Using Procreate I designed the console from sketches I’d made over the years; influenced by obsessively studying anything I could find on the props used in the show, as well as some fantastic fan-made creations.

 

(Yes, I do know what Tardis function each switch, dial and lever on my console control. I’m a bit nerdy like that.)

 

I made the first layer of console panels with SuperSculpy and glued them to thin cardboard bases with Liquid Sculpy to hold them flat as they cured in the oven.

 

I cut out the second, thinner layer, using SuperSculpy Firm and glued it to the the cured base, again using Liquid Sculpy.

The combined panels were then cured in the oven.

 

I carefully cut out the control panels from another thin layer of SuperSculpy Firm and glued them to the cured bases. Using modelling tools I formed the switches and levers, leaving room for the various items I’d add later once I’d painted the console.

Into the oven to cure.

 

Cooled and ready to assemble. Fingers crossed that it fits…

 

The moving levers were made from cocktail sticks wrapped in SuperSculpy Firm and inserted into sections of wooden dowel.

I had already drilled through these sections, which allowed me to slide them onto a wooden barbecue skewer - making a very basic lever.

(I destroyed far more of these than I successfully made and had to walk away from the saw in a seething rage more than once during the process!)

 

Using some tape I shaped the console and then pressed SuperSculpy into the joins. I also filled the top of the console, trying to make it as flat as I could, which, as it turned out, was not very flat at all!

Using strips of SuperSculpy Firm I made a trim for the edge at the base of the console rim.

Then it was time to cure it again.

 

I lightly sanded the cooled console to remove some rough spots.

(The top where the time column would sit was a mess!)

 

I glued on the additional trim and the hexagonal topper. I had to make some changes to the shape as a perfect hexagon would have emphasised the non-perfect console proportions!

I made a paste from SuperSculpy and Liquid Sculpy and smeared this into any gaps.

 

I made a disk from SuperSculpy Firm and formed indents for the glass marbles that would make up the time column. Then I pressed on some details and cured it all again.

 

Cooling from the bake.

 

I added the final embellishments and replaced the odd bit that had fallen off along the journey.

Then it was time for the final cure…

 

I made the console base from six pieces of thin fibreboard onto which I glued (with Liquid Sculpy) six thin rectangles of SuperSculpy Firm.

 

I cut out the discs from SuperSculpy Frim, glued them to the base side panels and cured them in the oven.

 

I made a base from two hexagons of SuperSculpy, folded the panels together, made a trim, and fixed them to the base using more SuperSculpy.

And in for the final cure.

 

Once cooled I used hot glue to fix the levers to the base of the console. I wanted to be able to easily remove them if they became damaged or, in the case of the large demat/remat levers, replace them with something less clunky.

(I’ll update this build diary when I get round to re-doing the levers)

 

Then I made a huge mistake by base coating the console with a gesso primer. The rough texture of the paint obscured the smooth sanded surfaces and removed some of the finer detail.

Oh well, we live and learn…

 

The time column is made from marbles glued together with UV resin. The dome casing came from inside a LED-lit wax candle I’d been given years ago.

And here she is:

 

During one of Auckland’s short snap lockdowns in 2020 I took a week off work and had so much fun building this. I made mistakes. I burnt my fingers. I learned a lot.

 

I do plan to remake the console at some point.

While I’m very pleased with my first attempt, the paint job just doesn’t do the model justice: I’d been a bit heavy-handed in places and the rough base primer was a mistake from the start.

 

I have a few new tricks and ideas I’d like to try in order to get a bit more motion out of the next sculpt.

And then I’d like to sculpt a console room. With modular walls, moving doors and scanner, and maybe some lighting…