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DEATH STAR DIORAMA/PLAYSET

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  • Member since
    February 2009
DEATH STAR DIORAMA/PLAYSET
Posted by Skonch on Friday, February 27, 2009 6:42 AM

Hi there. I am new to this site, and I have to say that I am probably not worthy to be posting this, looking at all of the other amazing Dioramas here.

Just a short story before I show the pictures:

 I decided to dust off my DVD of Star Wars not too long ago and show it to my kids for the first time as I thought that they would be old enough to finally appreciate it.

Back in 1977 I had a near spiritual experience when I first saw the film aged 7, and sure enough my kids were blown away!

 Well birthdays came and my boys wanted, you guessed it, STAR WARS FIGURES! well, that was like showing a red flag to a bull, I was on e-bay buying all of the vehicles and figures I missed out on as a boy and before too long we had quite a collection.

 All that was missing was a good playset, and unfortunately Hasbro never made anything decent, so I decided to build something I would have died for as a kid...The Death Star. I used foamcore to create the corridors and rooms and mounting board to create the large hangar bay. The rooms and corridors are modular, so the Playset can be arranged in different ways. It can also be packed away neatly when not in use.  

I cannot take all of the credit for this as I got the inspiration for Master Niub Niub, who has created some amazing sets.

I must add that in order to build the thing I had to give up smoking in order to satisfy the wife.

Well it's been 7 months and was qutting worth it! You decide:

 

 

 

 

  • Member since
    June 2008
  • From: Piscataway,NJ
Posted by jtrace214 on Friday, February 27, 2009 7:49 AM

Skonch,you and I are the same age,and I still love Star Wars But I don't have any kids. Your Death Star is amazing looks just like the movie. I had the cheesy 3 story one when I was a kid(I think I still have it too) yours is WAY better wanna adopt a 38 year old son???lol,Good luck with the smoking to I guess its hard I never eben tried em.

 

John

 

 

 

 

 

the pic to the left is my weekend condo lol

  • Member since
    February 2009
Posted by Skonch on Friday, February 27, 2009 8:01 AM

John,

 Re the adopting thing, my wife already has three kids,

3 boys: a 3 year old a 6 year old and a 40 year old....

 (saying that, probably everyone who posts or looks at this site is a kid at heart?)

  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: Philadelphia PA
Posted by smeagol the vile on Friday, February 27, 2009 9:39 AM
 Skonch wrote:

John,

 Re the adopting thing, my wife already has three kids,

3 boys: a 3 year old a 6 year old and a 40 year old....

 (saying that, probably everyone who posts or looks at this site is a kid at heart?)

Yes, yes we are, though, I still am, according to some...

I like your build, though, I would like to see you male and or build someof your own figures to go in it 

 

  • Member since
    February 2009
Posted by Skonch on Friday, February 27, 2009 11:38 AM

 

"I like your build, though, I would like to see you male and or build someof your own figures to go in it"

Smeagol,

What a Battle Station the size of a small moon isn't enough for you eh!

Phumph!Wink [;)]

 

  • Member since
    June 2008
  • From: Piscataway,NJ
Posted by jtrace214 on Friday, February 27, 2009 1:28 PM

oh well so much for the adoption lol still looks cool I still got most of my original figures and ships I have an original Star Wars falcon still in the box. Never will part with that one

John

the pic to the left is my weekend condo lol

  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: Charlottesville Va
Posted by Stern0 on Friday, February 27, 2009 2:45 PM
WOW! That no playset, its a space station! As a big Star Wars fan I can say your children are very lucky to have a imaganitive and talented father....the set looks awsome, dead on!  Better than anything you can buy..GREAT JOB!Big Smile [:D]
Always Faithful U.S.M.C
  • Member since
    January 2009
  • From: clinton twp, michigan
Posted by camo junkie on Friday, February 27, 2009 8:11 PM
you and i are the same age and ya brought back alot of good childhood memories. i now see where i failed as a father!! Laugh [(-D]
"An idea is only as good as the person who thought of it...and only as brilliant as the person who makes it!!"
  • Member since
    July 2005
Posted by Lloyd on Friday, February 27, 2009 8:52 PM

I thought it was an actual retail product at fiirst. Excellent work.

