Star Wars Outer Rim Scenery: The Board

Here's a scenery project that I've had under wraps for more than a year– A board depicting a desert planet in the Outer Rim.

 

This board was commissioned for Atomic Mass Games for their Star Wars Legion and Shatterpoint miniatures games. If you've seen their recent Shatterpoint trailer, You'll have caught a glimpse of the desert buildings and shipwrecks. The scenery was finished way back in April of 2021, and now that it's been unveiled publicly, I can finally show photos of it and talk about how I made it. (This was finished before I got my new phone, so the photos from my old, grainy camera. I apologize for all the dead pixels!)

The board itself was constructed from a 30" x 30" wooden frame, and the backdrop was formed out of pink extruded polystyrene insulation foam. I smoothed it over with Elmer's Wood Filler putty, and blended it into the "floor" of the board so it would provide a seamless transition to a horizon line in the background.

The board also has a large shipwreck built onto the backdrop. I formed the basic shapes out of blocks of insulation foam, and then coated the foam with a lauer of Liquid Nails construction adhesive so I could super glue styrene plastic details over it.

 

 

Play sand was affixed to the desert with waterproof wood glue.

 

 

The wreck was covered with paneling made from sheets of styrene. Each sheet was etched with panel lines, and detailed with little squares of styrene and notches cut out of the edges.

 

 

My inspiration for the design aesthetics comes from the actual models used for the films:

 

 

The greeblies in the recesses are a mix of styrene rods, tubes, and I-beams, metal floral wire, bits of moisture vaporators from my other terrain builds, ridge-textured styrene, and corrugated plastic electrical conduit tubing.

 

 

Because the top arch was so tall, I magnetized it so it could be removed for transport and storage. It could also be used as a stand-alone piece of wreckage.

 

 

I primed everything black, and then sprayed it with a warm grey basecoat. From there, I weathered it with a mix of Liquitex Burnt Umber Transparent Ink (aka Brown Ink) and Formula P3 Bloodstone. I thinned it and painted it on like a wash, and then used a paper towel sprayed with isopropyl alcohol to wipe it off the surface. The alcohol takes the paint off the surface pretty cleanly, and helps it flow into the recesses. The technique is similar to an oil pin wash, just without the oil paint. This was the first time I tried anything like this, and I was very happy with the results. I also painted on some specific rust streaks of P3 Bloodstone, and used a sponge to apply chips on all the corners with a mix of Brown Ink, Bloodstone, and a bit of Army Painter Shining Silver.

 

 

The setting is supposed to be generic enough so it can pass for any Outer Rim desert planet like Tatooine or Jakku, both of which have sandstone buildings and starship wreckage dotting the landscape.

 

 

In coming posts I'll get into how I build the other wrecks and buildings. For now, here's a look around town:

 

 

'Til next time!