TUTORIALS • MAKING OF • ECHO BASE MEDICAL CENTER
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As seen and built by fans at STAR WARS CELEBRATION V • ECHO BASE DIORAMA BUILDERS
Orlando, FL, USA from August 12 to 15 2010

tutorials making of ECHO BASE MEDICAL CENTER

I think this is the most recognised picture from the scene. It's a great starting point to see the details in the wall paterns but doesn't show much of the room our heroes are standing in. For that I went to my ultimate source...The Star Wars laserdiscs 🙂
Using the pause feature I ws able to sketch out the layout of the room i want to build and the details that create the set. It might look like a mess but if you squint your eyes you can make out the room - LOL.
This is the opposite wall, facing the Bacta Tank glass wall. It is a recessed enclosure that holds the bed where Luke is recovering during his friends visit. The bed is quite similar to the one in the Falcon's Blastshield Training room (behind the chess table and bench). The back end of this wall will be removable just like the movie set to permit us to look in the room from Luke's right side.
First Step is to create the floor piece. Since I decided to make the Diorama sectional, I will cut this piece in 3 sections. You could cut 3 pieces from the start if you prefer.

Time to make the Bacta room. I cut the 5 pieces that will become the walls.
Using the Hot Glue Gun, I attached the pieces to the floor piece. For extra strength, use some Hot Glue between the side panels so that they don't get loose.
I used my Xacto Knife to cut the floor piece at the edge of the window mark. You don't need to cut the diorama in sections, it's just easier for me to take pictures with removable walls.
Now for the main window peering into the Bacta room. Cut 4 pieces of foamcore. I cut 2 a bit smaller to save some money since they will be inside the grooves and will not be visible.

Using the Glue gun, attach 2 layers of foamcore togeher to create a thicker wall. The glass will fit between these 2 pieces once the window is cut out.
Using a very sharp blade, watch out for your fingers - be very carefull, cut out the window shape. If your blade is too dull, it will tear the foamcores interior and give an ugly edge to the window.
Here is 1 half of the window section against the Bacta romm walls. Now just cut out the other window from the 2nd piece and the room is complete. If you don't want to create the Medical Center you can stop right here and just apply the wall decals from the Download Section.
Since I want the window seperaye from the Bacta room, I glued it to the Medical Center's floor piece. You can't see in the picture, but the wall is NOT attached at the edge of the floor. There is a space in back for the other window. This wall will be 4 foamcore pieces thick.

Next is the support column for the ceiling beam. I cut 2 pieces of foamcore identical in shape.
Attach them together using your Hot Glue Gun. 2 pieces give the perfect thickness for the decals.
Next up, I secured the collum in place using Hot Glue.
Time to make the ceiling beam. I used 3 pieces of foamcore. The center just a bit smaller in width.

Again use the Hot Glue to secure the 3 pieces together.
Your beam is ready to be placed on top of the column. Make sure that there is enough glue to attach it safely to the back wall.
Time for bed - hee hee - This is what we have so far when the 2 sections are put together.
This cut is to seperate the medical bed from the main room to permit easy access for me to take pictures. You do not need to cut this piece if you want to keep your diorama in 1 piece.

Like the first column, I cut 2 identical pieces of foamcore to fit on the opposite end of the beam.
Use the Hot Glue to attach the 2 pieces together.
Now I used the Hot Glue Gun both at the top and on the floor. Attach 1 end at a time, it's much easier and will avoid a big mess if your glue hardens too quickly. This is our Medical center archway.
Next I cut a piece of foamcore and applied it to the front of the column and along the main floor. This piece is the wall that connects the door to the "window" wall.

This piece is the Wide door to the medical center.
It fits on the left side of the Medical Center. Use Hot Glue to attach it to the 2 walls. I am leaving mine loose so that I can remove it to take better pictures.
Here is a top view of the Medical Center room. You can better see where the wide door fits in.
Time for the right wall. There is a door in the wall so I cut 5 pieces of foamcore.

