Friday, 11 April 2014
A man's best friend...
...is his dog!
Here is K9, the robot dog from Doctor Who.
He is on four wheels, with light up eyes, a bobbing head and a wagging tail. Here he is shown at Weston Favell Library on the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who!
Here is K9, the robot dog from Doctor Who.
What every doctor needs...
A sonic screwdriver!
Made from machined aluminium, this is a shiny replica of the prop used by Tom Baker during his tenure as the doctor.
This was made with several built-in functions. For example, the screwdriver slides inside itself to activate at the handle...
And also at the top (a feature not seen on the prop but I just wanted it to do more!)...
I have made it portable for carrying around with a 'twist to lock' feature that holds it closed...
And finally the head is removeable to keep it protected during transport, and to copy the original prop...
Made from machined aluminium, this is a shiny replica of the prop used by Tom Baker during his tenure as the doctor.
Knitting!
If there's one thing that all the Burgesses do, it's work with wool and other fibres. One thing that keeps me occupied is making doctor who scarves!
So far I have made 3 accurate scarves, with a fourth on the way from the story "Shada". From Lovarzi, I have bought a season '12.5' scarf, and hand knitted ones from seasons '14', '15', 'shada' and '18'. Below is a comparison between the Lovarzi scarf and my season 14...
Aside from maybe one or two colours, they are indistinguishable from each other!
My season '15'. This and the season '14' scarves were commissioned, and so I do not own them any more.
So far I have made 3 accurate scarves, with a fourth on the way from the story "Shada". From Lovarzi, I have bought a season '12.5' scarf, and hand knitted ones from seasons '14', '15', 'shada' and '18'. Below is a comparison between the Lovarzi scarf and my season 14...
Sunday, 15 September 2013
My recounting of Larry the dalek's life so far will be continued later...
For now, I will show some of my old Youtube videos of smaller doctor who props I have made:
Warning! These were made when I was in year 8- my third year of prop replication enthusiam. This means that my voice had not yet broken. If you are sensitive to ultra high frequencies, please ignore my voice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0QGhUQYjtE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a8ilLwtioE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5VtTaCjlKQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNNIqDqcWmI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWuB9mNboB4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh6yl5xME_Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIqItnpOeco
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_8C2MPZ-oc
My first attempt at keeping an all around build diary for what I had made.
Note that these are are not all the completed or even final versions of each prop. For example, the Cybermat was later covered in plaster, a mould taken and a piece cast from it. This faced a lot of smoothing out, then it too was moulded and three fibreglass ones cast. Ah, the many tribulations of this line of work... but I enjoy it!
For now, I will show some of my old Youtube videos of smaller doctor who props I have made:
Warning! These were made when I was in year 8- my third year of prop replication enthusiam. This means that my voice had not yet broken. If you are sensitive to ultra high frequencies, please ignore my voice.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0QGhUQYjtE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a8ilLwtioE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5VtTaCjlKQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNNIqDqcWmI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWuB9mNboB4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh6yl5xME_Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIqItnpOeco
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_8C2MPZ-oc
My first attempt at keeping an all around build diary for what I had made.
Note that these are are not all the completed or even final versions of each prop. For example, the Cybermat was later covered in plaster, a mould taken and a piece cast from it. This faced a lot of smoothing out, then it too was moulded and three fibreglass ones cast. Ah, the many tribulations of this line of work... but I enjoy it!
Just thought that I would show a few of the events I have taken Larry the dalek to.
https://www.facebook.com/james.burgess.7370/media_set?set=a.565240143527388.1073741826.100001242219189&type=3
This was at Bicester in 2013. I was so excited because it was the first ever time he'd ever been out of the house. After this, I took him to a park open day (quite a strain on the old legs, I did an entire circuit on long grass, while in character and surrounded by excited kids!) of which I have no photos.
Then, he went to Smallspace model show in Hanslope. This was held by Mat Irvine, who created many of the props in doctor who throughout the 70s and early 80s. There's one person who's verbal appreciation of Larry has warmed my heart and built my confidence.
