Attitude Adjustor the Dalek - Is Now Finished

[Procopius]

Okay, I have read through this whole thread, fascinated with the build, but not understanding some of the references. I believe I will be forced to watch some Dr. Who just to figure out what is going on in this thread. Now, having just checked out Dr. Who I find it has been on forever. Is there a particular time in this series that would help or do I need to do several months of marathon couch potatoing to get the gist? I think this is such a great thread. Until . . ., the steak. Son, I come from Texas. I even have horses and cattle at the homestead. I almost died when I saw a perfectly good section of sirloin steak defiled with some sort of unnatural foreign substance covering its beautiful surface. Now that's just wrong. And, a good steak should have some blood running through it. (Now, I do not cross the line for it being cooked for those that like their beef in the manner of "Just wipe its behind and have it run through the fire once".) Otherwise, an excellant build, wonderful dinners and lunches (steak is an exception, you are allowed one), and I am hooked into this thread.

As a fellow American, I recommend starting with the Tom Baker years, episodes dating from 1974-1981. If you don't like them, you likely won't like any of it. (My personal favorite era is Sylvester McCoy's underrated turn as the Doctor from 1987-1989, but I am alas almost alone on that front.)

[Nigel Heath]

(My personal favorite era is Sylvester McCoy's underrated turn as the Doctor from 1987-1989, but I am alas almost alone on that front.)

Yes, I'm afraid you are.

[Nigel Heath]

I made some quite good progress last night. After cleaning up the plunger arm I found it was quite a lose fit in the tube. I had a bit of a think about how to remidy this and decided tape was the way forward. I cut out this slightly tapered segment out of ordinary household masking tape. Using measurement, Pi and a bit of mathematics I made it so that it would wrap around four times:

Like this:

That turned out to be just a bit too snug, so I cut off one layer:

That gives a nice sliding fit and I decide not to glue it, giving me more poseable options when I eventually get to play with the thing:

There was a small gap at the arm / ball interface - I am checking all sentences for innuendo bingo now - I think that's OK. Using standard operating procedure I filled this with Mr Surfacer 500 followed by an acetone / cotton bud wipe:

I got ready to mount the plunger (definitely not OK!!). To do this I have to create some stretched sprue but my burner needs a meths top up:

Here is the finished result:

The plunger arm is prepared for primer application with this jigging method:

I now check out the results of my resin casting endeavours. First I consign the tub and syringe to my special "modelling waste only" bin:

The resin has set very nicely with no residual tackiness whatsoever:

The soft spots on the base continue to harden up, I have an experimental go at sanding some of the bulges:

It actually sands OK but I will still leave them alone in case there is any tendancy to shrink as it continues to harden. I now have a look at the dome. I cleaned up the eye slot (OK) with files and sanding sticks:

It looks reasonably square in all directions now:

It does look a bit ragged on the inside though. I am still giving thought as to how I am going to create the eye pivot mechanism:

There are plenty of these minor defects, residual effects form the vacforming process, that are easily dealt with:

I now have a pop at the light apetures:

I reckon the lights require a hole around 12.5mm in diameter:

Instead of mucking about with drills I decided that the best method was to punch out the holes. What was needed was a sturdy piece of wood to provide some backing to the operation. Normally I would have access to a vast collection of wood to chose from (OK). However, in my current reduced circumstances all I have available is the handle of one of my hammers, so I come up with this set up:

Not and ideal way to treat one of my tools but it has to suffice. I first have a practice go on the spare dome with a 12mm punch, which has already made an appearance on this build. I am not too encouraged by the results:

The recesses for the lights are a slightly different shape on the spare dome which did not help things but I decided to go with a 10mm punch instead and give myself a bit of a filing job for later. First another practice go on the spare dome:

That looks pretty good to me so now on the real thing:

The other side is similarly dealt with. Then after much filing with a half round diamond file I am able to fit one of the lights:

Now this file was really too small for the job and a bigger one would have been better but I make it work. The size of this thing means that normal rather than modelling tools would often be more appropriate but frustratingly I don't have current access to many of my many normal tools. This is what it looks like on the inside:

With an LED inside:

I am not sure whether to try to frost the light inside or leave it clear. I think the clear is slightly more authentic but I am not sure about the potential naff appearance of the LED. The lights also appear to be a little yellowed, frosting might accentuate this, I would welcome your thoughts on the matter. With both lights and the eye installed, to me, it has already taken on an air of menace:

I had a go at getting a feel for how big it will be:

Well it was now bath and dinner time so I packed up for the night. For my dinner I made a Balinese chicken dish:

Its from a recipe by Ken Hom containing chicken thighs, coconut milk, onion, garlic, red chilli, ginger and soy sauce. Simple and quite effective.

