Tag: Destroyed Daleks

Welcome to the Asylum Project, a series of new blog posts showcasing galleries of 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. In fact, several of these Daleks are among the earliest additions to my collection, although they have been repainted many times since then.

As I strive to improve the customs in this collection, it is important to continually improve the customs, particularly when I learn new skills that enhance my creations. These customs are depicting destroyed Daleks, which are among the most creative examples of my work. As such, this is the greatest showcase of experimentation and improvement across my collection. Part VI 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.

Although many of the Daleks in this collection are said to have been destroyed by infighting, I try to steer away from using this explanation for all of my destroyed customs – after all, variety of the spice of life. As such, several of these Daleks have been destroyed by other factors, and this is reflected in the manner in which they are made.

Custom Destroyed Dalek SpecOps Soldier

This custom is based on the design seen in the fan-made remake of The Power of the Daleks, in that it is a New Series Daleks that sports a colour scheme that resembles the Classic late 1960s-era Daleks. The created this custom by sawing the top part off a New Series Dalek that I had spray-painted silver, and reattaching the top part at an angle using hot glue. The hemispheres were coloured in using light blue permanent marker, and the inside of the Dalek was filled with tissue paper and hot glue painted black to resemble burned-out interior workings.

This Dalek was critically damaged by human saboteurs on a secret mission, and as such was abandoned by its colleagues and eventually transported to the Asylum. Although its casing is in mostly working order, the mutant inside instead opts to use its gun to blast strange patterns into the walls that the mutant itself cannot see.

Custom Destroyed Claw Mutant Dalek

I am particularly proud of this custom, which I created using a damaged New Series Dalek figure – with the head removed and the entire figure painted grey, the hardest part was adding the gooey mutant inside – I created this using a combination of hot glue, plastic parts and wires, and the claw was created using two blades from a Warhammer set. The mutant’s eye and mouth come from a Series 3 Carrionite figure, the head of which is buried deep within the mutant itself. The insides of the custom were painted with a glossy green Humbrol paint and the hemispheres were painted a darker grey to stand out.

After the top half of this Dalek was wrenched off by a huge beast, the remains were teleported to the Asylum when it became clear that the Dalek inside had been driven aggressively insane by the ordeal. As such, it now sits in the Asylum, screaming and thrashing at anyone who dares come near.

Custom Destroyed Dalek Scientist

This custom, although using the New Series design, is painted to resemble the Dalek Saucer Commander seen in the movie Daleks – Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D starring Peter Cushing. Although I have never been a fan of the movie Daleks, this colour scheme in particular stood out to me as a unique design, and I am disappointed that, although the prop was on set and ready to use, the production team of the Series 9 opening two-parter The Magician’s Apprentice and The Witch’s Familiar didn’t canonise this design by including it in the episode. Nonetheless, this custom was created using a standard Time War Dalek painted red and silver, with damage done to the eyestalk housing and the skirt section. The front panel was cut in half, with one half hanging ajar. The green tentacles are made using wires painted green. Green paint was also used on the damaged sections of the eyestalk and sections of the skirt.

A distinctive and high-ranking member of the Dalek Scientific Division, this Commander was condemned to the Asylum after his Saucer crashed into a major Dalek docking station, killing thousands of Daleks yet leaving this specimen miraculously unscathed.

Custom Ancient Headless Dalek

I created this custom to resemble a Dalek that had been sat in the Asylum for millennia having been killed early in the history of the Asylum. As such, I used several shades of silver and bronze Citadel paint for this custom, as it not only sports a complete silver repaint but also several coats of bronze dry-brushing to give it a weathered, battered effect with a few hints of rust. The head of this Dalek was cut off using a hacksaw, and the insides were filled with tissue paper and hot glue before being painted black.

Although ancient, the Asylum is still perfectly capable of subduing unruly inmates – this destroyed casing was one of the first Daleks that was ever destroyed inside the Asylum, and it was not due to infighting – it was instead as a result of this Dalek trying to escape. It was beheaded by the Asylum’s internal laser systems.

Custom Destroyed Mutant Reveal Dalek

The Mutant Reveal Dalek, although uncommon, is not a rare Dalek – in fact, it is common to encounter this Dalek in bundles, particularly if its appendages have been removed, as it is often overlooked by those who are not in-the-know about the specific features of each Dalek. I created this custom using a damaged mutant reveal Dalek that I received, that was missing the front panel as well as all of the appendages. I removed the top half using a hacksaw, and gave the figure a black wash with Citadel paint. The mutant was painted using green and purple Humbrol, giving it a glossy finish that makes it look gooey and slimey.

