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Thread: Model TARDIS made from 3mm HDF (Dr Who geek stuff)

  1. #16
    I love it.

    Can you make the lettering in white?

  2. #17
    That's cool
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  3. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by James E Baker View Post
    Actually, the first episode of Dr Who went to air in England on the night of the JFK assassination, so it's been around for a very long time.
    As a kid it use to scare me and I would have to hide behind the sofa, but now I can now laugh at it without the nightmares
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    and there's a lot more joy than pain.

    "Yea, though I walk through the valley
    of the shadow of death,
    I will fear no evil:
    for thou art with me;
    thy rod and thy staff
    they comfort me."

  4. #19
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    It's thread necromancy time.

    The discussions with the BBC in 2010 about licensing went nowhere. Three models were taken to London (one kit, one assembled but unpainted, and one fully painted and detailed model). The BBC liked what I'd done, but wanted a lot of changes to the design and considered that my proposed price for the kit was too high. After I got the news back from my friend who'd taken the models to the BBC, I spent some time attempting to implement the design changes the BBC wanted, and eventually decided that it was more trouble than it was worth. My decision was reinforced by my knowledge that there was no way I could cut my costs to the sort of figure the BBC had in mind. In the end, other than the occasional tinkering with the files, I pretty much abandoned the project.

    Cut to mid-2014.

    After a lot of urging from some of the members of the committee at the local farmers' and artisan market, I joined their group and started displaying and selling my custom design and craft services from a table at the market. I needed some items on the table that would catch people's eyes, so amongst the engraved glassware and precision cut wooden items, I put a couple of my 2010 versions of the TARDIS on display, purely as an example of the kind of work I could do. One was an assembled version in unfinished MDF/Masonite that could be easily disassembled in just seconds to show the precision of the cutting to potential clients of my work, and the other was a fully assembled and painted version that was originally the paint test model I used in preparation for painting the good one that was taken to the meeting with the BBC. The models on the table at the market had the desired effect, and while it was often the children that saw them first, they created a lot of interest amongst some of more geeky market customers. Quite a few wanted to know if the models were for sale, and were rather disappointed when I had to point out that legally I couldn't sell them.

    A few months ago, a friend who also has a table at the market (and sells artisan chocolates), asked if I would make a model for her that she could give to her Dr Who mad niece for Christmas. As the old 2010 vintage models were looking a bit tired and I could see so many ways I could improve the design, I used the request as an excuse to revise the cutting files to incorporate the changes that the BBC wanted, and add more detailing. My end goal was to have display pieces at the market that would better showcase my skills to potential clients of my custom work.

    I made one for my friend's niece, and this one was completed a few days ago and incorporated changes to correct problems I'd encountered building the model for my friend's niece. This particular model has had a hard life, and needed repairs done before it was even finished. We have a 150 pound Newfoundland, and his tail is like a fur covered baseball bat. Things that you think are safe, are still within the range of his swinging tail, and this poor TARDIS was knocked off the table and onto the floor boards ... twice. Fortunately, as long as I had a stock of 3mm thick Masonite, I could make all the replacement parts I needed, and the replacement parts fitted exactly the same as the original parts. Other than lost time, there was no other loss. There was still a bit of touch up work to be done when the photos were taken, but the model was 99% complete (and placed well out of reach of the dog's tail when I wasn't working on it).





    All the trim around the door panels and windows that looks like its an attached wood moulding piece is achieved by using the LASER's 3D mode to carve a 45 degree chamfer into the edge of the Masonite. To get an idea of the scale, each block of 6 windows measures roughly 1 inch high by 3/4 inch wide.

    The painting takes forever. I'm applying thinned down interior water based paint with a single action airbrush. It needs at least 5 coats of the thinned down paint to get full coverage ... however at that scale, using an airbrush and thinned paint in very light layers means that I have a lot of control over the quality of the paint finish. I use a Binks Wren "B" Airbrush that I've owned for 4 decades. Many cheap plastic single action airbrushes are shameless copies of the Binks Wren design. I have one of these copies as a secondary airbrush.

