Welcome to the Asylum Project, a series of new blog posts designed to showcase custom Dalek Asylum inmates that I have created, including Classic Daleks in the Asylum. 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. These Daleks are all strongly linked to several classic Dalek stories, building on the Classic Daleks that we see in the TV story Asylum of the Daleks. Part V 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 damaged, insane or deranged.
Classic Series Dalek stories are all fun in their own way, and although I can definitely group them into tiers based on quality and my own personal opinion of them, there are no classic Dalek stories that I outright despise – even Destiny of the Daleks, my least favourite, has some strong redeeming qualities as a story. As such, I chose to make my Classic Series customs as diverse as possible, and I particularly focused on Classic Daleks that had not appeared in Asylum of the Daleks. However, the customs presented here in this post are all sourced from some of my all-time favourite Classic Series Dalek stories, and as such they are among my personal favourites of my Classic Series Asylum customs.
Custom Spiridon Survivor Dalek
This Dalek was created to resemble a damaged Dalek from Planet of the Daleks, though unlike many of my other customs based on this story, this Dalek lacks the characteristic ‘jungle’ decor that is present among other Spiridon customs as it is supposed to depict one of the Daleks that is trapped inside the bacteria room during the events of the episode. Spoilers, by the way, for an episode that aired in 1973. During Planet of the Daleks, the brave Spiridon native Weston sacrifices himself to prevent the Daleks from using a virus to destroy all life on the planet by releasing the bacteria into a single room that is then sealed forever with two Daleks trapped inside. This custom therefore only required a light wash of a few shades of grey Citadel paint. However, the striking look of this custom is due to a small detail of a layer of silver dry-brushing that I added over the top using a battered old brush.
After spending centuries trapped in an empty room with a rotting tank-full of bacteria, the skeleton of a Spiridon native and the remains of his former roommate, this Dalek had gone quite insane – by the time the Daleks finally returned to recover their frozen army, this Dalek was flung into the Asylum, in which it promptly found a small empty room to sit in.
Custom Weathered Vulcan Survivor Dalek
Although the original visuals are lost, the animated version of The Power of the Daleks that was released in 2013 have ensured that many fans can now enjoy this story in an accessible way that closely approximates the original viewing experience. This custom was created to resemble the animated Daleks specifically, as I found the contrast between the silver and blue in the colourised version of the animated episodes quite striking. This Dalek was originally an Emperor’s Guard Dalek, though I have repainted the dome, slats and hemispheres since then, and the entire figure has been given a black wash to add to the battered look. This Dalek also features a bright red Asylum stamp on the dome, which I added using red permanent marker.
Following the destruction of the Human colony on Vulcan, the few Dalek survivors called for help, only to be condemned to the Asylum. Mutants from critically damaged Vulcan-built casings were moved to newer casings and send to intensive care, whilst this drone was simply left to languish in the facility’s atrium.
Custom Time War Special Weapons Dalek
This Dalek is of course based on the Special Weapons Dalek seen in the 1988 story Remembrance of the Daleks, albeit with a Time War twist. This Dalek was originally a Remembrance Special Weapons Dalek that I have since painted with several coats of bronze paint with various shades to distinguish between the different sections. The cannon itself is slightly damaged, to give the impression that the Special Weapons Dalek has been firing its weapon a lot. The base came from a Davros figure, and it fit perfectly due to the newer sculpt of New Series Daleks matching that of Classic Series Daleks. This figure was very fun to make, and although it is not the only custom Special Weapons Dalek in my collection, it is by far one of the best additions to my Asylum collection.
A last-ditch effort to gain the upper hand in the Time War involved the resurrection of Davros’ long-dead Special Weapons Dalek project, which led to the creation of several of these in the Time War design. This particular specimen was sent to the Asylum after extended combat led to radiation leakage from its primary cannon sending the mutant insane.
Sacred Icon 