I hope that headline doesn’t shock anyone too much, because it’s literally true… but not the way you think.
We (heart) sheds is having a Best (garden) Shed of the Year contest. They have a kazillion entries, but there is a very clear winner:
OMG WANT.
That would take a lot of work, but wow, what fun!
Actually, there are 22 TARDIS sheds listed in the contest, some of which are more realistic than others. If I built one it would look like the Master had attacked it, but still. Very cool.
Tip o’ the Chamaeleon Arch to Treehugger.com.
June 17th, 2008 at 11:04 am
There would be lots of storage space for tools as we all know it is MUCH MUCH bigger on the inside (sorry)
June 17th, 2008 at 11:15 am
You know the great thing about all those vines up the side. You could build it larger and conceal part of the shed. Give the illusion of a disproportionate inside. Though you would have to wait for the plants to cover it before you got the neat effect.
June 17th, 2008 at 11:18 am
So if you were to get two sheds, would you be Phil “Two Sheds” Plait?
June 17th, 2008 at 11:32 am
Brilliant!!
Now if I can just get my wife to let me build it.
And I really do need a shed. And that bigger-on-the-inside property would help me get around some local ordinances!
June 17th, 2008 at 11:33 am
Shed man! stop the bad puns…
June 17th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
You know who else blogs about Dr. Who. Paul Krugman of the NY Times. well once at least.
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/16/on-not-knowing-who/
June 17th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
SKWEEEEEEEEEE!
WANT! WANT!
June 17th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
As long as one accepts the main problem with Tardis Garden Sheds – you go out to it one day to fetch a rake and the shed is gone, or moved to another part of your yard, or the rake is gone, or replaced with a weird rake. Or you go in it and come out in the middle of an elaborate gigantic Coronation of some Alien Nobility somewhere, at some time – but still in your overalls, and still holding the rake – how embarrassing would that be?
June 17th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Your prayers are answered. Here is a Tardis shed you could build.
http://www.gadgetizer.com/2005/08/05/the-garden-shed-that-travels-through-time/
There are also lots of others, but this is the only site my work computer would let me get to.
June 17th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
chip, your comment is sheer brilliance, bordering on Borgesian!
June 17th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
I think I have me a summer project. That’s just about the size of shed I need. Shout out to Ray for the plans link.
I’ll post photos somewhere if I build it.
June 17th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
This company will make you a Tardis
Or a Dalek or a K9 or a Cyberman suit.
They are very good.
http://www.thisplanetearth.co.uk
June 17th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
And the light on top *WILL* work, dammit! I swear it!
Chip: you might also get some sort of nifty lawn mowing robot from the future, so there *is* a potential upside. Just store it in the garage so you don’t lose it.
Or you might get one of these.
http://www.freewebs.com/raijin-akuma2/kosmos/Kos-Mos.jpg
Useful for when religious nuts come knock knock knocking on your door.
June 17th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Oh my:
I just had a mental image of a TARDIS lawn shed and one of those robotic lawn mowers altered to look like K9 or a Dalak.
June 17th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
KC: Make the robotic lawn mower look like a Dalek, and then it can EX-TER-MIN-ATE the weeds…
June 17th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Plain robotic mowers already exist, so this would just be a lightweight cover attached to the frame. But as it happens, I *did* envision one version with an empty garden sprayer attached, and for the same reason.
And I did go so far as to briefly look for the dimensions (no pun intended) of a Mackenzie Police Box before going away empty handed.
June 17th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Damn. You guys are way ahead of me:
http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/5083/darlekgardensystem2oc8.gif
June 17th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Actually, I built one. Although mine was made as a photo-op I could take to conventions. It’s not really weather proof. Although, with some alunimum flashing on the roof…
The nice thing about building one of these is, that it’s a 4 X 8 profile. Very little wasted material. Just be sure you have access to a good table saw for cutting all the mitered panels. Seal it with several coats of a good marien grade paint, and you’re good to go!
Of course, you’ll need to put a solar walk light in the beacon… and maybe another inside, to get the windows to glow warmly on a summer evening in the garden…
June 17th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
But I bet you didn’t think of this one:
http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/4060/davrosgardenhu9.gif
June 17th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
either phil read my email i sent him about this or he found it all his own. either way i knew he would find it
June 17th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Or to another part of the world once everyone else gets wind of it. Better bolt it down securely and put some major alarms on it. (The flashing red light and grinding noise, of course! What else?) And don’t forget to put up an IR camera to catch whoever tries to walk away with it.
