by David Falloure

This diorama depicts the opening battle sequence from The Empire Strikes Back.

The scene was constructed by my 6-year old (with less help from dad than you think.)

Two AMT/Ertl At-At kits were used. My son built them straight from the box. Rather than paint them, other than the necks, he chose to heavily wear and weather the vehicles using ground charcoal (a mix of gray and black).

The gun turrets came with the kits. Like the walkers, he also weathered with charcoal and created blast damage on all pieces by using the head of safety matches, igniting them and allowing the flash to engage, then blow out the flame before the plastic melted.

Dull coat was used to seal the vehicles and scenery snow was sprinkled while still wet.

The base was made from an old cabinet door. It was covered with plaster and molded for the trench. While still wet, my son set the walkers on the plaster to create heavy imprints from the walkers.

The power generator was made from two halves of a Soyuz model. Wires were cut to create cable. The rebel fighters in the trenches are, appropriately, colonial figures from a Risk game. The speeder is a micro machine.

Most of the model took about a week. An extra few days were added when my son decided there needed to be two walkers instead of just one. The second walker has the "tow cable" around it's legs. It appears about to fall.

Image: Attackers

Image: Power generator

Image: Snow speeder

Image:Close-up on an AT-AT