Droidworld’s Dagobah Redux

[Droidworld]

Re-assembling and adding to my Dagobah Dio. Painted a backdrop on poster board, spray painted a fluorescent light fixture I had. (upgrade to LED strips someday)

Built a couple more smaller background trees for the illusion of distance. Sprayed paler for feeling of distance.

Cut an X-wing sized hole in some board that I painted and varnished to look like water. The “land”/shore line is pained and moss-glued on a terry towel. When the X-Wing is underwater, the towel is under the board. For the ship on land, I’ll cover the water/hole with the land.



Puffs of cotton will look like fog on the water and cover hard edges.

 

[yodashizzle]

Super stoked to see you revisiting the swamps of Dagobah, love the old version and am indebted to you for much inspiration and joy for the hobby of Star Wars collecting/customs/dios. The sunken X-Wing is awesome, looking forward to more!

 

[Oofa]

I am excited to see where this is going as well it already looks great.

 

[Droidworld]

Super stoked to see you revisiting the swamps of Dagobah, love the old version and am indebted to you for much inspiration and joy for the hobby of Star Wars collecting/customs/dios. The sunken X-Wing is awesome, looking forward to more!

Thanks @yodashizzle and @Oola ! I made it so you can lift the water and remove the X-Wing, but the dis-assembly may not be so simple. Think I’ll leave the older FX ship in the water, and for later scenes, just cover it with terry towel swamp ground. Then use a nice newer X-Wing with the Hasbro rubber swamp weeds to be on land.

 

[Droidworld]

Made a couple more smaller trees to appear like they are further away.

 

[Utinniii]

Those vines are very impressive!

 

[Trooper31]

Imperssive....most impressive!!!

 

[Droidworld]

Took the terry towel ground cover and a sprayed the back half pale blue and white to create illusion of distance



Slowly coming together. Taking a week off the Dagobah for now. Will order the motorized turntable. Re-jig the tree/turntable combo and add a ton of hanging vines and cotton puff mist. Thanks for looking, anyone that perks in from time to time. Much appreciated.

 

[yodashizzle]

Love the progress, I remember how you used the turntable on your previous Dagobah and the Echo Base dio, one of THE coolest and most creative tricks I've ever seen. Those trees are just outstanding, your mastery of color and techniques are just jaw dropping. The dio has crazy good depth and it's just a joy to see you working on this, always looking forward to more.

 

[Droidworld]

Love the progress, I remember how you used the turntable on your previous Dagobah and the Echo Base dio, one of THE coolest and most creative tricks I've ever seen. Those trees are just outstanding, your mastery of color and techniques are just jaw dropping. The dio has crazy good depth and it's just a joy to see you working on this, always looking forward to more.

Thanks again @yodashizzle ! In looking at my older terry towel ground cover there were many many fimo snakes in the “grass”. Might make more. Again bigger ones to the front.

 

[yodashizzle]

Yeah, I remember that now too, you also did a really nice flying creature too if I recall.

 

[Droidworld]

Yeah, I remember that now too, you also did a really nice flying creature too if I recall.

Yes. The 2 bog wings will fly over the swamp. I think they survived…

 

[Daigo_Bah]

My word, I love the painted backgrounds, and the lighting just makes this film accurate and photo realistic!

 

[Droidworld]

My word, I love the painted backgrounds, and the lighting just makes this film accurate and photo realistic!

Thank you so much @Daigo_Bah ! I appreciate your comment….especially about being photo realistic. Taking “realistic” pics of figures new and old in the dioramas is part of the end goal. Can’t wait to continue next week…

 

[Droidworld]

1/3 of the way with vines. Will thin and thicken them out once I’m happy with placement.

 

[yodashizzle]

Awesome, so the turntable allows you to pull double duty with the cave of evil fight against Vader and also handstand Luke, huh? Pretty darn cool.

 

[Droidworld]

Awesome, so the turntable allows you to pull double duty with the cave of evil fight against Vader and also handstand Luke, huh? Pretty darn cool.

Thanks @yodashizzle !!! There are four scenes. Dagobah camp. Magic Tree. Handstand Luke. And Yoda Backpack Luke. I’ve ordered the turntable. It’s at the front, so last to get spruced up.

 

[Droidworld]

It’s starting to look like a Disney fairytale….which it is technically now…


most of the vines done.



fewer in the swamp. Found the Bogwings @yodashizzle !! Will have them flying in the foreground here I think.



going to “wet” and “muddy” the shoreline. Also cotton puff mist.



one of the limitations, is my house is built on a rock, much of which is in a quarter of my basement. (It had been wrapped/insulated to keep them from making the basement cold.). ll use the topography wherever possible.

 

[yodashizzle]

You work with what you have, and you're work is truly amazing, just the vines alone are something to marvel at. There's a sort of artistry going on that is really cool to watch as things develop.