Someone described Star Wars as that generations Vietnam. Tasteless maybe, but sounds about right.

  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: Philadelphia PA
Posted by smeagol the vile on Friday, February 27, 2009 9:09 PM

I'd say thats wrong, because starwars doesnt have a generation, its still gaining huge masses of fans with every generation.

I was just ribbing you about the figures, to be honest, I have my collection of R2s on my right and my 12" Wedge Antilles (real hero of the alliance, **** luke) Statue-ette on my left.

 

  • Member since
    June 2008
  • From: Iowa
Posted by Hans von Hammer on Friday, February 27, 2009 11:23 PM
 Camm wrote:

 

Someone described Star Wars as that generations Vietnam. Tasteless maybe, but sounds about right.

Pffftt... Sounds about stupid... Star Wars was fiction... Nothing fictional about Vietnam...

  • Member since
    February 2009
Posted by Skonch on Saturday, February 28, 2009 3:02 AM

I can't say that I have ever been involved in War, which is a blessing and yes, you certainly cannot compare the real with Fiction, it would be disrespectful.

All I can say about Star Wars is that it expanded my imagination like nothing before or since. I was a completely spellbound 7 year-old and the experience of seeing it in the cinema for the first time was wonderful. 

I feel sad for kids of today beuase they've seen it all! leaving nothing to the imagination.

(I'm beginning to sound like an old man aren't I, OMG!!!)

  • Member since
    April 2008
  • From: Philadelphia PA
Posted by smeagol the vile on Saturday, February 28, 2009 3:11 AM

To parody Jeopardy

Answer: because kids today have seen it all! leaving nothing to the imagination.

Question: Why you should introduce children to books and poetry

 

  • Member since
    July 2005
Posted by Lloyd on Saturday, February 28, 2009 3:17 AM

 

"Pffftt... Sounds about stupid... Star Wars was fiction... Nothing fictional about Vietnam... "

 

Well, quoted out of context it sounds wrong, but it was an ironic line. Stuck with me. 

  • Member since
    January 2006
  • From: Pineapple Country, Queensland, Australia
Posted by Wirraway on Saturday, February 28, 2009 3:35 AM

Skonch.

Just a heads up.... you might want to rethink that avatar.  The moderators can play hardball on anything that isnt G rated........

"Growing old is inevitable; growing up is optional"

" A hobby should pass the time - not fill it"  -Norman Bates

 

GIF animations generator gifup.com

  • Member since
    February 2009
Posted by Skonch on Saturday, February 28, 2009 8:02 AM

Re my Avtar -

My Avtar was a sign above a Restaurant in China of the same name. I thought it was hilarious at the time. You never know, there may be a "Turdbaby" opening up in your town soon!

 If anyone says anything I'll remove it.

  • Member since
    June 2008
  • From: Iowa
Posted by Hans von Hammer on Saturday, February 28, 2009 8:07 AM
 Skonch wrote:

I can't say that I have ever been involved in War, which is a blessing and yes, you certainly cannot compare the real with Fiction, it would be disrespectful.

All I can say about Star Wars is that it expanded my imagination like nothing before or since. I was a completely spellbound 7 year-old and the experience of seeing it in the cinema for the first time was wonderful. 

I feel sad for kids of today beuase they've seen it all! leaving nothing to the imagination.

(I'm beginning to sound like an old man aren't I, OMG!!!)

Well, speaking as one who saw Star Wars when it wasn't an episode, and was an adult, I can say that, story-wise, it wasn't anything that no one hadn't already seen... It was a typical 3-act swashbuckler movie... What blew me away as a movie-goer was the FX... NOBODY has seen anything lke that before...  With no opening credits (Something Lucas had to fight for, btw), the movie gives you three traveling paragraphs to set the scene, and BAM!- the action starts... We spent the first 5 minutes not knowing who the good guys are, at least not sure, until Vader's entrance.  From there, it was just one thing after another that no movie-goer had ever seen, but was still recognizable... Add the beat-up spaceships, aliens of every description,  and space dogfights, and it was a winner... I loved that movie and saw it several times while it was playing in my area... I'd never done that with ANY movie before.. That's the movie that turned me on to sci-fi, for sure... (I started watching Star Trek only after Star Wars, with any kind of regularity...)

