Building a Dalek Costume

Building a Dalek

My daughter loves Doctor Who and asked me if she could be a Dalek for Halloween. Most of the costumes were dresses, she told me a dress was lame. The other actual Dalek builds were terribly complicated and expensive or really bad. I think this is a good compromise of quality versus cheapness. For me this is still a work in progress, its workable, but by the time the next Salt Lake Comic Con comes it will be completed. I need to add the two lights on the head as well as the fins on the eye. I am also going to change the dots to globes, which will look a lot better.

Items you will need:

1. Rubbermaid 30 Gallon Trash Can with lid

She originally wanted a yellow one, but the local Home Depot only had black and blue, so we went with blue. You could use any color you prefer, obviously.

2. Mixing Bowl

We originally looked for one that was plastic and matched the color of our trashcan, but unfortunately we couldn't find any and so I decided to use this stainless steel one. Personally, it would have been easier to use a blue plastic one, but, I really like the shape of this one and it looks great once we spray painted it.

3. Used 12 or 24 pack soda boxes

These are a 24 pack and a 12 pack connected together that I used to make the box.

4. Black Craft Foam at least 6 or 7 sheets.

I used white and cut them into circles then spray painted them black. I already had some around the house and would have preferred to use black for the dots and to cover the box. I am also going to change out the dots for some craft ornamental bulbs spray painted black. The clear ornament bulbs are available at craft stores and Amazon, but at a dollar a piece I didn't have the funds to make that happen at this time.

5. 3 Bucket Lids

I got these from Home Depot, if you can find them already in Black it will make it much easier and less spray painting.

6. 1/2 inch dowel

7. Magic 8 Ball

8. Black see through cloth

9. Duct Tape

10. Hot Glue Gun (with lots of glue sticks)

11. Spray Paint (Blue,Black, and Silver)

12. Drill with 1/2 inch bit that can drill through metal

13. Duck Tape

14. Cloth Strap

I believe this is a karate belt. I picked it up from the local thrift store.

15. Metal Paint Roller

I forgot to take a picture of it before I modified it. I broke the handle off with a hammer and bent it as straight as I could. I think I may saw off the handle later.

16. Plunger

17. Small hand saw

18. 4 Large velcro strips

Steps Of Build

I started by cutting the bottom out of the trashcan.

Then cut the handles off the top

I spray painted the white craft foam, black(again it's probably easier to buy black colored foam for this part) or the clear christmas globes, black for the dots and glued them on with a hot glue gun.

I made about 32 of these dots.







I duck taped the 2 soda boxes together to make the box that goes above the trashcan.

I hot glued the black craft foam to the soda box. Then I cut holes to fit the paint roller(on the left) and the plunger(on the right).





I spray painted the plunger handle and the paint roller silver.

Next cut the rim off the lid and measure the hole for your head with the mixing bowl you selected.

Cut the center out of the bucket lids

Cut the dowel into 1 inch segments, I cut nine I would suggest 15. I am going to add more. 9 was just not stable enough.

I spray painted the bowl blue to match the trashcan.

I predrilled the 1/2 inch hole in the bowl, so I wouldn't have to repaint the bowl after drilling.






While waiting for the paint to dry, I hot glued the dowels to the bucket lids. I have found this is not the best way to adhere them. It keeps coming apart. I am going to try some different adhesives as well as adding more dowels to see if I can't get it a little more sturdy. I will update this if I figure something better that works.

 

I then spray painted the lids and dowels black and hot glued it to the cut up lid.

(I forgot to take a picture of this step, but here is a picture after I attached the painted dowel and magic 8 ball to the bowl.)





I then spray painted the remaining dowel silver and drilled a hole in the magic 8 ball while the paint was drying.

I spray painted the Magic 8 ball black to cover up the 8 ball. I then attached the dowel to the bowl pushing it thru the hole and gluing it to the back part of the bowl.(see finished picture above).




I then attached the box to the trashcan with heavy amounts of duck tape and stuck the velcro on the inside of the trashcan to attach the straps. I had to sew the velcro to the straps to get them to stay. The adhesive on the velcro wouldn't stick to the cloth.

Here is a picture of my daughter Allyson with the bottom of the costume on.

And with the head on.

 I did glue some see thru black cloth to the inside of the helmet, but she was having a hard time seeing, so I removed it. I may add some better see thru black cloth at some point.

EXTERMINATE!!!!


















I hope you enjoy making your Dalek and I can't wait to hear any suggestions you have for me. Like I said, it's still a work in progress, so any help would be appreciated!

Halloween Update

Although the costume got rave reviews from people that knew what a Dalek was, ( and even those that didn't) up to the point it won a costume contest. The costume proved to be a bit heavy for my 10 year old. One thing that helped was when I decided to cross the straps in the back to prevent them from sliding down her arms. I am also thinking on a total redesign of the headpiece. It broke again. I am thinking of drilling holes through the bucket lids and using a six inch long dowel piece to remove the amount of gluing, thus increasing the strength. I'll let you know how it works. 

Please leave a comment on what you think about the costume and any improvements you have. I think I am going to build a Tardis costume next, so stay tuned.