Around the beginning of September, I decided that I was going to build a TARDIS, and try and have it done in the middle of October. Since my time was limited to evenings and weekends minus every imaginable life event that competes with my time, well, that didn't happen! Here it is in December, and I have only gotten as far as making the panels. I still have a roof, and detail work to complete, finishing, painting, hardware,... and making it bigger on the inside...(haven't quite figured that part out yet, but I am working on it.) ;)
Hopefully, my experience will help someone else.
Special thanks to:
Rebelscum (Philip Wise) http://www.therpf.com/f9/my-new-seri...e-heavy-99629/
MattMunson http://www.therpf.com/f9/tardis-buil...e-time-180746/
GeneralFROSTY http://www.therpf.com/f9/blue-box-ta...landed-143380/
I decided early on that if I were going to build a TARDIS, I was going to build it "right". In other words, I was not going to sacrifice quality craftsmanship for shortcuts, cheap lumber, and poor planning. Every "good" build that I have seen, needs a "good" plan. After searching for plans...
Has anyone ever discovered that everyone that makes plans, they are all different? Generally they are all the same, but the TARDIS has evolved over the years since 1963... it's always been a "blue box" except when it was "gray" in the days of black and white, but there is not an "official" standard, except for each Doctor, and the "version" of build from the Props department. The question is... which one do you build?
... The long and short of it is that I ended up drawing up my own plans, but relied on the work of other TARDIS builders to understand their deviations from each other. I came across a post with plans from the BBC props department drawn up in millimeters of the Richmond-Thomas 2005 prop which is where my TARDIS plans heavily rely as well as Bill "the Doctor" Rudloff's plans.
BBC: http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=4234.0
Rudloff: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...ARDISPlans.pdf
At this point, I am far enough in my project that deviations between the BBC plans and the actual prop used on the show were not discovered in time that I made some design decisions. Other design differences that I made were on "purpose" due to the purposeful design decisions I made. These differences, I will discuss along the way, but they aren't noticeable unless you absolutely know the exact dimensions of the specific prop that I am duplicating. Basically, I am building a full scale Matt Smith TARDIS, but I am building it in such a way that it can be transported in the confines of one or two cars. (I don't own a truck). This means that the base has to be in two halves, and there are six wall panels, two doors, four posts, four top signs, and a two-part roof, and top light. That pretty much covers the outside.
The inside... I haven't figured that out yet.
I think the "why" I am building this TARDIS is more important than the actual build. From a Time Lord's perspective, BBC's idea for the TARDIS was "inspired" by a TRUTH that is far more real that is yet known. TRUTH is the only thing that travels faster than light, and therefore time is bent around it. In other words, TRUTH precedes events revealed in time. Does that make sense? The "why" is to educate. If I go much deeper than that, I will lose you.
Ultimately, I am here to get you to think outside the "blue box"... pun intended.... or perhaps in this case inside the "blue box"!
Let's build a TARDIS!
Wade Balzer
wbalzer (at) newjerusalem.org
Hopefully, my experience will help someone else.
Special thanks to:
Rebelscum (Philip Wise) http://www.therpf.com/f9/my-new-seri...e-heavy-99629/
MattMunson http://www.therpf.com/f9/tardis-buil...e-time-180746/
GeneralFROSTY http://www.therpf.com/f9/blue-box-ta...landed-143380/
I decided early on that if I were going to build a TARDIS, I was going to build it "right". In other words, I was not going to sacrifice quality craftsmanship for shortcuts, cheap lumber, and poor planning. Every "good" build that I have seen, needs a "good" plan. After searching for plans...
Has anyone ever discovered that everyone that makes plans, they are all different? Generally they are all the same, but the TARDIS has evolved over the years since 1963... it's always been a "blue box" except when it was "gray" in the days of black and white, but there is not an "official" standard, except for each Doctor, and the "version" of build from the Props department. The question is... which one do you build?
... The long and short of it is that I ended up drawing up my own plans, but relied on the work of other TARDIS builders to understand their deviations from each other. I came across a post with plans from the BBC props department drawn up in millimeters of the Richmond-Thomas 2005 prop which is where my TARDIS plans heavily rely as well as Bill "the Doctor" Rudloff's plans.
BBC: http://tardisbuilders.com/index.php?topic=4234.0
Rudloff: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...ARDISPlans.pdf
At this point, I am far enough in my project that deviations between the BBC plans and the actual prop used on the show were not discovered in time that I made some design decisions. Other design differences that I made were on "purpose" due to the purposeful design decisions I made. These differences, I will discuss along the way, but they aren't noticeable unless you absolutely know the exact dimensions of the specific prop that I am duplicating. Basically, I am building a full scale Matt Smith TARDIS, but I am building it in such a way that it can be transported in the confines of one or two cars. (I don't own a truck). This means that the base has to be in two halves, and there are six wall panels, two doors, four posts, four top signs, and a two-part roof, and top light. That pretty much covers the outside.
The inside... I haven't figured that out yet.
I think the "why" I am building this TARDIS is more important than the actual build. From a Time Lord's perspective, BBC's idea for the TARDIS was "inspired" by a TRUTH that is far more real that is yet known. TRUTH is the only thing that travels faster than light, and therefore time is bent around it. In other words, TRUTH precedes events revealed in time. Does that make sense? The "why" is to educate. If I go much deeper than that, I will lose you.
Ultimately, I am here to get you to think outside the "blue box"... pun intended.... or perhaps in this case inside the "blue box"!
Let's build a TARDIS!
Wade Balzer
wbalzer (at) newjerusalem.org