In Progress » Dagobah Diorama » Layout and Yoda’s Hut

I have a new commission project that I’ve decided to start while working on my Pumpkin Girl figure. My client (who also bought my Slave 1 kit) wants a large 1/48 scale diorama of Yoda lifting the X-Wing from the swamp as seen in the Empire Strikes Back. I’ll be using the 1/48 scale Fine Molds X-Wing and included R2-D2, but everything else (Luke, Yoda, Yoda’s Hut) needs to be created from scratch. In this scene, Yoda and R2 will be on the shore while Luke comes out of the trees (after his little hissy-fit) to see the X-Wing floating through the air. The X-Wing will be held aloft by clear rod hidden in streams of water drips.

To start the layout process I asked at the StarShipModeler forums what the size of the 1/48 X-Wing was while waiting for mine to arrive. Once I had that info (27.5cm long and 23cm wide — thanks robiwan!) I was able to rough out the approximate dimensions of the base which is going to be 13″ x 24″. I took a large piece of drawing paper and made a rough layout in red marker. Later I added changes in blue. We needed more room for the X-Wing to “land” even though in that scene there doesn’t seem to be any. Cinema magic!

I figured that aside from putting some of the X-Wing together, I should make Yoda’s Hut and that would help with the overall layout. According to some Star Wars books I didn’t buy at Barnes and Nobel, Yoda’s Hut wasn’t anywhere near this scene, but the client and I agree that it’s too cool not to add in there.

I started by making some sketches in-scale using the R2-D2 figure as a size reference as I have several images of him at the hut.Then I looked through my “elementals” bin and found some easter-eggs and what I can only assule is some leftover Bondo I put into one. I taped and foiled them together into a shape about the rough size of the hut.

Next I covered the entire structure with some more foil then a thin layer of Sculpy III I had leftover from other projects.This was done rough as later I planned to thicken  and texture it.

I baked this part then removed the bondo/egg core. Then I began to add the detail of the structure such as the door and side-room.

Lastly I ran out of leftover Sculpy III so I went to Michaels and got a large block of Super Sculpy. It’s okay. I’ve gotten some tips today to make using it better. I used this new sculpy to create the rest of the hut texture and detail. Later I’ll add the roots that cover it as well as more texture with Mr. Surfacer.

Now that the hut is pretty much constructed I used it and the partially-built X-Wing to once again rough-lay out the scene on some 1/2″ thick MDF. Next I’ll use more 1/4″ MDF to build up the layers. I want this to be strong as it will be traveling a few hundred miles to its final destination.