Welcome to my showcase of custom Daleks created in homage to various Doctor Who audios created by Big Finish. There are a lot of Big Finish Dalek stories – too many to list, and far more than either the Classic Series or the New Series. As these appear in the audio format, it is up to the listener what these Daleks look like, and even when specific Daleks do appear, physical descriptions are often left brief so that they listener can conjure their own ideas of what the Daleks look like.
As such, I have created a swathe of custom Daleks designed to represent the Daleks we hear during some of the best Big Finish audios, showcased here in these blog posts.
Custom Underwater Dalek
Big Finish Audio – Jonah, from The Eighth Doctor: The Time War 2
I created this Dalek to resemble my interpretation of the ‘Underwater Daleks’ from Jonah, the brilliant finale to The Eighth Doctor: The Time War 2. I painted this custom using blue and grey Citadel paint that I blended together to give the effect. The eyestalk was also modified slightly, giving it a deeper shade of blue to the standard Dalek eyestalks. The metallic effect was achieved using silver Citadel paint applied with a dry-brush.
Custom Emperor’s Guard Dalek
Big Finish Audio – The Mutant Phase
Although the Emperor Dalek appears multiple times in Big Finish audios, there is never really much attention given to his guard – nonetheless, I have created this custom to resemble what a Grey Dalek Guard might look like, as we have seen black-domed 1960s Daleks and black-domed New Series Daleks, but never black-domed Grey Daleks. This custom looks very simple, although this figure was actually once a Gold Dalek Supreme from Day of the Daleks that I painted grey and black using Citadel paint.
Custom Heavy Weapons Dalek
Big Finish Audio – The Genocide Machine
Although only briefly appearing in The Genocide Machine, this variant of the Special Weapons Dalek appears to sound deeper in the audio than the regular one did in Remembrance of the Daleks, and it would obviously be donning the same colour scheme as the other Daleks of the era. Despite only making small impression in The Genocide Machine, this Special Weapons Dalek variant is still one of my favourite customs. I added the grille and slats from another Dalek to add more to the midsection, and the entire figure was painted using black and grey Citadel paints.
Custom Jubilee Dalek
Big Finish Audio – Jubilee
The Dalek seen on the cover of Jubilee doesn’t really do the audio justice, as it lacks many of the examples of damage that the characters allude to throughout the audio, such as corrosion, the missing weapon, and holes in the casing. I created this custom to better represent the Dalek we know and love from this audio, and I achieved this using bronze Citadel paint applied with a dry-brush to appear rusty, the removal of the weapon, and black pock-marks across the casing with black Citadel paint, that I also used to give the figure a black wash to add to the grimy effect.
Custom Pre-Time War Emperor Dalek
Big Finish Audio – The Mutant Phase
As previously mentioned, the Emperor Dalek appears in several Big Finish audios, but his debut in The Mutant Phase left me wondering whether it is meant to look like the same Emperor seen in The Parting of the Ways. Although the voice and general personality would indicate that this is the same Dalek, that does not necessarily mean that it has to inhabit the same casing. As such, I created this Emperor using a Genesis Ark that I painted grey – the insides were created using hot glue and various pieces of plastic, including the remains of an old torch that I disassembled. The mutant was created using the head of a Pig Slave from the 2007 story Daleks in Manhattan and Evolution of the Daleks. I built the mass of wires and tissue paper around the head and used hot glue and green paint to complete the effect. Finally, I attached four dome lights painted red to the top, and the eyestalk came from a Paradigm Dalek bath toy.
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