Building the Cell Door

The cell door was alway top on my priority list, as I always felt even if our walls looked daft that if the door looked realistic it would be able to sell the rest of our set. Originally I had planned on just using a regular door and trying to convert that into a cell door. However my dad had suggested just having the door made from scratch. He knows a guy who owns a wood shop so I asked if he would be able to knock something up for me using spare wood around the shop. 

I sketched a design(shown below), and gave it to them, They were surprisingly up for it since I felt I was being a bit of an annoyance.  

A week later I came by to check on the progress and was very happy with the result as it was exactly what I had sketched. I didn't want to leave them with all the work so they cut all the pieces for me and I came over to nail everything together with a nail gun. This was very easy and only took a couple of minutes. 

Next was to put a layer of primer on the wood so that when it came to painting it, I just went for a standard white for the primer. I did a quick two coats on this before I left the shop again to leave this to dry.

I had the guys at the shop drop the door off at uni as well as the two hardboards we used for flooring as I was finding it difficult getting the time to get over to the shop in between uni. Once the door was dropped off I could finish it off there. I had gone back and forth on what colour to paint the door, I think at first I wanted a classic silver but since we had decided to make the walls of the cell grey, I wanted the door to stand out against the background. So I decided on a white gloss, with some silver points on the handle and trim. I also added a few washes of black and red to give the door an older look as I didn't want it looking brand new.

Overall, I am happy with how the door has turned out. I think having it made from scratch was the right way to go as it meant it fit our set perfectly. Instead of trying to retrofit something to work.