Custom Figure: 'Dr Who & the Daleks' Movie Red Dalek

Official 5.5" scale movie Daleks are something Doctor Who toy collectors have dreamed of for years (or more specifically, as long as Character Options have been producing the toys), but the licensing kerfuffle that comes along with them meant most of us assumed it was never going to happen. The silver and blue Daleks' split second appearance in The Chase was able to let the Jungles of Mechanus set happen, but sadly the red and black Daleks would need to remain potential custom projects for fans themselves to work on. Thankfully the aforementioned Mechanus set provided a perfect base figure to do that just that, and with a few spare sets in hands I finally went about fulfilling that dream of having the Dr. Who and the Daleks movie Daleks as part of my display.

In Dr. Who and the Daleks the red Dalek is the second in command of the Dalek City on Skaro, and the only other one other than the Black Dalek with uniquely coloured casing. It is a vibrant red with a gold neck bin, shoulder bands and fender. The hemispheres are black, whilst the appendages are all silver. Unlike the Black Dalek, it sports a claw arm appendage as opposed to the normal manipulator arm. Though it has never received an official toy from Character Options, Product Enterprise released a remote controlled version of it alongside their other movie Daleks in the early 2000s.

This custom was built using a "Jungles of Mechanus" movie-style Dalek, which was disassembled (and the dome lamps removed) for painting. It was primed using Tamiya fine surface primer (light grey), and then all of the gold was done with Tamiya gold spray. The shoulder bands were then masked so that the body could be sprayed with Halfords Volkswagen Mars Red. The black hemispheres were handprinted, using Mr Hobby Aqueous black paint - easy to apply and gives a beautiful gloss finish. The claw appendage is a 3D printed piece from Custom Dalek Creations on eBay, who as usual do absolutely immaculate work and should definitely be visited for all of your Dalek part needs. That arrived unpainted, so was given a quick spray of Tamiya silver. The dome lamps didn't really need to be removed for painting, but doing so was much easier than trying to mask them and hoping that they wouldn't be hit with overspray.

One of the most important aspects to this custom for me was getting the shade of red perfectly right. Fun fact: I've never used the same shade of red on any of my Dalek customs as I love the variety you can get with the colour. While I usually stick to Tamiya sprays none of them really gave me the shade I was looking for, so a Doctor Who custom figure group on Facebook recommend Halfords' range. I'd previously used their primer for my Curse of Fatal Death grey Dalek and got some excellent results, and honestly after this I couldn't recommend Halfords highly - enough far cheaper than Tamiya and the paint applies like an absolute dream. Other than procrastination and running out of paint (and subsequently not being able to get more because of either lockdown or stores not having it in stock) this is one of the smoothest customs I've ever done - not a single thing went wrong and it's got a relatively professional finish.

Completing the Dr Who & the Daleks cast is a huge moment for me as a Dalek collector and customiser, and seeing them displayed altogether is something I've dreamed of since Character Options first announced they would be doing classic Dalek figures. Having the ability to do multiple projects again at a reasonable cost have been amazing, and I feel like I've progressed more in the last six months or so when it comes to painting than I have in years. All it takes is practice, and I absolutely encourage anyone who's ever considered doing their own custom painted Daleks to give it a go. There's an amazing set of resources out there for beginners, as well as great communities that are happy to offer advice - my inbox is always open too. I've got plenty of ideas for future projects going forwards, but these movie Daleks will always be some of my favourite pieces I've ever done.