Doctor Who 1963-64 (Completed)

[Steve F]

Thanks, chaps.  I'd be blushing if I wasn't so busy dribbling onto my straitjacket.

Seconded. The Voords are overdue a revival. There's a great pic in one of the Dr Who hardback storybooks of the 10th Doc surrounded by Voord. Unfortunately there was no story with it.

Here's the picture, for those who haven't seen it.  Drawn by Andy Walker for The Doctor Who Storybook 2010 (published, of course, in 2009).



I don't think that the Voord(s) have done too badly, given that they don't have the brains to remove their flippers indoors or work out what the plural of their own name is.  Remember, their one successful act of villainy, in between falling through trapdoors, getting accidentally dissolved, and tripping over their own feet, was to stab an unarmed old man in the back.

Yet they co-starred with the Daleks in what may have been the first piece of Doctor Who spin-off fiction, serialised on Cadet Sweet Cigarette cards (art by Richard Jennings) in 1964 ...



... they legendarily oppressed "The Fishmen of Kandalinga" in the first Dr Who Annual, published in 1965 ...



... and they even made a return as late as 1987 in the Doctor Who Magazine comic strip "The World Shapers", written by no less than Grant Morrison, wit art by John Ridgway and Tim Perkins.  In this one, they evolve into the Cybermen, bizarrely enough.

[Onebigriver]

Yep, don't really buy that Voord/Cyberman thing, much prefer the origin of the Cybermen as told in one of the Big Finish audios. The Voords are very sinister. I've considered buying some of the East Riding Miniatures' assassins as a basis for conversion. What are yours based on?

[Steve F]

Yep, don't really buy that Voord/Cyberman thing, much prefer the origin of the Cybermen as told in one of the Big Finish audios.

Even more strangely, another Doctor Who Magazine comic strip implied that the Cybermen were originally Silurians (the lamp on the head being the third eye, I suppose).  But I agree with you, Marc Platt's "Spare Parts" is terrific.

The Voords are very sinister. I've considered buying some of the East Riding Miniatures' assassins as a basis for conversion. What are yours based on?

They are all Harlequin DW121 Voords, boringly enough.  Full sources post will follow.

[Onebigriver]

They are all Harlequin DW121 Voords, boringly enough.  Full sources post will follow.

  D'oh!

[Michka]

I love the rulers of the city of Morphoton. That's a fantastic modeling job. 

You are doing such a great job with these I'm tempted to sell all my old Harlequin Dr. Who stuff. You've done exactly what I'd been planning, but you're doing it better then I ever could. OK, I'm not gonna sell the Dr. Who stuff. I've been tempted before and it never happens.

[Steve F]

You are doing such a great job with these I'm tempted to sell all my old Harlequin Dr. Who stuff. You've done exactly what I'd been planning, but you're doing it better then I ever could. OK, I'm not gonna sell the Dr. Who stuff. I've been tempted before and it never happens.

Damn!  I was going to ask if you had any War Machines to sell.  They're the only models I can't find from when I bought them all on subscription; so, naturally, they are the only models that Black Tree no longer sells!   

Thanks for the kind words, but, really, please just treat this thread as a spur to do your own.  I'd love to see them.

[Steve F]

Right, then: the sources, explanations and excuses post.

The whole of “The Keys of Marinus” survives in the BBC archives, and is available on DVD.  Colour photos were taken on the set of the second episode, “The Velvet Web”, so the colours I’ve used for models from that episode match the actual costumes and props.  Otherwise, it’s guesswork, apart from one tiny and not very helpful colour shot of the courtroom from “Sentence of Death”.

The Sea of Death

The Voords are from the Harlequin Doctor Who range, with some repositioning in two cases.  Although the novelisation and spin-off fictions invariably refer to the Voords as wearing black, one is clearly outfitted in a wetsuit that is much lighter than his headpiece, belt and flippers.  I’ve chosen grey, because an orange Voord would just look wrong, somehow.

