Welcome to the Asylum Project, a series of blog posts showcasing my collection of custom Dalek Asylum inmates. 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. It can be hard to think of ideas for original Dalek customs, and it is often tempting to re-use ideas for customs to fill space in the Asylum. However, sometimes an idea for one custom is infectious, and it expands from a single custom to an entire new sub-faction that had previously never existed.
Part IV of the 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 particularly insane – these Daleks, known as the ‘Splicers’, are the most vicious faction of scavenger in the entire Asylum. This concept was created by me, but it stems from the overarching theme of insane Daleks in the Asylum – many fans were disappointed at the underwhelming depiction of ‘insane’ Daleks in Asylum of the Daleks – particularly as we had already seen a far more effective example of an insane Dalek during the Series 4 finale The Stolen Earth and Journey’s End – those episodes gave us the crazy Dalek Caan, and that Dalek was far crazier than anything we saw in the Asylum. However, as I aim to improve and expand upon ideas introduced in Asylum of the Daleks, the Splicers are an attempt to introduce something new into the Asylum setting that is still in keeping with the central concept.
The basic idea behind the Splicers is that they are the savages of the Daleks – when the Dalek Parliament was scared to enter the Asylum in the episode, I envisioned the Splicers as one of the primary reasons why this would be the case. These Daleks use barbaric tools to tear up other Daleks and use their spare parts to repair and upgrade themselves, and as such they are shunned by the other Daleks in the Asylum.
Custom Dalek Splicer Soldier
The primary idea behind the Splicers is that they hang around in the darkest, dingiest depths of the Asylum – scrapyards, waste disposal facilities, morgues – anywhere that they can find spare parts, they will shack up. As such, I designed this custom to look rusted and weathered, but not too damaged, as this Dalek is intended to be a recent addition to the ranks of the Splicers, and as such it hasn’t had as much damage – yet. The figure was given multiple coats with Citadel paint to achieve the layered weathering, and the red Asylum stamp was printed on with permanent marker.
This Splicer Soldier roams the upper levels of the Asylum searching for suitable prey to lure to the lower levels – its relatively normal appearance allows it to blend in with other Daleks sleeping in the Asylum, and once it selects a target it can send surreptitious transmissions to other Splicers via its internal comlink.
Custom Dalek Splicer Scavenger
This Dalek is one of the few in the entire Asylum collection to use the newer model of New Series Dalek as the base – albeit with all the appendages replaced with fakes. This Dalek is supposed to be one of the Splicers that are responsible for ‘deconstructing’ other Daleks – the cutting tool appendage is a ball-point pen nib and ink cartridge painted silver, and the gun was created using pieces of Warhammer figure frame. The eyestalk was created using a piece of pen ink cartridge painted silver and attached to a ball joint from another Dalek’s gunbox, and a piece of hot glue added to the middle. The entire figure was painted grey and given a dry-brushing to add the silver metallic effect.
This Dalek Splicer has been fitted with an old-fashioned but still functional cutting tool, scavenged from another Dalek in the Asylum. This tool is used to tear apart Dalek casings in a precise way, so that the Splicers can scavenge the parts to repair themselves. Although it has a steady hand (or pole) this Dalek has been known to occasionally turn its cutting device on its allies…
Custom Dalek Splicer Commander
Even among the Splicers, a loose ranking structure must exist – this crazy Dalek commander fills the role of an officer, so I designed the armour inspired by the Elite Majors from the Halo series – red as a primary colour with black as a secondary has always been a great combo for villains, and I do not understand why the Daleks have not explored red more in their on-screen colour schemes. This custom was originally a remote controlled Dalek Sec, it was given several red coats before grey detailing on the spheres was added and the entire figure was given a black wash to emphasise its battered appearance. As Splicer Daleks go, this one is barely damaged – likely due to its status as a Commander, though this is probably more telling of the fact that it hasn’t been with the faction for very long. The ear-lights on this Dalek have been replaced with LEDs to give it a more classic appearance.
Having been condemned to the Asylum and found by the Splicers, this former Dalek Commander took the opportunity to command soldiers once again and assumed the closest thing the Splicers had to a Squadron Leader. Although disparate and often mad, the Splicers can usually be held in line by a firm leader – although considering the innate aggression of the Splicers, one can only wonder how long this Dalek’s command will last…
Custom Dalek Splicer Cutter
This custom is one of the more overt Splicer customs, in that the giant barbed metal claw somewhat gives away this particular Dalek’s intentions. The claw isn’t actually metal, it is made with a combination of pen ink cartridge, spare pieces of Warhammer Dark Elf figures and hot glue. The entire model has been spray-painted silver and then given darker washes of black and grey to add a layer of grime to the figure. The red Asylum stamp was added using tippex and red permanent marker, and the eyestalk and gunstick were both made out of pieces of pen ink cartridge painted silver and held together with hot glue. The ‘eye’ at the end of the eyestalk is in fact a ball-joint held on with hot glue. The inside was filled with hot glue and the end was painted blue to emulate the liquid Dalek eyestalks seen in Into the Dalek.
Having been fitted with an oversized claw for holding Dalek victims in place, this Dalek Splicer has relished its key role in many Splicer operations across the Asylum. Recently, however, this Dalek has gained a habit of executing its victims in increasingly gory and brutal ways, leading several of its peers to begin planning countermeasures in case this particular individual ever went rogue.
Custom Dalek Splicer Leader
This custom was designed to be a ‘King of the Splicers’ Dalek, and required some serious work to put together. The base is a Dalek Invasion of Earth base, and from this I constructed an inner frame using Warhammer pieces and hot glue. Once this had set, I added on the top half of the Dalek, and then used hot glue to fit the front panel and the skirt panels, all of which were salvaged from other Daleks. There are several pieces in here, from the shoulder section of a Genesis of the Daleks drone to the eyestalk and gunstick of a Paradigm Dalek. A closer inspection reveals many more individual aspects about this Dalek that I included, such as the sinister claw attachment or the chains holding the malformed casing together. The idea was to create a ‘Mad Max’ take on the Daleks, and I think this custom illustrates that idea quite well.
The undisputed ‘King’ of the Splicers, this Dalek started it all – one look at its monstrous casing will tell any onlooker that this Dalek is old, mean and quite insane. After centuries of scavenging parts to repair its casing, this Dalek has nothing of its external shell left, leading many to wonder what form of Dalek it was – and why it chose to build an empire of junk in the depths of the Asylum.
Next Post: Custom New Series Dalek Asylum Inmates – Part V
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