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Dalek Clarkson - Richard's New Series Dalek

Started by superrichi1a, Sep 18, 2010, 11:21 am

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rasilon1

I would not get to hung up on perfection as I would think that the cult of Skaro is very old and that there would have been many life changes modifications and improvements, I do plan on building a Sec later on this year, but for now your ding an excellent job.

rocket

It looks pretty good so far.
Farewell Sarah Jane, you will be missed.

superrichi1a

Thanks guys, although I must point out it isn't all me on this, I've got some really great friends helping me!
The neck rings will hopefully be done soon, and my full set of hemis arrived a few months ago (something I forgot to report on, thanks Rassilon1 for the link :) ).
I'm not completely sure what I'll be using for oil-seals yet. Rassilon1 recommended what appears to be a really good way to do them, but seeing as I lack some of the tools he has, and probably much of the skill, I'm looking for other ways first. I do have a plan involving a set of 100mm tin-covers, and 10mm electrical wire, but that's sort of planned as a last resort.

Big news for today, I've started to work on the slats! The first one came out of the mould today and looked brilliant, I'll paint it in a rough coat of black later to see how the finished thing will look, and hopefully get some pictures up tomorrow :)
Isn't it how ironic that we have to think of solutions out of the box, in order to build our boxes a lot of the time?

rasilon1

That's ok anything I can do just ask.  :)

superrichi1a

Small mini-update, I'll post a bigger one later with some pictures of other parts of the build,
but,
Very quickly, in the interest of having a more complete build diary, the skirt was finished today, but I haven't done all the sanding yet as I am looking for a way to split it.
I had been becoming lax on the build front, but I can't let this post go by without giving a mention to Timelash's You Tube series "The Dalek That Time Forgot" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MF4W-q768Q). I first saw this last month, and it really inspired me to get a move on.
Isn't it how ironic that we have to think of solutions out of the box, in order to build our boxes a lot of the time?

superrichi1a

Oct 16, 2011, 12:25 pm #20 Last Edit: Oct 16, 2011, 12:43 pm by superrichi1a
You know when life gets so busy and hectic you just can't find time to do what really matters - updating build diarys? That's what the last few months have been like for me. What with work, builders, work, birthdays (thanks Dino for the mention ;)), work, builders and work all taking up my time, a pretty huge backlog of Dalek-related stuff has built up, probably about time I tried to sift through it!

Biggest development - neck rings!

2.1.jpg

It's been a hassle sorting these out, but with the help of a friend they're finally ready (and to a standard I never thought possible with MDF!).

2.2.jpg

They were designed by the friend when he built his first Dalek, and truly are ingenious! He's got rid of the "bin"design altogether, which has simplified construction and assembly no end, and the dome rotation pivot is so much easier, smoother, and quicker and cheaper to build than what I had seen others doing - it pays to have experienced friends!

Of course, with the neck rings, the neck blocks have also been finished:

neck block.jpg

Cast in resin, took a while but nice good result!

pivot.jpg

There's also the pivot, cast in resin again, with much help! T'm trying to decide how best to colour it - in the pic I had tried simply colouring one in with permanent marker, hoping it would give it that rubber appearance you get on screen. It's Kinda worked (see what I did there, eh? ::)), but is perhaps a little too glossy, so I may simply try a gloss black paint.

And, finally, the ears! (Do Dalek's have ears? I was never sure what to call them. Light Cages? Lenses? Horns?? Nah... I'll stick with ears...)

ears1.jpg

I can't take credit for the MoFlash lenses, they were custom sculpted by the friend, and are really, really nice. So much easier than getting the real things, and so much cheaper too (even if I do live 10 mins from the factory where they still churn out this design specially for Dalek Builders!)

ears 2.jpg

I am really fond of the ears, I think they look superb. One day I'll have to invest in getting some cages machined out of aluminium, but, until then, these resin ones more than fit the brief!

Other small things to report on are the eye-disks, currently in production, although they are very, very tedious and time-consuming, and as a result are going really slowly. Also the stalk itself, I have got the piping and inner tubing I need for it, it's now just a 5 minute job of cutting it all to size and building it up like an outer-sapce kebab when I get the disks finished.
Hopefully I'll be able to get some pictures of Clarkson's hind-quarters up by the end of the week (Dalek Clarkson, that is, not.... *shudder*).

I'm really hoping to have him finished by Halloween, I'd love trundling up and down the streets scaring any ghosts or zombies that I meet, but the builders when are doing the garage are really making my life diffficult. They are now 6 weeks past the original deadline, and only turn up when it suits them ie: once or twice a week. I'd considered firing them but it's so close to completion now there'd be no point. Until it's done Dalek Clarkson doesn't have any where to live. Perhaps I'll keep him under a tarpaulin, or even in the TARDIS. I dunno...
Isn't it how ironic that we have to think of solutions out of the box, in order to build our boxes a lot of the time?

superrichi1a

Hi,People.
I appear to have commited the cardinal sin of the board lol - lazyness in the face of posting updates! Before you start throwing tomatoes and hanging me for a witch, I do have the excuse that my laptop crashed, and I have been just catching glimpses of this board through my phone. Still, 3 months before I could be bothered to get my laptop fixed is still very lazy ::). Anyways, I have a load of stuff to catch up one, and a lot of emails and PMs to see to now that I'm back (sorry about that).

