as perfect as you try and be, the machinery that cut the sides and back isn't.



Here it is complete.



I could have painted it white like the prop, but wood finish looks very nice, especially in the TARDIS.

 

[wbalzer]

Here is a few pictures of the TARDIS. Here it is in Tampa, FL.



In Chicago, we got a surprise visit from the Hillywood sisters... Hilly and Hanna Hindi known for their parodies they perform on YouTube.



Fast forward to 4:27 to see their interaction with my TARDIS.

Captain Jack stopped by to make a call.



Nashville, TN.



We've been in several cities... Tampa, Pensacola, Chicago, Nashville, Austin, Dallas, and based in Tulsa, OK.

https://www.facebook.com/TulsaTardis

 

[wbalzer]

My TARDIS inspired a Fan Fiction series to be filmed...

Here is the latest update... we just wrapped and debuted a Fan Fiction series called "Doctor Who: The Soldier Stories" at the Dallas Comic Con. Also mentioned as one of the 4 Best Things to do at Dallas Comic Con in D Magazine.

http://frontrow.dmagazine.com/2015/02/the-4-best-things-at-dallas-comic-con-fan-days-this-weekend/


Here is the trailer...

[video]https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1033802323301866[/video]

or

Enjoy!

Wade

https://www.facebook.com/Doctorwhotss
https://www.facebook.com/TulsaTardis

 

[guzzotheluke]

Hi! Are the plan now available?
Thanks