Still alive despite the critical damage to its casing, this Dalek sits in one of the Asylum’s auxiliary control rooms and spies on its fellow inmates through the security system. To what end, no-one knows – so far, it has done nothing with the information it has received except giggle.

Welcome to the Asylum Project, a series of new blog posts showcasing my collection of custom Dalek Asylum inmates, as seen in the Series 7 Doctor Who episode Asylum of the Daleks. Despite the huge array of New Series Dalek designs, very few were included in the Asylum in the actual episode. This is somewhat understandable, as not all of the props were available and the BBC could only field so many Daleks at once considering many of the interesting colour schemes in the past have since been painted over. The figures in this collection provide the opportunity for customs that explore a wide range of ideas with the New Series 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.

Part IV 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. Some of these customs are based on Daleks seen in Asylum of the Daleks on-screen, and others are created by me using my own designs. However, one thing that links all of these Daleks is that they were all created with the concept of Daleks destroyed in explosions as a central concept for the customs. Creating these figures are always fun, particularly since there is usually no wrong way to do it – any form of damage can be explained in-universe, particularly since the show itself often uses very simple yet effective practical techniques to depict destroyed Daleks on-screen. As such, these figures can be considered a tribute to the practical effects of both the original and modern series.

Custom Self-Destructed Dalek

This Dalek was customised to resemble the remains of the Dalek that attempts to self-destruct in order to kill the Doctor during the events of the episode Asylum of the Daleks. Although this method of self-destructing does not match the process seen in the Series 1 episode Dalek, it makes sense that an insane and damaged inmate of the Asylum would attempt a more primitive method of destruction. As such, we see the Dalek blow up in a huge explosion, large enough to take out several other Daleks at the same time, and all that remains is the smouldering base. As such, this Dalek was created by using a hacksaw to cut to the top off of a New Series Dalek, and the inside was filled with paper-mâché that was then painted black. The entire figure (or what was left of it) was then given a black wash to complete the damaged effect.

After encountering the Predator of the Daleks and self-destructing, this Dalek, which had previously sat in the Asylum for centuries, blasted itself to pieces alongside several other of its inmates, thanks to the meddling of the Doctor. The remains of its casing sat as a grim reminder of the power of the Predator of the Daleks.

Custom Asylum Infighting Casualty Dalek

This custom was created to depict a Dalek that was hit by a glancing shot by another Dalek that took the top clean off, destroying the Dalek in a huge explosion. This Dalek was originally a simple remote controlled Dalek, hence the more solid gunstick and plunger attachments, though the insides have long since been hollowed out and replaced with paper-mâché, that was then painted black like the last custom. Unlike the last custom, the figure has been spray-painted and then later dry-brushed with bronze paint, giving the impression of an old, weathered appearance.

After taking part in a firefight between Imperial and Renegade Daleks, this unfortunate drone was destroyed by a high-powered blaster bolt, the top half of its casing erupting in a huge explosion. The remains of this Dalek mark a furious hotspot of Imperial-Renegade firefights.

Custom Ancient Dalek Asylum Inmate

This custom represents a New Series Dalek that was abandoned for centuries in the Asylum, long after losing its appendages – the damage to its casing was so extreme that it simply died, and the casing was left to rot. This Dalek was burned and scratched when I received it, but I later gave it a complete coat of silver spray-paint and then a dry-brushing with bronze Citadel paint. Despite the bright, shiny silver paint used for the initial spray-paint coat, the figure itself has been dulled with various coats of grey and brown to add to the aged appearance.

Some Daleks in the Asylum have been dead for centuries, but due to the lack of effective damage control the remains of these Daleks persist in the Asylum for millenia. This specimen is a perfect example, as despite having its appendages blasted off by an explosion years ago, it still sits in the Asylum to this day.

Custom Dalek with Dead Mutant

The top of this figure was cut off diagonally with a hacksaw, which was the first modification made to the custom followed by a spray-painting – the original coat was black, and the figure was then given a bronze dry-brush coat to give it a worn effect. The inners were made using tissue paper and hot glue that was later painted green, and the base was given an orange sandy effect to give the impression that this Dalek was taken from a planet with great, red dust deserts. The entire figure was given a black wash, and several pieces of the upper part of the casing were re-attached with hot glue to give the impression that this Dalek was blasted to pieces.

