Geekery: This Steampunk Dalek Could be Yours
Artist Vince Austin is selling his full sized, talking mobile sculpture to one lucky Doctor Who fan.
The Doctor’s greatest enemy has gotten a bit of a make over. This Dalek’s sleek Dalekanium and polycarbide protective metal armor has been replaced by steampunk era copper and brass. You can almost imagine the sound of the steam engines moving it forward.
This sculpture is drive-able. It has cameras on the exterior that hook into monitors that the person piloting it uses to maneuver around. It also has a voice modulated mic the pilot can use to talk to those around them in the Daleks’ signature buzzy tone. Its 24V motor can reach a top speed of 6km/hr (about 3.5 mph).
Austin built it out of recycled materials – including copper – over a six month period with his son. It’s an impressive build. You an see some of the detail – and one of the cameras – in this photo.
It’s perfect for parties, grocery shopping, going to the DMV, encouraging runners to go faster around the streets of your neighborhood… pretty much anything, really.
Austin has offered it up for hire since its completion last year. Now the Perth based artist is selling it for $150,000 US. And, for once, Australians have a distinct price advantage – it will cost over $2k US to ship it to the states or the UK.
What would you use this Dalek for?
