How I Built Fred

Part 5

The Solar Panel

Solar panel band supports attached

 Next came the "solar panel" band supports. The whole assembly would eventually be screwed into these.

(Version I, where I hadn't cut out or attached the gun ports yet?)

    Solar panel support band in place
(Version I)

Cutting out solar panel support band

Once again, I cut out the solar panel support band with a plastic pattern, cutting away the excess.

I just sorta attached and trimmed away the decorative screening that fits between the band and the solar panels, not bothering
with a pattern.

Preparing screen to be cut in proper shape

Version I solar panel assembly complete
Once the screen was the right shape, I removed the bands and painted the shoulders and then reattached everything, followed by putting on the solar panels, which were flat pieces of 1/8" aluminum.



Front view of Version I shoulders complete


The Neck
Cutting out the neck rings using a crude compass method Using 3/4" plywood yet again, I cut out the neck rings. Three neck ring circles

Neck ring edge routered

As nearly as I can tell from video and photos, the edges of the neck rings came to a point. Since I didn't know how to go about reproducing that, I used a chamfer bit on a router and it left only a small flat edge. After sanding and painting it white, it's very difficult to see the difference. (For Version II, I stripped off the white and painted them silver

Chamfer router bit

Interior view of neck rings

 There are dowels in the neck that serve as decorative (I think) supports that pierce the rings near the inside of the rings. There are also larger supports that hold the masking screen (so the operators can see out) to the inside of the rings.

Interior view of neck rings
Here's the finished Version I neckrings. Note the tops of the dowels have been cut at an angle, to accomodate the dome shape. (I used some reflective mylar on the inside of the neck, making it difficult for people to peer in.)

Version I neck rings assembled and complete

The Head Mount
Head swivel assembly

View of bottom swivel board

View of completed swivel assembly from below

Apparently, there were some pretty crude methods for making the Dalek head domes rotate, at least with the early ones. I just built a turntable assembly with a "lazy Susan" ball bearing assembly from the hardware store. I managed to use the leftover 3/4" plywood pieces from the neck rings. Note the clearance for the eyestalk pivot in the top piece at left. Also note the notches for the neck ring supports in the lower disc in the photos above.

 IView from above lower swivel board with notches cut

View from above of top and bottom boards of swivel

Here's the asssembly mounted in the neck. The lower part of the turntable is flush with the tops of the support boards in the neck, with just the top part of the turntable protruding above. Also, the top disc was cut at a slight angle with the sabre saw, to somewhat match the angle of the dome.

Swivel mounted in neck rings
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