diorama

The diorama presents the two kind of gunship used by the Republic during the battle of Geonosis flying over a typical landscape of the planete : a rocky esplanade sprinkled by high rocky peaks. I pared down the scene on purpose, allowing the public to focus on the models. And then, the work was easier and faster, that’s why the pared-down style is very useful…

Oh no… A Revell model kit…

The kit I used, manufactured by Revell (“easy kit” series) originally represents the gunship seen in the Clone Wars animated series. This model kit series is still available and shows many issues including ships seen in the late Star Wars movies. If I can avoid those kits, I do because they are way too “toyish” but sometimes, I have no choice… They officially don’t need glue or paint but of course a serious work would require them.

The biggest problem of these kits is the lack of care with details and accuracy. Other problems occure with the fixation pins replacing the glue and the hinges intended for making the model a toy (doors and cockpit are to be opening) and they are equally annoying . Nice when you want to play with, a pain in the ass when you want to do make a realistic model. For both of the gunships, a superdetailing work is essential.

Two models, one kit

The same kit was used for the two gunships the Republic employed during the battle of Geonosis. I had to modify a little the LAAT/i, a lot more the LAAT/c. For the infantery model, the main addition has been the two side gun turrets.. The have been made from a transparent marbles blister. I often seek original forms wherever I go : cocktail shot glasses, coffee stirrers, blisters… Everything can potentially be usefull for model making. A model is almost never built “out of the box”.

The second gunship used for armored vehicles AT-TE transport has been heavily modified. I began by removing the bottom hull (designed for infantery transport) and replacing it by the typical pliers of the vehicle. The other heavy modification was the removal of the co-pilot compartment.

The LAAT/c is a one-manned ship. Styrene sheet was used to fill the empty space created by this removal. After adding the styrene sheet, I had to mastic and sand again and again to merge it into the ship hull. Finally, I added the upper module (com and detection I guess) made from recycled material and styrene sheets.

Battle of Geonosis set

The decor, simple, representative sample of a Geonosis landscape has been made with plaster coating. The structure is made of polystyrene and wood. The support rods of the two sips are included in the coating. I presented this diorama only once, during Migennes Collector 2011.

This diorama named “trench run” represents a Death Star cross-section, as if we had extracted a slice. The scene takes place a few seconds before Han Solo onboard the Millenium Falcon hits a Vader’s wingman, leaving Luke free to blow up the station.

The “Trench run” genesis

I was thirteen when the idea of this diorama emerged to me. I can still remember myself collecting all sorts of wrapping in order to recreate a Death Star trench wall. Nonetheless I had to reach adulthood to make this idea become real, mainly for financial and size reasons. I chose the 1/72 scale which allows to get all the necessary kits and a reasonnable-sized scene at the same time.

So, I first built a wooden structure of an imposing size. The casing is mainly made of cut and glued plastic sheets but also of recycled materials such as toys (I can remember a jetpack from an astronaut action man), whipped cream siphon gas cylinders, old (and not so old…) kitchen tools… Of course I drew my inspiration from screenshots and pictures found on the web to catch the essence of this incredible set created by ILM modelers and illustrators in 1977.

 Do you want another slice ?

Stay on target…

Commander Garven Dreis

The front of the diorama was a problem. How to get a trench with its three faces without spoiling the front view ? On sides, no problem, we immediately identify the U shaped structure but if I contented myself with the external structure, the front view would have been a hideous wooden plank. The solution was to create a significant portion of the inside of de Death Star. Nevertheless, I had to think about setting a big hole up to allow to see the chase taking place outside. Thus I decided to build a complete hangar bay. In addition, the construction of a hangar bay allowed me to show Tie fighters in their racks. Thereby, the front view shows a cross-section of the Death Star, like a slice.

Model kits used for the Trench Run

The 9 kits used are :

• three X-Wings from Finemolds upgraded to receive a cockpit and trusters light-up.
• four Tie Fighters from Finemolds (2 in flight, 2 in racks) upgraded as well for thrusters light-up.
• a Tie Interceptor from Finemolds
• un mix between a Finemolds Tie Fighter and a Tie X-1 (Vader) from Revell

Exhibitions

On 7 occasions I presented this diorama :

• Migennes Collector 2012
• Mâcon Collexion 2012
• Cusset Generation Star Wars 2012
• Swiss Collectors (Morges) 2012
• Migennes Collector 2013
• Mâcon Collexion 2013
• Cusset Generation Star Wars 2013

I know, I know, I’m recycling but when you have spent more than 2000 hours on doing something, repetitions are permitted. Today, the diorama is exposed in my personnal collection and is no longer transportable after so many assemblies and disassemblies.