These 2 pieces are identical. I used the Hot Glue to attach the wall corners together.
Next attach the door piece and the secure the entire wall to the floor base and "window" wall.
These are the pieces needed for the "bed" wall. I cut the closet hole and bed frame from the first piece, as seen on the top of the picture. Next place this piece on top of the 2nd one and trace the shape of the bed frame. Use an Xacto blade to cut the bed hole only.
The "Bed" wall has a thickness of 5 cm. I cut identical shapes of foamcore to act as seperators.

3 of the pieces fit vertical on each side of the wall and bed frame. The 2 others are horizontal along the top and bottom of the bed frame. This acts as support but also as Luke's recovery bed.
The closet need walls to but not as deep as the walls thickness. These are the pieces you need to make a box that will fit around the closet hole in the wall.
Using the Hot Glue Gun, I attached the pieces into a box and then secured it to the rear of the "bed" wall. If the pieces don't fit perfectly that's ok, we won't see the box from the outside.
Now I attached the wall to the medical Center's floor piece I had cut out. If you decided to have your diorama in 1 piece, your floor base will be bigger then the one in the picture. You can see that there is a space left for 2 foamcore sheets. The first is the rear of the bed and the other will be a back wall plate that will stay removable to fascilitate viewing from multiple angles.

This is what the "bed" wall looks like from the front with the floor on the bottom of the Photo.
The wall fitted in it's proper place. If it looks odd, the back wall hasn't been cut and attached yet.
This gives you a better view of the Medical Center's design.
The complete diorama shape with all sections placed together. Remember if you prefer, you can have it all attached in 1 piece. You do not have to have it sectional.

This photo shows you how my Diorama seperates into 3 pieces. Again, the main reason for doing this was to ease the camera setups, just like on a real movie set 🙂
The bed's pillow and mattress are not made yet but this gives you an idea of where Luke rested after coming out of the Bacta Tank. You can get a good glimpse of the bed in Empire Strikes Back, when 2-1B is wishing Luke good luck at his discharge.
This is what the room looks like with the "bed" wall removed from place. Of course the ceilings will add a lot of dimension and scale to the finished room.
One last look at all the pieces fitted together. Now it's time to finish the Diorama's Blueprints and start the Photoshop Wall Textures for you to Download.

When it came time to make the decals, I decided to make a small change to the rooms design not found in the blueprints. I cut 2 shapes in Foamcore, 7.5cm X 3cm and 7.5cm X 3.5cm.
Using hot glue, I attached the 2 pieces together. This piece will mirror the left beam, giving a more esthetic and accurate look to the room.
Here you can better see what I am talking about. The piece fits into the Right side Door Jam. When the decals are applied it will look like the Beam on the Left side of the room.
Well after 17 hours of Photoshop work, I printed all my Decals for the Bacta Room and 3 Walls of the Medical Center. I still have to create Luke's Medical Bed Decals that fit on the Rear wall. I will work on those next weekend.

Start by cutting out the decals for the Bacta Tank Room. You will need these 5 pieces. They are for the Walls A, B, C, D and E. You can use scissors or an Xacto blade with a ruler to get perfect straight cuts. Just make sure to be carefull and not chop off your finger 🙂
This is the Bacta Tank Room the above decals go into. The Walls are from left to right... A, B, C, D and E
To save on glue and time, you can print the textures onto these cool Peel Back Full Sheet Decals, available at most Stationery Stores.
And this is how the Bacta Tank Room looks like after you apply all wall textures. All that is left, is to apply a Grey Glossy Cardboard on the floor surface.

Next up, Cut out the decal for the Left Door and apply to your Foamcore cutout.
The door in it's final resting place on the Left Side of the Medical Center.
Now let's get a bit more complex. These are the textures you need to print and cutout for the Left Side of the Medical Center Walls and Beam.
The first decal is applied to the Foamcore piece on the left side of the Beam Column. The 2nd copy of this texture is on the mirror opposite side of the room.

