Little Shop Newsletter - Issue 011

Introduction

Oh! What’s occurring?

Croeso nol to the Little Shop Props Newsletter.

Apologies for the lack of a newsletter last week, but there is a good reason. As some of you may know, Four of our team ventured down to Wales for some exciting work.

For the past two weeks, Josh Martin, James, Daniel and Kasim have been in Barry, Wales working on the BBC Officially Licensed Replica of the Ninth and Tenth Doctor’s Wide Slider Aztec Sonic Screwdriver, Released by Rubbertoe Replicas.

The Team made their way down to Wales on Sunday 17th of September, ready to break ground on the Wide Slider replicas on Monday the 18th. The Team planned to get a large portion of the Wide Slider run done in 2 working weeks, no small task.

Week One.

On Monday we got down to business, cleaning up the parts, preparing for painting, and programming sound chips. On Monday, most of the team met Nick for the first time, the exception being James, who had worked for Rubbertoe Replicas before. This was an exciting moment and we were all quickly whisked into the crazy world of a Doctor Who Prop Maker.

When we first entered the workshop, we were like kids in a candy shop. Bearing in mind that most of the team works out of their bedrooms/Garages/Girlfriends Parents Conservatories, laying our eyes on the huge space we were about to spend the next two weeks in was wild enough. Naturally with it being the Rubbertoe Workshops, the place was wall to wall with doctor who props, replicas and history. From Laser Screwdrivers being assembled, to the newly released 14th Doctor's Screwdriver, to the myriad of props and replicas adorning Nicks shelves, our eyeballs were working overtime.

Once the initial mental-ness calmed down and reality crept back into view we cracked on with the rest of the working day.

The first week flew by in the blink of an eye, but progress was made. All the bodies had been crackle painted and quality checked, with any bodies not up to scratch being stripped for repainting. All the Sound chips had also been programmed and prepped for installation.

This brings us to the weekend, upon which we took the opportunity to visit some well known filming locations that were right on our doorstep

A Bannerman Reunion and a Trip to Torchwood

Daniel, a life long Sarah Jane Adventures fan, owns one of the original Screen used Bannerman road street signs. Naturally with ’13 Bannerman Road’ being so close to us geographically we felt a reunion was in order.

We naturally all got photos, with permission from the home owner, with the house as well as the newly reunited street sign, as well as a few glam shots of the street sign. It was truly amazing and surreal seeing the Sarah Jane house with the screen used Bannerman Road sign back in its rightful place.

From there we moved on and ventured down to Cardiff and Cardiff Bay. We visited places like Henrik’s in the city centre, and then went to Cardiff Bay, seen prominently in both doctor who and Torchwood, as the location of the Cardiff Rift and the Torchwood Hub.

Week Two.

Week Two commenced with repainting, and the arrival of some more parts which needed to be prepped for assembly. We started to assemble bodies with collars, pommels and heads.

We also prepared the electronics for final assembly in a few weeks time.

The past two weeks have been a whirl wind. We did things we're not even allowed to mention, yet. It was an wonderful opportunity and an amazing trip. We're all back now and ready to resume regularly scheduled programming.