Cardboard Dalek

I built the cardboard Dalek as a costume for my six-year old son to wear at DragonCon, 2014. I based my design on plans and build diaries at Project Dalek. Project Dalek consists of three main things:

• Website with Dalek plans
• Builders Workshop Manual This is only available in hardcopy by mail because of too many re-postings. The ordering process isn't apparent when you first register with the site, but it's worth every minute and every penny (on the order of $30).
• Forum This consists mainly of build diaries and discussions. There's a lot of information, but it's scattered over so many dairies, it can be hard to find what you need. Once you find a good diary though, you can follow it and get some good discussions going.

Build modifications:

• Scale: 75%
• Extended skirt "prism" up through top of shoulders, so I wouldn't have to build a separate section. The skirt of course isn't a true prism. The front of the base tip curled up off the ground a bit, but with 3 wheels, no biggie.
• For the bottom bumper, I just added strips of cardboard (carefully measured and cut mind you), and covered it with gold duck tape. The gold didn't match my gold paint, but it was so low down it wasn't noticeable.
• The rings are spaced way further apart than would be true to scale. I wanted the top of the shoulders to be at my son's shoulders. Once that was built, I realized we needed more head clearance for comfort. So that part is way off.

Cool things:

• The lights are top were puck-lights from the dollar store, with craft store storage jars glued on top of them. The lights were too cheap, so they didn't stay on, but it was still cool.
• The eye was an LED flashlight (again, the dollar store). It wasn't true to the design, but my son loved it!

If I do it again:

• I'll make the supports for the rings and head more sturdy. Some of the sidewalks were paved with rough pavers, and I thought the dome was going to shimmy right off!
• I'll make a stronger one! The parade was crowded and the sidewalks were rough. I spent half the time worrying it was going to get crushed.
• Instead of watching the parade, we'll try to be in it. We got such a good response, we would have like to share it with more people. But little guy tired out and didn't make it to the costume/character show-off area.