BB FANS

Have started a new project to build a full-size K9 (DR Who) and have used the works from a 1/6th scale remote controlled racing car I bought a couple of years ago in a supermarket after Christmas clearance.

Now the problem is that it has plastic wheels which have great difficullty with grip unless on the flat. On an incline and indoors on carpet it just sits there wheel spinning. It used to do the same with the car body attached .So I need to find some wheels with real tyres.
The wheels including the tyres measure 100mm diameter. The driveshafts are HEX with a screw thread in the middle. I don't know if all the RC cars this scale use the same fitment and wheel size as I don't think even with the new shell ,when completed ,will help traction.

Anybody here played with large scale remote cars etc ?

Now for a few pictures and details.
The base is 12mm Plywood and the body will be 4mm Plywood. It's now much to look at yet but hopefully tomorrow (Tuesday) we'll start to construct the body.







Any ideas about the wheels ?

Project K9 Day 2

More pictures





Tomorrow will be the side panels that slope up from the base and in from the top.
Plus we have to attach the body to the base in a way that it can easily be removed.
Then we have the head to construct.

I'd love to have panel dimensions as the plans aren't the most detailed ones and maybe not totally to scale as I've had to change the angles on at least one panel before they'd fit our model. Either than or ours is the wrong size somewhere.

Either way it'll be rather large when completed.

I'd still like to hear from anybody with experience of parts for large scale RC vehicles regarding the wheel sizes.

Project K9 Day 3




Tomorrow the top will be cut to size but as it's very useful not to have it fitted it's being left until near the end.
The head will be attempted as well tomorrow.

First thing will be a trip to B&Q for another sheet of ply and some more wood strips that I'm cutting up to mount the panels with.

We're almost at the stage where the filler comes out to get rid of gaps and to hide the screws then it's priming and painting.

Must do something to fix the shell to the base.

Project K9 Day 4




The head is proving to be the most challenging part.
I downloaded a set of templates only to find that they weren't to scale.
So I set about enlarging them to match a couple of the dimensions I had. But still the templates didn't match so there's been much head scratching today trying to made panels to fit the head sides that I cut using the enlarged template.
One major problem is bending the material to follow the curve of the head. As you can see one piece is in place but the one at the back has still to be done and I don't thing anything I have will bend enough for the lower angle which is about 80 degrees in a lazy bend which tightens.
The nose panel is cut though not fitted yet and I need to have another go at the mouth panel with the slot in it where the printout exits.

It's rapidly approaching the sanding and filling followed by more sanding stage prior to the priming and painting and the final assembly. And all in record time.
Without the paint I think there's around £100 of materials (not including the race car). I think I might need to add a couple of small casters at the front to make sure that the weight from the head doesn't lift the back wheels seeing as the car in mount towards the rear of the base.

Project K9 Day 5




In the pictures the neck is a 'J' Pole that came with a satellite dish but I'm thinking of using plastic piping with a bend added. Once the Vent kit is fitted you won't see what the neck is made of but it'll save quite a bit on weight.
Spent quite some time re-enforcing the lower part of the body ready for mounting on the base.

Both the base and the head will need to remain detchable until after the painting and then the base will remain detachable.

Power will be one of the switches on top and a socket will be fitted for charging.
If we use plastic pipe with a joint it'll be easy to take the head off.

The lower panel through which the neck will pass still needs making and will be screwed into place to allow access.

K9 now has his laser thanks to an old wind chime that donated two of it's chimes.
I have two Red lenses that'll be glued in for the eyes that'll have lamps fitted so when every he moves his eyes will light up.

But I still need to find some transparent red plastic for the eye area.

I need to come up which a fitting that covers most of the laser that tapers to a point at the back of the laser. I've seen one fitted that looks made of plastic which I'm sure I've see about but can't remember where. It's difficult to describe but I was thinking of a small flag mounted somewhere and a simple bracket it would sit in. Or another description might be a pipe bracket with a cone in the clamp with looks like an Ice Cream cone (According to my Niece).

Today has been a research day collecting info on other's builds.

I did discover that the eye area needs cutting out and boarding from the back and that we had the laser mounted wrong but thanks to some very good pictures it can be corrected.

