The Tardis project.
Otherwise known as the huge thing blocking my workshop door for 12 months.
The Tardis project. Bit of a love hate affair with this one. I built it, but I am not sure why. I t turned out to be impossible to sell, as the BBC instantly jumped on you if you uploaded it to Ebay. If you tried to sell it privately, then people just wanted to pay tiny amounts for it. Sadly, it got dismantled in the end and the parts salvaged. It just took up a huge amount of space in my workshop for ages. The whole thing was made from MDF. Designed to come apart pretty quickly, but it certainly wasn’t light. Inside, I fitted a large polycarbonate mirror on the rear wall, and then designed the interior as a half circle to reflect in the mirror. I also built half a centre console. This then gave the illusion of a larger interior than outside. The console was MDF, shaped with wood filler. Lots of pound shop bits stuck all over it, and some rubbish out of the workshop. Just had to make it look complicated! The computer screen was a digital picture frame off Ebay. Loaded it with some graphics and Dr Who images. I added a Picaxe chip to control the flashing light on the roof, and an MP3 module. That stored the Tardis sound effects and all the Dr Who themes. It had a pair of 8w amplifier modules and 2x car speakers in the ceiling. I got the door police sign made on Ebay by a sign printer, and the illuminated police box signs were pre-cut letters (again – Ebay), used as masks on Perspex. I spray painted the persex black and then removed the letters. I added a Picaxe chip to control the flashing light on the roof, and an MP3 module. That stored the Tardis sound effects and all the Dr Who themes. It had a pair of 8w amplifier modules and 2x car speakers in the ceiling. I got the door police sign made on Ebay by a sign printer, and the illuminated police box signs were pre-cut letters (again – Ebay), used as masks on Perspex. I spray painted the persex black and then removed the letters. |
The hardest part was the centre time rotor (the bit that goes up and down). That was half a piece of polycarbonate tube with smaller tubes set inside it. A geared motor made that rise and fall. While wandering around a local toy shop, they were clearing out toy Tardis’s. They had the humming sound effect of the Tardis. So, I bought one for £5 and added that to the sound system. A great project, and I rarely dismantle anything I build. But this thing did become a bit of a road block in my workshop, so it had to go! |