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#246496
By which I mean this:

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After my friend Carl (UK Ghostbuster 89) tagged me in one of his Doctor Who photos as the 7th Doctor, it got me musing about the costume of the 7th Doctor, who prior to 2006 was my favourite, being the one I'd grown up with.

There are two items that the whole ensemble hangs upon in order to succeed... the Doctor's Question Mark umbrella, and his question mark motif vest:

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If I cannot secure either one of these items, the plan for a costume is dashed.

My musings turned to the umbrella, to which there are commercial options... but they're often expensive and rare... and the official umbrellas are apparently quite weak in the metalwork.

I eventually stumbled across this incredible tutorial, detailing how to make the umbrella using acrylic rod:


-View the rest of it here

So... within the last month, I just bought a metre's worth of 25mm acrylic rod from eBay so now I'm committed. I'm gonna do my damn best to make the 7th Doctor's umbrella... so I can eventually make the 7th Doctor's costume. :)
#246497
Contrary to popular belief, finding a simple black umbrella is more complicated then it first appears. I found plenty of mostly-black umbrellas, but plenty had some form of obvious branding on them, which ruled them out as workable possibilities... eventually I narrowed down the list of potentials on offer down to two, the first being sold for about £5.99 at Robert Dyas, and the second at a "cheapo" shop for £4.99. I opted for the 4.99 one as it seemed better quality than the more expensive one, and it had a wooden handle.

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The handle was quickly removed, and it became apparant that removing the handle would only be part of the modification I'd have to make to the shaft, due to the section holding the handle being a part of the shaft, rather than a separate piece I could remove.

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With the mounting section removed and the surface sanded, it was good to go with the drilling which would eventually attach the elements of the handle.

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As the first day's work drew to a close, I took the opportunity to test the paint and clear lacquer I'd perchased from my local Halfords. The paint I selected was Ford Radiant Red, not too dark, nor too light... although as McCoy's umbrella appears to have shifted shades as the series progressed... and I suspect there may've been no fewer than three umbrellas, finding the exact shade would be a challenge that wouldn't be worth the effort involved.

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A few days later and I had the dowel caps I'd be using as the dots of the question mark, and the clear 1" diameter acrylic I'd ordered from clearplasticsupplies on eBay. The dowel caps came from a Homebase curtain rod set, which at about £18 is the most expensive element of the umbrella so far. The acrylic totalled about £17.

Thanks to a small indent on the inside of the cap, I had a guide for drilling and after a few minutes, I had my pilot hole and then, the full-sized hole for the mounting rod for the handle elements.

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In addition to that, the length of acrylic was cut for the handle (although in hindsight, it was cut a half inch too short to the measurement DrWhoJr recommended)

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A further couple of days later, and I was prepared to start building the jig to mold the handle, equipped with a hole saw from B&Q (which is sadly slightly smaller than I assumed it was) and 50p's worth of fibreboard from Homebase, which was undoubtedly the bargain of the day.

With a bit of fiddling, the hold saw was installed in my Dad's pillar-mounted drill, and the central part of the jig was cut.

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As the day drew into evening, the last task of the day was to paint the tip of the umbrella. Masking off the fabric of the umbrella, and the very end of the tip (as I'd decided to leave it unpainted to avoid it being scraped off through use) I set about priming it, and spraying it so that it could dry overnight.

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Once dry and with the masking tape removed, the finished paint job was excellent, and the edge between the unmasked section and the edge of the paint was a nice and crisp. Sadly, when applying the clear lacquer, it appeared to thin the paint slightly, and it dripped down in spots, forcing me to spray the entire tip to cover up the mess.

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Despite this minor setback, it didn't dampen my spirits when approaching the task of rounding off the ends of the acrylic.

Unable to find a suitable belt sander, my Dad suggested I instead use a grinder. The grinder performed the job adequately, even with the absense of a appropriately-sized hold saw piece to rotate the acrylic (forcing me to have to turn it by hand, rather than by using my cordless drill).

Despite this, the end result turned out pretty well, even if it isn't quite as perfectly rounded as the real thing.

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With the rod ready for the next stage, my attention turned to finishing off the jig. The two stops had been cut and glued together, and the first of the two had been drilled and installed onto the jig board, alongside the central part of the jig itself. The only remaining bit of work was to carve out the second stop so that it would feature a carved radius to fit the lower curve of the questionmark.

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With the job sped-up by some new sandpaper from Robert Dyas, the position was finalised and the mounting holes drilled.

