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Showing posts with label diorama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label diorama. Show all posts

Saturday, April 27, 2019

"Fett's Escape" by Bad Batch Customs



In the "We Backed The Barge" Facebook group, Dad recently joked about blowing up HasLab's crowdfunded Sail Barge. Well, as promised, we give you a video of Bad Batch Customs latest creation which recently brought the iconic Sail Barge explosion to life in Bad Batch's beautiful "Fett's Escape" diorama complete with a "removable" Sarlacc Pit that separates completely from the desert terrain piece and functions as a diorama all its own. The Sarlacc Pit also features a wonderful Boba Fett action figure posed inside tentacles which were hand sculpted to fit around him during his escape. Best of all, for those currently screaming sacrilege at the top of their lungs, the original Hasbro Sail Barge (Jabba's Khetanna) was not harmed in any way. The pieces of the diorama that depict damage are all removable accessories. The sails were hand made from red fabric and weathered by hand. The original red sails still remain intact for complete assembly in its original form upon release.  The side and front panels are also simply resting in place on the Barge creating the illusion of damage without having to modify it in any way. Just some light coming out from the inside and strategic panel placement was all that was needed to create the disheveled appearance of the wreckage.  If you look close he even took the time make a Tusken Raider hut to fill the diorama's space.



"Fett's Escape" by Bad Batch Customs






@badbatchcustoms on Instagram


Monday, June 26, 2017

"2X-3KPR Security Patrol Droid" created by Elias

This was a droid that was only shown for a few seconds in A New Hope after R2-D2 escapes the Lars Homestead and Luke uses his binoculars to scan the horizon to search for him. While this random droid wasn't really on our radar initially, Hole In The Ground Productions had a cool resin cadt kit available at their web store, and it was just the small push we needed to add this cool piece to our home display.

2X-3KPR was owned by Owen Lars prior to the Battle of Yavin. It was responsible for patrolling the boundaries of the Lars moisture farm at night. It had been programmed to activate alarm sensors, security lighting and power fences located around the farm for this task.

It was destroyed, however, when sandtroopers came to the homestead searching for R2-D2 and C-3PO and killed Luke Skywalker's adoptive parents in broad daylight.

Elias assembled the kit and painted it up in only a few short hours. All he had to do was add the gun and the wiring from some pieces we had in our fodder.  He couldn't be any more pleased with the results!


"2X-3KPR Security Patrol Droid"
created by Elias






SKILL LEVEL: BEGINNER



Light Bulb Bot

For when you just really need a roving light bulb patrolling your homestead. This little guy comes in two or three unpainted pieces and is approximately the same size as the Stove-Bot. Two different versions are available. The standard version or with a separately clear cast bulb.

$10 (standard)
$15 (clear dome)









Saturday, June 17, 2017

Diorama Building Interview Part Two with Ron Hembling aka HemblesCreations

For the second installment of my project for school that I recently just completed we'll be showcasing the second part of my interview series. For my project, I had to teach myself a new skill and then do a presentation in front of my class about the learning process.  For my presentation, I chose diorama building. Besides making a diorama of my own, part of that project also required me to conduct some interviews with some individuals involved in diorama building. This post is the second of the two interviews, and it is with none other than Ron Hembling.

Ron Hembling aka HemblesCreations is a name that almost every Star Wars customizer knows. He's famous for creating lifelike dioramas filled with custom action figures that are among some of the best ever made. This Australian native is definitely within the ranks of the top three Star Wars customizers of all-time. His paint applications add so much realism with their masterful weathered appearance. I can recognize a HemblesCreations piece immediately because there is no one else out there quite like him. He has a signature look that creates such uniformity when looking at all his pieces as a group. They would all display so well next to each other. HemblesCreations work is consistently classy. One masterpiece after another. I love the way he captures and exhibits the world that Lucas created.

Ron is unique in the community for sometimes turning his super-articulated action figures into frozen statuettes. Once he poses an action figure in his diorama and gets it into its desired position, he will sculpt over the joints and hide the parts of the action figure that take away from the sculpts sense of realism. By the time he finishes hiding all the lines in the figure that could only come off a machined assembly line, HemblesCreations has a piece like the ones pictured below.

This artist really shows his mastery by being able to work within so many different scales. Ron's been one of the most supportive members I've come across in the custom action figure community, and talents like his don't come around as often as we all wish they would.

We actually posted some of his recent YouTube tutorial videos here on our blog for the excellent educational content that they offered.

