Jabba The Hutt Diorama (The Viewing Frame WIP)

GubernatorFan wrote:Looking gorgeous!

skywalkersaga wrote:Just keeps getting better and better! : )

Thanks.

Cleaned up the last of the arches, now I have to wait for the spackle to cure. I'll be starting on the Carbonite platforms next.

Final arches next to the band. Tomorrow I'll start on the other pieces (like the band riser, as well).

This new photo really conveys the impression of a realistic, nearly complete structure.

Thanks, Guv. That’s high praise, indeed; I was a little concerned it was going to look haphazard— like it was just random shapes thrown together.

Oh wow, you're on a roll! And I agree with GF that it has an 'architectural' feel to it for sure.

This is gonna be epic, the latest photo you shared is awesome!!!

Great ! Ah, McQuarrie. Without him there will be no Star Wars movie like we love it. I see all the walls in Jabbas Palace are in level at the top. You like to give the dio a ceiling plate ? You can fix a Lamp there, like in MacQuarries Concept Art... could give the scene a nice light

Ephiane wrote:Great ! Ah, McQuarrie. Without him there will be no Star Wars movie like we love it. I see all the walls in Jabbas Palace are in level at the top. You like to give the dio a ceiling plate ? You can fix a Lamp there, like in MacQuarries Concept Art... could give the scene a nice light

I concurr, the rare dioramas or setups where I could put a roof gave the best results in terms of light and realism!

skywalkersaga wrote:Oh wow, you're on a roll! And I agree with GF that it has an 'architectural' feel to it for sure.

blackpool wrote:This is gonna be epic, the latest photo you shared is awesome!!!

Ephiane wrote:Great ! Ah, McQuarrie. Without him there will be no Star Wars movie like we love it. I see all the walls in Jabbas Palace are in level at the top. You like to give the dio a ceiling plate ? You can fix a Lamp there, like in MacQuarries Concept Art... could give the scene a nice light

blackpool wrote:

Ephiane wrote:Great ! Ah, McQuarrie. Without him there will be no Star Wars movie like we love it. I see all the walls in Jabbas Palace are in level at the top. You like to give the dio a ceiling plate ? You can fix a Lamp there, like in MacQuarries Concept Art... could give the scene a nice light

I concurr, the rare dioramas or setups where I could put a roof gave the best results in terms of light and realism!

Thanks, everyone. Appreciate it.

Yes, indeed, there will be a “top” (ceiling), but my intent is to paint it flat mat black — more or less to represent the end of the diorama, but to also help lock in the different structural pieces, and to hide lights above it. Looking at as many stills as I could find — it looks like there were “skylights” in the throne room running parallel to each other starting from the steps where Luke enters, over the Rancor pit grating, and going over to the Han in Carbonite display. Whether they were skylights or hangin lamps, I honestly don’t know — as there’s never really a shot that far up to show what was going on — probably because of the set rigging and studio ceiling. The McQaurrie painting shows a lamp, which would be cool, but since I’m not actually going as high up as the “actual” ceiling, I figured it would make more sense to have lights hidden above the diorama ceiling in order to replicate the look of the skylights that left large conjoined circular spots on the sandy floor.

Your 1:6 Model looks like higher than MacQuarries Concept Art, i think. But i try to log in Star Wars the old republic with my fat Twi´lek Character, travel to Jabbas Palace and take a look at his Ceiling

you KOTOR? I used to a while back, had a smuggler posse with a few friends...

blackpool wrote:you KOTOR? I used to a while back, had a smuggler posse with a few friends...

Sorry for offtopic, but it´s still Star Wars Theme

I try all the MMOS of each genre to get inspirations for my figures. There are some different MMO´s with that name. I was in Star Wars the old republic, i think. For to get inspirations and Roleplay. I mean this one...

This was interesting, Ephiane. I don't get into the Extended Universe (RIP), games, Prequel Trilogy, or Sequel Trilogy much, but I did enjoy it, all the while thinking "What a beautiful piece of derivative art!" (I don't mean that as a put down, exactly.) The feel of it, however, was more Prequel Trilogy and Sequel Trilogy (although in fairness, that was probably influenced by this rather than the other way round, given the dates) than Original Trilogy for my personal taste. But still, beautifully done, despite some of the inherent saga silliness and situational plot rehash. I agree that these elaborate derivatives lend themselves to being inspirational, in part by being inspired themselves. Now that I've said, it I don't know if this makes sense.

My god man, I am so freakin in awe of this. It is looking PERFECT. That textured wallpaper is so ideal too, and such an inspired idea. I can't even get over how clean looking the quality of craftsmanship is on this. Seriously just floored. Can't wait to see it finished.

ReverendSpooky wrote:My god man, I am so freakin in awe of this.  It is looking PERFECT.  That textured wallpaper is so ideal too, and such an inspired idea.  I can't even get over how clean looking the quality of craftsmanship is on this.  Seriously just floored.  Can't wait to see it finished.

Thank you, my friend. Glad to see you with us again. (And really looking forward to your elevator shoot).

The final structural pieces have been texturized -- just need to clean up the edges; then I can start on the floor (grating) trap door cutout, the surrounding walls and the ceiling.

Good progress. Perhaps I missed it or just plain forgot -- why does the surface of the stairs differ, and will it be repainted so that everything matches (if need be)?

The surface of the stairs all over the place had a dot-pattern texture on them -- they generally blended in, due to lighting, and much of them had sand scattered all over them as well. I'm assuming the original intent was probably a safety feature for the masked performers to prevent them from falling and getting hurt.