While I was there, I had a few of my other doctor who prop replicas on display- namely my self knitted season 18 doctor who scarf, classic sonic screwdriver, work in progress cybermats, sea devil mask and classic Tardis key (the only replica that I had not made myself). Also, there was my original BBC Adipose prototype that was measured to create the computer models- one of the three in existence.
Towards the end, I had a chat with other doctor who prop enthusiasts. Most were not quite as keen on building things from scratch as I was, preferring to use ready made moulds. However, I mentioned that next year I intended to have an Ice warrior costume completed by then. This was treated with an air of "I wouldn't like to be in your shoes" by the others, but one man said that he owned an Ice warrior chest from the original moulds. Exchanging contacts, I went on my way home.
I got no reply from him in the end, though I wasn't particularly bothered by this. My project continued all the same...
https://www.facebook.com/james.burgess.7370/media_set?set=a.565240143527388.1073741826.100001242219189&type=3
This was at Bicester in 2013. I was so excited because it was the first ever time he'd ever been out of the house. After this, I took him to a park open day (quite a strain on the old legs, I did an entire circuit on long grass, while in character and surrounded by excited kids!) of which I have no photos.
Then, he went to Smallspace model show in Hanslope. This was held by Mat Irvine, who created many of the props in doctor who throughout the 70s and early 80s. There's one person who's verbal appreciation of Larry has warmed my heart and built my confidence.
While I was there, I had a few of my other doctor who prop replicas on display- namely my self knitted season 18 doctor who scarf, classic sonic screwdriver, work in progress cybermats, sea devil mask and classic Tardis key (the only replica that I had not made myself). Also, there was my original BBC Adipose prototype that was measured to create the computer models- one of the three in existence.
Towards the end, I had a chat with other doctor who prop enthusiasts. Most were not quite as keen on building things from scratch as I was, preferring to use ready made moulds. However, I mentioned that next year I intended to have an Ice warrior costume completed by then. This was treated with an air of "I wouldn't like to be in your shoes" by the others, but one man said that he owned an Ice warrior chest from the original moulds. Exchanging contacts, I went on my way home.
I got no reply from him in the end, though I wasn't particularly bothered by this. My project continued all the same...
I think the best place to start is at the beginning, so here is the first thing that me and my father built together as a real, commited project.
It is the thing that sparked off all of my enthusiasm for prop creation, and is the one most frequently wheeled out for sci-fi events.
Meet Larry the dalek!
He is the first screen accurate creation I ever made, in collaboration with my father. He was started when I was in year 6 and finally completed when I was in year 9. The project stalled for about a year, but luckily it did not take long for me to grow up enough to feel able to complete him without my father.
I modified/rebuilt almost every part- eye stalk, neck section, shoulder mesh, ball joints, plunger arm, hemispheres, fender. In fact, the photo here is not of the 'finished' dalek.
I was inspired after going to "Exterminate 45" in the Leicester Space Centre, 2009. I was 10 years old, and... wow...
"When can we build a dalek, dad?" was the phrase that sparked off the rollercoaster journey to where I am today- I only asked because I wanted to see dad's face when he said 'no' in a variety of blunt ways, so just imagine the excitement when he actually said "In the new year"...
It is the thing that sparked off all of my enthusiasm for prop creation, and is the one most frequently wheeled out for sci-fi events.
He is the first screen accurate creation I ever made, in collaboration with my father. He was started when I was in year 6 and finally completed when I was in year 9. The project stalled for about a year, but luckily it did not take long for me to grow up enough to feel able to complete him without my father.
I modified/rebuilt almost every part- eye stalk, neck section, shoulder mesh, ball joints, plunger arm, hemispheres, fender. In fact, the photo here is not of the 'finished' dalek.
I was inspired after going to "Exterminate 45" in the Leicester Space Centre, 2009. I was 10 years old, and... wow...
"When can we build a dalek, dad?" was the phrase that sparked off the rollercoaster journey to where I am today- I only asked because I wanted to see dad's face when he said 'no' in a variety of blunt ways, so just imagine the excitement when he actually said "In the new year"...
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