Dalek build update.... (June - Sept)

June 28th 2013

So the Turret Platform

I guess its much the same as the normal shoulder section, however I don't go quiet so high.   Now so there's no confusion as to what I'm talking about this is the turret Platform of which I speak

So here's where I am at.  I made the platform from particleboard and the sides from hardboard.  I recessed the screws and used filler to hide them.

I then made the collar (using the template found here on PDF) again using Hardboard

And lastly, after masking certain areas, I used expanding foam to fill in the gap. Tomorrow Ill use a knife to shape it and then use filler to make it all nice and neat.   Then Ill start working on the turret itself.  I will be making the turret rotate, and using a caster wheels mechanism as that should very well take the weight.

July 20th 2013

spend two weeks building an internal frame structure that would be strong enough to hold the weight and not topple over being as the gun will make this front heavy.

I call it the Wedding cake frame for obvious reasons....

This is basically the Shoulder and Neck section of the Dalek.   The Turret actually stand a few inches taller than the standard (I know theres no such thing as standard) shoulder section.  Which actually just allows for one neck ring.

my biggest concern is weight, however cost plays an even bigger part in my construction and so although this is heavy it has been reasonably cheap to construct with me using the plans as more a rough idea and me using a lot of artistic license

July 22 2013

I used expanding foam on the inside to help fill a few of the gabs then used Bondo on the outside, after a couple of hours of sanding I got it to a stage I was happy with.  I was really pleased with how some of the curves came out.  Im hoping to add some detail to the front panel later today and even start on the Vents for the rear panel

I simply measured the spacing, added a little liquid nails and geronimo, we have the vents.  Once the glue is cured, Ill spray the whole thing in a PVA glue water mix which should not only seal it but also make it a little stronger.  Added a few drink bottle lids for added detail all in all I know its not perfect but I rather like it.

July 25th 2013

like I said before the next few weeks are going to be real busy for me so I wanted to try and get what I could done before I left, So over the past two evenings Ive been getting the turret together and figuring out how I want to have everything looking and so far Im rather liking it

August 10th 2013

It has been a couple of weeks since my last update and theres a little bit to show.  Ive continued work on the Turret section, still a lot to do but it certainly is coming along, also attached the neck ring with the custom braces.  All in all I like how this is turning...

for the front panel I used a handful of different flash lights, most from the Dollar Store and some buttons that I had laying about in the TARDIS,  once I start working on the electrics some of the lights will illuminate, not sure yet if Im going to have them flash or just remain on....

As you can see, although the bulk of this is the 2005 Dalek, I decided to go with the 80's imperial Neck mesh, using sequin waste and gold paper I think, certainly with this build it works nicely.

Being as Im paying homage to my first SWD which I had to sell to pay for my plane ticket to the US.  Ive still got the slats to do and detailing on the sides of the turret so over the course of the weekend I may just give that a shot but for now heres the latest stack shot..

August 11th 2013

had a few hours before it got dark so I decided to go ahead and make a start on my gun.

its gonna be in two sections. the first will be attached to the Dalek and will simply allow people to pass it without hitting themselves on the gun when they walk past, the second part will attach for events and such to give the full awesomeness of his fire power...

Eventually it will be attached to a motor which will allow it to pivot up and down.

As you can see Im using a combination of different things to make the gun, from a plunger, to coffee can to frisbees.  I'll hopefully manage to get section two started this week other wise its gonna be a couple of weeks before I get the chance to do anything as Ive a handful over events Im guest at over the next few weeks.

Dalek Build Week Four

Not much to update really as I was away for the weekend, and I have my 9 to 5 during the week.  But being that I was going to be away for the weekend I decided (with my wifes permission) to bring the Dalek inside to avoid any potential damage.

Hemi Update

For the surround, I was originally going to use black however I decided to try out another colour, Flat Chestnut and personally I love it.

Theres basically three colours to this Dalek, the Ivory, Aged Copper and Flat Chestnut.

Here's a side by side of the black Hemi Surround and the Chestnut Surround.... its not as clear in the picture but there is a subtle difference and in my opinion the chestnut just looks so much nicer with the Ivory skirt

Shoulder Section

So the Shoulder section is actually a little larger than a regular Dalek, however I used the plans as a starting point.  I am going to probably require some ideas from you guys as far as how to go about the turret.  

As you can see, its going to be quite a challenge...

While in the house I decided to attach the Hemis as well as place the dome on top....

Dalek Build Week Three

its update time...

I was away for the weekend attending Phoenix ComiCon and so wasnt able to get any building done, but I did manage to get a day off this week so I decided that I would give my build another attack...

So I started work on the skirt section...

I used chip board (Particleboard) for the frame, which was great initially BUT for some reason when I went to attach the panels I found that the top section of the frame had moved about an inch to the left, and what had actually happened was the front support had warped.  This was probably something to do with the heat here in Tucson and the holes I had cut out of it attempting to reduce the weight a little. 

Whatever the reason was I had to take off all the panels I had already attached, realign the top part of the frame and reattach everything, I suspect that attaching, detaching and reattaching is going to be a common theme for this build...

the thing I like about a custom build is the little additions and the customising of parts, you cant really get it wrong....  You'll also notice the holes int he back panel for the vents, I liked the way the MK6 Daleks looked with those additions so I wanted to add them to my NSD hybrid.

with just a few hours left before it gets dark I decided to make start on a few more things.... and with not much else to do I decided to start on the Hemis.  I wanted to approach this whole project with a patient and when I get the time type of thing but as Im sure most of you have experienced, when you start to see it coming together you want to use any spare time to do a little more....  Right now my back is killing me so I'm taking it easy but hoping that it feels better later so i can get out there and continue to put the hemis together.

