| Step
1
Cut out a circular section of blueboard
the diameter of your drum (should be
about 22"). At this point I
arranged the throne room layout (the
circle will be your floor). Start
with Jabba's dias on the "front" wall. You don't need a
front wall, actually. You will just hang some pantyhose
"curtains" behind Jabba later. Draw a line parallel to
the dias for the back wall. I chose to make that wall longer and
put 2 arches in. This made the room shorter. You can push
this wall back but then you will only have room for 1 arch on the back
wall. Ditto for the side wall. I chose to have a smaller
side wall. It has only one arch (with
frozen Solo). The other side
wall will be "cut away" so you can see into the room, of
course, so you just need to figure out how you'll put in the back wall
and far side wall.
Step 2
Use a business card to etch a trap door
immediately in front of the dias with an X-acto. You can make a working
door if you like. I didn't bother. PLMK if you need some
ideas there. Most of the rest of the floor in the "main
room" should be cut away for floor grating into the rancor pit. Lay
an appropriate sized section of mesh down and trace around it with an
X-acto. Cut the hole about 1/4"
in from the edge of the mesh so you have a lip to support the
mesh. Cut down the lip just enough so the mesh fits flush with the
floor. Use the caulk/liquid nails to glue in the mesh.
Step 3
Cut (from
blueboard) the 2 walls 9" high
and whatever length you decided on. Make a cardboard pattern
for your arches (Your discretion).
Cut as many arches out of your walls as will fit. I suggest 2 for the
back wall and 1 for the side wall.
Step 4
Give the awls and floor some texture. You
can sand the blueboard or add a light layer of Spackle. Paint the walls
and floor with a dark ACRYLIC paint.
Step 5
Cut the 2 big holes into the drum.
I chose irregular holes that looked like someone just knocked out a
chunk of wall to get that "Incredible Cross-Sections" look.
The throne room hole should be less than 12" from the top of the
drum. If in doubt anywhere cut a small hole and enlarge later. The
rancor cave must be large enough to fit the 22" floor section,
however. The drum will be VERY hard to cut. I ended up drilling
holes as close to each other as I could then "connected he
dots" with a carpet knife. Very tough on the hands.
Tedious, but not tricky.
Step 6
Place the circular floor into the rancor
cave hole then lift it until it's 12" from the top. It should
be a tight fit. If it's TOO tight the blueboard will break, so you
may need to trim a bit. When the floor is level and in place use
some goop (caulk, etc)
to hold it in place.
Step 7
Paint the inside of the barrel (in
the throne room) and floor with the
dark acrylics. Glue the 2 walls to the floor and each other.
Step 8
If you want, build a droid room. Use the
area under the back wall (at about
18" from top). Build a 3-sided
box from blueboard. Just experiment with how big you can make it
without blocking either the rancor cave or the view to the cave from the
throne room. The cave can exist below the droid room, but it is
hidden from above. Anyway, just glue the walls and floor together
and caulk them onto the side. Cut out a "peephole"
in the barrel here too.
Step 9
Paper machete the entire lower 2/3 of the
barrel (including the bottom of the
throne room floor). PLMK if you need
details on macheing. If you need "bumps" you can use a
cardboard frame and cover it. Be sure to machete heavily over the
droid room to help hold it in place. Then just fleck black paint
all over the place to finish the cave.
Step 10
Details: paint the outside orange.
Use a Dremel sanding wheel to make several "blaster
scars". Sink and glue pen ink tube sections into the
floor for foot pegs. Stretch panty hose across the ceiling and
behind Jabba's dias for curtains. (Use
tiny screws to hold the hose to the plastic.)
Use some extra mesh in the rancor cave to build the keeper's room. Paper
machete a "rock" wall around
it and just leave enough mesh exposed for the keepers to watch their
pet. Fill your droid torture room with some scrap plastic along
with various droids.
Step 11
I still need a good (cheap)
roof. I want a flat cone 20" to 25" in diameter.
Any ideas?
Recipe provided by: DarthSchroeder@webtv.net
Doug Schroeder |
