One of the great things about Star Wars Legion - aside from the fact it's a great miniature wargame - is the huge range of models it has made available for miniature builders and painters to create custom dioramas. Legion fan Mo (who prefers not to give a surname) estimates he has spent "upwards of 100 hours" creating this unique trench warfare diorama: we asked him how this project came to be.
The scene is an original creation, with Clone Troopers and Droid figures from Star Wars Legion (and quite a few 3D printed additions) battling for control of a trench network, while a colossal AT-TE lumbers above them without stopping. "There's some cool artwork of similar scenes out there which I used as inspiration", Mo says, "Especially the entire Battle of Jabiim comic arc from the old Star Wars Republic Comics, which was truly dark and grim".
He adds that "the brutal war in Ukraine with the bloody and ruthless fighting in the trenches was on my mind a lot". He credits coverage of the war with giving him a better understanding of what trench fighting is actually like.
"The endless footage of the trench warfare in Ukraine was useful for references", he says, leading him to add "trash heaps, weapon stations, and different boxes, body bags and personnel working on various tasks" that give the diorama a sense of being "lived in, used, and battled for".
You can check out Mo's work on Reddit in the r/SWLegion community, where he's answered plenty of questions about the build. We sent him some more of our own to find out how he built the diorama.
The diorama is "laid out on a styrene baseplate". On top of that the general shape of the trenches and land mass is made from Styrodur - a European brand of extruded polystyrene, or XPS - which "was cut into rough shapes and covered with plaster".
Mo says that perfecting the "mud effects of the diorama took some trial and error since I didn't want to rely on the pricey mud effects that you could buy off the shelves". In the end he settled on a custom mud mix made from "dark brown acrylic, dry baked coffee grounds, coconut fiber, sand, and small rocks".
He used a lot of 3D files to create the terrain elements, which he rescaled to match Star Wars Legion, and printed using an FDM 3D printer. "All that involved more trial and error than I'd anticipated", he admits. "The printed trench pieces were primed, painted, and glued into place before being modeled into the wall using more of the mud paste", he adds.
On top of that "I've added an additional layer of brown water effects to get the wet mud look I strived for". And "the printed terrain pieces got a coat of glossy clear paint to achieve the look of a trench that has been rained on for days". After that, a variety of foliage, smaller details and blaster effects gave extra detailing.
The massive AT-TE - another 3D printed model - caused setbacks. "The [resin used to make it] proved annoying since the turret barrels tended to break off very easily and needed replacements frustratingly often". Another delay came "after receiving a generous offer for my unique Outer Rim Garrison Clones that I couldn't say no to". Mo has to paint up replacements, but says it was "still worth it - they've financed the diorama".
The first section of the diorama is complete, while work on a second board continues slowly. Mo works in an ICU which he says "leaves little time for the hobby".
Working on the diorama has been very satisfying, and even taught him new skills: "I got more proficient in 3D modeling software, mostly Blender which I have used for a while now. I always ended up wanting an additional layer of detail that available 3D models didn't offer; now I'm sculpting entire miniatures and vehicles for myself."
There are a lot of new kits on the Star Wars Legion roadmap - and plenty of much wanted re-releases - so perhaps Mo won't have to sculpt quite so much from scratch in the future. We can't wait to see what he does next!
If you're a big fan of diorama making, custom miniature design, or you just want to recommend your own favorite Star Wars comic series, come and hang out with the Wargamer writing team in our Discord community!
I've got a recommendation for anyone 3D printing models with particularly long and fragile parts like guns or antennae - Phrozen RPG Resin provides extremely flexible, high-detail resin, just as advertised. Check out my RPG resin review for my full thoughts on the pros and cons of this material.