The Making of the Shrunken Tardis
by Nick Robatto
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The windows were 3mm perspex with frosted vinyl added on the front and the frames were laser cut out of sheet styrene. The additional detail like the 'Pull to open' and 'Police box' signs were etched from a laser laminate.
Once assembled I gave the prop a wash of brown paint, waited for it to dry and then attacked it with some fine wire wool to achieve the weathered effect.
The version we are offering is moulded and cast from the completed prop, but we are now casting the Tardis in one piece, rather than from several seperate pieces. All other aspects remain the same; however, we will also be offering the Shrunken Tardis with the added option of static or pulsing lights which will be fitted, as usual, by Albert James, pratical electrician for Doctor Who for many years.
When I was first asked to make the Shrunken Tardis, I have to say I got pretty excited. I mean, who wouldn't want to make a miniature model of the Tardis?! I also knew that, like the Siege Mode cube, it would be a great replica to offer our fans.
I was provided with technical drawings and set about drawing the main parts up on CAD. I was intially looking to make most of the parts on the laser cutter, but as the production department also needed a soft rubber version, it was necessary for me to mould all the bits to reproduce in rubber. However, when the scene where the Shrunken Tardis is dropped was being filmed, the resin version was dropped rather than the rubber one! Cue the super glue!
All the blue parts were cast from a polyurethane resin with added blue pigment. I decided to add the pigment at this stage, so that when It came to the point in the build where I would weather down the final prop, a lighter shade of blue would come through and highlight the edges.
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