Classic Series Daleks Customs Collection Tour – 1960s era Daleks

Welcome to the next instalment in this series of Dalek customs showcases, a tour through my collection of custom-painted Classic Series Daleks. Moving on from the inmates of the Dalek Asylum, this feature includes a tour of my collection of 1960s-era Dalek customs. All of these customs are made by me unless stated otherwise in the description.

Classic 1960s Dalek Figure from The Daleks:

This first figure may seem like an odd choice for a custom, since Dead Planet Daleks exist as a standard figure. However, their most common appearance is in the Dalek Collector Set #1, which is now a very rare box set – the asking price for them has rocketed to over £50, in some places as high as £100. Since not everyone has that kind of money, it made  more sense to me to buy a Dalek Collector Set #2, re-base the Dalek Saucer Commander and use silver Humbrol paint to complete the detail, so that is exactly what I did. Unlike my Asylum variant, this Dalek does not feature a ‘mutant reveal’, but it looks like the genuine article and that is really all you can ask for in a custom.

Dalek Saucer Commander and Dalek Supreme Figures from The Dalek Invasion of Earth:

Like the figure of the original The Dead Planet Dalek, there exists a genuine figure of the Dalek Supreme from The Dalek Invasion of Earth, but it is rare and only comes in a two-pack with the First Doctor. As such, I simply painted the remaining silver parts on a spare Dalek Saucer Commander to create a facsimile of the genuine article. Interestingly enough, this isn’t far from what the actual Doctor Who production team did during the making of this episode, since the Dalek Saucer Commander only appears in the colour scheme that it has because it was originally supposed to be the Dalek Supreme, but they hadn’t finished painting the prop when it came time for filming, so they just used it as it was. This explains why the Dalek Saucer Commander disappears and is replaced by the Supreme midway through the story.

Dalek and Dalek Supreme from The Daleks’ Master Plan, and Emperor’s Guard from The Evil of the Daleks:

Although there is some debate over what colour this Dalek Supreme from The Daleks’ Master Plan is actually supposed to be, the most common (and technically correct) view is that it is black, since that is the colour that the original prop was. And it looks fantastic next to the Emperor’s Guard and Standard Dalek, so that works as part of this collection. This is another custom that is cheap and easy to do, since all I used was a standard Emperor’s Guard and some black Citadel Paint to give the lower section a new coat, and light blue Citadel Paint to cover any marks on the spheres. Overall, this is such a simple custom that gives a great result with minimal effort required, and definitely one that I would recommend to first-time Dalek painters.

Classic Series 9 Dalek Figures:

Although not technically 1960s Daleks, the variants of the classic Daleks seen in The Magician’s Apprentice / The Witches’ Familiar are displayed in the same place on my shelf mostly just to bolster the ranks of my 1960s-era Daleks, and also because they appear at first glance to be identical to other Daleks of the era. However, minor differences set these particular Daleks apart, particularly the bright blue used on the midsection and the blue New Series style eyestalks. The Emperor’s Guard figure is a representation of a Dalek briefly seen at the end of the two-parter, as one of the Daleks that corners Missy as the city around them crumbles. Allegedly, this Dalek exists due to a mistake, since the black-domed head of an Emperor’s Guard Dalek was accidentally placed atop a slatless The Dead Planet style body, creating a whole new variety of 1960s-era Dalek that had never been seen before on screen. Again, these customs are very easy, as all that is required are Emperor’s Guard and Saucer Commander Daleks, some silver and blue paint, and a blue Sharpee for the eyestalks.

The Chase Guard Dalek Figure:

This Dalek is based on a brief appearance of a Movie prop in The Chase, that was given to the BBC on loan in order to increase the number of mobile Dalek props for that episode. Since it used the Movie design, it lacked the slats seen on other Daleks, had a blue head and gold trim, and had no base. The production team did replace the dome lights to better resemble standard Daleks of that era, however. The only difference in my custom is that I have left the alternating black and silver slats from the Dalek Saucer Commander that I used as the base for this figure. Perhaps this Dalek serves as some form of Commander in the Dalek Emperor’s Guard.

Next – Classic Series Dalek Customs Collection Tour – 1970s era Daleks

Bonus – Alternate Red The Daleks’ Master Plan Supreme Dalek Figure:

Since The Daleks’ Master Plan aired in black and white (and is now mostly missing), there has been debate over what colour the Supreme Dalek in that story is actually supposed to be. Whilst the original prop was allegedly black, some fans have interpreted this Dalek as being red, to the extent that several novelisations and comic adaptations of this story feature a red version of the Supreme Dalek on the front cover. As such, I have created this custom of what the Supreme Dalek would look like in this colour scheme, and I have swapped the manipulator arm for double gunsticks so he can also serve as an Emperor’s Guard too. Since I used Humbrol paints for this custom, the Dalek has a nice glossy finish, and I used a simple screw as a replacement for the manipulator arm.