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I've recently decided that it would be nice
to texture and weather my police box to make it look a bit more
"realistic". At the same time I've made a few other adjustments
to make it look more like a police box and less like the TV props.
The first job with the windows was to get the old
"glass" out. I originally used patterned lighting diffuser for
the windows, and glued it in with clear bathroom adhesive. This stuff
dries clear to a rubbery consistency, and was fairly easy to remove with a
palette knife (although I broke all but one of the acrylic panes - no
great loss a $5 for a 2'x4' diffuser). I then had to scrape the remainder
off the window frames so the new panes would fit properly.
Following some recommendations from PurpleBlancmange on
the Tardis Rebuilders site, I mixed up some artists acrylic paint from a
tube with some Isoproyl Alcohol in a squirt bottle and applied this to
some new hammered-look glass.
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The mixture worked pretty well on the hammered glass,
but I found flat black spray paint worked well on the acrylic flat glass,
so I used both for a more interesting effect.
I made the non-hammered acrylic 'glass' opaque by sanding it
on the inside with an orbital sander and 100-grit paper. This allows the
glass to be opaque, but still shiny on the outside, which has a better look.
If you buy opaque acrylic sheet it tends to be roughed up on both sides, so
doesn't have that nice glassy shine.
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NEW LINTEL SIGNS |
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I decided to change the sign lintels to look a bit more
'classic' in design. I realised that because the ends of the sign boxes I
have slide out for lamp maintenance, that I could build new end-caps to get
the different look.
The new end-caps are built up from several layers of MDF
- the backmost fitting into the slot which holds the sign, and the front
one chamfered to match the chamfer on the edge of the sign box. I've
kept the old end-caps and signs, so I could revert the box to its Season
18 appearance if desired.
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NEW LAMP |
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I managed to source a fresnel lens as part of a ship's anchor
lamp. When this arrived, I made a new cap to go over the top, as the
previous one was not terribly attractive.
The larger top disk is cut from MDF using a router - much
like making a dalek neck ring. The smaller dome is from a battery operated
closet light and is held in place by the paint (!). I
reused the black-painted brass rod from the old cap.
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NEW HANDLES AND PHONE DOOR |
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I also found some nice black drawer pulls, which I think look
rather better than the silvery things I had before. I also picked up a brass
night-latch.
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old...
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new...
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I sprayed flat black paint over the handles and then grey
primer paint over the top of that to give the handles a 'used' look. To
weather the brass night-latch, I first cleaned it with alcohol, then rubbed
it down with steel wool (actually I put the steel wool on the bench and
rubbed the lock onto it to stop fragments getting into the lock cylinder),
then sprayed it with the same paint solution I have for the windows (with
the key in). Thanks to Banzai and TimeGirl on the TardisRebuilders for
advice on how to do this.
I never really liked the door sign, and since it's glued
in, I had to make a new door.
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first the frame
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acrylic sheet laid across it
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here's the completed door
with a temporary graphic
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The door is made by routering a strip of wood at two
different depths, one for the 'glass' (I used acrylic sheet again) and one
for the hardboard back, which is glued in place. A paper print-out of the
sign graphic is sandwiched between the glass and hardboard. This is pretty
much how I made the old one. The acrylic glass here
was treated in the same way as the windows and sign lintels.
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