I built the X-Wing and TIE Fighter kits that came out later on too, but didn't get into the figures and toys that followed... I was an adult after all, and my kids were too little for the stuff... When I saw The Empire Strikes Back, I was disappointed at the ending too... Return Of the Jedi (which wasn't titled as an episode at that time) sewed up the loose ends left by Empire and I called it quits after that, other than picking up the Snowspeeder kits and the A-Wings too...

By the time Episode I came out, I didn't care much about Star Wars anymore.  It was thirty years ago I'd first seen Star Wars and so many movies had come between those two and SFX had come so far that there wasn't anything special about it... I waited for the video to be released and gave it a look, and frankly, I was bored by it...  Out of the three prequels, the only good was Clone Wars, and the best of the three was III, Revenge of the Sith, and like the others, I waited for the release on video, and shook my head at the SWNs standing in line outside theaters for all three...

Other than that, it was a fun roller-coaster ride as movies go, but knowing how the whole thing ends made for a lot less interest than I felt with SW I.   Of them all, A New Hope was the only one that could stand on it's own as a movie...

 

  • Member since
    June 2008
  • From: Iowa
Posted by Hans von Hammer on Saturday, February 28, 2009 8:10 AM
 Camm wrote:

 

"Pffftt... Sounds about stupid... Star Wars was fiction... Nothing fictional about Vietnam... "

 

Well, quoted out of context it sounds wrong, but it was an ironic line. Stuck with me. 

Perhaps you'd care to put it into context?  As a career Soldier and veteran, now retired, I find it rather insulting, not ironic... I'd like to understand what you meant.

  • Member since
    July 2005
Posted by Lloyd on Saturday, February 28, 2009 11:55 AM

"Perhaps you'd care to put it into context?  As a career Soldier and veteran, now retired, I find it rather insulting, not ironic... I'd like to understand what you meant."

As in a seismic social/cultural event, in no way comparing the actual subjects themselves, war VS a sci-fi movie. And no disrespect intended. Vietnam is my no.1 modelling subject, just got my wires crossed. Should have known better, sorry about that.

  • Member since
    March 2008
  • From: Ohio
Posted by B-17 Guy on Sunday, March 1, 2009 10:24 PM

Hey skonch.....thank's way to go buddy, my 6 year old is bugging me to build him a playset for like that now.

Seriously, it's freak'n sweet, hell, I want one. The star wars toys they had when I was a kid sucked compared to what they have now. I would have killed for fully possible storm troopers when I was a kid. So...........when I saw them come out like that more recently (the same ones you have in the pics) I bought a bunch of them for myself, and some for my son. Every now and then I bring out all my old GI joes, and my storm troopers and have big battles across the living room with my son, he freak'n loves it! The 1/18 scale sherman, P-51, stryker, blackhawk and bradley dont have a bad effect on things either. I'm still a big kid. I love your work there buddy.

  • Member since
    February 2009
Posted by Skonch on Monday, March 2, 2009 5:53 AM

Thanks B17,

 I was about to buy the old Death Star Playset on e-bay, when I came across this: http://www.niubniubsuniverse.com/diorama/ep4/DS_FalconBay_01.asp

What do you do when you see something like that? I tell you what you do, you make one yourself, there is no other choice.

Go, on, you know it makes sense....Approve [^]

  • Member since
    February 2009
Posted by Skonch on Tuesday, March 3, 2009 5:32 PM

Wirraway,

 Re my Avtar, sure enough, someone did make an issue about it.

 Seems weird that most of the items featured on this site involve weapons of War and the mechanics of killing, yet a poor Baby Poo is shunned. I was once stopped by the Police for throwing an apple core on a grass verge next to a very large tree, they said I was littering, can you figure that one out?

Those of you who miss little T"rd Baby needn't worry, you will be pleased to know that he has been offered a job as Global Partner at Merryl Linch. I will miss him.

My new avtar is a happy piece of chocolate ice cream I havn't thought of a name for him yet! any ideas are most welcome.

No rude ones please!