The beach by the sea of acid is made of glass, but the TARDIS crew don’t notice that at first; so I’ve painted the bases mostly in a sandy colour, with odd flecks of reflective silver, while the rocks are painted in what I hope is a more glassy manner, to add some colour and visual interest.  The big pointy glass shards are, mostly, lumps of sharp metal that fell out of a couple of packs of Foundry pirates that I happened to open at the time, alarmingly enough.

The Voord submersible is scratch built around the cap of a Vicks Sinex inhaler.

The Conscience is a blank-faced d12 on a stick.  Arbitan is a slight conversion from a Perry Carlist Wars armed clergyman.  The set designer for this story, Ray Cusick, remembers that the walls for Arbitan’s HQ were reused leftovers from a light entertainment set and were “purplish” in colour, so I have used that as a cue for the bases and the main colour reflected in the Conscience.

The Velvet Web

The servants are Warlord Games Roman slaves, unmodified except where I had to repair the ankles of one.

Sabetha is a Bennet sister from Gary Mitchell’s “Space Vixens from Mars” range, with some awkward conversion work.  The hair, bows and bare arms are my fault!

For Altos, I faced the problem that no-one makes a mini with such an indecently short tunic, so I decided to sculpt him up from a dolly.  Unfortunately, the Hasslefree dollies that I had were too short next to Sabetha, while the Reaper one that I eventually used is, as you can see, rather too tall.  The head is from Hasslefree, with puttied hair.

I have given Altos and Sabetha "glass beach" bases, because that is where they are last seen.

The rulers of Morphoton are scratchbuilt, with some kit parts for the machinery on the round plinth.  I had what seemed to be the bright idea of sculpting and painting the brains, and then casting the jars around them with transparent resin.  This proved to be a very messy and frustrating process – all the jars turned out mis-shapen in one way of another, and no two were quite the same.  I also have a big blobby smear of resin to sand off my windowsill where the mould overspilled.  I’m afraid that the odds on my producing a glass Dalek one day have now lengthened considerably.

The Screaming Jungle

The booby-trapped statue is a Black Tree 2nd Crusade axeman.  The undergrowth is made from various aquarium plants, Woodland Scenics turf, static grass, Noch tufts and etched brass vines.  The overgrown statue is a Doctor Who Adventures Weeping Angel.

Darrius has the body of a Ral Partha monk – the one in a pack with three succubi – and the head of an Immortal Miniatures ancient Greek civilian.

The Snows of Terror

Vasor is converted from a Gripping Beast Viking Bondi commander.  The wolf is a Ral Partha model.

Lurking somewhere inside the Ice Soldiers are Gripping Beast Later Crusades knights on foot.  Only the helmets remain visible, and two of them have been modified – I even replaced the arms, for reasons that now escape me.  The flambard is from the Citadel Mordheim accessory sprue, the mace and axe from Front Rank.

Sentence of Death

The Guardian, Inquirer and Prosecutor are made from Foundry Victorian artillerymen with Hasslefree spare heads.  Kala is an Artizan “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” figure.  The judges are Eureka cultists with Hasslefree heads and home-made silly hats.

The one colour photo from this episode shows the back of Eyesen and a Guardian’s head.  Their collars cannot be distinguished from their cape and tunic, respectively, but are lighter on screen.  I opted for a dark blue collar on a black tunic, saving red for the lining of Eyesen’s tunic cape (which is a different shade of grey again).

The photo also reveals extras playing the citizens of Millennius to be dressed in dull brownish greys.  Since Kala had a significant speaking part, I decided to give her a little more colour, without going overboard.

The Keys of Marinus

Harlequin makes a model of Yartek.  I just made some small corrections, removing the antenna from his headgear (to be fair, it does appear in publicity photos), as well as the knife he did not carry and the flippers he did not wear.  I also added the grille through which the actor spoke, I think (but I may be misremembering that).

