Thursday, 22 October 2009

how to Make a American TARDIS








i have been asked a lot now on how i did this so here is as much as i can remember
ok buy a CO Tardis money box
literely take it apart unscrew everything the lot
this leaves you three walls a base 2 dors and the front with posts and picture
dremmel anything like stanly knife model saw or such like will do to remove this front sand the edges lightly
then you get to screw it all together again repaint (if you want to) new graphics printed off one workable Tardis you have the hole for money and the box for batteries inside to dodge around sadly as part of the floor

OR you can re base it as i did as this box after tedious amounts of research was apparent it had a huge base so i got some MDF cut up and bevelled edged and voilĂ  one base this was drilled screwed into holes in four posts and glued so is very secure strip of plastic so bottom pegs of the doors could fit
into it and be useable i added a strip of plastic to the top of the door under the POLICE BOX sign so the doors can not open outwards to far
I then re made the lintels(POLICE BOX signs) to thickness of the original prop i then noticed the signs were pushed forward so made them flush and the outside cladding going round the sign flush on top of them
i removed the lamp with a model saw made a new one from a pen, the housing now this box not only had a housing for the lamp but the Fresnel kept the original brass housing as well so i made this from grey stuff modelling putty and wire painted brass and then made housing from plastic and matchsticks
Then i clad inside of the box with black sugar paper and a print off of the Console room from TVM
Now the elctrics all worked as normal but i had to saw off the battery compartment and reattach wires and the 2 way switch so there is still the dematerilisation noise and lamp flash effect this switch is hidden behind the door so when you open the door you get noise and lamp effect, there's other little details like reclad the phone panel as this is proud on the prop and change the handle to the other side add the lock which has to be moved up i used grey stuff for this and reposition the handle paint the alternating frosted window panels which are very random on this prop (Research can never do enough even if you can see the box pics even when you close your eyes) , wash and weather the box as this was a light shade of blue on the prop despite lighting and filters in the TVM to your own taste of what you want i went for a Big Finish Zagreus / Neverland finish and how i saw it and you have one American TARDIS


Monday, 19 October 2009

long over due merchandise



At last finaly my eagerly awaited set of Death to the daleks figures arrived at the princely sum of £25 i was not over enthused but it arrived after some wait i was like a kid at xmas from watching this as a boy to having read the book i even own the poster ,this was a set i have waited for a long time much like the rapidly growing Pyramids of Mars set im developing but more on that one later
Here it is the set of Doctor three played by the late great Jon Pertwee and the Dalek from this story
First the Dalek great even has the Machine (Tommy) gun and the fins at the end (on the prop a WW1 mortar) very accurately done brilliant im sure this will turn up in another Dalek set soon I would love some more but this is nice orange lights for leader from this story (This prop was actually Gold Dalek from Day of the Daleks) it has right colour all nicely done slight blemish on a neck ring and even has sagging mesh and slats at rear (Though this is unintentional im sure) like the actual prop just needs the movie skirt with misaligned hemis nice bit of kit
Now for the Doctor now as i am sure you have gathered i know this story very well and well lets start with the sculpt its OK its a resemblance of the later Jon but not great it seems to be lacking the detail of the lines and creases the eyes are wrong shape and the hair is defiantly wrong for this era but its ok complete with only one ring missing the other, the riding boots are nicely detailed and by far best detailing and accuracy goes to the sonic screwdriver, well his the shirt could do with being more frilly bow tie is nicely represented
The painting is a lttle off the trousers are grey not black the hair is white and not enough grey looks more like his later hair in the five doctors as at this time he retained a lot of grey and some blonde his face is plain again i think this only needs some sort of wash like the hair to bring it out otherwise the rest inclueing the jacket is nicely done the eyes are to light giving him a zombie blank expression, i wont be modding this, at this price it stays as it is i am hesitant to even pose the nice stiff new joints
for this price i do expect more, more aimed to the collector and less generic action figure
so all in all great set only for true collectors though generally i don't think this everyone's taste though another Dalek might make this sell well out of ten ill be generous and nostalgic and say 7
and i new i built that TARDIS for a reason .................
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Tuesday, 13 October 2009

Mini Whoniverse


As well as Dr Who i also like to paint Games Workshop miniatures 28mm i prefer Bretonia in this classic warhammer i dont game no time to, but i do like them and have built a sizeable army using imagination and well me my ancestors etc
Now many moons ago Dr Who came out as minis from Black tree Design and i like them expensive hobby but i do like them so gradualy piece at a time i am building up doctors and hopefully some enemies and a small platoon of U.N.I.T tho i am aware of better Army figures around and inspired by a very nice guy who has done a awesome job project for a lazy afternoon
thats the thing i enjoy doing this and takeing my time no rush if it takes a month to get round to finishing fine i have some a full 2 years on not finished I also now got some hero click mini who figures cheap to swell the ranks and i have some corgi stuff like Bessie the Drs car and a UNIT land rover and so far look great on the shelf tho with this move of home there still tucked away
I have fine art casting and original 85 Citadel Games workshop figures plastic and metal but haven't and don't think i will paint these as collection in there own right
so here is the Third Dr and Fourth in his later season 18 outfit as its a personal favourite of mine