This time around I thought it would be nice to share with you all the interview that I conducted with Ron on diorama building and



What got you into diorama building in the first place?

My dad got me into the hobby back when I was about 12 years old, he was always building military models from tanks to ships. When I wanted to start making them he gave me a kit and taught me how to cut and clean the pieces, how to paint, and how to make all my diorama parts from scratch, as at that time there wasn't really a market out there selling diorama kits.

Then, over the years, with what he taught me, I went a step further, and added to that by developing my own style and techniques to the ones that he had taught me.

What about diorama building interests you?

The main thing that interests myself in diorama building is to work out how I'm going to have a diorama look so that is looks as realistic as possible, so it just doesn't look like a plastic figure or vehicle sitting a base.

Why build Star Wars dioramas?

I love building Star Wars dioramas because there is such a huge diversity within the Star Wars universe that there are no limitations on what you can build. I could build a Stormtrooper on Endor and then my next diorama I do, I could have a Stormtrooper on Jedha as there is so much Star Wars can offer in building dioramas. You can even build your style of planet for a diorama. The possibilities are endless.

How many different types of dioramas are there?
There are hundreds of different types of dioramas from all types of genres and these are just a few, dinosaur, space, sci-fi, military, trains, planes, boats, cars, water and the list goes on and on.

What brands of materials would you recommend for each of the different projects you could do?

That is a very good question as you use all types of different materials for different dioramas and the list is huge. You can use balsa wood, plastic card, cardboard, wire, straws, plaster of paris, spakfilla, lids, containers and paints. You can also use real earth materials like I do such as grass, branches, dirt, sand, twigs, rocks and leaves it really just depends on what type of diorama scene you are wanting to make.

What tips would you give novices, they wouldn't learn otherwise?

The best tips I can give a novice is to plan your diorama, the internet is a fantastic place for research as there are millions of picture subjects that you can choose from be it from a desert diorama to a water diorama. But the ultimate research is studying real life scenery, just go outside and look around your own backyard or local park. Going outside you can see how things look naturally, such as the base of a tree. Have a close look and it's not just a tree pushed into the ground it as grass growing around it, it has dirt and could even have moss on it. Also practice before you start on a diorama as this will help you learn how to place materials on your diorama to make it look life like.

How long (on average) would a large (2' by 2') detailed diorama take?


On average for myself a 2' x 2' detailed diorama will take me about 30 hrs all up. I plan days even weeks ahead of how I want a diorama to look and then I start the research part of the project by gathering pictures and reference material.

About 2 weeks before I start the diorama, I will collect all the materials and products I need to make it. Once I have collected them all, I then work out how I want the diorama to look. When I'm happy, I then make the figures and/or  vehicles, paint and weather them,  and then start on the diorama itself.



What difficulties might one come across while constructing some of the dioramas you create?

These myself are the most difficult things that I have come across in my time building dioramas. They are time itself, as real life problems do occur, your diorama will be put on hold due to real problems. You can also became unmotivated when building a diorama as it might be taking longer then expected, or you need more materials, so you need to wait for them to arrive.

But the biggest difficulty is when you're building a diorama, you don't like the way it is looking, so you need to step back, and look on how you can fix the problem by either taking it apart and move things about, or start all over again.

About how many dioramas have you built (including the very, very small ones)?
I have built well over 500 diorama's from little 1:72 scale all the way thru to 1:6 scale.


Out of the dioramas you have made, which one/s is/are your favorite?

I have two favourites the first one is an Indiana Jones diorama of Indy on horse back 1:18 scale from Raiders as it is such an Iconic look for Indy. The second one would have to be a 2 in 1 diorama of two Sandtroopers, one on a dewback, and one standing next to them in 1:12 scale as Sandtroopers are my favourite troopers, and the diorama just looks awesome.



How long did it take to build your favorite diorama?

The most favourite and longest build was the Sandtroopers with the dewback diorama that took me over 30 hours all up, as I wanted to make sure that the dewback looked great and also the rock cliff behind the figures looked natural.


What inspired you to create video tutorials on YouTube?

I kept getting emails and PM's and even phone calls about what I use and how I do things with my diorama's that I decided to actually show people what and how I do the things that make up building a diorama.This helped as people could actually see what I was talking and speaking about, and they can actually understand the process better.



How did your diorama building contribute to the filmmaking process?
It helped me by letting people understand what goes into building dioramas, and also let people see more in depth processes that were hard to explain such as how to make mix products and build certain things such as walls and trees.

