YAHD: Yet Another Hoth Diorama (3-3/4") - WIP

[Pixelpiper]

This started out as a desire to display only vintage ESB figures, playlets and vehicles, and I'd create a simple white shelf with a mountainous/snowy background. While looking for a background I stumbled upon a great landscape shot full of AT-ATs and the entrance to Echo Base, likely from an EA/Lucas Star Wars game. After some Photoshop work I was able to produce something of suitable dimensions to wrap the sides and back of my shelf:



Instead of the plain white shelf with only the playsets providing landscape, I took inspiration from a few other dios I'd seen and got cracking with some papier-mâché and foam insulation:





After attaching some foam, a primer coat on the papier-mâché and some hard-drying gypsum compound.

Then some paint:

The background image was printed as a vinyl banner (without grommets) and suspended with double-sided carpet tape:

Then the lighting was put in to evenly illuminate the scene.

 

[Pixelpiper]

Re: YAHD: Yet Another Hoth Diorama (3-3/4")

After some additional paint and "snow-tex" application:

And after some more snow-tex and adding some additional foam along the perimeter to hide the short background (oops).




The background has now been trimmed and the glass doors have been re-installed (finished the lighting on the other shelves). The LEDs will be hidden soon so you won't be able to see them when standing in front of the display case.



I've started to stock the shelf now with more pieces, a mix of vintage, and newer versions. The POTF2 (pack-in) AT-AT commander is really out of scale even when compared to other figures of the time.





Some tweaks and additions:

 

[Pixelpiper]

Re: YAHD: Yet Another Hoth Diorama (3-3/4")

So the diorama has been essentially complete for a while and most recently I put some finishing touches on the lighting to make sure the LEDs aren't visible from any angle within the room. IMO, it makes a huge difference and the whole thing looks a lot cleaner because of it. There's some space that I intend to fill with additional figures, a few vintage but mostly some newer Hasbro both figures I have yet to acquire.

All the newer images posted can be clicked on to see the (much) higher resolution versions on Flickr.

 

[Pixelpiper]

Re: YAHD: Yet Another Hoth Diorama (3-3/4")

 

[galactiboy]

Wow man, very cool! Love that you've got the vintage pieces in there

 

[prvtnoclass]

That is just absolutely amazing!!!!!

 

[jabba_man]

awesome!!!!

 

[Dr. Odd]

Soooo coool!

 

[Solo_bones]

That technique for making snow is brilliant. Looks incredible...just like real ice. I thought you were making a 1/6th scale at first, then I realized you can go a lot grander with a 3" figure.

Great imagination, great work.

 

[Pixelpiper]

Thanks for the compliments everyone! My little (expensive) containers of Snow-Tex are running out, so I've either got to make my own or try the stuff from the big-box stores intended for ceiling application with the same name.

Some new images have been added above (and in my office build thread). Finished the lighting on the other shelves and re-installed the glass doors. A few more touches and it's time to start stocking the shelves. In the images above you can see the POTF2 AT-AT doesn't bend as well as I'd like. I'd like to get the 2010, and much larger, AT-AT in there but now I'm not sure how well it's going to fit. I'm also not sure how I'm going to stuff my ESB AT-ST into the same display.

 

[Chakaman]

This looks great so far. I really like how you have included the vintage playsets. The Imperial Attack Base was always a favorite of mine when I was a kid.

You have a nice start on this, looking forward to seeing you fill it up with more vehicles and some troopers.

I am looking into doing some snow and sand scenery for my 1/6 stuff. I like the look of yours, thanks for sharing all the WIP pics.

 

[VintijDroidGutzz]

Really nice work man! You have some great ideas I must say..

 

[Pixelpiper]

Small update of an additional image showing more figures and vehicles on the shelf. I need to grab a few more vintage imperial and rebel troopers, crack open some of my POTF2 figure packages (troopers, Leia, maybe Chewy) and grab a few of the newer re-releases because their scale and detail are the best yet.

I've already got a POTF2 snow speeder, but I'd really prefer to include a vintage model in this dio. We'll see how that goes sometime next month.

 

[Pixelpiper]

Working on other stuff at the moment, but I decided to add my POTF2 Snowspeeder to the scene - don't have the patience to go looking for a vintage model right now, so it'll stay this way until I change my mind.

I've started going through some boxes so there will more than likely be a few more POTF2 figures soon, but I'll wait to add anything newer until the summer. Now that I'm looking at the POTF2 stuff again after so long I just have to ask myself, WTF, why Hasbro why? It's funny that the original line had, IMO, more play value than many of the Hasbro variations with their bombastic poses and puffed out chests.

 

[Scallywag]

I Like that..love the speeder coming over the top. Great work.

 

[Pixelpiper]

Made some tweaks and hope to add at least a couple more things later today sometime.



Lowered the Snowspeeder a little bit, added a POTF2 Deluxe Probot in the background, removed Luke from Taun Taun and placed him near Chewy, put Rebel Trooper in Taun Taun, moved vintage Rebel Commander up to maintenance unit, added POTF2 Deluxe Rebel Trooper and Laser Canon, added POTF2 Deluxe Snowtrooper and E-Web (swapped it with the less detailed newer E-Web and placed the trooper minding the power unit), previous E-Web now sitting inside AT-AT.

I'll go through a few boxes to find a regular POTF2 Rebel Trooper and Snowtrooper to add to the scene some time today.

 

[Pixelpiper]

If you want a sneak peak at up to date images, you can look at my Flickr photo stream: https://www.flickr.com/photos/pixelpiper/

The most recent major change was hiding the LEDs so they can't be seen from any angle within the room - IMO, this greatly enhances the display. Currently every LED in my displays is hidden and impossible to see from standing or sitting position anywhere in the room.

Once I've had a chance to verify that all the images are posted properly and have god exposure/settings, I'll put them here in the thread as well.

 

[Pixelpiper]

Teaser. Click the image for a much larger view.

 

[prvtnoclass]

Very impressive, and love the being able to see the progression.

 

[Pixelpiper]

Thanks again! I've updated the thread above with a lot of new images in post number 3 and 4: https://www.sideshowcollectors.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5512500#post5512500