The two door arches are identical. The posts are solid, built up from 2” x 4” and 2” x 8” pieces (screwed together). I used some ½” ply to increase the width to get the desired 4” x 4” cross section for the post core, then clad the core with 1” x 5” VG fir, cut down to exactly 4”. The 1” is nominal, and so required some ½” and ¾” plywood to build the core up to meet it. The post's outer cross section is 6” square. 2” x 4”s are actually 1 ½” x 3 ½”, so I cut some ½” ply either side to build up the long dimension, and ¾” ply to build up the short dimension.

If I did this again, I’d probably save some work by using a 2” x 6” instead of a 2” x 4”. Then I’d only have to build up the thickness, not the width.

The corners are 11/16^th radius ¼ round mouldings, which were glued in place.

I wrapped the post in string and used shims to hold the mouldings in from the outside at several places down the height.

The post caps are cut from 1” x 5”, with the corners cut out and filled with short sections of ¼ round moulding. These were glued onto the top of the posts. The quarter that is removed is aligned inward so that the roof will sit between them.

The dashed part of the diagram to the left shows the position of the 2x8 cross bar that forms the basis of the top of the arch. The protrusions stop at the base of the cross bar.

The cross beam was made from a 2x8 (actually 1 ½” x 7 ½”) beam, clad with pieces as shown below: The tops and bottoms of the sign box are 4” wide. They protrude 1” infront of the posts, so I used a jigsaw to get them to go accurately around the contour of the posts near their ends. The decorative pieces beneath are 2 ½”, 2 ¼” and 2” wide as you go down. These meet the doors, which are 1 1/2 “ thick and back onto the centre line (dashed line down centre). The sign box is large enough for a fluorescent light fitting.

The sign itself is a piece of acrylic sheet cut to size. I used Microsoft Publisher to print the text onto a “poster” 42” wide. Here's a PDF of the sign image. Initially I printed this onto five sheets of paper and taped it behind the acrylic, but I needed to improve this, as the joins show if it is backlit. I took the "prototype" to a Sign-maker's shop. Dr Who not being that well known in the US I had to explain what these were (in general terms so that they didn't think I was completely mad...). They were able to turn out four of the acrylic inserts (see left) in a couple of days for not even too much money.

The interior of the sign box is routed to provide a groove for the acrylic sign. I actually did the routing with the table saw, though a router would do as well or better. The corners are mitred. I glued 4" squares of ½" plywood onto the edges of the sign box sides. These sit behind the sign front and hold the sides on, which allows the sign front to slide out sideways to enable access to the strip light behind.

The door arches are actually not really strong enough, even though I used dowels, glue and big 3” screws to join the cross beam to the posts. The posts are so heavy that moving the arches can twist the cross beam. To prevent this, I nailed a 2x4 across the bottom of the posts when moving the TARDIS.