What do you think is the hardest part of building a diorama?
I think the hardest part of diorama building is getting the layout and feel of it correct. You can have an amazing looking figure or vehicle but it can get lost if you over power the diorama with to many things on it as the main focus point is that figure or vehicle that you built.

The other thing is that you want your diorama to tell a story, for example you have built a diorama and I see it for the first time and say to myself,  "Hey that figure is doing that, or that vehicle is doing this without you having to tell me." This comes down to what you have on your diorama and that all the elements are positioned correctly.

Have you gotten any surprising feedback from your diorama tutorials?
I have indeed, I have gotten great feedback from people saying thank you for showing them how to do certain subjects so that they can make their own. On the other foot. I have had people tell me to stop making them as I shouldn't give my secrets away, LOL, I just ignore them, as this is an awesome hobby, and the more people learn how to do things, the more they will show what they have done.



What do you think is the most useful skill in diorama building?

The most useful skill you can have is patience, because if you don't have that, you will always build crappy dioramas, as will you will always get frustrated if something doesn't go right, so yeah patience is the best skill you can have.

To become a true master of diorama building, how much experience would one need?
Very, very good question, I honestly don't think there is such a word as a true master diorama builder, as you are always learning new techniques and ways of doing things. To get to where I am in building dioramas today, it has taken me 37 years, and as I mentioned, I still learn something everyday, so I think it depends on the individual, how much do they want to do the hobby, and how much effort they are willing to put in.

Prime example is yourself, I remember when you started making action figures to where you are now. Your skills have grown 1000 times better and that is over only a couple of years, so in all essence, you can be called a true master, it's honestly up to the individual.



Are there any other things you'd like to add?

Yeah only two things, Have fun and ask questions about the hobby, because if you don't have fun doing, you will quickly start to hate doing it and there is an old saying, If you don't ask you won't know so ask as many questions as you can until you are happy.

Thanks for letting me be a part of this school assignment mate and good luck and look forward to seeing your next build.

Cheers,
Ron

I can't thank Ron enough for helping me get an "A" on my project and for taking time out of his busy schedule to help a kid in middle school with a class project.

I highly recommend you all follow the work of HemblesCreations at the links below!


HemblesCreations 






Watch his videos at the link below:




Thursday, December 22, 2016

"SABINE WREN - IMPERIAL PROPAGANDA/ REBEL GRAFFITI" DIORAMA created by Darth Daddy

So, we never made a diorama before, but we figured there is no better time than the present.  We received some styrofoam sheets as packing material from some recently shipped Christmas gifts and with a little bit of plaster, toothpicks, paint and some duplicate stickers we got from some packs of Star Wars Rebels Topps trading cards, we made a fun diorama that we really love!

We used some glue to attach the styrofoam sheets and reinforced the connection by pushing toothpicks vertically into the wall from underneath the floor. When the glue set, we coated the walls and the floor with a thin coat of plaster.  After we painted what we had beige and did a light wash of brown, we then measured the diorama for the preferred sticker placement. Once the stickers were applied, we painted in the remaining graffiti onto the walls from where they were cut off from the sticker. To make the Rebel symbol match the symbols in the sticker carry onto the wall, we did a color photocopy of the original sticker and cut out the symbol we needed and then glued it into place to finish the piece.

We really like the design because by placing the wall in the center of the floor, you get two dioramas in one; almost a before and after display.



"SABINE WREN - IMPERIAL PROPAGANDA" DIORAMA
created by Darth Daddy



Time to hang some Imperial posters.










Sabine gives the posters her own personal touch.






SKILL LEVEL: ADVANCED








Sunday, November 1, 2015

"ECHO BASE COMPUTER CONSOLES" painted by Elias

Elias was really happy to embellish his Echo Base shelf with some new accessories to enhance his display.  These beefy computer consoles have engraved detail on front and sides. We chose to grab a monitor offset to both the left and right. The monitors included decals for 4 different consoles so we could mix and match for tons of options! The consoles measure 2.25" wide x 2" deep x 4.75" tall.  

Elias recently purchased and customized Hole In the Ground's "Echo Base Computer Consoles" and he couldn't be happier with his decision.  For those active in fan forums, you are probably already familiar with the awesome diorama pieces that Hole In the Ground Productions offers to fellow collectors. Hole In the Ground's offerings are just too cool to not be part of any Star Wars 3.75″ collection. 