 

 

  • Member since
    May 2008
  • From: Wherever the hunt takes me
Posted by Boba Fett on Friday, March 6, 2009 5:05 PM
 Hans von Hammer wrote:
 Skonch wrote:

I can't say that I have ever been involved in War, which is a blessing and yes, you certainly cannot compare the real with Fiction, it would be disrespectful.

All I can say about Star Wars is that it expanded my imagination like nothing before or since. I was a completely spellbound 7 year-old and the experience of seeing it in the cinema for the first time was wonderful. 

I feel sad for kids of today beuase they've seen it all! leaving nothing to the imagination.

(I'm beginning to sound like an old man aren't I, OMG!!!)

Well, speaking as one who saw Star Wars when it wasn't an episode, and was an adult, I can say that, story-wise, it wasn't anything that no one hadn't already seen... It was a typical 3-act swashbuckler movie... What blew me away as a movie-goer was the FX... NOBODY has seen anything lke that before...  With no opening credits (Something Lucas had to fight for, btw), the movie gives you three traveling paragraphs to set the scene, and BAM!- the action starts... We spent the first 5 minutes not knowing who the good guys are, at least not sure, until Vader's entrance.  From there, it was just one thing after another that no movie-goer had ever seen, but was still recognizable... Add the beat-up spaceships, aliens of every description,  and space dogfights, and it was a winner... I loved that movie and saw it several times while it was playing in my area... I'd never done that with ANY movie before.. That's the movie that turned me on to sci-fi, for sure... (I started watching Star Trek only after Star Wars, with any kind of regularity...)

I built the X-Wing and TIE Fighter kits that came out later on too, but didn't get into the figures and toys that followed... I was an adult after all, and my kids were too little for the stuff... When I saw The Empire Strikes Back, I was disappointed at the ending too... Return Of the Jedi (which wasn't titled as an episode at that time) sewed up the loose ends left by Empire and I called it quits after that, other than picking up the Snowspeeder kits and the A-Wings too...

By the time Episode I came out, I didn't care much about Star Wars anymore.  It was thirty years ago I'd first seen Star Wars and so many movies had come between those two and SFX had come so far that there wasn't anything special about it... I waited for the video to be released and gave it a look, and frankly, I was bored by it...  Out of the three prequels, the only good was Clone Wars, and the best of the three was III, Revenge of the Sith, and like the others, I waited for the release on video, and shook my head at the SWNs standing in line outside theaters for all three...

Other than that, it was a fun roller-coaster ride as movies go, but knowing how the whole thing ends made for a lot less interest than I felt with SW I.   Of them all, A New Hope was the only one that could stand on it's own as a movie...

 

Well, you have to understand the brain of a Star Wars nerd... Whistling [:-^] Believe me, if my parents would have let me, I'd have been in line for the midnight show of Revenge.

Anyways, you have to understand that Star Wars had a lot of content to it. Yes, the plot follows a relatively generic line, but the universe itself sets up for a lot of excitement. I once was kinda iffy about Star Wars. But then, I began venturing into the Expanded Universe. There is a TON of material there that expands upon the movies, etc. I'm not going into depth, but I think that you should try it again before passing judgement. Also, Lucas DID say, Star Wars was space Vietnam. Please, I didn't want to start an argument. Anyways, great dio! Thumbs Up [tup]

  • Member since
    June 2008
  • From: Iowa
Posted by Hans von Hammer on Friday, March 6, 2009 11:36 PM

All I wanted to know about the Vietnam thing was the context it was used in... No arguement.. Just wanted the read the entire quote if it was possible..

 

  • Member since
    July 2005
Posted by Lloyd on Saturday, March 7, 2009 3:14 AM
 Hans von Hammer wrote:

All I wanted to know about the Vietnam thing was the context it was used in... No arguement.. Just wanted the read the entire quote if it was possible..

 

I typed that not remembering that actual Vietnam vets are reading this stuff, and that was stupid of me.  Point was I think after the 60's and Vietnam, in 1977 we got caught up in a silly movie, that was our biggest concern at that time. There was no malice in the article, they just were making a point about the culture at that moment.

  • Member since
    January 2006
  • From: Pineapple Country, Queensland, Australia
Posted by Wirraway on Saturday, March 7, 2009 6:14 AM
I've never understood the fascination with Star Wars.  Which, with some folk, goes way beyond healthy, verging on obsession.  A guy at my workplace had his name legally changed to Zen Skywalker.   I'm embarrassed for him even if he is not.  I guess some people will latch onto something to give their life some meaning or purpose.  Now, that should stir up some Jedi........

