Forums

Oops?? Well, I think this Dalek is definitely gonna be finished at this point.   I used a 4 inch diameter hole saw drillbit to cut the holes shortly after my last update. I HATE MDF dust! I also built a stool and tried to find many ways to install it- I frustrated myself, but the solution after all, was the one in the Dalek building Manual! I should just have really started out with actual planks from the hardware store instead of trying to cut out half inch plywood, but that feels like common sense to me now. I just cannot believe how much I've learned since! And how much I've done!   I then worked on the assemblies of the appendages and the shoulder boxes, which were incredibly fun to do! Appendages less so, but the plunger and the gun are in a perfectly functional development phase for the rest of the physical build- at the end, I can then do the arms assembly better! But shortly after the gunboxes-   I got too impatient and unsure about printing out the shoulder template-- so, I freehanded it with the biggest MDF scrap piece! It turned out surprisingly not that horrible, though i still find myself thoroughly checking between mine and other people's nice, lawful shoulders to see errors in mine. In the first tape template, I tragically discovered that the legs of the shoulder top was misaligned, and it had a hunchback bad enough that the new dalek paradigms looked like they had good posture in comparison. After making a new front leg (and not doing anything to the old back leg, which is sticking out and I say I'll fix it later) the next tape template (I used masking tape and then cardstock taped on top)and I now have that yellow template ready for the flesh of the shoulders! Originally thinking I should do basic, trusty MDF for the cladding, I was convinced that sheet metal will be the better option.     and the work of tonight and the past few! Well, neckrings cut in the past few, entire cage done tonight. Originally I was using a tied string to make the circles on the plywood, which means my worst circles are the ones meant to be presentable, the edges of the rings.. but internally, I then discovered a trick, my thanks are to Repeatedmeme, I found it randomly to use a scrap MDF piece instead. So at least my mesh will know nice circles? I cut the rings using a jigsaw! And I was too stubborn to spend the time on figuring out how to make a lathe to turn it. The rings are decent despite it!  Then my impatience came again when I didn't have the chance to be taught how to safely use the router, so I proceeded without chamfering, meaning my options are probably going to be somehow using the router on the edges without the entire center of the ring or maybe just cheat and use the stripping that the Planet Supreme had around his neck. I feel like it's wiser to just get myself to learn the router though! It would match. Right before I started writing this, I finished the neckcage! I made extra care in turning the dowels into trefoil struts, since they had very slight bows that would get very annoying. With a mallet as my best friend I got them into the rings (which, I also went out of order with those by drilling the holes after the center! And freestyling the holes) and it turned out great! I can feel the tension though, as some of the struts had to bend slightly to get all the way through, but eventually when I glue them, it will probably be very sturdy. I'm approaching alarmingly fast to having to make the dome! But maybe I've saved myself the pain of a mis-sized dome. Before the real thing is made I might make a cardboard mockup to see it.   I've narrated a lot out there alone in the garage, wondering what I'll write in my next update, but before the amount of progress I've done since the last update got too overwhelming to organize and write, I think it's good to share now! The only thing ever blocking me from working on Oswald would be me myself!   I would've found the idea of actual  building absolutely ridiculous a month ago (I think it's only just been over a month since I finally made his first thing! A useless thing now but it really worked to start it off!) I actually wanted to make Oswald out of cardboard, in some sort of way I could. Thank goodness I did NOT.  To prove this, I have made only one other Dalek at all. This is Benedict, Oswald's dad (now not just in story either?) I made him across June, while watching classic Who in my bedroom. Brought him along on a very great trip in early July. He was made using Project Dalek plans too! He's a very, very good comparison of my skill then and now, a span of weeks, and I'm just a teenager. Project Dalek makes Daleks exceedingly accessible, the skills I've acquired, and the Dalek, feel quite a lot more valuable than 5 pounds for Active Membership!

It never fails - give a cat access to an interstellar war machine...

Few more archive pics from Sandy

Definitely not the end of the world. No way of telling until you get home and check if it is even a problem. In the meantime, just focus on the parts you plan to create next. What may or may not be an issue will sort itself out later.