I did buy an A4 sheet of Red Tinted 3mm Acrylic off eBay for a couple of Pound for the guard over the eye area.
And the raised area above where the laser should sit looks like it could be cut from a piece of plastic pipe.

I also now have some good pictures and details on how to build the ears.
I'd like to motorize them but not too sure how to make the motor reverse every few rotations as the original ones scan left to right (in opposite directions) all the time but don't rotate 360.

I have a simple circuit that'll drive 10 LEDs in a sequence that could be used to light the buttons on the Keyboard on top which has still to be made. Also the monitor needs adding to the right-hand side (Looking from the front).

What I really need now is somewhere dry to work considering the forecast weather conditions for the coming week.

Looking at the paint prices we have decided to go for Hammerite Hammered Blue which should be similar to the MK3 model.

Oh yes Saturday afternoon I screwed the base on and took the headless K9 for a run in the street to prove the weight was still good for the motor. And once he got traction it started moving rather quickly ! I really need a speed controller !

And as either the base isn't square or K9 isn't anymore I will have to add to the base so that it looks square and so the foam bumpers can be added.

These as you can see will be the Ears.
I also have a collection of 24x18mm switch tops in four colours which will be mounted and illuminated from beneith with the LEDs that'll be sequenced to flash.

I've also got the Acrylic cut for the Eye guard.

Still need to do some cutting in the Eye area to open the area behind the guard and then to mount a board behind with the Eyes mounted.
And in the Nose area where the laser is located.
After that I can begin tidying it up and filling any gaps.

Nearly forgot I need to get the plastic pipe to mount the head and the vent kit for the neck.

The Ears need to be mounted in what I'd call the plastic bit fitted on the end of a standard light cord and found on the end of the cords in light-weight rain coats.

WOW Larry!

Still need a lot of work but as the nights close in time is short.

I've got the vent kit for the visible part of the neck and I'm going to cut to 100mm circles from the 12mm Ply in which will have the holes for the plastic tube. These circles will be mounted in the ends of the vent kit with screws to mount it to the base and head.
Today will be first time in ages that I've had a chance to do any work on K9.
I'll give Focus another look to see if they have any 40mm plastic pipe plus a 135 degree bend. This'll then match the shape of the 'J' pole that was used for the pictures.

If Focus doesn't have the pipe then it'll have to be B&Q.


It's good fun Cameron. Originally we were going to build a Davros chair but thought it would be too big so K9 was second choice but in reality the surface area ground wise is about the same but K9 is shorter.
Next year for the Carnival my Niece wants to be Sarah-Jane taking K9 around town. The only problem I can see is that the speed ramps in the High Street will be too high for K9 and he'll need lifting on and off them but assuming we miss the pot-holes and the batteries hold out it should be fun. I don't fancy carrying it home if they do fail. He's bulky and fairly heavy.

As you can see our K9 is looking very much like the real thing.
Today I've been working on the neck.
Basically it's 43mm waste pipe with a 135 degree bend and a 90 degree adaptor at one end.
I made three 100mm circles from 12mm Ply then two had 44mm holes and one had 63mm hole(s) cut.
The smaller holes are for the tubing while the 63mm is to allow for the adaptor fitting inside the body.
I haven't made anything yet to permanently attach the head to the neck yet though it is a good fit as it is.
As the pictures show on the body the outer ring has the 44mm hole while the inner has the 63mm hole they are then screwed together and washers used to clamp the pipe fitting at the same time.

The tail is half a Classic Mini steering rack gator with a leftover 44mm piece of ply with the pilot hole enlarged to take a telescopic aerial.

I've also cut out the eye area so the lights will be set back as they should be.

I've also tried the air ducting pipe clamped to the 100mm ring on the body and once I get the length right it should look the business ,though it will need painting. It will be clamped on the 100mm ring on the head as well hiding the plastic piping.

As a scale reference the metal ruler in the pictures is just over 2 feet (about 61.5cm).

Last evening (Saturday) I braced the rear suspension as the plastic allowed it to twist. Now with the addition of 4 pieces of wood it solid ,though it's made no difference to the lack of traction ,but one the solid plastic wheels are replace with ones with rubber tyres it should be many times better.