Now it's time to place the "Wire" Strips on the edge of the Foamcore Beam Column. Repeat same on Right side Beam Column.
Next, I applied the 4 block texture on the Beam's Side. This piece fits perfectly between the "Wire" Strips located on each side of the Cloumns.
Now take the shortened Wall Texture and apply it on the Column's Front between the arrows. Repeat the same move on opposite "Mirror" Column.
Now I applied this texture to the underside of the Beam. I noticed it's not quite as wide as it should be but still looks good.

Repeat the previous steps to the front side of the structure. Start with the Right and Left "Wire" Strips and then the center Top Beam Texture.
The Medical Center should now look like this. Not the most exciting look being all white but it's movie accurate and is starting to look cool.
Let's move on to the center of the room and the Main Window. After printing the Window Texture, cut it in these 4 pieces. it will be easier to aply then in 1 shape. Trust me - LOL.
Let's start again by applying the side panels. They should fit from the walls to the window's edge.

The center top "Wire" Strip fits snug between the 2 side panels.
Last but not least, the bottom panel finishes off the wall.
These pieces will dress up the Right Side of the Medical Center.
I again started with the outer pieces that fit nicely on the Left and Right sides.

Remember that foamcore "V" Shape I inserted on page 4? Well the Beam Texture fits perfectly on top and even hides the addition. Making it seem we planned it like this from the start 🙂
Now apply the inside Left, Top and Right textures. Try to align the panels so that the division lines match to give a more realistic and neater appearance.
The last decal for this wall is the Right Door. Smack in the center wall 🙂 If you want to make a playset you could have this piece loose so you can open and close the door.
Here is where we are at so far looking at the Left Side. Pretty cool eh? Especially compared to plain white walls - Hee hee.

A picture looking to the Right Side.
This is the Front View. Pretty cool considering the Floor has still to be put in as well as the Ceiling piece and lights (Not a nescessity but will look really amazing).
See what I mean about colour? Hey how did I end up in the picture? LOL Don't panic...Jar Jar and his friends will NOT be in the final pictures. 🙂
This picture shows you the space that the Figures will occupy.

As opposed to Dioramas like say Carbon Chamber, In this Scene, it is the Figures that will add the color and take away the monotony of having white everywhere.
Getting back in the action. Time to make the 2nd Medic Bay Window. I cut 2 identical pieces of foamcore as the first wall. Placed it against the window and traced the countour.
I used my Xacto knife to cut out the window shape in the first piece. Now you know where your cutout area is. Use the Hot Glue Gun and smear glue all over the cut side around the window and attach it to the second foamcore piece.
Now you can cut the bottom piece to match the first cut perfectly. A 2 thickness window 🙂

I looked at my pictures and watched Empire Strikes Back frame by frame and never saw a shot of the floor. So I decided to improvise and thought if they are on Hoth they would have grid floors. I printed the decals from the download section. If you don't want grids and prefer a floor that is more medical, you can leave the floor white or create your own texture.
Now I attached the 2nd window to the Bacta Tank Room with my trusty Hot Glue Gun. Make sure it lines up with the wall from the Medical Room or you will run into problems later on.
Here you see the 2 pieces aligned properly. It's hard to see in the picture but the Bacta Room's Window Wall doesn't touch the floor. It's offset by the thickness of the Medical Rooms foamcore floor.
I went to the stationary store and got this piece of clear acetate for 89 cents. this will be the glass in the window. You don't really need it but it adds realism and allows the figures reflections just like in the real movie set. Just cut it at the height of the diorama walls.

The Medical Center and Bacta Room sections pushed together into place. Between the 2 arrows is where you slip the clear acetate.
Can you see the difference the sheet makes? I left it open half way. On the right of the arrow is the clear acetate. on the left is what it looks like without the plastic sheet.
Next up is the Bacta Tank Center ceiling. We will be placing lights so I cut out 2 light panels. Go to the blueprints Section to see the exact measurements.
This is what the ceiling looks like when placed on top the Bacta Room.