Despite usually being capable of vaporising multiple Daleks in one shot, this grisly relic shows just how low on power the inmates of the Asylum really are – this Dalek took a shot from a Special Weapons Dalek at close range, but despite the under-powered state of the cannon, the single shot was still capable of shearing this Dalek’s head clean off with a huge explosion.

Custom Dalek Scientist Mutant

Although it was apparently stated otherwise, and then later depicted in the Big Finish Dalek two-packs in B&M, the Dalek Scientist was always thought to have cyan spheres and detailing, due to the fact that this is how it appears on the cover of the War Doctor audio A Thing of Guile, and although the Dalek Scientist is apparently silver, the cyan look still suits New Series Daleks. As such, this custom was designed to resemble this form of Dalek. The top of the figure was cut off with a hacksaw, and the front parts were cut apart using a combination of a hacksaw and a wire cutter. The mutant inside was created using pieces of plastic and hot glue, that was later painted over with light grey Citadel paint and then given a coat of green and pink permanent marker. The base of the figure was painted silver, and the spheres were later given a cyan coat. The entire figure was then given a black and grey wash to add a grimy effect. Slight bronze paint was added to certain elements of the casing in order to simulate a rusty effect.

Initially posted to the Asylum for research purposes, this Dalek Scientist was eventually condemned to the Asylum itself – even by Dalek standards, the experiments it was conducting became unethical, hinting at the terrifying barbarity of its actions. As such, upon being admitted to the Asylum, this Dalek Scientist was immediately set upon by what was left of its former test subjects, and their combined firepower destroyed its casing in a massive explosion – however, the mutant itself was able to survive – just.

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

Welcome to the Asylum Project, a series showcasing the updated version of my Dalek Asylum custom figure 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.

Part II of the Destroyed New Series Dalek Asylum Inmates series will cover Time War Daleks in my collection that have been modified to resemble the twisted, malformed remains of destroyed inmates in the Dalek Asylum. Dalek mutants are fun to make, but if they’re used too often then they lose their impact. If every destroyed Dalek had an intricate mutant inside, the mutant wouldn’t be special anymore. However, it’s also important to find the middle ground between too many mutants and too few, as it would make sense in the lore of the Dalek Asylum that Dalek mutants would be a common sight. As such, Dalek mutant feature somewhat prominently in this showcase.

Another prominent theme in this showcase is Daleks destroyed by infighting in the Asylum. This will come up often in the ‘lore’ sections of these Dalek custom figure showcases, but in reality the backstories of these Daleks are completely made up by me. Some of them are created to resemble Daleks that are seen in the Asylum in Asylum of the Daleks, but at this point I have more Daleks in my collection than are seen on-screen in that episode. Nonetheless, an explanation has to be given for the number of destroyed Daleks in the Asylum, and Dalek infighting seems to be a logical reason. After all, not only is the Asylum supposed to be populated with insane Daleks, but the Daleks inside are sourced from all points throughout Dalek history, and we know from previous Doctor Who TV episodes and Big Finish audios that Daleks are not always a cohesive Empire. Infighting is a common occurrence between particular Dalek sub-factions.

As such, infighting within the Asylum is a prominent theme across the customs collection. Many of the destroyed Daleks are of the Time War variety, the most common type of Dalek in the Asylum, and likely the most insane due to the horrific nature of the Time War itself. Some of these Daleks, although destroyed, house mutants that are seemingly very much alive, and plotting revenge…

Destroyed Dalek with Mutant

The first custom showcases a Dalek mutant that I created using computer wires, paper, wood glue, hot glue, plastic parts and cardboard. The eye is a dried dot of glue painted over, and the brain was created using wood glue and paper squashed together and traced with lines. The entire mutant was painted green apart from the brain, which is painted purple, and the eye which has silver, blue and green paint. The top of the casing itself was cut off using a hacksack, and the top half of the casing was further cut up and glued back onto the bottom half to form the base in which the mutant sits. The broken eyestalk was created using a piece of a pen held in place with hot glue, and the entire casing was painted bronze and then given a black wash to give it a grimy finish.

A victim of a vicious firefight within the Asylum, this Dalek mutant is determined to survive despite the critical damage done to its casing. Manoeuvring the damaged pieces into protective armour, the mutant emerges from the shell, determined to claim another Dalek casing for its own.

