In a word, the best way for me to describe my Star Wars Rebel Base diorama goal in 2022 would be: EXPANSIOIN. At the end of 2021 I found myself with two new X-wing fighters that I needed to find room for. By mid-2022 that total became 4 as I added another X-wing and decided on displaying a B-wing fighter as well. In order to do this I had to expand things: I did so by adding an entirely new section and a second, smaller “building.”
Here’s a look at the diorama in mid-2022:
You’ll notice that grey crate in the bottom right of the photo. This crate is holding up the display “shelf” above it. In the past I had decided that any display that was set up directly on the floor in that spot would be wasted there because the sightlines are bad unless you’re looking at it from floor level. I also set it up this way to sort of reign in any more expansion; I always try to feel like “less is more.” I also always never stick to this motto for very long.
So the plan was to replace the crate with legs to support the “shelf” that was resting on it. My buddy Ryan came over to give me a hand. He cut some legs (that I’lll have to paint someday) that kept the same amount of height as the crate. Then I created a “garage” space with a piece of thin plywood and some styrofoam walls that I could slide in and out of the legs. First thing to do was to move my Legacy Collection Millennium Falcon to this new space.
I treated it like it was a movie set piece where only part of the Falcon would need to be visible and added a couple of styrofoam walls to either side. It looked great (even better when not at eye level). Then it was just a matter of moving the rest of my vehicles around until I was happy with the layout.
As it turns out I couldn’t get the layout of the vehicles in a way that I liked and the problem was that the B-wing fighter has a giant footprint; it takes up alot of room because it’s basically the same length as an X-wing but much wider. Standing it on end wasn’t really an option since I don’t have that kind of height on the rebel base so I came up with a mini garage that I quickly threw together using pink insulation and paint. I sat the B-wing on top of it as if the “roof” of the structure was a landing pad and moved an A-wing fighter inside. This freed up a ton of space and I was able to set up the three new X-wings easily.
Here’s a look at the entire setup with the B-wing pad/A-wing garage in the top left and the new home for the Falcon, bottom right:
But of course “always in motion is the Star Wars room” and I decided a few months later to move the Millennium Falcon completely out of the Rebel Base so it could be displayed with my Haslab Razor Crest. This also allowed me to juggle things around again and hopefully create a little less clutter and chaos for the Rebels.
Here’s a look at the entire rebel base:
This set up lasted me until the end of 2022. And as I write this in February 2023 I’ve already made more changes: Stay Tuned!
Other “Rebel Base” articles you might enjoy…!
Rebel Base Expansion: 10 Years In 25 Seconds
Mike Tarkin.com 