Now that I'm working on the Qala Debdou board, I'm determined to make some more progress before taking it into the closet for another year!
My original idea (as of last november) was cutting a circular piece on the floor and adding an underground bazaar (kind of Luke's uncles' moist farm in Tatooine). I even had preparations, but suddenly I had a different idea:
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| A hollow space, but with two different floors |
You can barely see a thing in the pic above, I'm afraid. Next one shows it better. I used a mosaic for the floor (merely downloaded image printed on paper):
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| This gets a better overview |
The lower level is made with an old CD case, as plastic gives me strenght and light weight, and the upper level will be mere cardboard.
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| You can get an idea of the size of the structure |
The bazaar is taking a considerable space within the board, that's why I decided to risk it a little bit and try this extravagant shape, so it looks a little bit more interesting.
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| Weirdly close to the entrance to the mine, but there's no more room here! |
Once I'm adding lights to the board, planning turns a little bit different. I cannot just build it all and then add the lights (as done before!), simply because there will be some parts totally inaccessible. So I have to build a part, put the lights and then keep on building.
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| However, the general idea is something in this fashion |
Oh, BTW, of course I considered cutting those doors and making an inner space for the stalls, but it was just too much. The coyte trick of painting the hole black will have to do.
I changed my mind about the central piece of the bazaar. The idea of a pole of some kind was very powerful, as it's quite typical in any old market anywhere in the world. It's visually attractive and I was using that strange piece (from an old perfume generously donated by Mrs. Suber). But then I remembered I had these air scrubbers and one of them looked much better here:
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| With the tiny awnings! |
Now it has that weird mix of fantasy, sci-fi and old worn looking I was after.
Let's go for the fun part! I had to buy a second light set. I'm putting the batteries here inside one of the structures. I'll have to provide some removable cover for them, but that's a problem for future me.
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| I have some ideas, but for another day |
I could complete all the rear part, adding lights to the caves on the left of the pic:
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| Looks cozy, but I'm not sure if it really is |
For the market stalls I got these bits from Tabletop Art, which are gorgeous:
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| Yummy |
I glued some items to the floor of the lower bazaar. Then glued the lower bazaar in place and added the lights. Then I could stick the upper bazaar round wall, to which I had to put the lights on the go. Quite time consuming, and it took a lot of measurings and trial and error (specially error!), but it all led to this:
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| Done! |
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| Ta-daaa |
I also got to put the lights to the entrance of the mine. The thing is that I was quickly squandering the light garland just by surrounding the lower and upper bazaar, but for now it all was working.
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| In fact, the idea of some light coming out from the mine was what made me embark on this madness |
The lower bazaar has an access gate. I built a cardboard tunnel and paved the road, so you can get into the bazaar directly from the front of the board:
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| Details on the mine still TBD. Another problem for future me |
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| Close up of the access tunnel |
Well, everything is in place now! From now on it's just a matter of adding details. I glued the goods and awnings and stuff:
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| Ugly, dirty, unhygienic. Just perfect |
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| A view from the other side, with the gate to the tunnel |
Well, the final test... lights on!
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| Ugly, dirty... and lit |
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| Open for bussiness! |
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| A view for the tunnel |
You may think this whole thing is a total madness. Well... it is, I couldn't say otherwise. However, once finished it makes you feel something like this...
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The Suberverse coming along
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I still have a little sanity left to keep on working on the board, so more updates in the following days!