Headless Destroyed Time War Dalek

This custom is a prime example of the ‘basic’ Asylum customs that are numerous in the collection, as although it would be fun for each and every Dalek to feature elaborate alterations or additions, one has to consider the collection when it is viewed as a whole. In the TV story Asylum of the Daleks, many of the Daleks seen feature only minor alterations, and the few that are seen destroyed have very simple damage effects applied to them, usually taking advantage of the modular construction of the Dalek props as has been customary during production of Doctor Who for many years. As such, the destroyed Daleks seen are often missing anything from the head to the entire top section, and this Dalek was created to exemplify this. The insides were created using cardboard, plastic and hot glue, then painted with black Citadel paint. The entire model was then given a black wash, particularly around the top and the spheres on the skirt.

Some Daleks in the Asylum are unfortunate enough to be a victim of ‘friendly fire’ – this Dalek was part of a band of more lucid Dalek inmates who were attempting to find a way out of the facility before they encountered a group of insane Dalek scavengers. In the resulting firefight, this Dalek was accidentally hit by blaster fire from its allies, and the dome of its casing was blasted apart. The mutant inside later died, and this casing stands waiting for an opportunistic Dalek mutant to claim it.

Blasted Time War Dalek

Not all destroyed Dalek customs have to involve significant damage to the casing, after all if every destroyed Dalek figure was similar then there would be nothing exciting about the more interesting ones. This kind of destroyed Dalek custom is very easy to make, all that was done to this Dalek (which was already missing the eyestalk and gunstick when I received it) was a few cuts into the casing with a hacksaw and a black wash with watered-down Citadel paint. Strangely enough, though included in the concept art, there are few Daleks seen in the Asylum with their eyestalks missing, and the few that are tend to be Paradigm Daleks, of all things. However, given the nature of the Time War and the fact that the eyestalk is a known weakness of the Daleks, it seems strange that there are not more eye-less Daleks in the Asylum.

Having been blinded in a battle during the Time War, this Dalek was admitted to the Asylum for its battle-scarred state – the mutant inside had lost the ability to control its casing, blind or not. Regardless, this Dalek now spins and crashes around indiscriminately, screaming perpetually as it lives out its days in the Asylum.

Ambushed Time War Dalek

This custom was originally supposed to be a destroyed Dalek Thay figure, but damage to the back part of the model as well as a more suitable candidate becoming available meant that this custom was condemned to the Asylum. The bronze finish was created by spray-painting the figure black and then using a dry brush and a light application of bronze Citadel paint to complete the look. The top half of the Dalek was torn off using a hacksaw, and the gooey flesh inside was created using tissue, wood glue and green paint. The entire model was then given a black wash and light applications of grey paint to finish it off.

Ambushed by an opposing faction of scavengers and left to rot, this Time War-era Dalek casing stands as a grisly warning to any who dare entire the territory of the Dalek Splicers, a nasty faction who steal the parts from other Daleks to sustain themselves. This unfortunate victim lost several panels as well as the entire upper half of its casing in seconds.

Damaged Mutant Reveal Dalek

The final Dalek in this instalment is one that I am particularly proud of, a damaged Dalek casing that reveals the mutant festering within. This custom came together quite by accident, as after the top half was cut off using a hacksaw and several of the spheres removed, the damaged insides were originally planned to be painted black like some of the other customs in the collection, thus simulating an ashen remains effect. However, the shape of the plastic, tissue and glue insides that I put together, when dry, resembled a claw attached to a tiny creature. As there is precedent for Dalek mutants possessing claws, as seen in Remembrance of the Daleks, it was as if this custom was meant to be. The mutant was painted Citadel paints and Sharpee pens for an added gloss effect, and the entire figure was given several coats of black wash.

Not all the damaged Daleks in the Asylum are inert – several contain very much living specimens of pure Dalek hatred. These mutants will stop at nothing to hijack a new casing and continue their killing sprees. However, this mutant appears to be different. Either due to insanity or as a result of some maniacal plan, this mutant spends its days sat in the ruins of its barely-mobile casing, using a mutated, malformed claw to create indecipherable scratch markings on whatever surface it comes across. As it moves throughout the Asylum, other Daleks seem to avoid it – as if they are terrified of it.

Next Post: Custom Destroyed New Series Dalek Asylum Inmates – Part III