Tardis Step By Step

Above: Reference photos I used. I do not own them or the concept of the Tardis in any way.

Last week I made a my own Tardis out of cardboard and I'm very happy with it. :) This is a step by step process of how I made it.

Supplies:
-blue, white, black acrylic paint
-black pen
-mini glass jar
-lots and lots of cardboard
-tardis shaped box
-stiff brushes
-newspaper
-hot glue
-mod podge

I collect cardboard from various places like the backs of calendars and packaging.

The box was just packaging from Amazon for something we ordered. The first thing I did was to mod podge newspaper onto it to work as a base since cardboard suck up paint.

I painted over the newspaper with a brighter blue to work as a base, then I went over it with ultramarine blue. Any kind of acrylic works, there's some that's .99 a small bottle and some that's 4.00 a bottle. Either kind works, the Tardis has changed colors multiple times over the years so I figured it was safe to go with whatever came of the process.

I took and measured out strips to work as the corners that jut out down the entire length. How thick you make them is up to you, whatever looks appropriate for your box. I painted them white for a base coat, then went over them with ultramarine blue.

The black rectangles I measured out for the "Police Public Call Box" sign.

All of the color is dry brushed on. I layered the different blues and some white to give it a weathered look.

The strips and pieces were hot glued on.

For the rows between the "columns" I had to measure each part individually for the best fit.

Then I took a dry brush with black acrylic paint and went into the corners and shaded the blue to give it more depth.

The windows are white and black acrylic. The "Pull to Open" sign was written on with a black pen.

The top square on top is a cut out cardboard square with rectangles propping it up. In the pictures below you can see the seams of hot glue. :)

I got the jar from Cracker Barrel. It held blueberry jam, I kept it and I'd been saving it. The lines are painted on the inside with black. I also painted the lid dark blue.

Because the doors refused to close I created a latch using a paperclip, a clasp, and a chunk of chain (all of the jewelry items I bought from Michael's). The Sherlock charm is something I made using a marble and mod podge.

The final product:

Towards the end I just touched it up and played with the coloring and weathering effects until I was satisfied. It's a lot of eyeballing it and adding on as you go. I didn't set out with anything outlined.

I also trimmed the doors so that they wouldn't scrape as they were pulled open. But that's just my preference.

Overall at least 12 hours.

Once you have your box it's just a matter of measuring lots of long strips and painting it to your satisfaction.

Enjoy, and if you have any questions feel free to comment below. :)