Note: This post comes at the request of my father, who was thrilled to be featured in the last article.
It may come as no surprise that I do not like fibreglass, given the fact the title of this article equates fiberglass and doom. I did not realise this until Huw and I began working on this part of the TARDIS' reconstruction. The fibres get everywhere, the resin is a sloppy mess of pungent fumes, and once the stuff has gone hard its edges are like razors. I've had fibreglass rash and my dad and I have been stabbed with tiny splinters more times than we can count. However, the TARDIS is now structurally more secure. All of the loose light boxes around the roof have been firmly attached and appear to be waterproof. Any small holes around the corners of the roof and across the base have been filled in an attempt to stop any leaks. Will it ever be totally waterproof? It's unlikely, but it's certainly a darn sight better than it ever was. In an attempt to stop any water seeping through the seams of the walls and the base, Huw devised a set of small pieces of sloped wood that would catch the rainwater and allow it to run off the base, rather than it collecting inside and flooding!
In the last part I mentioned that I have been forced to make a few compromises with this project, one of which was a working door for the telephone. Well I'm pleased to say that we will now be having said door! After a lot of discussion we decided to take the plunge and cut out the panel from the door. If it doesn't work... well we'll work that out when it comes to it...
From the images attached you can see that the TARDIS is looking like Seagulls have used it for target practice. This is actually Polyfilla, and no, it's not being used to fill in holes. Instead, this has been applied in order to give the TARDIS a more battered concrete texture like the original prop designed by Peter Brachacki. Although the wooden appearance of the TARDIS looks nice in the new series, the Metropolitan Police Box was actually constructed from concrete and personally I think it adds to the idea that the TARDIS is well travelled and steered by a man who has no idea how to pilot it properly.
Finally, the light! After countless internet searches we finally managed to acquire a light that actually does a decent job. It needs a few modifications before we can fix it to the roof, and the lamp housing needs a hole cut into the top to allow the sunlight to reach the solar panel. So there's still work to be done, but at least we know it works!
As soon as we have sanded down the rough fibreglass sections, we'll be able to give it a new coat of paint. This Friday the windows will be fitted and the the new door attached. It's all coming to a close... Although I do have some ideas for the inside...
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