Here you see what the diorama looks like so far with the ceiling in place and the acetate.
A front view of theclear acetate in place. You can notice the ceiling's holes let in specific light and help create the mood and give it the scale of the actual set. Of course when the proper lights are installed it will be much clearer and brighter.
Next up, I used the same floor grid pattern and applied it to the floor of the Medical Center.
For the Medical Center's ceiling I cut out the light panels as per Blueprints instructions

The ceiling in place. Even if we see shelves in the back, you can see it is starting to look like a real room. It is incredible what a ceiling can do for a Diorama.
Here is a view of the left wall. Notice how cool the light looks, shining in on the walls? And we are not even finished yet 🙂
Next up wall number 4, the Medical Bed. Cut your piece of foamcore and trace the shape of the recessed wall space where the bed is.
Use your Xacto knife to cut out the shape.

Using the Hot Glue Gun, attach the foamcore to wall unit number 4.
Here is what that wall looks like from the outside looking in.
Time to make Luke's mattress. Looking at the movie, they used an inflatable lounger mattress used for swimming pools. We will try and make the closest thing possible with foamcore. Just cut out many 1 cm strips the width of the bed.
Angle your Xacto blade and cut off a small diagonal piece on each side.

This will give you an embossed look. Repeat on all pieces.
Next I cut a plain piece of paper that will act as a support so that the pieces turn into a mattress and don't tumble to the ground.
One at a time, Attach them to the paper surface using your Hot Glue Gun.
After 10 minutes or so you will have a finished mattress 🙂 Isn't it purty? 😛

And here is the mattress in place. if you think it looks funny go to the scene where Luke is putting his X-Wing jumpsuit on and telling goodbye to 2-1B. You have a clear angle of the bed.
Above Luke's bed are more lights. So I cut out 1cm strips 2cm appart. This will add texture to the diorama and look just like the film set.
And what the wall number 4 looks like from inside the bacta Tank Room. On the left of the bed you see the closet where Luke hangs his jacket. One last foamcore piec to lean against the back of the bed's hole and we are set for lights 🙂
Once I finished all the Photoshop decals, I printed them on Full Sized Label Sheets. These have peel off backings, so you don't have to apply gluestick. Plus it sticks evenly. Be carefull with large areas, if the paper touches the foamcore where it shouldn't, you will have a really hard time pulling it off without tearing. That said...I applied the front wall decals and closet decals.

Next up are the decals on Luke's Bunk bed area. Along the inner side walls and the back wall. At the moment I am not too happy with my closet decals. As you can see, the graphics weren't quite the right size and caused big white gaps between the joints. Yuk - LOL.
Here is Luke's Bed / Wall - I never know what to call it 🙂 - back in it's final resting place.
Here is a better angle showing you the layout of the Bacta Tank Medical Center.
Last of the decals to apply are the Window Ledge Strips. Not only do the hide the ugly foam sides where we cut the foamcore, but it looks pretty cool as well 🙂 Just like in the movie.

One last step for Luke's Bed is to cut the "mattress" to the appropriate height. I used 2 drops of Hot Glue to keep the "mattress" in place and give it the proper curves on each end.
Here is the COMPLETE back wall. Well unless you count the ugly closet decals I will be replacing next week 😛 Sounds silly I know but everytime I see it I cringe - LOL.
All the sections put together. Not bad eh?
Now let's get it ready for lighting.