"ECHO BASE COMPUTER CONSOLES"
painted by Elias












SKILL LEVEL: BEGINNER



PURCHASE CASTS BELOW:








Sunday, September 8, 2013

CAFN Episode 59: Galactic Merchants









CAFN Episode 59: Galactic Merchants



Wow, what a great podcast Custom Action Figure News had with Casey, lead designer for Galactic Merchants: creators of the great new Space Station and Space Cruiser Action Figure Display Dioramas for your 3 3/4" figures. Needless to say they covered the ins and outs of these great new diorama offerings, covered just a ton of member questions, and even talked about future action figure display dioramas. Lets just say we were left just as excited, if not more so, after the interview than we started out being.



















If you haven't seen the brand new and improved CAFN Page yet, be sure to give it a look.




Go here to listen to the Custom Action
Figure News podcast: 




If there is anything you would like them to feature on a future podcast be sure to let them know at:

Sunday, June 30, 2013

EMPIRE TOY WORKS added to "CUSTOMS I WISH I OWNED"


Yes, usually "Customs I Wish I Owned" features Star Wars custom action figure artists, but this time we could not help but feature a diorama artist that created the mother of all sci-fi playsets.  EMPIRE built a spaceport for his two young sons and pulled out all the stops.

About 99% of the structure is wood, mainly a mix of 5/8" plywood for the actual buildings and 3/4" for the landing platforms. Most all the piping, panels, circuit boxes, furniture, cabinets and other greeblies are wood also. EMPIRE TOY WORKS can usually do the construction of a building within an afternoon but the interior layout, painting, details and props/furniture can take a week or so.....usually longer because he works on about 6 different sections at the same time plus he didn't really draw up any plans ahead of time. Each building can be removed so the whole playset is basically modular. By the time EMPIRE TOY WORKS had built the 3rd or 4th building, he realized the whole thing was pretty much going to be a 3 dimensional jigsaw puzzle. So far, it all measures about 6 feet long, around 3 feet wide and 5 feet tall.....yeah, it takes up a little bit of space, but several kids can play on it at the same time.  Built on top of a Thomas the Train Engine track table that his children out grew, EMPIRE TOY WORKS decided to just build on top of it to keep the diorama all contained. It reminded him of an oil platform and he thought that would make a neat idea for a shanty town built atop some giant abandoned mining rig. He figured if he built the buildings completely separate of each other with out test fitting then it might give a bit more random haphazard appearance as he wanted the spaceport to look. Once the large buildings were in place then he could see what gaps he had available to add more structures. Since he started running out of space, the whole playset grew upward in levels and EMPIRE TOY WORKS started bridging platforms with stairs and catwalks. It was really more of a free build situation and just see what happens.  EMPIRE stacked the modules as high as he needed because with the structure made of plywood, he could attach the individual buildings in odd ways but the entire structure would still be strong enough to support a Millennium Falcon or any other over-sized ship or building.  EMPIRE TOY WORKS caught his 6 year old standing in the middle of the street level one day, and when he asked what his son was doing, he told him, he was Godzilla. EMPIRE TOY WORKS kinda knew then that it would probably survive at least a few years.

This spaceport started out with the idea of being basically a nexus of all sci-fi worlds. EMPIRE TOY WORKS kids play this way anyway, (EMPIRE TOY WORKS does too) mixing all their 3.75" toylines into their adventures. If every sci-fi universe were a major city then this spaceport would be a back roads truck stop where your action figures can all converge, refuel, pick up supplies, get drunk, have an alien tryst, and get into a gun fight. This also frees EMPIRE TOY WORKS from anything needing to be screen or story accurate. Basically anything goes when it comes to the design theme of the whole structure. He wanted something along the lines of Mos Eisley meets Blade Runner meets Deadwood. EMPIRE TOY WORKS thought the name "Rot Gut Station" sounded great for this.



