I was so excited to make a Doctor Who cake that I practically hugged the woman who asked me to do it.  Actually, in hindsight, I literally hugged the woman who asked me to do it.  And I had so much fun that I think I'll try a Dalek for my own upcoming birthday.
I started with two 10 inch cakes.  I was actually going for more accurate proportions but learned that you really can't stack my homemade chocolate cake 9 inches high.  It's much too dense and heavy.
I used paper to gauge the size that I was shooting for.  As you can see, what I wanted and what we actually ended up with were two very different shapes.  I wanted tall and slender but ended up with short and not so slender.
I leveled the cakes...
Then I cut them into 4 and 1/2 inch squares.
And here is where I made mistake number two (mistake number one being that I should have used a mix or lighter cake).  I sharpened a dowel using a pencil sharpener and stuck it in the cake board.  I even went as far as to put some hot glue in the hole so it was good and tight.  What I should have done from the start though was use three or four dowels.  One was definitely not enough to support this whole cake.
I then started stacking the cakes with buttercream in between each layer.  I had so much fun watching the cake get higher and higher that I completely forgot to take a picture of that stage.  After all 8 layers were stacked, I put on a crumb coat.  This is where it all started to unravel.  The cake was just too heavy.  It started to lean...BADLY.  It started to sink.....also badly.  The bottom layers started to compress and widen.  All of a sudden, my dowel was sticking out of the top of the cake.  It was a nightmare.  

I put it in the fridge with the hopes that I could halt further damage.  I had to prop it up at an angle to correct the leaning.  And I waited.  I was prepared to toss the whole thing and start over but I decided to let it sit overnight and see what I could do with it after it hardened.

In the morning I added two more dowels for support and trimmed the sides to make it more even.  I decided to go ahead with it because I really didn't want to start over...
The next step was making the fondant sides of the cake.  This is the first cake where I pieced the sides together (as opposed to laying a single piece of fondant over the whole thing.  I was tense though because I've seen all too often on Cake Boss where fondant sides peel away from the cake and it all falls apart.  I can't just run back to the bakery to fix something like that, so I came up with some plans to avoid it (which included me telling my friend that I couldn't guarantee it would hold up after it came down to room temperature).

First I measured the sides of the cake and drew a basic outline for the side panels...
Then I colored the fondant....
I cut out 8 side panels.  Four were pretty sturdy and four were as thin as I felt comfortable working with.  The thin ones were going to overlap the more sturdy ones after I had cut out the windows.
Next I started cutting out the windows on the thin panels...
Using water, I overlaid the window panels onto the thicker panels...
...and added details, like white squares to imitate light,  the little strip down the middle to separate the doors, door handles, and a key hole (which I dusted with silver).
Never before have I wished so badly that I had an edible printer....or a friend close by who had an edible printer.  But alas, that is a $300 expense that I really can not justify.  Had I had a printer, I could have printed out the actual Police Box signs for the door.  As is, I had to wing it.  I thought the easiest thing to do would be to use strips of black fondant and just roll the letters with white fondant.  
For the second sign, I used white fondant and a black edible marker.  Yes, I know.  I have horrible handwriting.  But it was for a birthday party, not a wedding.  It was good enough.  
Once I had all the panels ready to go, it got really fun.   Time to put it all together.  I started by spritzing the entire cake lightly with water.  The frosting was solid from the refrigerator and I needed it a bit moist to help hold the fondant on.  I put on the first side and then started putting all the sides around the cake.

Notice the dowel sticking out the top?  It was a good inch in the cake when I started...that's how much the cake compressed.
I noticed with past experience that once you bonded fondant with water, the fondant will usually tear before coming apart.  I was counting on this as I plotted to keep this thing together.  I wet each corner seam slightly and pressed them together the length of the wall. 
 In addition to that, I added a corner piece that had been wet to help bond the corner and hold it all in place and give it a bit more depth.
I added a square on top and the main body was done.  Time to start the top...
I bought a keychain that made Doctor Who sound effects (online from Amazon) because I thought it would be really cool if I could make the cake make the same noise that the Tardis makes when it takes off and lands.  I thought the easiest way to do this would be to conceal it in the thick top of the cake.  So I cut out some thick slabs of fondant and put the keychain right inside them (after covering it in plastic wrap to protect it.
I cut out a thin cover for it and punched a hole (using a small circle shaped cutter) where the right button was...
And added the little light and it was good to go.  The fondant muffled the sound quite a bit, but it still functioned so I was happy.  I kept the top separate from the cake until just before the party.  I didn't think it was a good idea to put the keychain in the cold...  So I attached the top just before leaving to deliver the cake.
And here it is, all ready to go the the party.  So much fun!  Thanks as usual for reading my silly antics.  

Brandi :-)
Taz
3/15/2013 10:13:39 am

Very impressed; so impressed I intend on doing it tomorrow! wish me luck

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Brandi
3/15/2013 12:23:30 pm

Thanks! It was so much fun. Good luck with yours. Let me know how it goes. :-)

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Beki516
3/23/2013 01:01:44 pm

Awesome, another person who did this! I was asked to make a tardis cake for a friend's wedding party. Last weekend I did a test run. My fondant panels compressed, so that when I put them on they covered the height of the cake, but an hour later they were almost an inch below the top! Ack! Any advice? I've never tried doing anything like this with fondant before, just small detail work or complete covering. They were rather thick, but even if not, I'd assume they'd still compress downward. I'm not sure whether to use gumpaste in the hopes that that will be stiff enough, or what...

