July 22, 2000

Here is a little preview of what will become the Final version of the Gunagan Battle.

I have cut out shapes for the background hills out of foamcore.
I used pictures from the making of books to get the exact same slopes as the film plates.

July 22, 2000

Here you can see how I crunched up newspaper and taped it to the foamcore.

This will add curved volume to the flat outline when I apply the plaster bandages strips.

July 22, 2000

I cut my plaster bandages into large strips and placed the back layer of the foamcore mountains on the floor. Make sure to place an old shower curtain or plastic drape as this will become messy.

July 22, 2000

Here is what the newspapers look like covered with the plaster bandages.

July 22, 2000

Place mountain number 2 over the background layer to see where it fits.

July 22, 2000

Mountain number 2 covered with the plaster bandages.

July 22, 2000

Now place montain number 2 back on top of the background mountain.

July 22, 2000

It's hard to see in this picture but the front mountain is placed on top of the 2 others.

Now is this easy or what?

July 22, 2000

Now when you put the bandages on this layer, you cover the back mountains as well.

This way, all 3 shapes bind together and form one big mountain background.

July 22, 2000

Lift the background off the floor and place it on the shelf to dry.

The grass on the base is from Phase 1. If I had made everything from scratch, the floor base would be white from plaster as well. The technique for the mountains is the same I used for the floor.

July 22, 2000

Ok, Now that the plaster is dry, I mixed 1/2 bowl with green paint and 1/2 of white glue. This way I kill 2 steps with 1 pass. Paint the mixture onto the plaster. Make sure to do small areas at at time so that the glue doesnt dry too fast.

Sprinkle hobby store "grass" and watch it stick to the mountains - it's that easy.

July 23, 2000

After a few hours, your entire surface is covered with the fake grass powder stuff.
Let this dry overnight and then you are ready to remove the excess.
If you want you can mix 2-3 different color grasses like I have.

July 23, 2000

Now I apply the grass surface to the bottom plywood shelf.

July 23, 2000

Here's a cool trick to kep your battle droids from falling over.

I bought plastic hair pins and cut them into 2 cm lengths, then stick them into the plaster floor. The holes under the battle droids feet fit just snug and alow you to give cool poses.

July 23, 2000

Here is a sneak preview of how the backdrop looks like with the figures in place.