    Each model can still be completely cut from a single 610mm by 305 mm (2 foot by 1 foot) piece of 3 mm thick Masonite, but there's now close to an hour of etching and cutting time needed to create all the pieces. A special jig is used to hold small pieces of masonite at a 10 degree angle while they are being LASER cut so that the 4 pieces that make up the sloped roof can be joined properly. Anyone that's done miter cuts in two planes will understand the type of cutting needed. In the LASER system, this is made even more complicated by the need to accurately position the focus point of the beam where it exits the final focus lens in the LASER beam path. These types of LASER cutting systems aren't designed to cut anything that isn't flat, so cutting an item that is on an angle, constantly moves the work outside the restricted focus point of the beam. After a short cut on a piece of sloping material, the piece being worked on has to be repositioned vertically to relocate it back into the LASER focus point before the cut can continue.
    James

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  5. #20
    That's really cool. I watched Dr. Who sitting in my grandparents place outside London, a long time ago... and whenever I hear the theme - it brings me back to the 70's and 80's.

    It's neat that on a message board for something so technical as laser cutting - a pretty narrow pursuit - I see something like this to cue those thoughts.

    You've made a cool thing. Keep doing that.

  6. #21
    Just remember you started this James...

    Where's the access point to the phone on the left second from the top panel?
    Where's the handle and key hole?
    And depending on what season you are going for, where's the round symbol on the right second from the top panel?

    And... it's the wrong color...

    Tom Baker is my Doctor in case your wondering

    But seriously... nice work!

    However, Fans can be stupid picky so you might want to consider what I said, while I was playing the part of The Master (for those of you who are Who Fans, that means devils advocate more or less)

    Would you like a jelly baby?
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  7. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by Walt Langhans View Post
    Just remember you started this James...

    Where's the access point to the phone on the left second from the top panel?
    Right here.


    Where's the handle and key hole?
    That's the next stage in the design revision.

    And depending on what season you are going for, where's the round symbol on the right second from the top panel?
    See image above

    And... it's the wrong color...
    Nope. According to the current BBC Dr Who "Style Guide" (which I was given access to), it's the correct Pantone 2955C colour for the current version. Older versions were different colours.

    Tom Baker is my Doctor in case your wondering

    But seriously... nice work!

    However, Fans can be stupid picky so you might want to consider what I said, while I was playing the part of The Master (for those of you who are Who Fans, that means devils advocate more or less)

    Would you like a jelly baby?
    I go back to Season 1, Episode 1, that was first broadcast in Australia when I was 11. I'm 61 now, so I've lived through ALL 50+ years of The Doctor.

    Didn't like Hartnell or Troughton. Started watching it seriously in the Pertwee era. Tom Baker IS The Doctor to me. Didn't like Davidson, Baker, McCoy or McGann. I could take or leave the Eccleston era (Billie Piper just grated on me), liked Tennant, less fussed about Smith and Capaldi.
    James

    nova scotia lasers
    Nova Scotia, Canada

    VLS4.60 with 50 watts, rotary, honeycomb, air, collimator ... CorelDRAW X5, 1-Touch Photo
    HP Deskjet 500 42" printer
    Magicard Rio ID Card Printer
    Nothing says unprofessional job like wrinkles in duct tape.

  8. #23
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    Got some photos back from a client that commissioned a TARDIS as an engagement ring presentation box.























    James

    nova scotia lasers
    Nova Scotia, Canada

    VLS4.60 with 50 watts, rotary, honeycomb, air, collimator ... CorelDRAW X5, 1-Touch Photo
    HP Deskjet 500 42" printer
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    Nothing says unprofessional job like wrinkles in duct tape.

  9. #24
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    Very nicely done! I remember watching a number of episodes with my wife's kid brother when we were home for Christmas in the late 70s. I could not remember the actor's name until I saw the mention of Tom Baker. He was the one. I suppose for many he is the "only" Dr. Who, just like Sean Connery is the "only" James Bond.

    Let the fighting begin ...

  10. #25
    Wow your Tardis is amazing!