 

[Trooper31]

This is just too cool!!!!

 

[Droidworld]

This is just too cool!!!!

Thanks @Trooper31 !!! Friday the electric turntable arrives. Finishing up soon I hope.

 

[Droidworld]

A little fog on the water.

And the turntable is operational!!! I have to figure out how to upload a video. I am unwilling to pay for photobucket, my old standby.

 

[yodashizzle]

Every update warms my heart!

 

[JediJJep]

Holy crap! Amazing stuff. I love the water effects. That is something I have never tried yet. I hope to do the Daigobah swamp some day. The issue I have had isn’t getting things look dirty. Everything looks to clean and not lived in. It is hard to find the balance. You captured it perfectly. The paint apps are spot on. The planning that went into this must have been immense. Great work!

 

[Droidworld]

Holy crap! Amazing stuff. I love the water effects. That is something I have never tried yet. I hope to do the Daigobah swamp some day. The issue I have had isn’t getting things look dirty. Everything looks to clean and not lived in. It is hard to find the balance. You captured it perfectly. The paint apps are spot on. The planning that went into this must have been immense. Great work!

Thanks so much @JediJJep and @yodashizzle ! Looking forward to your plaster demo! The planning was mostly in my mind and changes as you go of course. No longer wish to cover the water with land for x-wing, it’ll crush the puffs of cotton fog. Will leave as is.

Next up is adjusting lighting. A little more moss, vines and roots, and blending Endor above with Dagobah below. AND figuring out where and how to host a video.

 

[Droidworld]

Every update warms my heart!

Here you go @yodashizzle … heartwarming bogwings and Yoda pics.



And entering the Cave of Evil

 

[yodashizzle]

Heartwarming indeed! Those bogwings are sooooooooooo good! Love all the setups and shots, I feel like I've been transported to Dagobah!!! The pics with a pensive Yoda is wonderful, I can hear him saying, "Your weapons.....you will not need them......." And then sighing as Luke straps his belt on and enters the cave. Great work!

 

[Droidworld]

Instagram Reel of Dagobah Diorama

 

[yodashizzle]

Great video, the best Dagobah diorama I've seen! What dimensions are we talking about? Maybe 5' x 3'? About 2 1/2 to 3 feet tall?

 

[Droidworld]

Great video, the best Dagobah diorama I've seen! What dimensions are we talking about? Maybe 5' x 3'? About 2 1/2 to 3 feet tall?

Heady praise indeed, thank you @yodashizzle ! Will measure when back home. One of the aspects I’m most happy about will be seen better in a wide shot, after a minor update to Endor above. Stay tuned…

 

[Droidworld]

Dagobah Dio is approx 18” high, 32” deep and 6’ long.

 

[yodashizzle]

I tried to ballpark it based on the figures and X-Wing but if I were to just look and give a quick guess, it'd seem much, much bigger. Which in a dio is really what you want because you're using some illusion techniques very effectively. The light green background and hazy effects along with the whispy cotton effects really give the illusion of height and especially depth. As it turns out, the real set was pretty big, big enough to pass for a vast swamp. But the same trees, haziness, and so forth gave it a immensity that is quite amazing. Same thing here with your small scale version. It also is quite amazing.

 

[Droidworld]

The light green background and hazy effects along with the whispy cotton effects really give the illusion of height and especially depth.

Thanks @yodashizzle !!!

still adding whisps of cotton,,,


More in some areas.

To the eye, the background reads more blue which is correct, but being fluorescent, it appears more green in pics. One day will use LED where can get the exact colour.

And speaking of colour, looking at Daigobah’s spectacular swamp and then ESB stills, I noticed there were reddish-brown leaves or chips on the ground. Might have to add something similar in spots.

 

[Tulgah]

Those are some pretty truly movie-like pics!

 

[Droidworld]

Those are some pretty truly movie-like pics!

Thanks @Tulgah ! Part of the enjoyment of having little movie sets. Though in this case it started to feel like a play, with grassy Endor ground above and hanging vines almost felt like curtains around a stage. I ended up playing that up a bit, framing the dioramas like a theatre.

Hoping to blend the eventual dioramas beside Endor and Dagobah as well.

 

[Trooper31]

Wow, just wow!!!!

 

[yodashizzle]

It's like the Endor redwoods have roots that are perfectly apt for Dagobah trees! What a cool thing!

 

[Droidworld]

It's like the Endor redwoods have roots that are perfectly apt for Dagobah trees! What a cool thing!

Thanks @Trooper31 and @yodashizzle ! Stranger Things have happened!

 

[Droidworld]

Instagram Video of Dagobah Turntable

And added “chips” to ground. Spray painted and cut raffia. A bit big imo, but better than before.

 

[Droidworld]

“Sketched” in Dagobah swamp mural below Endor mural. Making them soft and a little dreamy looking, but will define Dagobah a little more when time allows.