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Fhaolan β€” Unique Classic Daleks

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Published: 2017-01-23 07:31:09 +0000 UTC; Views: 983; Favourites: 27; Downloads: 14
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Description Taking the opportunity to present a collection of unique Dalek props from early in the Doctor Who show history. Unlike the previous models, these are individuals and not representative of a 'class' of prop. These were a bit tricker as for most of them there aren't any plans online that accurately represent the prop, so there was some guessing and measuring of photographs to get this to work.

Starting on the left is the Wilkie Dalek, named after the prop master who rescued it from the tip. The stories and documentation for this particular prop are contradictory to the point of confusion. All that we can take for truth is that the skirt and shoulders were narrower by a signficant amount than the 'normal' props, with a back panel that only one column of hemispheres would fit rather than the normal two. Was it a repair job on a badly damaged FX prop? Was it done to go through narrow doors on location? Was it a prototype for Shawcraft selling Daleks to rich collectors? All of the above?

Next is the Emperor Dalek from the Evil of the Daleks. Unfortunately this was one of the serials that got wiped not long after broadcast, but there are a number of set photos and special effect footage around to go off of. There were plans online for it, but those plans had a lot of extra details that the set photos didn't seem to have, so I tried to strip it down a bit to be closer to what I think the actual prop was like.

And then the Tussauds Dalek, named after the waxworks museum it spent a lot of time in. For some reason this one had a skirt that was made much longer than normal, with the back sloping as much if not more than the front and somewhat larger hemispheres. Here it's painted up the way it was for Ressurection of the Daleks as a Supreme Dalek.

And last another Supreme Dalek from the Planet of the Daleks. This one was a movie Dalek prop they borrowed from Terry Nation, the writer who created the Daleks in the first place, and rebuilt with some rather... odd design decisions. I really don't get the jam jars instead of the regular dome lights, or the at the time commonly available torch (flashlight) replacing the eye. Doctor Who's budget was abysmally low at times, but there might have been more in the kitty if they stopped giving their expensive props away at a drop of a hat. (Dalek props were not cheap but the BBC seemed to treat them as if they were; leading to them needing to regularly rent the props from the people they had given them away to prior. And they had a tendency to modify them before giving them back, or even returning *different* props from the ones they had borrowed.)

As before, done in Blender. Well, except for the background which is the standard starfield I built oh-so-long ago in GIMP. I keep forgetting to mention that.
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Comments: 5

Zackman92 [2019-06-24 23:12:00 +0000 UTC]

I don't remember the Resurrection Supreme Dalek having an odd looking skirt πŸ€”πŸ€”πŸ€”

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Fhaolan In reply to Zackman92 [2019-06-24 23:28:31 +0000 UTC]

Yup. Β  www.dalek6388.co.uk/resurrecti…

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Zackman92 In reply to Fhaolan [2019-06-25 00:44:16 +0000 UTC]

Huh, weird... but i can get over it.

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Roytrommely261 [2018-04-03 13:25:55 +0000 UTC]

The one with the single row of bumps at the back was different because the top sections had been built before, but the bottom was completely broken. The BBC stretched the budget to a not-very-good skirt that was rushed out quickly. Apparently, when the light was right in-studio, the operators' legs could be seen because the fibreglass used was so thin! For any information on any dalek props, google DALEK 6388 and click on the first result. I would copy a link but I'm not very good with technology and couldn't work out how!

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CaptainSpyro [2017-01-25 13:36:29 +0000 UTC]

Loving these models. As usual; well dome.

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