No this isn't the Aliens Air Lock - LOL. It's the floor of the Bacta Room as seen from high above. I traced the base of the Bacta Tank and then cut a hole iin the floor to let the light shine in.
These pieces aren't in the blueprints you printed, Since not everyone will want to light up their diorama. What I am doing now is raising the floor to give a space to put a light and some space in the top to place the ceiling lights. I decided 26 cm was a good height. You can choose higher if you wish to accomadate the type of light you have at home.
First piece is attached to the back of the Bacta Room using my trusted Hot Glue Gun. I left a 2 inch gap at the bottom for the lights to fit. You can use more or less depending how much space you need.
I then align another piece of foamcore and secure it to the back piece using my Hot Glue Gun.

Then the last piece on the opposite side. This picture shows us the bottom of the diorama. Looks like an Easy-Bake-Oven don't you think? LOL. Yummy cakes 🙂
So basicaly, this is what we created. A box that surrounds the Bacta Room. It will raise the diorama, give us a false floor and look cleaner on the outside.
The Diorama is not upright again. Here you can see how my light fits just right underneath. The 2 inch space gives us plenty of room to work in. This is just a test and the figure already looks cool - Hee hee - Imagine when the bubbles are inside the tube!!!
This picture shows you how I have also added space up on top by securing the Diorama Room to the center of the exterior pieces of foamcore.

Now let's do the same for the Medical Center. I started by attaching the ceiling to the main walls.
Then added the side pannels keeping the same 2 inch space at the bottom. After all we want all the pieces to align again. Be sure to measure correctly before using your Hot Glue Gun.
Both pieces joined at the hip, well Medical Bay Windows - :P. See how the exterior walls now look like a nice box instead of ugly uneaven shapes 🙂
And where we are at now. A little light and a bad picture - LOL. Once the ceiling lights are in place it will light up much better. More on that next week - which will be the LAST preview before the actual Diorama pictures. I know you can't wait to see em 🙂

I found a cool plastic lamp at the dollar store that had these plexiglass side panels. Perfect for my ceiling light panels. It difuses light just right instead of seing through like glass.
I used 2 drops of Hot Glue to keep the plexiglass from giggling around.
You might have noticed that the lid on the Bacta Luke has a sculpted lid that prevents the top from being completely flat. So I cut a hole in the ceiling where the Bacta Tank fits.
Here you see what I was trying to explain about the Bacta Tank lid detail.

Having the hole now lets the roof fall flat onto the Bacta Tank, just like in the movie.
I now cut 2 more pieces of my dollar store lamp. These panels are for the Bacta Tank Room.
A little Hot Glue keeps everything in place.
Another wonderfull find at the dollar store 🙂 You know those night lights or emergency lights that you push down to illuminate? I opened it up and kept only the plastic bubble. I used some hot Glue to attach it to the bottom of the Bacta Tank Room floor.

Looking into the Bacta Tank Room, we can see the plastic bubble through the hole in the floor. This is what will illuminate the Bacta Tank.
Get out your old Christmas tree lights 🙂 I used masking tape to put the strand of lights all around the plastic bubble. To the right there is a hole that allows the rest of the lights to go to the top of the Diorama where we will light the ceilings.
The lights go around each plexi glass panel on the ceiling. The masking tape keeps everything from moving all over the place. If you look at the left you can see the wire going down to the bubble.
After the Bacta Tank Ceiling lights were all in place I used the remaining lights to cover the Medical Center's roof. No Need for tape here.

A look inside with all the lights on. Not bad. Not Bad 🙂
If you know me, it's no surprise I want to make the most movie accurate version possible 🙂 if you look at the film, there are 4 hoses not 2. So i got an extra Bacta Luke and removed the hoses from the top. I cut off the tips of the hoses so I could glue it to the Tank.
I also removed the 2 supports with my X-acto blade. Be carefull when cutting thick plastic like this. You don't want to loose a finger - or worse.
These 2 little pieces will work perfectly to secure my 2 extra hoses.