I also used marshmallow fondant, homemade... maybe that was a problem. Anyway, any tips? Pretty please? :D

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Brandi
3/24/2013 07:50:17 pm

Hmmmm. It very well could have been that you used homemade marshmallow fondant. I use homemade occasionally but only tried the marshmallow variety once. When I need some good stability I always use the Wilton brand of fondant (which I buy at Walmart). It doesn't taste anywhere near as good, but you can count on it to keep it's form. I wouldn't trust homemade for a project like this. I haven't found a recipe that would be stable or firm enough.

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Carolyn
4/3/2013 11:39:15 pm

I'm going to be making a tardis cake this weekend for my mother-in-law's 70th b-day...she's a Dr. Who freak!! :)
I use Satin ice and the way I've prepared so far is by printing out one side of a blueprint of a tardis (google images) and scaled it. My cake will be about 13x7 roughly, but I'm going to make fondant panels ahead of time, so they are a little dry and stiff by the time I put them on the cake. I think there'll be less chance of sagging. You can make your fondant stiffer without changing the flavor by adding tylose (that's the ingredient used in gumpaste to make it harder and dry faster).
Also, when you stack a cake this high, you need to have a cake board in between they layers (about 1/2way through) with dowels (one big dowel going all the way through is a good idea, but in order for the upper layers not to weigh down the bottom layers, it needs additional support so it'll maintain it's shape; it's the same method for a double barrel cake). I'm going to use a ganache method to get the cake super smooth before I put on the fondant. If you're interested, Inspired by Michelle has 3 really good youtube tutorials on how to ganache a cake to get a really smooth surface (I've found it to be the best method so far in the humid climate I live in...haven't had any sagging since I've been using this method). Jessicakes used to have a really good youtube video as well, but can't find it anymore. Anyway, good job on yours...hoping mine will be a success!!

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Brandi
4/4/2013 06:07:18 am

These are GREAT tips! Thanks for chiming in. I would definitely do it differently if I do it again (including a much better internal support system).

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4/20/2013 03:46:54 pm

hi

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Laerke
6/11/2013 02:45:15 am

Hello... I was wondering: How do you eat it? Do you have to lie it Down or what? xD

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Brandi
6/11/2013 02:49:45 am

In this case, they just took the top portion off (the fondant and noise maker), then just started cutting pieces from the top.

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Julie
8/12/2013 07:27:46 am

I too, have been asked to make a Tardis cake for an 18th Birthday celebration. I have no idea how to price a cake of this magnitude. I use Satin Ice Fondant - I do not like Wilton's fondant. I was able to find a PDF for the templates, and I enlarged them to the scale I am looking at - 8" square x 15" high. I am REALLY nervous! I hope it works out. This would be a great cake to add to my portfolio. I am just a small, home-based business.

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Brandi
8/12/2013 08:23:56 am

I'd love it if you posted pics. I can't wait to do another one. I would definitely do it differently the next time around. But I just do cakes as a hobby for fun. I'm not a business.

On another note, I have discovered a new homemade fondant that I LOVE! It comes from a girl named Liz Marek. She's on facebook and youtube. Her tutorials are wonderful. Anyway, her fondant has the stability that I like but tastes much better, is easy to make, and less expensive! I am so sold on it. Here is a link to her fondant tutorial, if you are interested. :-) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJCUy3ezRxE

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Carly
8/13/2014 10:34:22 pm

I've been asked to do this cake for a customer, and after three failed attempts this evening, I'm going to try your method and I hope it works !it seems a lot more reliable than mine so far

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Brandi
8/13/2014 10:40:04 pm

Just make sure that you have good internal support. :-) I didn't with this one and it was a mess. I have since made another that worked great when I used dowels and cardboard halfway through to support the height. Good luck.

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Brandi
8/13/2014 10:42:08 pm

I also printed the sign on the door and Police Box logo on my other one, and attached it with a small amount of water (not enough to make the ink run). It looked much nicer than using fondant for the letters. Some people don't want paper on their cakes and I don't have an edible printer. But I didn't mind doing it for my own cake...

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1/10/2015 07:07:53 pm

My son would love this do you make to sell if so how much, his bday not till march

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Brandi
1/11/2015 03:15:06 am

I'm sorry but I'm not making cakes right now. I'm very busy with a newborn... :-)

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Maddison
3/15/2015 08:07:22 am

Hi There,
I was just wondering how many people this would serve?
Needing to make a cake like this but only to serve 8 people. Would I only need to use one cake? and how much fondant? thanks

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3/15/2015 05:35:55 pm

Heya i am for the first time here. I came across this board and I find It really useful & it helped me out much. I hope to give something back and help others like you aided me. Excellent cake ideas you have shared. Please update this kind of info.

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jean
5/4/2016 04:26:31 am

what did you cover the cake with before you put the panels on

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Brandi
5/5/2016 03:26:59 am

I did a buttercream crumb coat before putting on the panels. Just a thin layer of buttercream frosting.

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Dave
9/24/2016 11:40:26 pm

First time making this cake and first time I tried modelling choc, the choc was a pain to make the tutorials made it look easy but mine separated, 2 batches!!! thankfully youtube had a show on bringing it back but it was a drama, cake turned out better than expected in the end, 2 kilos of choc mud cake glued with choc ganache, moch cream to base coat it worked extremely good and panels from the modelling chocolate, and highlighted with black food die and paintbrush.
Wish I could work out a way to send a photo

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Brandi
9/25/2016 05:52:55 pm

That sounds great. I bet it was fantastic. I've only used modelling chocolate once. Thanks for your comments. I also wish I could see it. But I don't think there is a way to share photos here. :(

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