Thanks for the great praise guys. Means a lot. I like producing things that people enjoy just as much as I enjoy looking at the products of others. Though I must admit, I can't wait until this sucker is done. I know my wife can’t wait for me to get it off her kitchen counter...
@Lukesprywalker This dio is just your typical foamcore construction. I bought a 2 x 2 x 1/4" piece of plywood to make the base, cut the base down a few inches on one side so it would fit on the shelf, then essentially just created a large box made out of foamcore. I figured I could then “build-in” with architectural details from outside inward. I use both a hot glue gun and spray adhesive (made for styrene). Charcoal auto primer was used to paint the ceiling structure. Common household gloss spray-paint was used for the color of the walls. I used chalk pastels to smudge the walls to give them that dingy look. McDonalds straws and the inserts from aluminum foil rolls were used to create the overhead ducts and pipes. The flooring was made from plastic gridding bought from Michaels (I guess it is used for knitting?? I really have no idea) which was first painted with auto primer then finished with a coat of silver lacquer (the kind that does not need a clear coat). The lighting does two things for me: it sets mood and it hides a few of my minor little mistakes. I am going to devise a parallel circuit of 10mm and 5mm LED lights. I am expecting approximately 27 LEDs when everything is said and done. The steel gantry looking thing hanging from left to right across the garage was made from 3/8" wooden dowels and toothpicks, then painted silver, then that grungy turquoise color. After painting I scratched away some of the top layer of paint to make it appear worn with use (like exposed metal ya know?). The Black Sun banner hanging in the back was cut out from old clothing and the symbol was drawn with a permanent marker.
Most of my "education" on how to build a foamcore structure I have gleaned from tutorials by Frank Diorio, the fine folks on Imperial Shipyards, and the diorama forum on rebelscum. My theory to design an original work that seems coherent with the Star Wars universe is to use an amalgam of different details characteristic of the movie sets. The pipes in the ceiling were inspired by Frank Diorio’s Millenium Falcon Interior, the lights inset into the walls came from the Death Star, the huge garage door emulates a version of a blast door also seen on the Death Star. The upstairs areas will use more details pulled from both the prequel and original trilogy. Hopefully when all is said and done this will be a convincing location from the underworld of Coruscant.