Stryker2011 wrote:The surface of the stairs all over the place had a dot-pattern texture on them -- they generally blended in, due to lighting, and much of them had sand scattered all over them as well. I'm assuming the original intent was probably a safety feature for the masked performers to prevent them from falling and getting hurt.

Thanks for the explanation, which makes sense. I was actually wondering if you were trying to keep your action figures from slipping.

Your attention to detail is pretty impressive there, Stryker — I feel like most people would have just made it smooth or just sort of fudged it, but you really went out of the way to capture even the surface/texture of the floor. Kudos! : D

GubernatorFan wrote:

Stryker2011 wrote:The surface of the stairs all over the place had a dot-pattern texture on them -- they generally blended in, due to lighting, and much of them had sand scattered all over them as well. I'm assuming the original intent was probably a safety feature for the masked performers to prevent them from falling and getting hurt.

Thanks for the explanation, which makes sense. I was actually wondering if you were trying to keep your action figures from slipping.

That too, I guess. I think once it's painted the traction factor is probably going to disappear, though.

If I had really planned ahead, I would have made everything out of magnetic metal and then put magnets in the bottoms of everyone's feet. As it is it's going to be difficult to keep some of these figures standing. Boushh is a typically bad Sideshow body and wants to fall over no matter what. Bossk has fallen once already, and I'm more than a little worried about IG-88 (he's just so damn brittle).

skywalkersaga wrote:Your attention to detail is pretty impressive there, Stryker — I feel like most people would have just made it smooth or just sort of fudged it, but you really went out of the way to capture even the surface/texture of the floor. Kudos! : D

Thanks, S. I wish I could take credit for it, but it was actually brought to my attention by a member of the Freaks board who made his own Jabba diorama for Sideshow's first version years ago. He supplied me with the pictures so that I could see first-hand ('cause like most people I missed it, too) that the steps around the throne room were indeed textured. He even pointed me in the direction of the drawer lining material (from Ikea) to get the appropriate size dots.

I still have some of that drawer liner material available -- and a whole other roll (I wasn't sure how much I was going to need) -- if anyone wants some for their own Jabba displays (assuming anyone else wants to try their hand at it). Just let me know.

This is looking SO good!

CHEERS!

Rogerbee wrote:This is looking SO good!

CHEERS!

Thank you, Roger.

Edge clean up complete. Working on the curtains for the back arch next to the Han display.

Stryker2011 wrote:

GubernatorFan wrote:

Stryker2011 wrote:The surface of the stairs all over the place had a dot-pattern texture on them -- they generally blended in, due to lighting, and much of them had sand scattered all over them as well. I'm assuming the original intent was probably a safety feature for the masked performers to prevent them from falling and getting hurt.

Thanks for the explanation, which makes sense. I was actually wondering if you were trying to keep your action figures from slipping.

 That too, I guess. I think once it's painted the traction factor is probably going to disappear, though.

If I had really planned ahead, I would have made everything out of magnetic metal and then put magnets in the bottoms of everyone's feet. As it is it's going to be difficult to keep some of these figures standing. Boushh is a typically bad Sideshow body and wants to fall over no matter what. Bossk has fallen once already, and I'm more than a little worried about IG-88 (he's just so damn brittle).

An unexpected bonus of a dio like this is that you'll probably have less breakage issues with figures displayed in it. Since it's a deep environment, you won't feel the need to display as close to the front, so you'll have less worry about tumbling off to the floor (the real figure killer). And the hollow structures, as well as the thickness of a textured wallpaper, I think would actually make a hell of a lot softer landing that a solid wood table or shelf.

dang, I never noticed all these details in the movies (OK, it's been YEARS since I've watched the first movies, need to re-watch!) But your textures are amazing! Will you be putting sand everywhere? If so, what will you use to get the texture down to scale?

ReverendSpooky wrote:An unexpected bonus of a dio like this is that you'll probably have less breakage issues with figures displayed in it.  Since it's a deep environment, you won't feel the need to display as close to the front, so you'll have less worry about tumbling off to the floor (the real figure killer).  And the hollow structures, as well as the thickness of a textured wallpaper, I think would actually make a hell of a lot softer landing that a solid wood table or shelf.  

Yeah, I'm hoping once I build the surrounding cabinet and have the glass front, I won't have to mess with them too much -- it's going to be a challenge to open the thing to put them back up if they topple over.

Peaches wrote:dang, I never noticed all these details in the movies (OK, it's been YEARS since I've watched the first movies, need to re-watch!) But your textures are amazing!  Will you be putting sand everywhere?  If so, what will you use to get the texture down to scale?

Well, my structures are sort of my own set up. The Main Arch over Jabba's throne isn't exactly the same as the one from the movie. The "texture" details are as close to film accurate as I could make them, however. I was planning on using "Craft Sand" to spread out on the "ground" level and on some of the other surfaces -- but now I don't know; shazzdan suggested another technique that sounds kind of cool -- but I haven't had a chance to look into it yet. The key is I don't want loose sand everywhere -- I pretty much want it glued down so it doesn't move, but has a natural look to it. I've even been contemplating using Vallejo Sandy Paste -- a gritty paint. Once it's on, it's not going anywhere.

By the way, the site was down for a bit it seems (or was that just me), so I wasn't able to get on for a couple hours this afternoon. Now, I'm not able to load any photos. WTF?! Guess I need to check what's going on...