The Definitive Dalek Building Resource

20 February 2019

• Callahan's EVA Foam Dalek
  Hello All, My name's Callahan; I'm a Whovian college student here in the states, specifically chilly Ohio! A goal of mine is to have a finished NSD by the time I've graduated school. I've actually been working on it for the last two years (I even had a build diary here), but as of late, I've decided to completely change my approach to building my Dalek, so that's gone and this diary will log my new endeavors! The three goals of my Dalek are: A lightweight design (where the heaviest thing is, by far, yours truly). A modular structure, so that the seat assembly, fender, and skirt can all be broken down into pieces. These pieces will have to fit into my Kia Soul, which is not the biggest car in the world. The optimal propulsion system, or the best way for me to move around with just my arms or legs. I am really looking forward to designing a seat assembly that's as small as possible, but still functional and comfortable enough to endure. My current plans for propulsion are bike wheels in a wheelchair configuration, i.e. one on either side of the seat, but I have some doubts as to how long I'll last on a Con floor pushing myself around. As for the aesthetics (and the name of the diary), I will be making all of the Dalek externals out of EVA foam. For those who do not know, EVA foam is the material of choice for cosplayers around the world, because of its easy availability in stores and its low cost. It can be cut, Dremeled, warped and curved, and it remains light and flexible! As far as I know, there aren't hardly any examples of Daleks being built out of this stuff, so I'll be figuring it out along the way. Cheers! - Callahan
• Paladin424's NSD - Dc Dalek
  Well, after finding this site and procrastinating and waiting for financials to balance, I have finally started gathering supplies to begin construction. Been trying to convince myself I can do this. Started ordering some materials. They should start arriving today. My daughter is going to help with the documentation. It is going to take a bit of time to gather some of the stuff. This post is to make me get going. Wish me luck!
• David Morris' Dalek
  Hi I am new to doing a diary so hope its ok I have got a 60's dalek as seen in these photos I have repainted it white and gold I have started on motorizing my dalek so have cut my wood so it fits inside my base I have also got a wheelchair to mount in the base and also have made cut-outs where the wheels will go only thing is i will be taking the front 2 wheels off the wheelchair and mounting 2 good quality caster wheels to the base ( well that’s the plan) only problem i have is i cant find an easy way to mount the wheelchair to the base wood as i am no good at all in welding and don't have the equipment. I have checked out on here on online for how to mount a wheelchair but i am confused any help most appreciated i have also made the wheelchair Radio Controlled the wheelchair model is once i get more building done i will update on here
• Richard's NSD
  After doing a bit reading I decided to jump right in and start. Later on I'm going to make a fiberglass dome, but right now I thought I'd try something a bit different. The plans show that the dome's radius is 274 mm. That gives a diameter of 548 mm, or 54.8 cm. After a trip to the store I found this exercise ball. It's diameter is 55 cm. So I'm using it as a form to try an make a paper mache dome. And for the bottom part I've made a form and am going to make a cardboard ring. Hopefully this will turn out according to my ideas. Wish me luck!
• Tim's Resolution Dalek
  I'm just imagining all the hair pulling regarding this 'steampunk' dalek. I have been looking at the base, and it seems that there may be a descrepency with plan and finished dalek. My reasoning for this is in the plan image in previous post/photo of finished dalek. The lower half of bumper or fender seems to show 2 different profiles square and angled, where the photos/screen shots show only square. The other thing is the height of bumper. It looks to be 140mm. This is in 2 of the plan photos in the nice little video. 1 is hand drawn image, the other is written on the bumper.
• Genesis To Dead Planet Refurb
  Hello everyone I've been logging on to the forum on and off for years for bits of advice etc but I thought it was time to give back to the community and post a bit about my build, which is actually a refurb I got hold of my Dalek over ten years ago from someone who had made it themselves. Unfortunately when I got hold of it I was able to see the shortcuts they had made and the various areas that were shoddily, nay bizarrely done. At the time i was just happy to have a full sized Dalek and I sort of reasoned in the back of my mind that when I had the time I'd eventually spruce it up and sort out various bits that niggled me. I've managed to attach a photo of the Dalek as he was before I started to work on him here - if anyone could clue me into which tinypic option I can use to embed further photos into the body of my posts, that'll make this a lot tidier!
• Dalek 'Triple Sec'
  As requested, here you go. Dalek 'Triple Sec'. First movie drink cabinet. RE-HYDRATE! This build diary will be starting at the base and working my way up to the dome. That's not the way I made it, so don't be surprised if you see other bits of completed Dalek in the pics. WARNING: I am a "make it up as you go" type of builder. So there are probably better solutions than the way I did things, but I was having fun solving problems as they turned up. Making this thing really improved my knowledge and skill level. The lack of right angles made a lot of things considerably harder. Everyone should make a Dalek to increase their confidence levels in woodworking. Being a drink cabinet it will be really heavy, so everything is beefed up a bit. BASE Firstly, I don't have a compass big enough so a nail in my ruler did the trick. Second pic: Shown upside down. 20mm mdf top with two more 20mm bits glued and nailed at the front curve to carve the bullnose out of. This is the moment you realise just how big Daleks are! Two braced solid pieces for the sides and some plywood at the front and back to nail the curved mdf to. Also some supports for the next pic. Third pic: Plywood nailed to the supports for a base. This was to make the whole base really rigid and to nail the curved front and back mdf to. Since this is a drink cabinet the base will be knocked around a fair bit. Fourth pic: Flipped over right way up. The curved mdf has been added to the front and back. You can see at the front I have drawn in the shape of the bullnose, using the ruler compass again and freehanding the transition to the sides. Fifth pic: Upside down again. Structure completed. Just needs wood filler and final sanding for paint. First and second Pics: Bullnose and edges rounded off. I spent an enjoyable afternoon with a rasp making the bullnose and then tidied it up and did the edges with a sanding block. Working slowly by eye to get the shape right. Sorry, I didn't take a shot before I primed it. Third pic: Lots of braced wheels. Once again, I was worried about how heavy it will get when all the bottles etc. are loaded. Fourth pic: It was originally painted in a really realistic gold but when I put the skirt on it, it didn't look authentic, so I painted it again. Fifth pic: Final gold colour before polishing. Have a great New Years one and all.