ROT-GUT STATION (Spaceport Playset) 
 created by EMPIRE TOY WORKS




This diorama is just packed full of cool environments. The diner you can access from the back of the bar. It's all a marketing ploy, place the only true restaurant on the station where you have to walk past the bar to get to it. However, they do serve actual waffles there. There is also a spiraling tower directly above the bar along with the gun shack. The doctors office lobby is a lot of fun. EMPIRE TOY WORKS did a search for medical wartime propaganda posters and medical lobby posters and found some great material. Sure it's skirting the line of "mature" a little bit but he figured the playset will "grow" with the kids as they get the in-jokes hidden around the spaceport. EMPIRE TOY WORKS just recently released pictures of the Council Chamber/Courthouse building. He wanted something for all the political robed figures to gather in with out needing to build an immense Galactic Senate chamber. He figured it would make a neat conference room for crime bosses or shady senators. Plus he wanted it to perform double duty as a courthouse setting. (EMPIRE TOY WORKS loves those random "on trial" episodes you see on Farscape and Star Trek etc.) He figured with the spaceport being somewhat less refined than a more "civilized" outpost, that the courtroom would probably have ads posted within it, sort of like a little league ball field.  Just below the courthouse is the jail, cargo bay and garage. EMPIRE TOY WORKS had no intention of building the entire 3 room wing off the side of the playset table, but when he finished constructing the courthouse he realized that it was WAY bigger than he thought it was going to be, much heavier too. The new section was built to support the courthouse but EMPIRE TOY WORKS really dug how it turned out, and a jail adds a bunch of adventure possibilities especially for a small city. He originally was going to do an actual cell with bars and a locking door but once locked up, it's difficult to interact with the figures that are in the jail. The cheap, easy and effective "sci-fi force field" seemed to work much better. Plus it gave him a way of attaching and hiding the lights behind the force "ring".  EMPIRE TOY WORKS's still adding more to the cargo bay but his kids realized it made a great getaway route when breaking out of jail and jumping off the loading dock onto a waiting speeder.  To the left of the jail is a garage/launch bay for a Police cruiser. A Robocop Police Jet fits the bill nicely. EMPIRE TOY WORKS will be adding a catwalk from the jail to the garage.  One of our favorite additions is a docking port for TIE fighters off the edge of the main landing platform. Basically the rear end of the TIE's old battery compartment slips right into the socket and it places the hatch at a convenient easy in easy out level for the pilot. It also frees up a good chunk of platform area for other ships. I really loved the 7-Eleven news stand and Wang's Taco's.  We were really excited when we saw he posted pictures of the inside of the Hotel too.

A lot of the detail work like grime on the walls or slight shadows where edges meet are just quick dry brushing techniques, usually taking no real time at all. The posters, place mats, signs, banners, the vending machine etc. are just grabbed from image searches, re-sized or manipulated, printed from EMPIRE TOY WORKS's home printer and then glued directly to the painted wood surfaces. He uses either spray adhesive on the back or super-glue over the paper to give it a slight sheen with a worn thru appearance. The cash registers in Mel's Diner and The Blue Waffle are from a couple of Playmobil school cafeteria sets. The cash registers in the 7-11 and the Toy Barn are wood that he just sanded in to shape. The computer with keyboard in the med center came from a dollhouse miniatures shop.  The vending machine and arcade games are actually pieces of a 2x4. He just cut the basic shape, sanded it all smooth, printed a little artwork and glued it to the wood.  He found tons of great items in dollhouse shops like miniature pots and pans, coffee cup, food, bottles etc. Oh and everything, minus the obvious action figures and vehicles, is basically glued, screwed or pegged in place.  This way the kids won't lose all the little bits and EMPIRE TOY WORKS won't have to set it up more than once. His kids do have a box of random items and props they can use and setup in the playset like fire extinguishers, tools, storage boxes, flashlights etc. He also used industrial strength double-sided mounting tape to lock down some items where it's too awkward to put a peg or screw down. The items won't break free unless it is pried loose with a blade.

This is by far the coolest action figure playset that we have ever seen and it's a more than worthy addition to our "Customs I Wish I Owned" page.





Saturday, September 24, 2011

THE BUDGET JEDI

Dad has always been very intimidated about creating a diorama. That is until he saw the Youtube videos of The Budget Jedi. At the time we are writing this, The Budget Jedi has 8,690 channel views and 19,085 total upload views, and he has quite a loyal following with 532 subscribers.

Not Always Poor, but Always Frugal? The Budget Jedi shares tips and tricks on Toy Collecting Fun on the Cheap! Previously budgetjedi on Youtube, his channel mostly contains dioramas, deal finds on toys, and random fun stuff that he likes to share with his audience. Mostly Star Wars and some hauls. He also shows some Batman, Marvel, DC and Transformers!

We viewed these videos below that he created and wanted to share this talented artist with you all so you can make some cool Star Wars on the cheap too!


Boba Fett's "Sarlacc Escape" Display






"Darth Maul Duel" Vol 1: Diorama in the Making






"Darth Maul Duel" Vol 2: Diorama Final Display





Check out his Youtube Channel below: