[MOC] MANDALORIAN OUTPOST ON TATOOINE | mini diorama

[NerdYoda]

Hello everybody,

I am new here and would like to present you my first Star Wars mini diorama. It's a diorama that can represent pretty much every desert planet in the Star Wars universe, from Jakku or Jedha to good old Tatooine. It certainly didn't use the most sophisticated construction techniques, which is because I was looking for a simple appearance. In the beginning, it should only serve as a presentation surface for two of my LEGO Star Wars models, and not distract the eye too much from them. The size was chosen so that it would easily fit on an IKEA Billy shelf. For this it was necessary to cut approx. ½ nubs away from the left base plate (32x32 nubs). In total there are 3 base plates with 32x32 studs each.

 

In the middle there is a quite large but flat sand dune, as you can easily see. Originally this dune was planned to present the LEGO Razor Crest. But after some extensions with additional details in the background I have discarded this idea so that finally the Imperial Assault Hovertank (75152) found its place there. On the right side you can see Kuiils' hut, which is actually just a mirror-inverted version of Obi-Wans' hut (75270) - a spontaneous idea I had while building it. The hut is completed by an additional roof element so that it can be completely closed from above. That I integrated existing LEGO Star Wars sets you will notice elsewhere. Next you will see a small outpost of the Mandalorians behind the central dune. Part of it is the command post of the Mandalorian Battle Pack (75267). I designed the adjacent "building" myself. The same applies to the rocky outcrop with the maintenance platform on the left side of the diorama. It is the part that - in my opinion - has the most details of the whole diorama.

Kuiils' hut. Inside, the brown box now contains numerous tools and serves as a workbench where Kuill does his many technical jobs, such as repairing IG-11. In front of the hut, you can see Kuill (a customized Ugnaught made of original LEGO parts) standing at the entrance of the hut. Next to him you can see Cara Dune (from set 75254), the child and the Mandalorian Din Djarin (the latter two are LEGO-compatible custom figures). Of course IG-11, who is doing his work in front of the hut, is also present. Finally, there is a radio mast incl. generator and a well for drinking water.

 

Mandalorian outpost. The outpost consists of a command post on the left side and a two-story building on which a laser cannon is mounted for defense. On the first floor you can see individual weapons (a thermal detonator and a weapon box in which 2 blaster are hidden) and a control panel, while the first floor serves as a weapon control for the laser. Outside, we have a small courtyard with a power generator for the laser, a box with coaxium and a melting furnace for the processing of Beskar, to mention only a few essential elements. There is of course more standing around, but this is more to simulate a full yard. The yard is overgrown with a desert palm that could be used as a camouflage from the air. Also a tentacle of a Sarlacc was integrated into the yard. The outpost is occupied by three Mandalorians from the Mandalorian Battle Pack (75267) and the blacksmith from the series "The Mandalorian" (also a compatible custom figure).

 

The rocky ridge. The first thing you might notice is the small cave under the top of the ledge, where a somewhat shady figure is sitting in front of a campfire. Above the cave, you can see power units of several LEGO Star Wars models (X-Wing (75218), Y-Wing (75249), and Swoop Bike (75215)) lying around on the platform. At the rear end of the platform there are three boxes of coaxium and a power nozzle under a small pavilion. Between the pavilion and the boulder you can see an old, broken Assassin Droid, the front rudders of a Swoop Bike, a proton torpedo and the KX9 laser cannon of a T65B X-Wing. Some may also recognize the laser emitter of a quad laser (as used in the current model of the Millenium Falcon (75257)), a hyperdrive unit and many other parts standing around. Under the floor grid in the middle of the platform there is a maintenance hole, with various installations. The platform is manned by a Mandalorian ground technician and is guarded by a Mandalorian Commando (all figures made from original LEGO parts).

 

Further details. Among the - not yet named - details, the most important are probably Chirrut Imwe and Baza Malbus, which are located below Kuiil's hut in the area of the dark brown rock, as well as a Probot Droid, which hovers near the hovertank, and a Sand Trooper flanking it. Finally, olive-colored grasses and bushes give the whole thing the look and feel of a desert and complete the small diorama. In the meantime I found a nice MOC of the Z-74 Speeder Bike, which I have rebuilt, equipped with a Scout Trooper and the bag with The Kid (instructions for the bike can be found at https://rebrickable.com/) and a white water vaporizer near Kuiil's hut. Copied from the LEGO Sandspeeder and found to be good, especially regarding the size and proportions of my MOC.

I hope you like it!? Please let me know your opinion!It certainly didn't turn out to be a masterpiece right away ;-). 