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With the jig completed, my attention turned to a few of the smaller elements, before I could put the acrylic through the oven stage. The smaller elements included expanding the drill site in the umbrella to accomodate the threaded rod I'll be using to attach the handle elements to the umbrella shaft.

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Another element that was worked on, was the spacer that'll be placed between the upper portion of the question mark, and the question mark dot.

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With it primed, I progressed by sliding the question mark dot onto the metal rod so that it could be primed and then painted.

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If all goes to plan, this'll be how it'll be placed on the finished product:

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And that marked the last bit of work of yesterday.

Today's work wouldn't be able to progress until I had some grease paper, which after a short visit to Beaconsfield (by way of Amersham in order to check the charity shops in both towns for potential 7th Doctor costume parts) was attained, I returned home with my Mum ready to perform one of the most significant (and most likely and easy to mess up) stages of the build, molding the handle.

Following DrWhoJr's video tutorial, and recommendations he'd given via PM, the handle was placed inside the oven, and I followed this slightly modified version of DrWhoJr's rescipe:

Start at Gas Mark 1 and leave for ten minutes.
After ten minutes, turn up to Gas Mark 2, and five minutes after turning to GM2, rotated the acrylic to avoid flattening.
Five minutes after rotating, the oven was turned up to Gas Mark 3, after five minutes of GM3, the acrylic was rotated and the oven turned up to Gas Mark 4.
Five minutes of Gas Mark 4 and another turning of the rod, and I attempt to see if I could mold it around the jig.

Although the acrylic was pliable, it wasn't quite warm enough and was already starting to set before I'd even gotten it near the lower of the two stops. Placing it back in the oven for between five-to-ten minutes at Gas Mark 5 heated it up nicely, and the second time it was removed it was pliable enough to fit around the whole jig without issue. After being left to cool and rest in place for about a hour, I had the following result:

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A slight bit of dismantling of the jig later, and the acrylic was free:

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A further bit of drilling, and the handle could be screwed onto the threaded rod I'd purchased:

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Leaving me with the last job of the evening: adding some Halford body filler to the acrylic to fill in the holes gouged by the grinder:

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And that's all for now. I'm hoping to try file down the filler tomorrow so that the handle can then be primed, painted and coated.
#246584
If you can't get the question mark sweater vest, you could always settle for a red one, like the Seventh Doctor sports in the TV movie.

http://www.themindrobber.co.uk/7th-doct ... mccoy.html

or a full body fan art:
http://paulhanley.deviantart.com/art/Sy ... ?offset=20

Though I agree the question mark sweater would be cooler.
:)
#246805
I'll keep that in mind (you're the second person to suggest the film, or new adventures route). I definitely won't be using the New Adventures costume, it comes off as boring to me... almost like the artist being too lazy to render the 7th Doctor's pullover all the time.

The TV Movie costume would be a last resort... but I don't think I'll have any trouble with the pullover, as a fellow UK member is hoping to furnish me with one. :)

With the body filler being given the night to fully dry, the morning's work began with sanding down the excess material from the handle:

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The handle could possibly done with a bit more sanding, as indicated in the photos of the priming stage, but for a first attempt I feel it's coming out rather well.

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Especially so, once the red paint went onto the handle.

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As I write, the coat of clear lacquer is now drying on the question mark, as well as the dot. The next stage will be to start test fitting the pieces to find out the amount of threaded rod I'll need to attach the whole lot to the umbrella.
#247097
At least one Whovian has resorted to painting the design onto a yellow pullover, and this isn't the first time I've seen mention of silk screening... but I'm dedicated to getting a knitted pullover. I know that it'll be more expensive... but we're prop makers, we really can't talk about stuff being "too expensive", unless it was four figures for a single piece of clothing. :P

That and the hat, pullover, watch and shoes are the items I want to get the most accurate as possible, as there's no way I could justify getting the Baron Boutique McCoy jacket, which retails at over $200!
#247165
I considered whether to give this its own topic... whilst it can have one on other forums, I think here and on the UKGB Forum, a single one might be better.

Presenting, the Seventh Doctor!

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This element of the costume is a lot less precise compared to the umbrella build, as a lot of it is pure luck, and approximations due either to not having a brand name to work from (if it were even still in production), or because I just couldn't justify the price... I'd love to have the Baron Boutique McCoy jacket, but I couldn't justify the cost of a $200 jacket... which because of that cost, I'd be petrified of damaging or ruining.

