Welcome to the Asylum Project, a series of blog posts showcasing my custom Dalek Asylum inmates collection. 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. Destroying New Series Daleks is fun, but only half the fun of making a destroyed Dalek custom. Although these Daleks look ‘destroyed’, in many ways they are far more intricately constructed in their current state than they ever were when they were intact figures. That isn’t a dig at Character Options, the company who make the Dalek toys, as if anything the simple yet effective design and basic method of construction lends very well for a small toy of this type. What must be made clear, however, is that there is much more to making a destroyed Dalek custom than just cutting bits off the Dalek.
Some Dalek customisers, particularly those who make their customs specifically to sell on eBay, turn to quick methods to get quick results, often resorting to blow torches or even smashing the Daleks to make them appear destroyed. Though these methods can have their very niche uses for setting up a good destroyed Dalek custom, there is far more work that needs to be done before a Dalek figure can resemble, even remotely, what a destroyed Dalek would actually look like. Intricate modelling, painting and tweaking is needed to get a realistic effect.
Part III of the Destroyed New Series Dalek Asylum Inmates series will cover my collection of custom Time War Daleks in my Asylum collection that have been modified to appear destroyed or damaged beyond repair. Many of these Daleks were created using Daleks that I acquired from eBay bundles. The most common type of Dalek one usually encounters in these bundles is eyestalk-less, appendage-less bronze Daleks, sometimes the Damaged Dalek Thay variety, and as these are only really good for creating destroyed Dalek customs, there are plenty of these in the collection.
Custom Destroyed Dalek Thay
This custom was created to resemble what remains of Dalek Thay after his climactic battle with the Human-Dalek hybrids in 1930s New York, based on the appearance seen in Evolution of the Daleks. This story gives no indication of what happened to Dalek Thay’s remains (or the remains of his compatriot, Dalek Jast) so this custom is included in this collection to explore the idea that Dalek Thay’s destroyed casing was eventually transferred to the Asylum. This custom was made using a standard damaged Dalek Thay figure with the top part cut off with a hacksaw. The inner parts were made using a combination of tissue paper and wood glue, and the large circular plastic piece came from the inner mechanisms of an old CD player. The dirty effect on the shoulder section and the skirt was done with a heavy wash of black Citadel paint.
The Daleks that are transported to the Asylum are not always alive. This was certainly true of the unfortunate case of Dalek Thay, whose remains were transported to the Asylum, only to be dumped due to their status as dead metal. The casing was melted down and used for alloys to repair the Asylum.
Custom Destroyed Dalek Jast
As previously mentioned, Dalek Jast’s remains were also inexplicably left behind at the end of Evolution of the Daleks and this custom depicts his blasted remains. It is ultimately a great shame that Daleks Thay and Jast were killed off at the end of the New York Dalek two-parter, as it prevented their characters from being developed any further. What makes this particularly impactful on Dalek Jast as a character is that, of all the members of the Cult of Skaro, Dalek Jast seems to be the most irrelevant. All three other members of the Cult get some time in the spotlight, be it Dalek Thay declaring war on the Cybermen, Dalek Sec becoming a Hybrid or Dalek Caan acting as a crazy giggling prophet, but Dalek Jast gets no such focus.
Like Dalek Thay, Dalek Jast’s remains were transported to the Asylum. The remains of this casing were also consumed by the furnaces deep within the Asylum, and the material was later used to repair other parts of the Asylum.
Custom Destroyed Dalek Shell
This Dalek was created using a complicated method of cuts and twists, using both the hacksaw and a wire cutter. The idea was to give the impression that the Dalek mutant inside had cut its way out, and the remains of this casing stand as a monument to its tenacity. This custom was created using a standard Dalek figure as the base, and the detailing was done using green, brown, red and bronze Citadel paint. Ultimately, this Dalek is one of the most intricate customs in the Destroyed Dalek collection.
This Dalek was damaged during infighting within the Asylum, and the mutant inside has long since escaped. The casing now sits in a dark corner of the Asylum, having been pushed there by other insane inmates and it now sits in obscurity alongside piles of junk.
Custom Destroyed Dalek Commander
I originally created this custom to resemble the destroyed Dalek in I.M. Foreman’s junkyard during Part One of Remembrance of the Daleks. This Dalek was created by cutting the top half off of a Dalek Sec figure, and painting the base (excluding the spheres) a dull grey. The fleshy pieces of the remains of the Dalek were painted using green Citadel paint, and the remaining pieces of Dalek were held in place using hot glue that was later painted over with grey paint.
All Dalek casualties within the Asylum are eventually gathered up, even if it takes millenia. This destroyed Dalek Commander had sat in the Asylum for centuries before the repair drones took notice of it, though several scavengers have taken pieces from it in the meantime.
Custom Battle of Arcadia Casualty Dalek
During the Battle of Arcadia sequence in the 50th Anniversary Special, the War Doctor destroys a group of Daleks by physically smashing into them with the TARDIS, a method that has not been seen before but is totally characteristic of that particular incarnation. This custom was created by cutting a regular Dalek model in half with a hacksaw, and filling the empty section of each piece with tissue paper, hot glue and black paint. In fact, the entire figure was given a black wash. The two pieces can be held together with a piece of metal wire, or sit independently of each other.
Despite being a casualty of the Time War, the remains of this Dalek were later transferred to the Asylum to study the effects of Time Lord weaponry on Dalek casings. Nonetheless, the specimen still baffles Dalek Scientists, as there are few weapons in the universe powerful enough to bisect a Dalek.
Next Post: Custom Destroyed New Series Dalek Asylum Inmates – Part IV
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