May 19, 2003

Take your other Wall Piece and Hot Glue it to the Support Beams.

You now have a perfect 90 degree angle and a pretty sturdy corner.

May 19, 2003

I modified the Decals I made for the Elevator Shaft because i thought they looked cool against the Corner Wall and that they somewhat look like the Matte painting.

May 19, 2003

I painted this piece because I thought I would be detailing it with straws and old toy parts but then decided on Decals. So you don't really need to cover every inch of Foamcore.

WARNING:

To tell you the truth I made a BooBoo with this step because I put too much paint and it Warped the Foamcore. :(

May 19, 2003

After printing, I peeled the backs off my Full Sheet labels and aligned the Decals to the Corner Walls.

Looks pretty neat if you ask me. A great blend from the Wall Decals on the Left side.

May 19, 2003

And here is where that Corner wall fits. Looks amazing. Now I only have to do the other side :( - LOL.

Try and Imagine the Giant Entry Neon and Starfield to the left and you will have an idea of what the finished Diorama will look like.

May 19, 2003

OK, since I have been VERY Slow on updates these past few weeks, I thought I would give you a special treat and show you what my progress so far looks like with all my figures in place.

May 19, 2003

I usually wait till the Diorama is complete before dressing it up with tthe toys. But I just LOVE you guys too much - Hee hee.

Remember, this is only HALF of the Diorama. I still have the Other Wall to attach to the Floor.

May 19, 2003

A higher angle gives us a peak at the finished scene.

The Mirror will double the Depth, creating the illusion of an even LARGER Docking Bay. And the Starfield will really help too.

June 21, 2003

Time to make the Neon Force Field.

I took a scrap of foamcore to figure out the perfect size based on Jedi movie stills.

I poked a hole and then measured 5 inches. This is the Outside edge. Then from the same center point, measured 3.75 inches.

June 21, 2003

So now that my curve was calculated, I measured the height of the Docking Bay Walls and then cut 2 strips of 3 inches wide. (If you turn your head sideways to the left, that is the height of the Docking Bay.)

This will be the thickness of the Neon. The curved pieces are the same height as the long pieces but only 1.75 inches wide.

June 21, 2003

On the straight 3 inch wide pieces, I cut some slits on ONE side of the foamcore so that we would be able to bend it around the curved front and rear shapes.

DO NOT press too hard, you don't want the cut to go all the way through

June 21, 2003

I started by attaching the Outside piece using the Hot Glue Gun.

Take your time and glue small sections at a time or it will become all messy.

I hope you can notice that the slits are only cut in the area of the curvature. You do not need to cut slits for the straight lines.

June 21, 2003

Once I completed attaching the Outside piece, I used the Hot Glue Gun to secure the Inner piece to the Neon Front.

Remember to take your time :P

Also if you notice, the cut slits are always facing on the INSIDE of the shape so that they are hidden from sight. This gives you a much better finish.

June 21, 2003

You might need to cut a 3rd 3 inch piece (as I discovered) in order to reach all the way around both Inner and Outer Walls.

This is what your Neon Box should look like at this point.

Now we just need to cover the lid with the Back piece.

June 21, 2003

Now take the Back Piece (the one with the Square Angled Corners) and Hot Glue it on top of the Curved Neon.

It should fit perfectly flush if you used a rounded piece for your cutting guide.