    We made a Tardis Ring Box a couple of years ago for my Sister in Law, She didn't know her boyfriend ordered it, all custom drawn on Coral Draw all flat and hoping they fit together (before we knew how to do things properly).
    Its a bit hard to see the detail in the pictures, the front three sides come away to reveal the the ring.
    tarding ring box.jpg
    tarding ring box2.jpg
    Last edited by Jess Phiz; 03-03-2015 at 11:03 PM.

  11. #26
    Fantastic work If you are the same guy from SSM then you have seen mine too

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  12. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by Greg W Watson View Post
    Fantastic work If you are the same guy from SSM then you have seen mine too

    Greg
    That's me on SSM.
    James

    nova scotia lasers
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    Nothing says unprofessional job like wrinkles in duct tape.

  13. #28
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    My TARDIS model was originally designed as a puzzle that would assemble without glue or fasteners. It's just the tight part tolerance and friction that keeps it all together. I thought this set of 8 posts might be of interest as they show the individual parts that make up the design and how all the parts fit together.

    The following images and text relate to the simpler "Flat Roof" design, but 90%+ of these step by step instructions would be followed in the assembly of the painted peaked roof model that I've posted in the more recent photographs.

    The pieces used in these photographs were taken straight off the LASER. No cleaning, trimming, or finishing has been done, so there is some smoke staining from the cutting process visible.


    The Outer Frame is the first part of the assembly and consists of 4 identical parts that clip together.




    The design of the integral clips means that the parts just hook together.




    Lower clips.




    Upper clips.




    The clips are slid home and the next frame section is added. Once those clips are locked in place, the final frame section is added. Getting the last section of the frame to mate up with the first section requires a bit of flexing.




    But after the last set of clips are locked together, the frame is quite rigid and self supporting.




    The upper clips form the edges of the boxing that holds the "Police Box" signage above the door. The lower clips fit into the plinth and are hidden there.

    If I was building this as a painted version, I'd run a bead of wood glue down the seam where one edge meets the flat face of the adjoining piece.
    Last edited by James E Baker; 03-09-2015 at 4:02 PM.
    James

    nova scotia lasers
    Nova Scotia, Canada

    VLS4.60 with 50 watts, rotary, honeycomb, air, collimator ... CorelDRAW X5, 1-Touch Photo
    HP Deskjet 500 42" printer
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    Nothing says unprofessional job like wrinkles in duct tape.

  14. #29
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    Now that the outer frame is assembled, the next part to be fitted is the bottom framing of the 4 "Police Box" signs.

    There are 4 identical pieces, one for each side of the TARDIS.




    They drop into the 3 holes near the top of the outer frame. The pieces are asymmetric, so they'll only fit one way.




    Into the holes.




    Then the pieces are slid sideways to form the bottom of the sign framing (the right side doesn't quite mate up in this photo as the frame clips were not fully seated).




    Repeat on the other 3 sides. The next stage will lock these pieces in position.
    James

    nova scotia lasers
    Nova Scotia, Canada

    VLS4.60 with 50 watts, rotary, honeycomb, air, collimator ... CorelDRAW X5, 1-Touch Photo
    HP Deskjet 500 42" printer
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    Nothing says unprofessional job like wrinkles in duct tape.

  15. #30
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    Now the main side pieces go on.

    Here are 4 pieces that make up the outermost layer of the sides. In earlier versions of my TARDIS, all 4 Outer Side pieces were identical, but a recent revision saw the inclusion of the frame around the "Telephone Access Door" on one of the side pieces.




    Each piece is 3mm narrower than the internal dimensions of the outer frame, so the edge of one piece assists to hold the piece beside it in position. These pieces have to be fitted from the bottom of the TARDIS as there are obstructions at the top from the pieces that were fitted in the previous step.




    The 3 castellated notches at the top of each of the Outer Side pieces lock in place the piece that was fitted to form the base of frame above the door that holds the "Police Box" signage.

    James

    nova scotia lasers
    Nova Scotia, Canada

    VLS4.60 with 50 watts, rotary, honeycomb, air, collimator ... CorelDRAW X5, 1-Touch Photo
    HP Deskjet 500 42" printer
    Magicard Rio ID Card Printer
    Nothing says unprofessional job like wrinkles in duct tape.

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