Friday, January 07, 2011

Scratch Building a 28mm Dalek

I'm following the new Doctor Who series, and a couple of months ago, I discovered the Doctor Who Miniatures Game (DWMG). That's what sparked this idea for my first ever sculpting project, a Dalek!



So following questions asked on the DWMG Yahoo! Group, here's a few tips about how I crafted my miniature Dalek.

First, I did some research on the Daleks to determine the proper dimensions and the relevant details.  Two sources that helped were the "2005 Series Dalek Plans" from project Dalek and the paper miniatures from The Crow's Nest, for scale comparison.

For sculpting, I used Epoxy putty (green stuff, GS for friends), 0.3mm plasticard, pins, paper clips, super glue, a set of cheap wax carving tools, some home made bamboo carving tools, a hobby knife, a pin-vise, a cheap calliper and drafting templates.



 I printed page 4 from the Dalek Plans and covered it with millimetres approximation of each main feature.


I also used the plan for the skirt panels to create a paper template that I then transferred to plasticard. Here you can see a larger paper test version and in the bottom, the 28mm scaled version. 


The resulting plasticard panels were then scored and folded like a paper model, and pressed onto the tapered lump of green stuff I started building on top a 25mm round slotted base.

Once that was cured, I added green stuff to build the neck section. Once cured, I shaped into a round lug with a blade and a file and using circle drafting templates as a gauge.

The neck rings and dome base were traced on plasticard using my old drafting templates and cut with a sharp blade Then I slid and glued them onto the neck section.  Ring support were later added with green stuff.


To achieve flat surfaces and sharp angles, I initially wanted to do many details like the slats and the gun box with plasticard, but it turned out easier to shape everything with green stuff.  Also, I did not know how I would do the hemispheres, but the easiest way was with epoxy again.  The only challenge was making them stick to the plasticard skirt.  I ended up drilling a hole with the pin-vise under each.  It gave them something to grab to.



The eye stalk and plunger were done with green stuff on pins.  The gun is epoxy on a paper clip; I used a paper clip for the gun because it had a square cross section to facilitate the addition of the "fins".

That's about it. I had fun doing this project and even tough I see a lot of more amazing stuff around on the web, but as my first ever miniature sculpt, it proved to me that I am able to create something an inch high that really looks like a Dalek.

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