There could easily be another 300-page volume written
on the subject of diorama-building alone, but there have never been dedicated
instructions to apply those techniques to making a Cantina diorama. Here are some helpful tips, as well as items
to consider carefully, before you
jump in headfirst:
Timeline
and Budget
Take the amount of time
that you think a project of this scope will entail, and double it. Now, double that number. Now, take the budget that you estimate for
this project, and double that too. This
should give you a good starting place.
The
Problem of the Unmade Patrons
Before you even consider
the size of your diorama, how accurate do you want it to be? Think down-field, and get used to it, because
this project is going to require psychic foresight of insane proportions. You have to keep in mind that there are still
several pretty conspicuous characters that have never been offered as action figures, and many are in prominent
positions around the bar. Your two choices
are: buy custom figures from someone
(which is fine, but can quickly get expensive), or, get into Action Figure
Customization for yourself. Here is a
short list of several important unmade patrons:
“Flash Gordon Midget” (Rycar Ryjerd), The Tonnika Sisters, Yerka Mig,
Baniss Keeg, and Lirin Car’n, not to mention all of the “Spacemen.” Also, if you plan to make alcoves, and you
want certain aliens (and Band Members) to be in a sitting position, remember
that many Cantina figures do not have knee articulation, and will require
modifications! Again, there are numerous excellent sites to teach you the
basics of customization. My best
tip: collect all of the reference photos
you can find!
Map
and Measure
Find a diagram of the
layout you want to build, or make one.
Write in where each character and piece of furniture will be, and you
will have a blueprint to follow. Next,
you have to calculate your measurements.
This is one of the trickiest parts (unless you are a master draftsman or
architect), because scale is crucial to making a diorama look right. Choose the size for the base of your
diorama. Make sure it is not too big to
display in your desired home for it when you are done, and that it will be
protected from the many, many things that can go wrong (dust being only one).
When you are satisfied with the size of your base, make paper templates
that show the size of the bar or furniture, so that you know how things will be
situated. Trial and error is the best
(and sometimes only) way to accomplish this.
You still want to proceed? Read on…
Scarrviper’s Flickr pages
include several making-of photos, and I recommend viewing them (links in
Bibliography section). They were helpful
enough to get me started, and allowed me to figure certain things out as I went
along. Begin to gather your
materials. You will need a sturdy base
(I chose pegboard because I was originally going to run wires, which turned out
to be pointless), Styrofoam sheets of varying thickness (for main walls), and
an ample supply of foamcore board of varying thickness (for smaller and curved
walls). This is the “visualizing” stage,
where you begin to place the walls, and imagine what the finished product will
look like. Giddiness is part of this stage.
Besides all of the myriad
art supplies you will need, I should point out that you should buy a “flexible
curve,” which is like a rubber-coated, jointed ruler that you can bend into
different positions. They are usually
located with the drafting tools in an office or craft supply store. There are so many curves and arches in this
project; it will be your friend. This may be the most valuable tip I have
given you so far.
Since the bar is going to
be the centerpiece of any Cantina, it makes sense to start there. I built mine on a separate piece of cardboard
where I had already plotted out the dimensions and curves, and hot-glued the
bar directly to that. It’s made of
foamcore, and the beauty of making curved pieces is one of the first things
that the diorama websites will teach you.
Simply put, you score the foamcore with a hobby knife, in increments
(the closeness of the cuts depends on the curve you want to achieve), making
sure to only cut through one side of the board.
Since foamcore is exactly what it sounds like (two boards with foam in
the middle), this will allow you to smoothly bend the material into a perfect
curve or arch. For the bar, you will
need an inner and outer wall (as shown in the first photo). For the inner wall, have the smooth side
facing inward. For the outer wall, it
doesn’t matter, because a veneer will be placed over it anyway. Make the drink dispenser island in exactly
the same way. This should result in an
overwhelming feeling of accomplishment, so take a break. Or two!
For the alcove openings,
make a paper or cardboard template that you can reuse (again, your flexible
curve will be very handy). Trace the
openings onto your walls, and make sure you place them correctly. Then, take a sharp knife and cut away the
openings.
It’s time to make some
decisions, if you haven’t already, about furniture. Cantina tables have been produced by Hasbro:
one was included with the “Brainiac” (Pons Limbic) action figure. I decided to acquire seven of those (three
for alcoves; four for the floor), which took some time. Other people have opted to make their own
tables, using materials such as PVC pipe.
Just keep in mind that they need to be hollow, if you plan to install
lights later on. Benches, however, have
never been produced, and you will need to make your own.