[Steve F]

"The Aztecs"
(The Temple of Evil; The Warriors of Death; The Bride of Sacrifice; The Day of Darkness)

The TARDIS lands inside the tomb of Aztec high priest Yetaxa, and the time travellers find themselves trapped outside.  Barbara is identified as a divine reincarnation of Yetaxa; Ian is made a Chosen Warrior, much to the annoyance of the existing Chosen Warrior, Ixta; Susan is sent to a seminary to learn to be a good Aztec girl, where she catches the eye of the Perfect Victim, whose every wish must be granted before his sacrifice; and the Doctor, searching for information that might help him get back into the tomb, accidentally becomes engaged to marry an Aztec widow.

Then Barbara decides to use her position to end human sacrifice.




Barbara in her role of Yetaxa
Susan
Ian




Cameca, the Doctor's fiancée
Tlotoxl, High Priest of Sacrifice, who opposes Barbara
Autloc, High Priest of Knowledge, who supports her




Tonila, a priest of Knowledge, charged with taking care of ...
The Perfect Victim
Ixta, Ian's rival




Group shot


Next episode
Strangers in Space

[Mason]

Sterling work, as usual, Steve!

Wonderful vision rendered in miniature!
 

[fastolfrus]

Fantastic stuff! 

This Dr. Who stuff is so original and strange. It's great.

Definitely a breath of fresh air over the "same old same old".

Love it. 

So original and breath of fresh air from a tv show that was broadcast in 1964? You've missed loads of interesting ideas by being over the pond.

But some cracking models - would love to have the painting/modelling ability to do those.

[Traveler Man]

Really nice work! 

[fastolfrus]

Yet they co-starred with the Daleks in what may have been the first piece of Doctor Who spin-off fiction, serialised on Cadet Sweet Cigarette cards (art by Richard Jennings) in 1964 ...

I'd completely forgotten the Cadet card set, I preferred the 1967 Walls Sky Ray set (perhaps because I got closer to completing that set, there were only 30 compared to the Cadet 50, or it may be the more vibrant colours)

Although the Walls set could give you a few modelling challenges - thinking of the machines that look like robotic insects

[aggro84]

The Dr. Who Aztecs are wonderful. 
I'm really impressed!

[oxiana]

Ah, Steve – I was wondering when these were going to make their debut!

Splendid stuff, as always. Some fine conversions. I especially love poor Cameca. Lovely painting. Great painting all round actually – you must have had a lot of fun with those fabrics. Unless you actually drove yourself mad, in which case my sympathies! 

[Steve F]

Thanks for the kind words, folks.

you must have had a lot of fun with those fabrics. Unless you actually drove yourself mad, in which case my sympathies! 

Painting the textiles was indeed fun.  It was the conversion work that drove me mad.  I'm a very cack-handed putty pusher; if I try to do too much on a figure at one go, I inevitably squish and smear anything that hasn't set yet.  So all those jewels and cloaks and loincloths and feathers meant that this was a very slow job indeed.

The next story is easier: all the models have already been converted (indeed, two of them are just as they came from the blister pack) and undercoated, and I finished painting five of them after I put my photography set-up away today.

I'd completely forgotten the Cadet card set, I preferred the 1967 Walls Sky Ray set (perhaps because I got closer to completing that set, there were only 30 compared to the Cadet 50, or it may be the more vibrant colours)

I love Patrick Williams's artwork on the Sky Ray set.  He also did Doctor Who comic strips for TV Comic Annuals and Summer Specials (for the weekly, he drew The Avengers and Adam Adamant Lives!).  His composition, figurework and line are all so lively and vibrant.  But fidelity to the source material was obviously not his priority.

For those of you who haven't seen the Sky Ray cards, this site has scans of the booklet into which they were supposed to be pasted, with all the cards in place:
http://dalektricity.wordpress.com/dalek-books/dr-whos-space-adventure-book/

Here's a taster.