 

PS: Besides the Razor Crest and the Assault Hovertank there is also room for an X-Wing (75218, 75102 or similar) on the central dune. So I can decide at will which model I want to present. Without the drive units, the Jakku Quadjumper (75178) fits comfortably on top of the ledge as well.

How does it go on? I will rebuild the Mandalorian outpost. In the future it will be based on the outbuilding of the new LEGO Mos Eisley Cantina to better stand out next to Kuiil's hut. In addition the laser cannon with tower will fit perfectly on the flat roof and at the same time receive a new design and construction technique. Instead of an inner courtyard, the MOC of the Mandalorian Outpost will have second outbuilding – which has been reduced to a ruin – and serve as a gun emplacement. Instead of a sniper rifle, an E-Web Blaster will be used to protect the outputs even better. The smithy will move inside the building in this context as well.

 

 

Edited October 6, 2020 by NerdYoda
added tags

[JintaiZ]

Fantastic build!

[NerdYoda]

Thanks, glad you like it. 

 

I will post another update as soon as the parts for the overhauled Mandalorian Outpost have arrived and it is finished. 

[azzer86]

Nice diorama! Like some of the greenling work/detail in different areas of the set. I may have to borrow some of those ideas to my display 

[NerdYoda]

Feel free to borrow them mate. Thanks for the compliment. Much appreciated.

[titelive]

Magnifique diorama.

[NerdYoda]

Thank you! In a few days the missing parts will arrive to completely rework the Mandalorian Outpost and to better integrate it into the environment and the MOC. You may be curious .

[macaron35]

a little bit packed but fantastic build

[NerdYoda]

48 minutes ago, macaron35 said:

a little bit packed but fantastic build

Thank you very much. And yes, you're right. It's too crowded now. I thought about integrating the moisture vaporator on the side of the new outpost I already planned. For this, Chirrut Imwe and Baze Malbus will be moving into the showcase. The same goes for the hover tank and the probe droid, so that only the speeder bike will find room on the dune. Such a MOC is never really finished, and with the current modification plans it will change from a classic desert diorama to a full-fledged MOC, which might well be named after its central building, "Mandalorian Outpost". 

[macaron35]

it would deserve a larger space on an open shelf :)

[NerdYoda]

It will get one :-)!

Edited September 29, 2020 by NerdYoda

[RocketBoy]

This is really great! I love the tiling and the action. We'd love to have you over at the Factions RPG subforum, if you're interested in joining a game. 

[jimmynick]

What a lovely little diorama, and what a clever way to display several builds in a small space! I said on the review of the new cantina that I really liked the water vaporator, and I think your design is really great as well (and more brick-efficient, it looks like!) Thanks for sharing!

[NerdYoda]

15 hours ago, jimmynick said:

What a lovely little diorama, and what a clever way to display several builds in a small space! I said on the review of the new cantina that I really liked the water vaporator, and I think your design is really great as well (and more brick-efficient, it looks like!) Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for your feedback. This was exactly my motivation: I didn't have much space and still wanted to have a small diorama! The design of the moisture evaporator is, as I wrote in the text above, stolen from the official LEGO Sandspeeder. I just replaced some parts, but didn't change anything in the construction technique. I actually wanted to build a slightly bigger, grey one. But that would have been too much for the little diorama :-).

 

16 hours ago, RocketBoy said:

This is really great! I love the tiling and the action. We'd love to have you over at the Factions RPG subforum, if you're interested in joining a game. 

Many thanks for the compliment. Currently, I only order stones for my MOCs, so I don't know if I would be of much help over at Factions ;-).

[NerdYoda]

After the parts had been delivered, I finally had the opportunity to overhaul the Mandalorian Outpost of my mini diorama. 

As already reported in one of my last posts, I based my work on the construction of the additional building from the 75290 Mos Eisley Cantina, which I modified in parts and added the already existing turret. The Outpost is - as LEGO pros say - swooshable, so it is fully playable. The roof of the turret as well as the roof above the forge and the armoury can be removed. 

For the small, adjacent ruin with the E-Web Blaster, I made sure that the roof, which is now in ruins, can still be guessed at. Furthermore, the pavilion on the rocky outcrop has given way to a ruin - also largely decayed - under which the boxes containing the coaxium are now housed.

Because of the numerous changes, which clearly go in a certain direction, I will call the diorama from now on "Mandalorian Outpost on Tatooine". I find this more fitting to what I have now created through numerous changes, conversions and new buildings.

See my flickr for further details of the interior: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmQUWWQk

[NerdYoda]

New subtleties. A detailed moisture vaporizer (based on the model from Mos Eisley Cantina) to add a little more depth and perspective. Instead, the small white evaporator has moved to the background, next to Kuiil's hut. Kuiils has also received glasses and a Probe Droid is now on its way in the area.

Edited November 9, 2020 by NerdYoda