Making the Dalek Eye Stalk
NEXT... Making the Dome and Lights
The Dalek Eye Stalk is made of four main parts: the Eye Ball; the Stem; the Pivot; and Disks.
Eye Ball
Now, this is where I got into trouble for spending some money... I bought some hardwood CNC turned balls from eBay, of 50mm diameter. They were for the gun and plunger arm pivots, but just happened to be the right size for the eye ball too.
With a bit of careful marking out, I cut the front of the ball off to leave the right shape, then drilled a hole in the rear to allow for the stem. I drilled the hole slightly of-centre accidentally, only to be relieved that the actual Dalek I was copying (R1 / N3-N4) had an offset eyeball anyway! So I used it to my advantage!
The Stem
I just used a piece of wooden dowel for the stem, possibly pine... This may be a mistake, as it may easily get snapped off, but it's just what I had at the time!
The Pivot
The material I used for the pivot is a really tough plastic that one was a work-surface in a chemistry lab! It just happened to be the right thickness, so got used.
I chopped it roughly round, drilled a hole in the centre, and with a bolt through the hole, held it up against a linisher / sander to make it round.
Once it was circular enough, It needed a radial hole drilling in the edge to allow the eye stalk stem somewhere to locate.
Eye Disks
Still to be made, successfully.
I had one failed attempt with some thin transparent HDPE plastic (from an old Ikea photo frame!), which unfortunately just snapped whenever I took a knife or saw anywhere near it, so not ideal.
I'm looking out for another suitable replacement material.