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The jacket is Marks & Spencers, or so I'm told (no such markings attributing to the store despite the eBay listing stating so)... a light gret "summer sports jacket" which fits me quite comfortably. Some modification will be required... a flap needs to be added to the pocket containing the watch (and a duplicate added on the opposite breast to fake a pocket) and a belt added to the rear, as well as the possibility of the removal of some of the buttons.

Depending on how easy it would be, and if a similar material can be found, the balloon pockets may also be added, but would be purely cosmetic.

As it stands, I think it's a great alternative to the BB jacket, and with some modifications will be even closer. When photographed the colour comes out quite close in my opinion, which is a relief after having gone through so many eBay auctions and charity shops, hemming and harring over cream coloured jackets.

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The trousers are from NEXT, and are really lady's trousers... however I missed that in the auction. Despite that, the pattern's close enough to work, and they fit me well... and are about as baggy as Bob's (Honorary Doctor, another person to cosplay as 7). :) I've also taken it as a sign that I was meant to have these trousers... upon putting them on I discovered a five pound note in one of the pockets!

Speaking of Bob, if the scarf looks familiar, that's because it's from the same source he got his...

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The tie is Burton, a misc paisley design I chanced on ebay. Maybe not quite as red as it could be, but I rather like it. The watch features a low-detail approximation of the hunt-scene pocket watch Sylvester had in Silver Nemesis, which in due time will be given the multicoloured cover... and resin copy of the interior elements as seen in that episode. The watch chain was acquired from eBay and is the correct "segment" chain, rather than a traditional link chain.

The waistcoat is obviously inaccurate to pre TVM-7th Doctor, but I felt fitting as a temporary placeholder. It was made by Brown's of England, and was originally perchased so I could go as Badger from Firefly with my brothers (who dressed as Mal, Simon Tam and Wash respectively) to see Serenity.

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I'm still to get the shoes, which I need to find a bit more reference on as to how pointy the toes are... the scarf that hangs out of the pocket is in the post... it isn't one of Steve Rick's awesome replicas, but it'll do (I made the concious decision to get a non-accurate one, as I'd hate to lose one of his if it got snagged and pulled out of the pocket at a convention).

But, as you can see, I did go for one of Steve's replicas for the hat. The hat itself was bought from ecuacorp on eBay, and I'm extremely pleased with it. The brim did need a bit of molding to get to the shape it's currently in, due to the size of the box... but despite being pricier, I'd recommend getting it shipped in the box.

The final item I need to get, is the pullover... which if all goes well, will be sorted out by a member of this forum. :)


And an avatar I created for the TardisBuilders forum I've joined, and been posting updates on.

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#248510
As the umbrella neared completion I entered a small area of choice. Between Season 24 and 26 the prop either underwent a minor modification or another was produced, resulting in the spacer between the dot and upper portion of the question mark changing in length (even keeping in mind the fact the dot could be moved to cover the ends of the spokes, most obviously seen in Rememberance of the Daleks).

Even though I'm going for a Season 25 Doctor, I've decided to opt for a Season 24 Umbrella as I feel the longer spacer looks better.

The setup, with the original shorter spacer I'd made:

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And the finished replacement:

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Once completed, I measured the depth of the hole cut into the shaft of the umbrella, the thickness of the dot and length of threaded rod that'd normally be hidden by the dot.

With the final measurement needed, the thread rod was sawed to size, with the "flashing" filed down. Once ready, it was screwed into the hole I'd drilled into the shaft... and the results really do speak for themselves:

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I've learnt a lot during this build... and hopefully a lot of that's gone on to those who've read this build diary. I already know of a few areas where things can be improved, and I'm eagerly anticipating the time where I start work on the second question mark handled-umbrella, but for now, I'll be taking a short break from making umbrellas. :)

Maybe in that short break, I can catch up on a little bit of reading...

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#254373
This post may contain an affiliate link that helps support GBFans.com when you make a purchase at no additional cost to you.

As things are now quickly reaching completion with the costume, there'll only be a few more small updates until the outfit is finished.

Even after keeping watch of eBay for the better part of a month, the results weren't very encouraging. Keeping in mind the fact the shoes aren't in style at the moment, what results I was finding that fell in the two-tone range either were too far off... were black and white... or were the right style, but not a size I could wear...

Eventually, after one potential that I considered:
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-but decided to pass as it seemed too pointy, and was a bit pricey... and another pair that weren't the right pattern, but were close in the colour range... I eventually settled on a pair of brown and tan brogues in my size that came with a buy-it-now for £30:

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They're by Marks & Spencers from their Autograph brand, so they're already going to be tricky to find due to the low production run.