"Growing old is inevitable; growing up is optional"

" A hobby should pass the time - not fill it"  -Norman Bates

 

GIF animations generator gifup.com

  • Member since
    June 2008
  • From: Iowa
Posted by Hans von Hammer on Saturday, March 7, 2009 9:47 AM
 Camm wrote:
 Hans von Hammer wrote:

All I wanted to know about the Vietnam thing was the context it was used in... No arguement.. Just wanted the read the entire quote if it was possible..

 

I typed that not remembering that actual Vietnam vets are reading this stuff, and that was stupid of me.  Point was I think after the 60's and Vietnam, in 1977 we got caught up in a silly movie, that was our biggest concern at that time. There was no malice in the article, they just were making a point about the culture at that moment.

Ahh, roger that... Understood, and thanks for clarifying...

I've never understood the fascination with Star Wars.  Which, with some folk, goes way beyond healthy, verging on obsession.  A guy at my workplace had his name legally changed to Zen Skywalker.   I'm embarrassed for him even if he is not.  I guess some people will latch onto something to give their life some meaning or purpose.  Now, that should stir up some Jedi...

Heh... I've seen some of the same stuff with Star Trek... One broad I recall showed up for jury duty wearing a "Starfleet" uniform, complete with phaser & tricorder, and was held in contempt of court... Another guy I know, who's a pretty avid modeler, painted his white mini-van up as a shuttlecraft, complete with all the Enterprise markings and stencils...

On the other hand, I and many others like me dress up as WW2 Germans and GIs, buy weapons, blank ammo, own tanks & halftracks, and run around in the woods on military posts, shooting blanks at each other, while re-creating WW2 Battles... 'Course, we've actually had a lot of folks get paid to do so by movie and documentary film makers to do so.. Your's truly "starred" in a D-Day documentary for a PBS feature some years ago.. (I was "dead" more often than not that day... )

Also, I see a lot of "normal " folks who, on weekends, dress up in football, hockey, and basketball jerseys for some reason and paint their faces in team colors an' stuff, so...

But, ya... Name-changing is what I'd call "over-the-top"... Then again, I know a guy who's a big Rendevous participant and buckskinner that legally changed his first name from Gordon to River Rat...  Then the Civil War guys who wear period moustaches and beards all year round...  The flip-side of that is the "Klingon" guys here in town who wear the Klingon beards and moustaches all year as well.

So... 

  • Member since
    February 2009
Posted by Skonch on Saturday, March 7, 2009 4:56 PM

 Wirraway wrote:
I've never understood the fascination with Star Wars.

 I can only explain my love of the film in the following way:

 I was 8 when the film was released I still remember the feeling of excitement as I walked into the cinema. I remember being totally absorbed, thrilled and awestruck throughout the movie, it was like being taken on a fantastic journey. That feeling of excitement, amazement and awe must have been like taking a very addictive drug.

I guess anyone who experienced that feeling of pure magic would love to get it back, just like an addict wanting another fix. In 1977 it wasn't like today when the DVD comes out after 6 months, all we could do was talk about it to our friends and see it again in the cinema as many times as possible.

It was awesome, completely awesome. Definately one of those life changing moments.

 

 

  • Member since
    June 2008
  • From: Iowa
Posted by Hans von Hammer on Saturday, March 7, 2009 5:11 PM
I'll second that feelin' Skonch... I was an adult, and was blown away by the visuals of the movie... As I said earlier, no one had ever seen that before... Lucas hit the ball outta the park with that one...

  • Member since
    May 2008
  • From: Wherever the hunt takes me
Posted by Boba Fett on Sunday, March 8, 2009 10:06 AM
I read that in "The making of Star Wars." Great book, has tons of pics of in-progress models, and such. And yes, Lucas is great with effects. Compare Star WArs with "Lost in Space" or "Forbidden Planet" and you see how bad the effects were. It looked cool all the same, but was mainly aluminum foil covered stuff. About the guy changing his name... THAT is pure obsesion, I'm just a nerd...

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