I use my Hot Glue Gun to attach the plastic extension to the lid. See the White Arrow. You can place it where you want but I find 1 notch is just right. The Black Arrow shows us where the hoses end is attached using a squirt of Hot Glue.
Here we have an accurate depiction of the Movie Bacta Tank. Well Almost... 🙂
Oh, a top view of the alterations I did. You can see the extensions don't even look added. Almost as if hasbro had made the Bacta tank this way from the start.
Looking at the movie I noticed the colors of the hoses were varied. Hoses #1 and #4 are White. #2 is Silver and #3 is dark grey. Now I am happy 🙂 All that's needed now is Bacta Medical Gel 🙂

The miracle of hair gel 🙂 It's water based so it won't harm your figure anymore then water. plus check it out it is the same color as the tank. In the movie when Luke is IN the tank the water is BLUE, when he is OUT of the tank, the water is PINK. I tried a blue gel to illuminate the tank and because it is pink plastic, it looks totally PooPoo. So we will pretend it's Pink all the time 🙂
Fill up the tank with your hair gel. Notice anything? Look at those cool air bubbles in suspended animation !!! Looks cool even without Luke.
Now Gently push Luke into the tube. What do you think? Pretty neat eh? Really looks like he is floating in liquid. Now lets see what he looks like lit from below.
WOW, Now this is fantastic. The picture actually doesn't do it justice. The lighting is less harsh then this and when looking at in in a dim room, it looks awesome. Not that this photo looks bad - Heh heh. Well our Bacta Tank Medical Center is now complete. Be sure to come see it at Celebration II 's Diorama Workshop. It will be on display and you will be the first to see it. For those who can't make the show, I will have pictures in the regular diorama section when I get back.


Originally designed and Created January 2002
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This is the EXACT SAME BUILD the fans made at STAR WARS CELEBRATION V ECHO BASE DIORAMA BUILDERS workshop in 2010. Continue your Diorama Builders adventure with this scene or start from the beginning if you weren’t able to attend the convention.
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Welcome to the Hoth ECHO BASE MEDICAL CENTER step by step MAKING OF page.  These instructions will help you build my diorama so that you can display your own action figures at home just like the ones you see here in the GALLERY section. In some cases there is also VIDEO MAKING OF for those who find still images a little more confusing. You can see if one is available for this diorama in the Tutorial SPEED INDEX page. While you are there, you can also see what DECALS, BLUEPRINTS, MATERIALS LIST is available as well. Not all Dioramas instructions have or need ALL 5 Tutorials categories, especially older NiubNiub era scenes. I do plan on going back at some point to revisit, rebuild these older fan favorite scenes and create the missing content.
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If there is ONE TRUE FAN FAVE diorama that I have created over the years, this is the one that has been the most built in fans homes. The accuracy of the finished look combined with the easy build and instructions, plus the super cool decals, make this a great weekend project to add to your HOTH displays.
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Did you already build this Diorama ? At home or at our Star Wars Celebration Diorama Builders workshop ? Would you like to show it in the site’s GALLERY VISITORS DIORAMAS section, YES ? That is Awesome !!! You can find out all the details on how to email me your photos on the VISITORS SUBMISSIONS INFO page …  When I get your photos, I will create your very own page just like this one. You may not realize it but work does inspire others to join in the fun of making Action Figure Dioramas.
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NOT FOR RESALE ALL Decals, tutorials and artwork are ©FrankDiorio (dioramaworkshop.com) and offered FOR FREE to the fans – that would be you 🙂 so you can build and display my diorama designs in your very own home.  I realize I cannot control what one does with my graphics once I place them on the web, I can only ask you as one fan to another, please respect the artist and do not be that jerk who uses my designs and tutorials to build a copy of my work only to sell it on EBAY or trade/sale groups and forums. Thank You. Frank.
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If you attended one of our Star Wars Celebration Diorama Builders workshops and have a Facebook account, why not JOIN the OFFICIAL DIORAMA BUILDERS FAN CLUB group today !!
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Catch up with fellow visitors and exchange stories, read cool interviews with the crew, exchange photos, fun surprises and grab some FAN ONLY merchandise next year at actual future conventions 🙂
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