It would've been nice if they'd been brown and white like the ones McCoy wore, but under the circumstances and how difficult they'd been proving to get... this was a concession I was more than happy to make in order to acquire something that'd be close enough.

A week and a bit after the shoes arrived, something else for my 7th Doctor costume showed up via my letter box:

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A lot smaller than I'd like, but a workable alternative for Paul McGann's Sonic until I can look into trying to get a more accurate one assembled for the role. I appreciate that Sylvester never had a Sonic Screwdriver during his run on the original series, but as he had one by the time the TV movie came out, there's room to employ a bit of flexibility.
#259199
Only a minor update, showcasing the latest umbrella handle I've made which'll be going to Mark:

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Differences from the previous handle:
* Longer, accurate length (as detailed by DrWhoJr)
* Greature curvature and smoother finish on the radia thanks to an appropriately sized hole saw (no more hand turning!)

I was also able to make a better record of the "recipe" for the oven method of the build:

The total oven time was 50 minutes, with the handle remaining warm as much as 1 hour 10 minutes after being removed from the oven, so the whole process takes roughly 2 hours. For best time tracking, I recommend putting the oven on at the top of the hour.

0:00 - Start oven at Gas Mark 1 with the handle in place on a sheet of greaseproof paper on a flat oven tray.
0:10 - Upgrade to Gas Mark 2.
0:15 - Rotate handle so that underside is now facing upward.
0:20 - Upgrade to Gas Mark 3.
0:25 - Rotate handle as before.
0:30 - Upgrade to Gas Mark 4.
0:35 - Rotate handle as before.
0:40 - Upgrade to Gas Mark 5.
0:45 - Rotate handle as before.
0:50 - Test handle flexibility, it should now be pliable enough to mold into the jig.
#259920
As with all things, the best laid plans are often the ones that get upset at a moment's notice. As I'd detailed in my previous post covering my 7 costume, one of the last items I was still in need of to complete the look was 7's pullover. Everything regarding the pullover was alright, as a friend was going to provide me with one... but on Wednesday I got a call from Carl, regarding the Hollywood 2 Havering event, taking place this Saturday. After a short talk, I decided I wanted to attend (as he'd be attending in his superb 10 costume, and Robert Monk would be attending in his 11 costume).

The only problem was, I had no 7 pullover that I could wear. I immediately discarded the idea of wearing the waistcoat I'd worn in the photos from my last costume update, and as soon as I got into town I started searching the charity shops for any pullovers/jumpers I could utilise.

I eventually settled on this, a pullover made by Acrilan which I got for the slightly dear price of £4.50

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Downloading the question mark/zig-zag pattern from HonoraryDoctor's excellent Seven Breakdown, I did a couple of test prints to gauge the output size of the file, eventually settling on this scaled down version... which I'd use to create a template:

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Transcribing the design to a sheet of scrap card, the question mark and zig-zag were then removed using a Stanley knife, and I was ready to start applying the design to the pullover, using a set of cheap permanent markers:

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A couple of hours later, and several hundred blots of the pen, I had a good chunk of the pullover rendered:

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If you wish to follow this method, it's recommendable to have 2-3 sets of pens on hand, as certainly this batch (from PoundWorld) appeared to be running out only after having done 17 and a half question marks. (Also pictured, my second umbrella handle, destined for a Mark this coming Sunday)

Although incomplete, the effect was already presenting itself, especially when accompanied with a suit jacket:

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A second day's trip to get some more markers, and after a couple more hours work, this was the result I had by the time I went to bed last night:

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Simple and cheap, and not a patch on the woven one that I'll eventually be receiving... but a good result for a quick, unexpected bit of clothing production. As it wouldn't be seen, the pattern wasn't carried on around the back, and it was only carried part-way around the sides, enough to show if I decide to put my hands in my pockets.

The breakdown:
Pullover: £4.50
Pens (two sets): £2
5-6 Hours work
1 presentable 7th Doctor for Saturday.


Before I forget about Havering, if you have a free day this Saturday and you'd like to see the costumes in person, feel free to stop on by, we'll likely be there for a large part of the day.
#265377
I know very little about Dr. Who, but from what I've seen recently at Dragoncon this looks great. One of our roommates was doing the most recent Doctor's season finale costume and was drawing the design on the shirt, so I can certainly give you kudos on making that pattern.
#265420
Thanks Ron.

This reminds me that I need to post the account from my first public outing as the Doctor here:


Saturday (September 4th) was the Hollywood to Havering event at Bower Park School in Romford, Essex, where an interest in having various characters from different sci fi backgrounds in attendance had been expressed, and was taken up by the Doctor... three of him, in fact... and Amy Pond.