Also you'll notice that the venting piping is fitted over the neck for the first time. The only problem is that it should be Black.
I've also ordered a Red Tartan collar off eBay .

I added two more rings on the neck ,one on the head and one on the body ,as it makes fitting the venting pipe much easier.

The bit sitting on top will be the computer panel once the glue has hardened and I've completed the top panels which will house the different coloured switch tops with their defusers ,an LED and the electronics to sequence the flashing of all the buttons.

And you might have spotted the ears are there but I'm still not sure what to use to mount them. In the pictures their mounted through a couple of cut down plastic corks.

It's looking the part but I've still got a lot to do before it can be painted.

I've only just seen this thread but larry, your technical skills are amazing...I am so impressed! k9 is so iconic for Doctor Who fans. Looking really good so far!

Thank-you.
I should say I had a good teacher ,my Grandad was a Woodwork teacher and taught in the local boys school before retiring in the mid 1970s so as a young child I saw him making all sorts of things. Plus I was quite good at Woodwork at school but that's a long time ago. My Grandad would be up in arms at some of the methods I've used if he was still around !

The options for building a K9 are very few. There are a few plans available with loads of measurements ,there is also a kit available from the States using a plastic-card material which in the long run might be cheaper but it's long term life span is limited.
A build manual would be useful and would reduce the time spent scratching one's head trying to workout how to get the bits to fit together. There are a few bits that need changing and some panels need cutting to allow access as per the real thing and I've still got to workout the best method of bending something round the back of the head for the last panel but it also needs to be removable.

Been searching for the Black flexi hose tonight and so far it's looking like a car accessory used for air ducting but will dig out the screwfix book to see if there's a chance of getting something from a DIY center.

Also got to get a couple of components including the LEDs for the top panel. The two large Red buttons will just be Acrylic back lit.

I'd love to have more features on the remote but to do that I'd have to learn how to redo the radio control system from scratch and buy a new controller with more channels but I really wouldn't know where to start. The existing 2 channel set-up will do for now.

I really do need somewhere to work for the next 6 months otherwise nothing will get done as the weather changes to Autumn and Winter.

How this all started was when I said about building a Davros Chair to my Niece who is a big Dr Who fan. But it was thought later that it might cost too much plus there'd be nowhere to keep it so along came the idea of K9.
The biggest part was done in the 5 days I took off work at the end of August and along with my helper ,who I'm sure was a little bored at times due all the cutting and drilling with the power tools that she wasn't allowed to use,K9 started to take shape. Once I can get to the stage where the filler and sanding is required then she'll be busy and even the painting should be ok.

Mind you I admit to having every episode from the Pertwee and Tom Baker days !

This will be the keyboard that sits on the back of K9.
The keys are just tops with a diffuser ,they will have white LEDs mounted underneath which will be sequenced to flash.
The top larger square holes will have 5mm Acrylic covering them and a small recess underneath where again White LEDs will be mounted but will be permanently lit.

So today I've ordered 14 wide angle bright White LEDs and a 10 channel sequencer kit.

Some day I'll have to add up how much I've spent but until then it's just the fun of building it.

The tape is to hold the two parts of the top in place while the glue sets.
Tomorrow I'll have a word with the nice man who cut my Acrylic sheet last time.

Forgot to say that the whole assembly has to be painted Black before the electronics are fitted and before it's fitted to K9's back.
But the later will be after K9 get it's Blue paint job.

As a follow-up this is the computer / Keyboard working with the Maplin kit fitted.


I'm going to have to change the feed resistors for the LEDs to reduce the brightness and will have to remake the bottom half as it needs to be around 5mm higher to get the top on with the electronics inside.

Note that the Red Acrylic bits at the top will also be illuminated.
I bought White LEDs as I thought it would be easier matching the brightness ,plus with a 50 degree viewing angle I thought it would help illuminate the complete key-top but using the resistor values recommended in the kit ,as you can see ,they are too bright. You should see how bright they are without a diffuser !

I've also got to re-glue the top as while I was pressing the LEDs into the holes I managed to brake the join.