That's weird. Don't know about how to fix it but I would start by taking it off and separating the head from the body. It's only glued. Then you can evaluate just the body.

poor bendy dalek. Look at how it was taken apart to add the motor.

You could possibly fix it with some heat and an improvised mold to help maintain the shape. The problem with plastic is when heated it wants to return to it's original shape (unless it was injection molded that means a flat sheet). So if you don't have something to maintain the structure you'll end up with worse off than when you started.

Call him "Lefty".

The part where it's glued together is the dome part on top. The layers on the bottom are one solid piece. I imagine there was some excessive heat from the lamp on that side of the topper. It's a very soft foamy/plastic.

If you try to heat that up/stretch it out, I can easily see him go from "Lefty" to "WTB DW Topper".

Tape a Viagra on the end of the Eyestalk.... say, "he has issues". Good for a laugh and you'll still have a blast playing.

Best of luck!
faz

It may not be in there now, but a lamp goes on a stick inside the head to light the little red plastic piece in the eyestalk and the red "ears" on the top.

Here's a video showing the light show up there. Motorized or not...the lamp still lit generating heat. There's also a string of 5 (I think 5) lamps along the base of the topper.

faz

Hmm... might be the model railroad kitbasher in me talking out of turn, but if that were mine and I was keen on fixing it, I would cut that sagging center section out and build a new one.

The flared rings look OK, so you'd cut a seam where those rings meet the grid-textured panels. Then remove that warped center section.

Replace that section by building a new one, using patterned styrene sheets available from a hobby shop. Many patterns are available from brick to block to stone, in multiple scales and sizes. You might not find the "exact" match, but something "close enough" to pass is almost assured... and any difference would be far subtler than the Lefty Sag.

The sheets are highly curvable, so use the base of the Dalek and bend the sheet into a continuous ring, glued from the inside.

The half-round columns between the panels can be made with lengths of dowel or tubing. I'm guessing again that Rustoleum Aluminum would be a good color match - since that textured section is shadowed by the rings, again, a shade or two discrepancy would be passable. Or just paint the whole Dalek after you put it all back together.

Anyway, I don't have one of these yet so there might be some quirk that makes this unfeasible. But hopefully that gives you some ideas...

Bondo sounds good. You can use a nylon screen material to act as a patch so you wouldn't have to use a whole lot of bondo? Also, it does generate heat when hardening so test this a little. Probably ok to use. Now that I think about it, fiberglass with resin is the one that really heats up so yeah I'd use bondo.

For what it's worth, the Dalek on my DW had a very similar lean in the base, but I was able to adjust the look a bit from how the top sat when I motorized the Dalek.

The topper is made of vinyl. It's an identical material to what was used to make vinyl model figure kits in the 90's.
Remove it from the game and heat it on the inside with a hair dryer for 1 or 2 minutes until it becomes flexible (careful it will be very hot!) pull it to the shape you want...keep holding it in position and put it into a bucket of ice water to cool it and set the shape. You may need to do this a couple of times, but assuming it's just warped, this will fix it. Go back when done and reinforce this area with some epoxy putty if needed.

Glad to hear Lefty is improving!

Wow! That looks much better! When you get it just right, perhaps you need a little support to keep it from sagging again (we all have "sag" issues).

Stretching with a frame would be ideal, but that's precision work on a non-precise dome.

The only thing I'd wonder about is a compound reacting with the plastic. Bondo/Epoxy generate a lot of heat (could cause to sag more) and have VOCs that may react. That foamy railroad stuff might be a good choice. Test on a small spot near the bottom. Fill in the divots on the inside (a Dalek Head bra).

FWIW, I spent HOURS trimming and tweaking mine to get it over a motorized Dalek assembly. It's weird how the texture of the material changes even within the same thickness of a layer. Can't imaging what causes that. My point being that anchor points inside the head may be very inconsistent and not suitable for frame.

faz

The heat from the lamp inside the plastic head could do it. Add the five GI lamps under the dome.

Now add a weak spot in the casting when it was formed.

If you had a motorized head under there, it could have been done during the install (prior owner). Someone going rambo with a heat gun rather than a hair dryer.

Don't dwell on how Lefty got his gimp.... make him better and play some pinball
faz

This looks great!! Probably a solid case for some LEDs to prevent heat build up inside topper cover.