Im sure you've noticed from the photos I dont have a workshop nor a shed or garage to work in, so Im working in the shade of a Pomegranate tree and it gets really hot here and the bugs.... wow

but anyway.... heres the latest update.

for the Hemi surrounds I used quart lids purchased from Home Depot 55c each

while these dried I made start on the vents (on the back panel) using scraps of MDF left over from the skirt panels.

Back to the Hemis.... (as you can see I rabbit trail..... bouncing from one thing to the other then back again).  Again using scraps of MDF I cut 54 3 1/2inch circles these are then glued in to the hemis with a nut and spacer keeping it in place.

a hole cut in the centre of the quart lid and you have a hemi and surround.

left these overnight to allow the glue to dry..... now this next bit I think pretty much every Dalek builder has done at around this point of their builds.....

I wanted to see how the skirt looked with some of the hemis attached....

the only thing Im questioning right now is the black surround, being that Im building this to imperial colours Im wondering if I should make the surround the same colour as the hemi.  The skirt will be an Ivory colour and Im worried that the black surround with be to much....

what do you guys think???

Dalek Build - Week One

SO it has begun, I've finally gotten around to starting my Dalek build.  Not sure if your aware but I have built one before probably 10 years ago now but I sold it before I moved to the USA.  Since then both my wife and I have said that I should build a replacement and so Allons-y......

First things first, all the help and information you need to build a Dalek can be found right here: http://www.projectdalek.com/ these guys and girls have been building Daleks for many many years and theres everything you would need to know about making a Dalek contained in their forum.

The Second thing you need to know is that you cant just go ahead and buy Dalek parts, most of the bits that make up a Dalek are sourced from various locations mostly only available in the UK, so either your goign to have to pay some silly overseas shipping costs or you make stuff yourself (or you find someone who can make it for you)

So where to start, well most people start from the bottom and work their way up so I should do that... Yeah I should probably do that but in stead I'm going to start at the top.  But first which Dalek am I going to build, well my first Dalek was a Special Weapons Dalek, so I think I wanna go that route.  However, I'm going to go with a more modern look, something thats not been on the show.  I while back I saw a very special looking Dalek called "Storm" this is a little to much but the guy who designed this, 'MechMaster' has created a comic book featuring a number of different types of Daleks. I recommend checking out the comic book.  Its not canon to the Doctor Who Daleks but it is pretty original and I love the idea of the different Daleks... http://www.mechmaster.co.uk/

Ok so back to my Heavy Weapons Dalek (Yes 'Heavy' Weapons not Special) after probably an hour of reading through the comic book I came across a Dalek that was just what I was looking for.... its got a modern look, but still obvious what it is, plus its going to have a number of design challenges that I'm kinda looking forward to tackling.

Concept Drawings:

Now what Im actually intending on doing is a mixture of this and the 2005 Dalek also known as the New Series Dalek or NSD. Im also going to honor my first Dalek but using the same colour scheme (Ivory/White and Gold).

So using the Plans for the NSD as a guild I went a head and started building my Eye.

Using some guttering parts and tubing (all from Home Depot) I got to building...

THE EYE

the white discs are from those 6" taps lights, it just so happened that we had a few days with out power to the back of the house and my wife had bought 6 of these to light up the rooms without electric, now the electric is back on and the lights are just sitting there..... well no one was really gonna miss them and they were really just in the way... anyway I used three hole saws to create 3 pairs of discs for the Eye stalk.

NOTE: something you should probably know at the start is that I dont have a bunch of tools nor do I necessarily have the right tools, I make do with what I got and so this build really isnt something that someone wanting to me an accurate replica is going to want to use as any sort of guide.  That said because this is my hybrid version of two different Daleks its probably going to be a lot of trial and error going on.

discs sanded and tidied up I'm now putting bits together and its starting to look like a Dalek Eye.  First thing that I though as I put this together was how much bigger it was that I first thought it would be.

One of the problems I had was two of the discs broke while I was attaching them to the stalk, now i did manage to glue them back together but you could see a repair.... this is not gonna be an issue though because I'm going to make this guy war torn, and battle scared. I've always preferred the weathered look to a gleaming paint job.  Both my TARDIS and K9 are weathered and I personally feel it adds so much more character.

Dome Lights

While I wait for paint to dry and what not, I decided to attempt the Dome light housings.  Using scrap wood I had laying about, and those hole saws I set about cutting the wood.

The Lenses I picked up off eBay, as you can see they arent the right ones, at least not the ones used in on the original NSD but when I saw these I knew I had to have them, they are a little bigger than the NSD lenses but I managed to modify the housing slightly so they would fit, and again IMO these look 'badass' which is what you would get if you were the Heavy Weapons Dalek.  They also look a little like my TARDIS lamp....

Back to the EYE

I bought some Rustoleum Aged Copper spray and I started to colour the eye...

Im not 100% sold on it just yet, it looks a little too glittery, but that might just be while its wet.  Ill leave it to dry over night and see how it looks tomorrow.  Its a nice colour but I'm just not 100% yet.

so thats where I am right now.... the Eye and the Dome lights.

Ill be wiring up the Eye with one of my UV LEDs and I've defused the iris using a milk bottle, Ill post pictures once its all assembled until next time...

Geronimo