DOMES AND STAIRS

 As I'm still busy on commission work I haven't made much progress on the cantina, so as a fill in I thought I would show how I make domes and spiral stairs, as a few had thought they looked complicated.

DOME

Step 1 First we need some measurements, as I don't need a full half sphere, I draw the radius larger than I want, and then measure from further up the circle.

as you can see above, I've based the measurements on the thickness of the foamboard I will be using.

Step 2 using the measurements from above, I cut three discs of foamboard and glued them together.

Step 3 next we need to shape the foam, I start with a scalpel trimming to the rough shape, then use sandpaper to finish off.

Step 4 lastly I cover the entire dome in wall filler to give the rough surface that you see on the buildings in Tatooine.

A handy tool for this stage is a card template of the shape of the dome, to make sure you don't get any high spots. You can also sand once dry, if it gets too rough and lumpy.

STAIRS

Step 1 First draw a circle on your foamcore, with a radius of the width of the stairs that you want.

Step 2 mark out quarters in the disc.

Step 3 Once you've cut out the quarters, you need to mark out three sections, the area for gluing and two equal steps.

Step 4 cut out the bottom step, but don't throw away the cut piece. Then repeat for the next stair as well.

Step 5 glue the two sets together, and also glue the cut out piece underneath at the same time.

Step 6 trim the underside to look more level.

Step 7 finally add filler to fill in the gaps.

Repeat the above process as many times as needed to get the height of the stairs you need.

Hopefully this will be useful to someone for their own projects, so until next time stay safe, and have fun !

Cheers Dave 

THAT'S THE LAST WALL

 Rather than a straw, I've got the last wall construction finished, these are the internal walls for Chalmun's quarters, I've also got them painted and partioning curtains made and painted.

The curtains were made from cloth and coated in PVA glue to set the curves and shape before painting, as there is a second floor for sleeping quarters I put in spiral stairs to show that there is another level even though I'm not building it. Just a short post today as I'm busy on commission work, so until next time stay safe and have fun !

Cheers Dave

MAKE AN ENTRANCE

 Continuing on with this rather large project, I've got a few more entrance ways built, first is the door to one of the store rooms, at the front of the building. This is my third attempt at this door, first I tried greenstuff to get the ridges in, looked terrible, then I tried cutting into plasticard, also looked awful, so my third attempt was to paint in the ridges, it's not perfect, but will do, I've done a shot just of the door, one with a model for scale, and reference picture to see what I was aiming for.

Next is the door for Chalmun's quarters, there was no reference pictures to work from, so I went for a style similar to the main entrance, below is a picture of the door with, and without model.

Last today is my favourite part so far, the entranceway into the cantina, where we see the droid scanner, some chairs, and a lot of glasses left lying around. The droid scanner was made from plasticard, and the chairs were made from offcuts of foamcore that were shaped and detail scribed into them before painting. the glasses are plastic hollow rod cut to length and stuck into place. Pictures below are without figures, with figures and reference pictures.

Hopefully I can get some more painting done by next time, so until then stay safe and have fun !

Cheers Dave

LET'S PUT A LID ON THIS

 As you may remember from the last post, I showed the basic roof panel, have now made some good progress on it, and got the two domes added, the detail surrounding the vehicle port, the glass panel above the bar, and many gubbins added. this shot shows the large dome removed.

The next shot has the dome put back on.

Here are some more close up shots of the details.

As a stormtrooper on the roof would look odd, here's a sandbat roosting.

Proof that the vehicle port is large enough with a vehicle inside ready for a quick escape.

This week I'd like to get some more paint on the whole thing, and then I need to start adding the details, so until next time, stay safe, and have fun !

Cheers Dave

LISTEN TO THE VOICES

 No I'm not talking the ones in your head, but the voice of fellow bloggers, Azazael recently said he thought the bar was too small, so I double checked my dimensions, as it turns out I'd actually done one too big, the height of the bar, this is what it used to look like.

I needed to lower the bar, luckily the large bar top wasn't stuck down, so that one was fairly easy to adjust, the back bar was glued down and to the walls, but with careful trimming down I was able to adjust that one as well. Azazael also asked if I'd include models to help to show the scale as well, so here are some pictures of the adjusted bars with patrons.

As you will have noticed I've also added some paint to the bar as well, as it's been a few weeks since I've picked up a brush, you may notice a spot that has no paint, that's because I'm going to try something I don't add very often, but I'll keep it as a surprise if it works, or just let it fade into obscurity if it doesn't ! LOL Last time I mentioned the roof, but forgot to put in the picture, so here is the basic structure so far.

Hopefully I can add some detail on it soon and get that moving in the right direction, but one piece is taking a lot of time already. That's all for this post, so until next time, stay safe, and have fun !

Cheers Dave

OFFCUTS NEED LOVE TOO !

 Bit later than normal, as I was taken ill over the weekend, thankfully over the worst of it and now back on this mammoth project.

So what is the title about, well all the additional bits today were made from the offcuts of the walls, I was careful  to use each length of foamcore so that I only had some small offcuts left at the end of the process, but these pieces would make the buttressing needed around the main building.

I've also used the offcuts to make the hitching posts, roof vent, and door frame around Chalmun's quarters, I still need to add the rings on the hitching posts, which I will make either out of greenstuff or wire, depending how well each works.

Offcuts were also used on the buttressing around the additional building.

I've also started building the roof, this was cut out of hardboard, so it is light, but fairly strong, need to join the two pieces together, and find a way of securing the roof, I might go for magnets.

Don't know what bit to work on next, but hope to have something by next time, so until then, stay safe, and have fun !

Cheers Dave

I'LL MEET YOU AT THE BAR

 The last bit of construction within the cantina, was the bar and the walls it attaches to, I've made them removable, so as to make it easier for photography.

As you can see in the picture below, there is an entrance way into the bar, this needs a curtain over it, but haven't decided whether to to do it with cloth and PVA or greenstuff yet, but plenty of time for that. The central counter still needs it's pipes and large containers added, which will need working out.

Sorry it's such a short post today, as you can imagine being away meant I didn't get a lot done, although I did have a funny email this week from Linked In telling me that I had Warner Brothers, Lucasfilm, and Paramount studios look at my profile, no job offers yet, but who knows ! LOL Until next time stay safe, and have fun !

Cheers Dave