Introduction: Doctor Who Tenth Doctor's 3D Glasses

About: As an artsy-craftsy Whovian (among other things), I love making crazy projects out of cardboard, paper, and paint. After perusing this site for some time, I have finally joined to add some of my own DIY projec…

Hi, everyone! For my first instructable, I'm making 3D glasses based on the ones worn by David Tennant in the Doctor Who Series 2 finale two-parter Army of Ghosts/Doomsday. While Eleven is and always will be my Doctor, I recently started re-reading a favorite Tenth Doctor book and decided I wanted a pair of his 3D glasses. I'm sure you're thinking, why make these when you can buy them cheap online, but if you're like me, it's more fun to use stuff you've got lying around to make a pair as close to the Doctor's as possible. So, here we go! Allons-y!

Step 1: [Not So] Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey... Stuff

The supplies you will need are:

  • White cardstock (I used an old picture frame matte or photo holder. I'm not really sure what it was, but it was basically thick paper, like cardstock)
  • Red and blue cellophane squares OR lenses from old 3D glasses (I had an old, falling apart pair of 3D glasses that I took the lenses from)
  • Paper (it doesn't really matter what kind)
  • Scissors
  • A gluestick
  • Pencil
  • Ruler (not pictured and optional)

Step 2: Designing the Frame

To make sure both sides of the glasses match, you will need to make a pattern for half the glasses on your paper. I used my own regular glasses to approximate the size, but if you do not have glasses, here are the approximate measurements of my finished glasses:

  • Length of entire pattern: 6.75 in/ 17 cm
  • Middle of nose bridge to the side fold: 2.25 in/ 7.25 cm
  • Height of glasses frame: 1.5 in/ 4 cm
  • Length of side: 4.25 in/ 11 cm (from fold)
  • Height of front side section: 1.25 in/ 3.5 cm
  • Begin side slope: 1 in/ 2.5 cm (from fold)
  • End side slope: 2 in/ 5cm (from fold)
  • Lens height: .75 in/ 2.25 cm
  • Lens width: 1.75 in/ 4.5 cm
  • Top edge of frame above lens: .25 in/ .5 cm
  • Bottom edge of frame above lens: .38 in (3/8 in)/ .75 cm
  • Center of nosepiece to lens: .5 in/ 1.25 cm

After you have drawn the pattern, cut it out and trace it onto the cardstock. Flip it and align it with your first tracing to trace the second side. Then cut the frame design out of the cardstock.

Step 3: Adding the Lenses

Align the blue and red cellophane lenses with the lens openings in the cardstock and trim them so no cellophane will show from the front. Then use the gluestick to apply glue to the inner frame and press the cellophane onto the glue and let it dry. Make sure the cellophane fully covers the lens opening and none sticks out beyond the cardstock.

Looking at the glasses from the front, the red lens goes on the right and the blue lens goes on the left. To see how it looks from the inside, see the pictures above.

Step 4: All Finished!

Now just bend the sides to a 90 degree angle, and you have a pair of Tenth Doctor 3D glasses. Look around and see if you can spot some interdimensional rifts!