• Nic's Imperial Dalek
  Hi all, a whole year and a bit after I had originally began planning to build an Imperial, I have finally began the project! The initial plan last year was to have a person operate it from the inside, but it has changed and will now be remote control with plans to try and automate it in the future. I've convinced a good mate to help out in building it, but it didn't take much convincing. It took a few weeks to finally get together but today has seen the start and a good one at that. We've managed to complete the Bottom and Top boards of the skirt, now we need to cut the panels out, make the struts to go between the top and bottom boards and assemble it. Hopefully tomorrow will see that completed. Mistakes were made in the process of cutting the bottom panel (plans mis-interpreted) but we realised the mistakes of our ways and fixed them accordingly. Here is a photo of each as they sit for the night. I apologise for the poor quality but the night does not treat my friend's phone camera well. Have a wonderful night, and hopefully there will be a good update tomorrow. Regards, Nic
• Twin Gun Dalek
  After two NSD builds I thought I would have some fun and build a Dalek that's a bit more spacious and with more firepower. Bigger gun boxes are set into the chest section which is 75mm wider than spec, extra armour plates fitted to break up the shape. Cut down NSD bezels adorn the front and the armour slats are yet to befitted. A standard dome and neck rings should still fit OK but it will have a slight Sontaran look about it. The strip on the front of the skirt shows the extra width but the bumper is quite slim so the width for trundling is no different. Its made of ply and hardboard for the chest section which has lasted a number of years trundling and being strapped in vehicles for transport in my first builds. Painting the hardboard both sides makes it a lot stronger and its easy to bend. Cheap too!. Hoping to be trundling around April on with his older brother which was my first build in the South West. Will post more as things progress . Just need a cup holder for a medium Latte and a small shelf to store my Oggys pastie lunch on!!
• Joe's NSD
  Okay, here goes. This is going to be a LONG journey. But I have officially started. I have been telling a few people about my idea to construct a Dalek, and just a few days I contacted a mobility store and asked if they had any used power chairs, or other mobility devices that I could get for a cheap price, explaining what I was going to build. Well, I got a powered chair for free, see picture. Also, since it is Christmas, I was able to pick up 60 clear 4" Christmas ornaments (that are already split into hemispheres) for a great price. I am looking at building a voice modulator as I continue to read more documentation around this wonderful site.
• David Tindell's Dalek / Tank - Sherman
  Starting a new project to build a Dalek Tank hybrid based on WW2. It's for a military charity I do work for as a mascot. It will look very different from anything seen before!
• Renegade
  Moving on from the Imperial build, I had to make the matching Dalek: a Renegade. The plans were downloaded from Project Dalek Forum and @Aaron J Climas helped by sending me a .dxf file of the shoulder base. I reduced all the dimensions by the 6mm that the 3mm MDF will take up and cut it out on the laser cutter. 18 minutes later and I had the skeleton of the shoulders cut. A further 20 minutes and I had the gun box cut. Some Titebond III glued the parts together. The oval was cut out with some partial thickness cuts spaced every 3mm, to allow it to bend to fit to the front of the shoulders, once clad. I couldn't go any further with this build today, as I forgot to buy the 3mm MDF to clad the shoulders. 😕 (Worst .dxf file of a gun box *ever*, though it turned out within a mm or so of the correct dimensions and most will be inside the buck) The neck rings are supposed to be 13mm thick, so I drew out a .dxf file for all three neck rings and cut them out of 6mm MDF. Laminating them together with some Titebond III will give me a little extra thickness. I will cut a further circle for each of the neck rings that will allow the router bit to run around the edge and cut to the correct full depth. The skirt uses the Imperial skirt, so the mould for my Imperial build was bolted together, the seams waxed and everything given three coats of PVA release. Two coats of white tinted neutral gelcoat were painted on and two layers of 450 gsm fiberglass mat was added on using my usual paint roller. Four layers of 450 gsm fiberglass mat was added to the top and bottom of the skirt returns for strength. Demoulded and the PVA release washed off, the obvious faults were filled with builders bog, sanded to 80 grit and given two coats of spray putty to help show up the boo boos. The 95mm hemisphere moulds I made for the Imperial were cleaned, given a spray of PVA release, a coat of white gelcoat was painted in, and a single layer of 450 gsm fiberglass mat was coated with polyester resin. This will have to be repeated about a dozen times to make the 56 hemis, plus extras in case of damage, for all the hemis needed. That's it for this three day weekend. five days of work and I will be back at it, though I may be able to do a set of hemispheres a day before work.
• Dalek Stew - NSD
  Hello all, after about two years lurking around on the forum I've decided to begin construction on my first dalek. Due to time/space constraints at the moment I figured it would be a good idea to start with the smaller bits and pieces until I have the space to house a full dalek. I started with the plunger which I had 3d printed at a local library. I also have the eye which is currently being printed. I'll likely begin larger construction once the weather gets a bit more hospitable (ah, Chicago)