Bye for now,

Nigel

Edited October 30, 2013 by Nigel Heath

[Jabberwocky]

Working on it you start to realise what a rubbish bit of theatrical design it is really. A sink plunger for an arm, one eye? I mean please, really? I do however remember as a kid having the living bejesus scarred out of me every time they came on the screen. Yes, me and my sister really did watch it from behind the sofa, so it must have worked at some level. There is something alien and inhuman about a Dalek that is somehow well captured in its form.

You're spot on there. For those of us with 50 years of conditioning to these things, they can still have a profound effect. I was taking a picture of a full-size remote-control Dalek last year at SmallSpace, when it turned its head in my direction and started moving towards me. Deep inside there was a little flare of panic and I was six years old again and looking for somewhere to hide.

On the subject of the build though, you are making a fantastic job of this and it will look stunning when it's finished. Hope I can get to see it when it's done.

Cheers,

Paul

[Nigel Heath]

Okay, I have read through this whole thread, fascinated with the build, but not understanding some of the references. I believe I will be forced to watch some Dr. Who just to figure out what is going on in this thread. Now, having just checked out Dr. Who I find it has been on forever. Is there a particular time in this series that would help or do I need to do several months of marathon couch potatoing to get the gist? I think this is such a great thread. Until . . ., the steak. Son, I come from Texas. I even have horses and cattle at the homestead. I almost died when I saw a perfectly good section of sirloin steak defiled with some sort of unnatural foreign substance covering its beautiful surface. Now that's just wrong. And, a good steak should have some blood running through it. (Now, I do not cross the line for it being cooked for those that like their beef in the manner of "Just wipe its behind and have it run through the fire once".) Otherwise, an excellant build, wonderful dinners and lunches (steak is an exception, you are allowed one), and I am hooked into this thread.

As a fellow American, I recommend starting with the Tom Baker years, episodes dating from 1974-1981. If you don't like them, you likely won't like any of it. (My personal favorite era is Sylvester McCoy's underrated turn as the Doctor from 1987-1989, but I am alas almost alone on that front.)

The best place to start is actually quite easy IMHO. Start with the Tom Baker series called "Genesis of the Daleks", its a good series for a start, well written and acted but it also contains a lot of information on how and why the Daleks were created in the first place. There is also another Tom Baker series about the Dr's origins but I can't remember the title of that one - something about Time Lords probably.

As to the steak, I have to beg to differ - steak and blue cheese is a marriage made in heaven. I do not like my steak smothered in runny sauce though, you can't see what you're eating for a start. Blood running through it is of course fine, I like mine just slightly under medium but blood running out is a no no.

Edited September 13, 2013 by Nigel Heath

[kev67]

Its easier to watch the first Doctor Who film with Peter Cushing, as that explains where the Daleks came from, the wars between the Thuls and the Kaleds

[Nigel Heath]

Good point there Kev. I think that the second film is better and much more memorable (also the basis for my Dalek) - both are worth a watch though. Strictly the films do not follow some of the TV Dr Who conventions so could be a little confusing (the Doctor now would never have let the Daleks invade the Earth in the first place for example). I still think Genesis of the Daleks is a better place to start but the films might be easier to get hold of.

Hope I can get to see it when it's done.

If you are going to Telford then hopefully you will. It should be finished by November and if it is, I plan to take it there.

Edited September 27, 2013 by Nigel Heath

[Billydick]

Okay, I have read through this whole thread, fascinated with the build, but not understanding some of the references. I believe I will be forced to watch some Dr. Who just to figure out what is going on in this thread. Now, having just checked out Dr. Who I find it has been on forever. Is there a particular time in this series that would help or do I need to do several months of marathon couch potatoing to get the gist? I think this is such a great thread. Until . . ., the steak. Son, I come from Texas. I even have horses and cattle at the homestead. I almost died when I saw a perfectly good section of sirloin steak defiled with some sort of unnatural foreign substance covering its beautiful surface. Now that's just wrong. And, a good steak should have some blood running through it. (Now, I do not cross the line for it being cooked for those that like their beef in the manner of "Just wipe its behind and have it run through the fire once".) Otherwise, an excellant build, wonderful dinners and lunches (steak is an exception, you are allowed one), and I am hooked into this thread.

