Monday, 24 February 2025

"Pity? I Have No Understanding Of The Word."

"It is not registered in my vocabulary bank. Exterminate!"

This 28mm metal, multi-part model of a Kaled Mark Three travel machine is manufactured by "Black Tree Design", and can be bought either individually as DW303 - Dalek, or as part of their DW1001 - Dalek Patrol Plus Heavy Weapons Dalek set, from their "Doctor Who" miniatures range. Created by Terry Nation, and brilliantly designed by Raymond Cusick, this sculpt is clearly based upon the Time Lord's most feared enemies - who first appeared in the 1963 six-part storyline now known as "The Daleks".

Probably assembled using a little super-glue some twenty plus years ago, this particular figure has always proved a remarkably off-putting figure to tackle on account of all the fiddly sensor globes I'd need to pick out with my brush-tip. This 'intimidation factor' was largely due to my plan to pigment the Dalek in its original colour scheme of silver with light blue bumps, and it wasn't until I recently decided to swap that palette out for the much more painter-friendly one seen in "Genesis Of The Daleks", that I finally decided to get the classic monster tabletop ready.

"Titan Forge" WIPs - This Death Knight's armour has been base-layered and shaded

I therefore treated the model to a couple of coats of "Vallejo" Sombre Grey, and began the odious task of encircling all its sensor globes with some thinned-down "Citadel" Abaddon Black. Once this process was completed, I then drenched the entire miniature in "Citadel" Nuln Oil, and gave its upper half a careful drybrush with (more) "Vallejo" Sombre Grey.

With the 'basics' finished I moved on to 'picking out' some of the Dalek's much smaller details, using a photograph of the Masterpiece Collection Maxi Bust Genesis Dalek by "Forbidden Planet" as a guide. I therefore applied some "Vallejo" Gunmetal and "Citadel" Nuln Oil to the machine's manipulator arm, dry-brushed it with (more) "Vallejo" Gunmetal, and plonked the infamous sink-plunger with some "Citadel" Abaddon Black.

"Titan Forge" WIPs - These two Death Dogs have been 3D printed, based and primed

I also gave its deadly gun-stick a layer of "Vallejo" Bronze, shaded it with "Citadel" Agrax Earthshade and dry-brushed the "standard personal Dalek weapon" using a little (more) "Vallejo" Bronze." Finally, I coated the creature's five-disc eyestalk in "Two Thin Coats" Celestial Blue and a splodge of "Citadel" Drakenhof Nightshade. Whilst its two low profile comm lights (on the dome) were simply spotted with "Vallejo" White, darkened in heavily watered down Carcharodon Grey by "Two Thin Coats", and re-dotted with a tad more "Vallejo" White.

Alongside my first "Black Tree Design" Dalek in more than two decades, I have also been working on a Death Knight and his three Death Dogs by "Titan Forge Miniatures". These four models were created using "Elegoo" Water Washable Resin on a Mars 5 3D Printer, and are the start of a fantasy skirmish project I have planned to potter away at for the rest of 2025. For now though, I simply wanted to get the mighty undead warrior and his hounds undercoated, ready for some base layering...

4 comments:

  1. Oh my! Death Knight is my favourite today!

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    1. Yeah. It's a cracking sculpt, and printed out really well. I've got a fair few Titan Forge figures planned for this year, as their ranges are awesome.

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  2. Great work on the Dalek Simon, and must feel good to finally get this finished. The Death Knight and hounds look cool, and look forward to seeing them in paint, intrigued to read more about the new Fantasy project.

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    1. Thanks Dave. I'm really happy with the way the Dalek turned out, and having found another one assembled, I'm already busy working on that one too. The plan is to use the Titan Forge figures for a fantasy version of Silver Bayonet, so I only have to paint a few per side.

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