New Series Dalek Customs Collection Tour – Other Dalek Asylum Inmates

Welcome to the next instalment of this tour through my collection of custom-made New Series Daleks. Following the previous instalment which covered Classic Dalek Asylum inmates,  the Daleks featured here are all New Series Dalek Asylum customs that did not fit the categories of the previous Dalek Asylum showcases. All of these Daleks are figures that have been altered and painted to appear destroyed, with some marked with stamps for the Dalek Asylum.

Custom Asylum Scenery:

Due to some of the heavy customisation that making Asylum Daleks can require, I often find myself with several spare parts left over afterwards. Sometimes these are heads, parts of lower sections, sometimes even appendages, but unfortunately never eyestalks. As such, I decided to combine some of the most common spare parts I have to form a scenery item which is featured in my Asylum display. Since this includes parts from many other Daleks, they are a bit mismatched, but I attempted to retain as much versatility as I could with this impromptu custom – the heads still rotate, and the manipulator arm moves too, which improves its function as a decorative piece if nothing else. This custom was created using paper mâché, hot glue and green paint, with some black and grey detailing to represent the years of wear and tear that a jumble of pieces of destroyed Dalek would probably accumulate after thousands of years rotting in an Asylum.

Duo of Paradigm Dalek Asylum Inmates:

Although these figures are in fact official releases and not customs, these Daleks feature alongside my other Asylum Dalek inmates because they just look so good. Whilst I am not a particular fan of the Paradigm Dalek design, the new chrome red paint job on the Drone figure looks incredible, and it almost makes me wish they had released an undamaged version of this figure, like they did for the Dalek Strategist. The Asylum damage detailing is actually really nice, and although I wish they had made a classic version of this set, it is still a nice set piece to have, and it was quite cheap on Amazon at the time of purchasing too, and although the centrepiece of the set was the bronze Asylum Dalek, it is great for bolstering an Asylum collection. Interestingly, a Paradigm Dalek Supreme did feature in Asylum of the Daleks, but it was not a complete prop and was missing the eyestalk and dome lights. This set therefore implies that there are several Paradigm Dalek Supremes imprisoned in the Asylum, probably due to their immediate redundancy following the fan backlash to their debut in Victory of the Daleks.

Asylum Dalek Strategist Figure:

In a strange role-reversal of the last figure, in which Character Options released the Asylum variant of the Drone but not a standard variation, for the new version of the Strategist they released a clean version in an exclusive two-pack with the Eleventh Doctor (making it increasingly rare and expensive nowadays) but did not release an Asylum version. Since I was able to pick up a spare Asylum Supreme on ebay, I used deep-blue paint coated with a layer of polished finish and detailed in black to create my own Asylum variation of the new chrome Strategist. Whilst it doesn’t really stand up compared to the professionally-made Paradigm figures, I am still pretty happy with how this one looks. Whilst not many Paradigm Daleks were admitted to the Asylum, this Strategist seems to be among the unlucky few.

Destroyed Paradigm Drone Figure:

As previously mentioned, during Asylum of the Daleks, one of the few Paradigm Daleks to appear in the Asylum was a heavily damaged Supreme Dalek, decorated with an elaborate ‘criss-cross’ scarring on the left hand side of the casing. Whilst the red colouration of this figure shows it is not a Supreme, I bought it pre-burnt and missing all of the appendages, so it seemed like there was only one thing I could use it for. I used a hacksaw to cut the crossed scars pattern into the Dalek and removed some of the panelling on the right hand side, creating the illusion that the Dalek mutant trapped inside had at one point attempted to break out. I used black paint in splodges all over the Dalek to suggest it has been hit with several energy blasts, possibly in a battle which drove it insane and doomed it to the Asylum. Needless to say, I have never had as much fun cutting up a Dalek as I did destroying this damaged Paradigm figure.

Emperor’s Guard Custom Figure:

This variant of the Emperor’s Bodyguard never appears onscreen, but it is my own personal creation that I based on Dalek designs in the comics. Since many of the classic Daleks that appear in Asylum of the Daleks have custom colour schemes that disguise their true design (usually boring greys, blacks and browns) I painted this Dalek to resemble a yet-unseen Dalek variant that has been admitted to the Asylum. Now catatonic, the casing is leaking oil and fluid and the eyestalk is clogged with dirt and grit. I painted this Dalek using Warhammer Citadel paints, so it has a dull finish that gives the illusion of age. Although it was once possibly an elite member of some obscure Dalek council within the Empire, this Dalek appears to have suffered several casing malfunctions and has subsequently become unresponsive. As a result, it has been cast into the Asylum, where it now sits and festers in the darkness.

Dalek Scientist Custom Figure:

Like the previous Dalek custom, this Dalek never appears onscreen. I based the colour scheme on a variation of one of the 1960s Peter Cushing Movie Daleks, although I used a New Series Dalek Sec as the base. I designed this Dalek to resemble a scientist rank, perhaps as part of a survey team that went to the Asylum to study the Daleks within, only to end up going insane itself and being admitted to the very institution it was sent to study. Fitted with Dalek embryo manipulation claws, perhaps it was once this Daleks’ job to oversee Dalek production lines, but now it seems abandoned in the Dalek Asylum, using external fluid pipes to sustain its damaged internal systems. I used Humbrol paints for this Dalek, and so the red coat is shiny and stands out amongst the dull colours of the Asylum.

Next – Classic Series Daleks Customs Collection Tour – 1960s era Daleks

Bonus – Dalek Asylum Display Shelf: