Welcome to the Asylum Project, a series of new blog posts showcasing my collection of custom Dalek Asylum inmates, including custom Classic Daleks. Several of these Daleks have been showcased on this blog before, however they have all changed greatly since then and new custom Daleks have been added to the collection. Classic Daleks are awesome, especially when they are acknowledged by and appear in the New Series of Doctor Who. Asylum of the Daleks was supposed to be the one and only heyday of Classic Series Daleks in the New Series, but the disappointing lack of appearances coupled with issues on-set with many of the props led to a distinct lack of Classic Dalek action in that story. This need not apply to the Asylum customs collection, however, as over the years I have acquired many broken Classic Dalek figures and putting them to use in the Asylum has been a very rewarding experience. There is something exciting about customising Classic Dalek figures – even though the figures themselves aren’t radically different from the New Series Daleks in terms of design, they are fairly different in construction, particularly the finer points of how the neck section is put together, and this coupled with the obvious draw of Classic Daleks themselves to a Dalek fan makes these customs very fun to make.
Part II of the Classic Series Dalek Asylum Inmates series will cover my collection of custom Classic Daleks in my Asylum collection that have been modified to appear destroyed or damaged beyond repair. Classic Series Daleks can be hard to come by, especially in dry spells between figure releases. Right now the best way to get them cheap is by scouring eBay, although the selection is sparse. Many of these destroyed Daleks were made using broken Classic Series Dalek figures that I acquired as part of a bundle.
Custom Destroyed Blue Skaro Dalek
Although they never appeared in the Asylum itself, it can be assumed that this style of Dalek, seen in the Series 9 opening two-parter The Magician’s Apprentice and The Witch’s Familiar, appeared in the Asylum as a cyan version of the Dead Planet Daleks, also seen in Series 9, appear in the Asylum so it makes sense that this version would too. The figure itself started out life as an Emperor’s Guard figure from The Evil of the Daleks, though it has since been heavily modified beyond recognition – the head was removed, and I filled the inside of the neck with cardboard, hot glue and tissue paper, and the base of the shoulder section has been repainted cyan to give it the distinctive look of the Series 9 Classic Series Daleks. Finally, I removed several of the spheres and gave the figure a black wash with several specific details done several times over with black Citadel paint.
Even the most trusted court of Davros are not immune to the sentence of exile to the Asylum, should they demonstrate non-Dalek tendencies. This Dalek was once a member of Davros’ personal guard on Skaro, but was sent to the Asylum for demonstrating genuine care for its creater , going so far as to call Davros “Father.”
Custom Destroyed Earth Invasion Dalek
It is often a challenge to come up with new ideas of things to do with the Dalek Saucer Pilot from the Classic Dalek Collectors Set #2, especially when you get one that is already damaged. One might assume that simply removing the base and making it a classic Dead Planet Dalek custom is a logical solution, although I like to keep the number of Dead Planet Daleks in the Asylum to a minimum in order to preserve the sense of realism. As such, several ‘Earth Invasion’ Daleks are present in the Asylum, such as this one which sports a cyan and silver colour scheme on the shoulder section similar to those seen in the Series 9 two-part Dalek story set on Skaro, yet this Dalek still features the bulky base characteristic of all Invasion-era Daleks.
This damaged Dalek lieutenant has been festering in the Asylum since the Dalek invasion of Earth, and was critically damaged due to Human resistance and thus sent to the darkest depths of the prison planet for repairs. The promised repairs never came, however, as automated drones were far too busy repairing the facility itself. The mutant inside this Dalek casing waits and contemplates revenge…
Custom Destroyed Renegade Dalek
For all its bombastic battles and exploding Daleks, Remembrance of the Daleks features very few instances of destroyed Renegade Daleks. Aside from the destroyed Dalek at Totter’s Lane and a Renegade Dalek that takes a hit in Ratcliffe’s Junkyard and stands idle as a result, there are few visible Rengade casualties that aren’t simply reduced to ash by the Special Weapons Dalek. As such, I was able to go all out for this custom, creating a destroyed grey Dalek that takes inspiration from how destroyed Daleks of the era look but also adding a flair of my own. Believe it or not, this figure started out life as a gold Dalek Supreme from Day of the Daleks, painted to resemble a Renegade Dalek. The top half was cut off with a hacksaw, and the remains of the upper neck section were used to create the new top half which I held together with hot glue and tissue paper. The insides were painted a dull green to represent the dead Dalek mutant and the entire figure was given a black wash.
Though the war itself is long over, Imperial Daleks and Renegade Daleks still fight to the death in the depths of the Asylum. As other insane Daleks cheer them on, the last remnants of a long-forgotten conflict eradicate each other – leaving grim relics like this one to rot in the corridors of the Asylum forevermore.
Custom Destroyed Necros Dalek Mutant
Every once in a while it is fun to go all-out for a destroyed Dalek custom – after all, each one should look unique, and this one in particular was designed with uniqueness in mind. Not only is it one of the few Necros Daleks in the Asylum collection, but this custom also features a distinctive custom Dalek mutant that I made using hot glue, tissue paper, the tentacles from a 12″ Dalek Sec Hybrid figure and plastic wires from an old computer. The figure itself has an interesting history – I bought it pre-customised as part of a damaged and broken Dalek figure eBay lot, and then later discovered that it had appeared on a custom figure showcase video on Youtube, though since then the paint had begun to flake off. I repainted the custom in the Necros colouration and added the mutant on top, as well as several pieces of classic Dalek neck grille around the mutant to complete the effect.
It is unknown if Davros was ever aware of the Dalek Asylum, though several of the Daleks that languish here are the results of his failed experiments. This particular Dalek was captured with Davros by the Dalek Supreme Council and was cast into the Asylum due to their disgust. After its distinctive casing took irreparable damage, the mutant inside attempts to free itself from its casing to find a new home…
Sacred Icon 