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In attendance was Robert Monk, playing 11, Lisa Baxter as Amy...

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...Carl, and of course, yours truely:

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Of course, we weren't the only costuming mob. One of the TV car replica owners sported the neccesary threads of one Delboy Trotter, a must whenever parading the trademark yellow Robin Reliant. In addition, there was the Stig from Top Gear, a group of RAF costumers for a Battle of Britain display and a couple of Star Wars costumers. There'll be a little bit more on those groups in a bit.

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Are we dealing with a Slitheen skin, or a Nestene Duplicate?

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During the course of the day we were invited to stop by the school gym in order to record a small spot for some kind of mini-documentary, being filmed by the BBC. Amongst paraphernalia from the BBC's various publications, was a large poster for Doctor Who Magazine, which presented itself as an excellent backdrop:

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Also on site was the prop Hurrican from the film, The Battle of Britain, which is best known from the scene with Robert Shaw addressing the pilots as they ready for battle.

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Which for photo ops, members of the public are allowed to clamber onto a section of the wing of:

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Attached to the Battle of Britain exhibition were a pair of customised Smart Cars, the Messerschmardt:

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And the Smartfire:

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Without having a TARDIS on location, we had to improvise with another time machine:

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And the Delorean was just one of several wonderful movie and period vehicles that'd been on show:

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As the day wound on, it was time to take a quick breather... although not before finding the next best thing to the TARDIS wardrobe:

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Where our 11 decided to see if he'd found a replacement headpiece to his lost Fez:

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Another of the vintage vehicles from the day, an excellent wartime-era Jeep with crew:

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As the day wound on further, and with a sadly non-existant crowd leaving us with few opportunities to interact and act, we began to let our hair down a bit.

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Not to say we didn't get some nice shots of the replica Hurrican...

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Nor that we didn't have a good laugh with the Star Wars costumers:

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(David Tarrant [Han] and Mark Mun [Luke] respectively)

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Despite the disappointing crowds, the day had provided plenty of great memories and interaction with the various enthusiasts. One such example were the photos taken by the Their Finest Hour team running the Battle of Britain exhibit, who provided me with the day's main "cast photo":

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Not to mention getting to see and post with a great variety of movie car replicas:

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And of course, do a bit of investigating:

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There'd also been the opportunity to get another group photo, this time with the Hollywood trimmings befitting of the event name.

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All in all, a very enjoyable day despite the disappointments... and I'm glad I've had the opportunity to getthe costume out and about now that it's finished, and things will only get better once the knitted pullover arrives. The only way it could have been better is if we'd had an Ace costumer, as Robert remarked that the school could've given use even more scenes to reenact from Rememberance of the Daleks.

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Photos marked with an asterisk come from the collection of Robert Monk.
#267812
I've just got some excellent news from Stuart, the pullover has been finished, and is just awaiting payment:

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I'll give a full review once it arrives, but I already feel this was the better option than getting into one of the group runs that's being put through Prydon Academy (another DW prop forum) as it's much more personal (made by a relation of a friend rather than a commercial knitters) and it's also at least £10 cheaper than the Prydon run, clocking in at £65, which seems pretty reasonable.

This is incredibly serendipitous, as my copy of Time and the Rani, the first ever adventure for Syvester McCoy as the Doctor, arrived in the post today (along with a batch of Ghost Trap parts from MMM).
#268629
I wanted to update my build, following a friend's successful completion of his own 7th Doctor's umbrella, featuring the second handle I'd made using DrWhoJr's tutorial.

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The first improvement Mark made on the design was to employ a set of "Doll's Head" knobs, like the screen-used prop they form a near-complete sphere, ending in a flat edge near the base. Although not hollow like on the real umbrella, I imagine the could be hollowed out if the builder wished... and substantially cheaper than my curtain-rail end cap method at 49p.

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This particular handle was an improvement on my first, featuring a greater curve on the radials at both ends, and was cut to a more accurate length based on the video tutorial. This photo shows the fixed curve on the lower part of the handle, which Mark informed me was achieved with body filler.

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Due to the thickness of the threaded rod Mark had used (as he planned to fix it to a metal-shafted umbrella, finding an appropriately-sized spacer proved to be tricky, however he managed to locate a spacer in the form of a Halloween devil's trident being sold at Wilkinson's for 98p.

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His build has given me plenty to think about, and it's also helped me reach a decison as to whether I'd make myself a new one, taking in the ways I figured I could improve things through my own build... and through the experiences Mark had.

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