Don’t worry though; it’s
do-able. I solved the problem by using
two craft-store materials: balsa wood and corrugated cardboard sheets. For the balsa wood, you will need both the
wide, thin planks, as well as the small square rods (around ½” square). You will need to make another pattern for the
sides of the bench. Use an action figure
to determine the scale. After the two
sides are carefully cut out and sanded lightly, cut several lengths of the
square rods. These should be as long as
you want the seat to be wide. Between
the two bench sides, hot-glue the rods at the top, middle, and bottom. You will fold the corrugated sheets over this
skeleton to make your bench. These
sheets can be found in the scrapbooking section of the store. They are large squares of thin cardboard, and
covered in corrugation. When
spray-painted dark brown, they look exactly like the Cantina benches. Make as
many as you need.
Of course, some of your
figures will be standing (like Muftak).
Others, especially those in the middle of the barroom, will require
stools. To make the stools, I retained a
few of Hasbro’s superfluous barstools from the figures that included bar
segments, glued a washer to their base, and sprayed the whole thing gray. But let’s not get too far ahead of
ourselves. It is now time to make the
actual alcoves:
These are also foamcore,
and use the same method as before to make them curve. Hot-glue these to each thick wall piece. When both alcoves are attached, your wall
will stand up on its own, which is a bonus.
(My diorama had two sides, with four alcoves, one being for the Cantina
Band.) I should also mention that I did not glue all of my thick wall pieces
together. I wanted a modular Cantina, so
both side alcoves are removable. This
was actually a happy accident, and would allow for different display
alternatives, as the one drawback to this design is that it can be hard to see
inside of the finished alcoves.
You may have noticed, in
the last picture, that the flooring was different. I ended up gluing a sand-colored foamcore
sheet over the pegboard, and then putting down a grid pattern, to simulate the
tile floor. These are square sheets that
come in different sizes, and are also available at a craft store. Their real purpose is for some sort of
rug-hooking type project, and can be found in that area, or close to the
yarn. Cover your entire empty baseboard
with it, and use some spray-glue to make it stick for now. We will revisit the floor a bit later.
Now, it’s time to do some
work to the Cantina walls. This next
step is going to be key in transforming Styrofoam walls into crumbling,
stucco-looking Mos Eisley walls. The
secret is spackling paste, like you would fill a dent or hole in your living
room wall with (and paint over). Buy a
good-sized tub of the stuff, and apply it with your finger to your Cantina
wall, in a side-to-side motion. The good
news is, it’s very difficult to screw this step up, and it looks great. When it’s dry, touch up spots that need it,
and then begin on the inside surfaces, such as the edges and the insides of
your alcoves. You can do this in as many
stages as you want. When dry, the walls
will be sprayed tan with a couple of coats of spray-paint.
The next step is to attach
your outside walls, which will be done with hot glue. You will want to determine where the windows
will be, and cut them out first.
The doorway behind the bar
can also be cut. The trim for the bar
and drink dispenser island is made from electrical cord, and sprayed dark gray.
Between coats of paint, I
went back and filled in seams with more spackling paste. This is a simple step, but contributes
greatly to the look of the finished piece.
And speaking of spackling, you aren’t done with it yet, not by a long
way.
With your finger, begin to
apply spackling to the plastic floor grid, filling each opening. Don’t completely bury it; you want the grid
to show. It’s slow work, but when you
are finished, it will look exactly like square tile.
When this is completed,
it’s time to cover the bar with a veneer.
I used strips of posterboard, with the shiny side carefully spray-painted
in several light coats. This is then
attached with spray-glue.
After this is done, it’s
time for…more spackling! With your
finger, apply along the bottom edges of the bar, both inside and out, up
against the veneer. This is done to hide
any seams, but a bit more can look like sand piled along the edges.
At this point, you should
have what is beginning to look very much like a Cantina taking shape, and you
should cheer.
And now, you are ready to advance
to another grand secret of diorama-making:
dry-brushing. Dry-brushing is
another in the long list of simple steps that achieve great results. You will need to buy a large set of chalk
pastels, which of course are for drawing.
For this project, a set with as many browns, grays, and blacks as
possible would be best. With a sharp hobby
knife, whittle against the squared-off edge of the pastel stick, over a paper
plate, until a pile of powder accumulates.
(Don’t breathe it!) With a dry
paintbrush, you can dip into this pile, and apply it slowly to your painted
“stucco” surfaces. Take a small area at
a time, and work the dust into the crevices.
Do it as many times as you feel is necessary, until the entire surface
is covered. It is then crucial to spray the piece with a
clear-coat. (Note: you do NOT want to buy “glossy,” Testors
makes a wonderful product called “Dull-Cote” that is perfect.) This can be done more than once, and darkens
the areas that have been dry-brushed.
Below is a “before and after” photo of what dry brushing accomplishes:
As you can see, it makes a
dramatic difference. At the top of the
next page is our progress so far. All of
the surfaces are done, and have been dry-brushed several times. At this point, the two back doors were also
cut. I chose a lighter tan for the false
doorways to the “back rooms,” and black for the section behind the drink
dispenser. Strips of the corrugated
cardboard were glued in the doorways.
I wish we were done, I
really do, but the hardest part is yet to come!
[CONTINUED IN PART FIVE]
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