Totally agree - though the steak did look tasty. Best thread on here. Nigel deserves an award of some sort. Certainly got me thinking about making my own bread. Any good recipes for Soda bread ? Yes the Dr. Who and the Daleks have been part of British culture since the 60's. Remember William Hartnell - the first Dr and those Daleks in black and white ? Yes they were scary

[kev67]

I lived not far from where they use to make these Daleks, original ones that is, along the Cowley Rd in Uxbridge not sure on the date but probably late 60 to early 70's.

Heres a good web site

http://www.dalek6388.co.uk/index.htm

[Nigel Heath]

Best thread on here. Nigel deserves an award of some sort

Coo, thanks Billydick.

Certainly got me thinking about making my own bread. Any good recipes for Soda bread ?

I do sometimes make soda bread as its so quick and easy but I do find that it leaves a squeaky film on my teeth. I don't have a recipe to hand but will look one out that I have tried, later.

My go-to recipe for bread is potato bread, I have made hundreds of loaves of it. The recipe, long since committed to memory, is as follows:

Potato Bread

500g Strong White Bread Flour

1½ tsp Dried Yeast

2 tsp Granulated Sugar

1½ tbsp Dried Milk Powder

1½ tsp Sea Salt

3 tbsp Mild Olive OIl

175g Cold Mashed Potato

1 Egg - reserve some of the yolk for glazing later

220g Cold Potato Cooking Water - this weight includes the weight of the egg so is the total liquid weight

My strong advice is to get and use a bread maker, it makes the whole job a doddle. Electronic, zeroable scales are also a great boon.

Add the ingredients in that order to the bread maker pan, keeping the yeast and salt separate. Activate the bread maked "dough" programme. Scrape down the sides of the pan a few minutes after the mixing starts to make sure all ingredients are incorporated.

Two hours twenty minutes later (at least on my machine) you will have a nice big ball of pillowy dough. Tip it out onto a floured, big chopping board. Knock it back (to expell all the big gas bubbles). Shape it to fit a loaf tin. This will make a large loaf or you can split off a couple of balls to make into rolls and still have a good sized loaf from the remainder. Put it into an oiled and floured loaf tin, put the balls of dough into a baking sheet (with non-stick foil inplace if you want to cut down on washing up). Cover all the dough with oiled cling film and leave to prove for 35 minutes or so. Keep an eye on it, don't let the loaf get too big. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Thin the reserved egg yolk with a few drops of milk. Glaze all the dough with a pastry brush, scatter over some flour (e.g. wholemeal) over the loaf and use sesame seeds, poppy seeds or whatever you fancy on the rolls (grated cheddar is good). Put three diagonal slashes on the top of the loaf with a long sharp knife, this allows the bread to expand evenly in the oven.

Place in the hot oven. You can also chuck in some water or ice cubes (its supposed to give a softer crust) if you want (I struggle to tell the difference TBH). Bake the rolls for about 18 minutes and the loaf for 38 minutes. Its a good idea to turn tham around at the half way point to ensure and even bake, even with a fan oven.

When baked and kitchen is filled with lovely baking bread smell, remove from the oven and tin and place of a wire cooling rack.

When completely cool store in an airtightish bag or similar. Do not be tempted to eat hot bread, its hard to digest.

This bread in lovely on the first day of keeping, still OK on the second day but only fit for toast after that. Home made bread does not last like supermarket bread because it is not full of additives and chemicals, I know what I would rather eat. The potato BTW gives this bread a lovely soft crumb. Do not store fresh bread in the fridge as it actually goes stale quicker, when it has reached the toast stage then by all means keep in the fridge it will last longer.

Nigel

This is what you should end up with:

I shall be making some later for another round of bacon sandwiches and salmon spread rolls on Saturday.

Edited September 13, 2013 by Nigel Heath

[Nigel Heath]

I forgot to mention that last night, while watching this week's episode of Great British Bake Off I learnt that one of the contestents is making a cake (or sumink) Dalek next week. This is thus combining two of my interests: cooking and model making (sort of).

[Pete in Lincs]

I am checking all sentences for innuendo bingo now

Sorry, Nigel. my fault. Good fun though. keeps the brain cells ticking over.

The modelling waste bin. Mr Porky scratchings packet?

You got your own back at me there, eh?

The eye socket pivot.

Piece of wood holding a pivoted tube maybe?

All the best

Pete

[Nigel Heath]

The modelling waste bin. Mr Porky scratchings packet?

I was wondering when that would get pointed out. Consumed while sitting at modelling bench while thinking about modelling problems, therefore perfectly valid modelling related waste.

The eye socket pivot.

Piece of wood holding a pivoted tube maybe?

For the pivot I am thinking more along the line of thick plasticard construction, still in development.

Does anyone have any thoughts on the clear vs. frosty lights?

Edited September 13, 2013 by Nigel Heath

[Billydick]

Thanks so much for the recipe and the advice Nigel. Have printed it off. Will get a bread maker. I am really enjoying your thread ........ top notch

Billy

[Nigel Heath]

I would recommend a Panasonic bread maker, they always come out best in product reviews. My particular model is now out of production though, the highly rated SD-253 (you might still get one on e-Bay though).

http://www.chrisrand.com/panasonic-SD255-breadmaker-bread-maker/

It turns out that of course you can:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Panasonic-SD-253-Bread-Machine-bread-maker-/321203919585?pt=UK_HGKitchen_SmallApp_RL&hash=item4ac93edae1#ht_223wt_1399

Bit of a billy bargain that, new mine cost nearly £200.

If you go for that one, ask for the little measuring spoon and jug that should come with it, they are actually very handy. The jug is my go-to decal bath device.

Edited September 13, 2013 by Nigel Heath

[Billydick]

Wow... that's brilliant , Nigel thanks for the excellent advice. Will put in a bid - as you say, bit of a billy bargain..lol Back to the Dalek.....

[Bengalensis]

Oh that last bread looks so nice... and that says a lot regarding how delicious the rest looks. I just love good fresh baked bread, and that looks completely irresistible. I must wholeheartedly agree with Billydick, there really should be a special award for this fantastic combination of enthusiastic modelling and wonderful cooking. The Dalek would be a worthwhile thread itself, but combined as it is, it's just fantastic.

[Nigel Heath]

I was tempted to put in a bid myself, mine gets a lot of use and clearly won't last forever so I was thinking about getting one for spares but I will leave your bidding undisturbed - good luck. They are however extremely well designed and built so it might outlast me.

One further tip if you get it, hand wash the pan and paddle - do not put it in the dishwasher, they have a special coating which a dishwasher will strip off. I also should add that the measuring jug is what I use for water when I am airbrushing acrylics.

Thanks for the comments Jorgen, I was half way through composing this when you posted.

I should also had the bread is delicious. I gave a loaf to my neighbours and they said it was the best bread they had ever tasted (sorry if that sounds a bit immodest).

Edited September 13, 2013 by Nigel Heath

[Nigel Heath]

I am just cooking the potatoes for my next batch.

I have also put another coat of Klear one the other side of the lens, I was't going to take a picture of this as its too dull but it has made me realise I have left my blasted camera at work. I will have to nip back into town to retrieve it - 45 minute round trip and a waste of good modelling time, at least my bread is now underway.

Back now with camera in hand, did it in 30 minutes in the end but little modelling time left tonight.

Edited September 13, 2013 by Nigel Heath

[Procopius]

Good point there Kev. I think that the second film is better and much more memorable (also the basis for my Dalek) - both are worth a watch though. Strictly the films do not follow some of the TV Dr Who conventions so could be a little confusing (the Doctor would never have let the Daleks invade the Earth in the first place for example). I still think Genesis of the Daleks is a better place to start but the films might be easier to get hold of.

I would agree on Genesis of the Daleks being a good starting point, but w/r/t the Daleks Invasion Earth movie, it's based on a Hartnell-era episode where the Daleks have in fact conquered Earth already.

[Nigel Heath]

I did not know that, bit before my time (and yours).