June 17th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
I really like that shed, it is great for a rose garden.
June 17th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Oh man, the kinds of fun one could have in there… One could imagine calling up Billy Piper in her new job as call girl…
Ok ok, maybe I’m getting a bit overheated, but don’t tell me none of you had a bit of a gander at her new series called “The Secret Diary of a Call Girl”… anyone? Phil?
It’s quite… revealing…
June 17th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
Finally!
After nosing around the web, I found some resources on building a replica Mackinzie Police Box:
http://www.relative-dimensions.net/
They also have how to build other Dr. Who props.
The Blue Box project has a 1/2 scale police box:
http://webpages.charter.net/ivorydrops/drwho/
The TARDIS Library:
http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/~trekker/policeboxes/
It’s a bit hard to navigate, but he wants people to link to the “front door.” Once on the site, click on “Replicas,” then “Want to build one?”
Enjoy.
June 17th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Lots of Tardis’ in Second Life. I know some people are working on making the insides bigger than the outside.
No Tardis for me but I do have a Dalek avatar in SL. Not the same as the real thing but…
June 17th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
OOOOH I want one of those!! And a Leela outfit too so I can emerge from the shed with a weed fork (and a stop watch to see how long before the neighbors call the police) as I attack mutant weed foliage in the garden.
June 18th, 2008 at 2:04 am
Hm… but what would you say to the police if one day you went out to your garden and your tardis shed was missing ?
“officer, someone made off with my Tardis!”
“No, really, it was in my back garden and now it’s gone!”
Officer: “Sir… isn’t a Tardis designed to dissappear?”
June 18th, 2008 at 2:07 am
Since everybody else already beat me to the “bigger on the inside” line, I’ll try to think up something useful about stone angels.
Failing that, is there a sonic hoe in there? Could be useful. Or at least a sonic garden shear. (I suppose a sonic chainsaw is too much to ask…)
June 18th, 2008 at 2:19 am
Nice Post. Posted this link in http://www.surfurls.com
June 18th, 2008 at 4:14 am
But if you had a TARDIS with a working chameleon circuit, you could make it look like an ordinary shed…
June 18th, 2008 at 5:06 am
I’d rather have a Stargate – full size – preferably working, but I keep my requirements realistic.
It would look brilliant at the bottom of the garden (yard for Americans). Thing is, would I need planning permission?
–
June 18th, 2008 at 5:57 am
Hey, Phil, wouldn’t a Tardis be ultra-cool as a backyard observatory? I mean, seriously!
Robert
June 18th, 2008 at 7:40 am
@The Yorkshire Skeptic
Planning permission doesn’t cover TEMPORARY wooden structures so I’m guessing the TARDIS wouldn’t need any
@Robert
I was thinking the exact same thing! A runoff TARDIS to take my 8 inch Newtonian would be just perfect
June 18th, 2008 at 10:31 am
The Yorkshire Skeptic:
I’d rather build a Guardian of Forever prop. It would look great among a few rocks and with a birdbath in front. Seriously. Plus, I think it would be easier to construct.
Hmm . . . a clear plastic sheet mounted across the center would give it that shimmer effect, another mounted at a 45 degree angle behind it with a computer projector at the bottom hooked to a laptop cycling through historic landscape photos, some carefully placed spotlighting to shine on the arch, and lo and behold, we’d have a nice “City on the Edge of Forever” effect. It could be done with a Stargate prop as well.
June 18th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
I have a well pump that sits next to my driveway and we have several steel pipes around it to keep it from getting run over. I have wanted to put a red old style call box on top of it to hide it but the new blue one is pretty cool also. I will check the links in the comments and see what kind of plans. Awsome subject.
June 18th, 2008 at 2:16 pm
http://www.thisplanetearth.co.uk/page31.html will sell you one made of GRP, lasts forever outside. They do full size and half size
June 19th, 2008 at 1:49 am
Thanks, for digging it, we have a lot more Sheds to vote for… but the TARDIS ones are great.
June 23rd, 2008 at 6:45 pm
I’d like to second that OMG WANT.
July 11th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
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