I wanted to start off with the Dalek because the most has happened to Clarkson since the last post. In a nutshell:

Dalek.jpg

This picture is a coulple of weeks old, but it gives a clearer picture of how the Dalek is in his current state. Since then, the base has been half-completed, the skirt is nearly all permanently cladded, the plunger arm is done, and painting in Dalek Sec's black livery has begun on the shoulder section, hemis and neck rings.
I hope to have a more detailed update round-up soon, but, in the meantime, main production of the Dalek has switched to my parents's house, and to my nephew, Ron, who I know is going to get a new build thread up on PD soon. Will be answering my backlog of e-mails shortly  :)
Isn't it how ironic that we have to think of solutions out of the box, in order to build our boxes a lot of the time?

superrichi1a

May 27, 2012, 08:47 pm #22 Last Edit: May 28, 2012, 08:58 am by superrichi1a
Right, here is a more accurate picture of where (parts of) the Dalek currently are in terms of completion:

2.JPG

The skirt is fully clad, with counter-sunk cross headed screws holding the panels in place. I tried No More Nails glue, which didn't work AT ALL! And I also considered fibreglassing, but considering this is now being built primarily in my parents' back garden, and also primarily by my 17 year old nephew, it quickly became apparent that was not the way to go. Honestly, I'm not sure why more builders don't use countersunk. A bit of filler and they disappear, and with hot glue, no more nails and fibreglass tape re-enforcing the join from the inside - no wonder the Daleks came out of the Time War on top!

1.JPG

Would sir care to sit in the Dalek and laugh like an evil genius?



3.JPG

Finally, the shoulder section is the next thing on the list. This'll be done primarily by Ron, who is taking care of all the sanding, filling, drilling, measuring and priming this week, then I'll be back at the weekend to work on the slats some more. Speaking of the slats, does anyone have an idea how best to attach them? By that I mean, seeing as this will be an all-black Sec, is it best to attatch them, fill in the gaps, and spray as one big unit, or is it just best to attatch them, not perfectly fitting, as they are? Or some variation inbetween? I do have some ideas of how I could tackle this, and PD is probably a better place to ask (but seeing as I don't actually have a build diary over there yet).

Anyways, after that it's just the fender to go, then it's final touches and assembly!
Isn't it how ironic that we have to think of solutions out of the box, in order to build our boxes a lot of the time?

superrichi1a

Sep 01, 2012, 04:13 pm #23 Last Edit: Sep 01, 2012, 04:17 pm by superrichi1a
Quick update - although he isn't technically finished, there is still a long list of tweaks to be made, he's a (looks finished) picture of Clarkson as he settles down to watch himself on the tellybox tonight!

IMG_0720.JPG

Thanks to Atomicgraph and his brillaint Dalek for serving as the inspiration of this build!
Isn't it how ironic that we have to think of solutions out of the box, in order to build our boxes a lot of the time?

atomicgraph

great looking dalek you have there!!!! theres always a lot of tweaks to do like any other "art" project "its never finished just simply abandoned". what an honor to have inspired such an amazing build. a dalek is loads of fun i'm sure you'll enjoy it.

superrichi1a

Thanks, that means a lot coming from the builder of the Dalek I sat drooling over for hours before starting my build!!
In all honesty though I think I was underplaying it a bit when I said "tweaks" - he is getting a new gun, his swivel joints need fixing in place (they are just placed in for the pic, dome rotation needs sorting out, and then after all of that pretty much all the electrics need doing!

One thing I would say for Dalek building though is that I don't really feel any builder's remorse for the first time in my life! There are gaping innaccuracies and problems with my Dalek (I can't aim my gun at the ground for one), but I just don't care, I have enjoyed the build so much and am so proud off the finished thing I just want to get building again!! I'd love to do a Genesis Dalek, but I think a gold NSD would be lovely too... estimated completion time: 3 years. 2.5 years begging my girlfriend to let me do another, a futher half year going OSD on the build!! :D
Isn't it how ironic that we have to think of solutions out of the box, in order to build our boxes a lot of the time?

tony farrell

An excellent looking Dalek there... How about a few more photograph?
Regards
Tony

superrichi1a

Sep 03, 2012, 01:38 pm #27 Last Edit: Sep 03, 2012, 01:40 pm by superrichi1a
Thanks Tony!
Never one to miss an opportunity to show off, here are some more pics (excuse the phone-quality)! With eye light on:

IMG_0727.JPG

And this one I like. This is a head on shot in the dark with the eye running at 3/4 of the normal operating voltage. This is what a Dalek victim sees just before death! ;)

IMG_0728.JPG

I should start a proper gallery soon - but only when he's properly finished. Still those pesky "tweaks" need to be done lol!
Isn't it how ironic that we have to think of solutions out of the box, in order to build our boxes a lot of the time?

atomicgraph

thats really a great dalek. as far as your gun not being able to point at the ground i believe thats just because of the gun design the collars at the rear of it, give the swivel less travel area. if its on the ground its dead already right;)

deck5

Quote from: superrichi1a on Sep 01, 2012, 08:58 pm
There are gaping innaccuracies and problems with my Dalek (I can't aim my gun at the ground for one)


Your Dalek should count himself fortunate; after a certain age, many suffer from ED (Extermination Dysfunction), and can't point their gun anywhere but the ground.  ;)