Introduction: TARDIS Backpack

There is a very popular Sci-Fi TV show called Doctor Who. The main character of the TV show is "The Doctor". The Doctor travels all of time and space in the TARDIS or the Time And Relative Diminsion In Space.

There is also a very popular Sci-Fi convention in Atlanta, GA called Dragon*Con that I like to attend every year. For Dragon*Con 2012, I decided that I wanted to carry my everyday items around in a TARDIS. So this is the process I went through to create my TARDIS backpack.

Step 1: Creating the Body of the Backpack

I decided that sewing a backpack together would be to hard. So I decided to make one out of plexiglass.

The first thing I did was decide how big I wanted to backpack to be. I created 5 squares: 1 for the bottom, 2 for the sides, and 2 for the front and back in Inkscape. I then cut the plexiglass with a 40 Watt Laser Cutter. I taped the 5 pieces together to form the main part of the TARDIS.

Once the box was taped together I used acrylic glue to glue it together. The box dried for 24 hours and then the tape was removed.

I cut out another piece of plexiglass. This piece was the same size as the bottom piece except it had most of the center gone. This center section is what allows me to get in and out of the backpack.

I glued this piece to the top of the box.

I then created another smaller box for the TARDIS light and glued that piece to a smaller piece of plexiglass for the top of the TARDIS which fits into the center section that was missing. This piece also dried for 24 hours and then the tape was removed.

I then attached the hinges and latch for the top of the box.


Step 2: Decorating the TARDIS

I was ready to make the TARDIS blue at this point. So I placed blue duct tape around the box, the top half of the box and the very top of the small box for the light.

To get the "Police Public Call Box" sign, I placed black duct tape on a piece of plexiglass. I then used the Laser Cutter to cut out "Police Public Call Box".

This is the Laser Cutter cutting out the "Police Public Call Box" sign:


The next step was to create the windows. I created a window template in Inkscape. I placed black duct tape on a piece of plexiglass just like I did for the "Police Public Call Box" sign. I had the Laser Cutter cut the middle pieces out. The windows looked too clean when they were finished in the Laser Cutter. They didn't look like they had traveled all of time and space. So I took a piece of sand paper and scraped up the back of the windows.

I screwed 2 windows and the "Police Public Call Box" sign on the 2 sides of the box and the front of the box for a total of 6 windows and 3 "Police Public Call Box" signs.

The next step was figuring out how to wear it. I sewed backpack straps to hardware loop plates. Then I attached the loop plates to the box. I did this to both sides of the box.

Now the backpack was finished and it was ready for Dragon*Con!!!

Step 3: Dragon*Con!!

My backpack received a lot of attention at Dragon*Con!! I had a couple people tell me that I should get John Barrowman, who plays Captin Jack Harkness in Doctor Who and Torchwood, to sign the backpack since he was a guest at Dragon*Con.

So...I got him to sign it! :)

Overall, this was a VERY fun build!! I hope this instructables page helps you create a TARDIS backpack of your very own!!