I made reasonable progress tonight following the camera fiasco. The instructions recommend this method of jigging for the gun rods:

So that's where the drawing pins come in. I'm not sure that would be that good for the supplied plastic but it certainly isn't good enough for metal. Still as eight of these have to be made clearly some sort of jig is a good idea. I have a plan and begin by sawing a strip off this plastic sheet. This came with my Hold and Fold tool from Little Cars. There were two so I don't mind sacrificing part of one to this good cause and this is the one that got damaged in the liquid poly spillage incident as you can see:

I then cut off part of it to an exact length of 47.5mm. I think you can probably see in which direction this is now heading. The other piece I superglued to the remainder of the parent sheet. I clamped it while it was setting as adhesives work better when pressure is applied:

Before I completed my jig by gluing down the second piece, I made this temporary clamping arrangement to produce a test shot from the new tooling in case any fine adjustment is required:

The prototype fits like a glove as far as I'm concerned so I proceded with final permanent assembly:

Well that's as far as Dalek construction is going tonight. I have a clear weekend so I hope to cover a lot more ground in the next two days, I will keep you informed of progress.

For my dinner I cooked a steak and kidney pie from the freezer (not my homemade one) with potatoes, peas and gravy, not worth a picture as its too similar to a previous one.

I am having to improvise a baking tray as I can't seem to find my proper one. Proving under cling film:

Glazed and ready for the oven:

The finished result:

I have to admit that while they were cooking I was eating my dinner and I did sort of forget about the rolls so they got 27 minutes in the oven. They should still be OK though, just a little crusty.

Hopefull there will be more tomorrow, bye,

Nigel

I've just checked for innuendo bingo and it seems to be completely free: no mention of balls, slots, wood, plungers, suckers or mounting. Good.

Edited October 6, 2013 by Nigel Heath

[hendie]

Its easier to watch the first Doctor Who film with Peter Cushing, as that explains where the Daleks came from, the wars between the Thuls and the Kaleds

I would agree with that being the better film. The second one is okay but I think you definitely need to be a fan

[Pete in Lincs]

Daleks Invasion Earth 2150. It always tickles me that there is a big advert for Sugar Puffs on the wall by the Tardis.

Besides the acting. More hammy in places than Nigel's Pork scratchings.

Nigel, The light covers, Tamiya clear paints? Or even food colouring mixed with Future.

BTW, The bread here is generally rubbish. I always look forward to Morrison's Granary when I'm home.

Cheers

Pete

[Nigel Heath]

I did actually do a bit more last night, not building as such it was more of a research and planning nature. I don't think my earlier photo did justice to the good level of fit achieved with the gun rods, It clicked into the gun slots and was capable of holding the gun's weight:

The instructions say that I need eight of these but I did a cross check with my reference material:

While I was at it I checked out some of the other options and marked them up:

I also had a closer look at my little electronic kit:

The battery will have to be accessible, so some sort of hollow base is called for.

Back to bread makers this is the measuring spoon and jug that came with mine. As I said I use the jug for decaling and as a water source when airbrushing. The little handle is good for resting wet decals on while the glue softens:

I think that's a good place to stop, more to follow later.

[Nigel Heath]

Pete, good idea about the Tamiya clear, I have some red already. Not only would it hide the yellowing it would go some way towards disguising the LEDs.

This morning I arose bright and early and got stuck into project Dalek:

I decided the base was now fit for service (its had two weeks to sort itself out). I sanded off the bulges, restored the correct profiles where necassary and did a bit more filling:

I could now glue on the support pillars with tube glue:

I glued on the skirt top plate and got it all nice and perpendicular with the solid support of my vice:

I found my baking tray. The polystyrene had actually given a good account of itself and the wet and dry was looking decidedly punch drunk:

For the skirt, the instructions recommend just butting the sections together. I think it will be far better with some form of reinforcement. The ideal thickness for this is 20thou plasticard but I only have a small amount of white available however I do have this black stuff. I cut it into eleven 20mm wide strips:

I need to put a bend in each piece and the ideal tool for this is my Hold and Fold, a little beyond its capacity but still workable:

I wanted to better understand how the waist and shoulders (these are official terms BTW) fitted together so did a little dry run. There is a strip which runs around the joint between the skirt and the waist which apparently gives about 1mm within which to hide the interface so fit up is fairly critical:

Starting with the back panel I readied it for assembly, some significant trimming was required:

After an overall sanding and inspection a few areas requiring filler were dealt with:

I stuck a new sheet of 150 grit wet and dry on the tray and used that to champher the section edges:

I will post here, please feel free to comment - I am about half way through todays progress.

Edited September 14, 2013 by Nigel Heath