by Wolfgang Bittermann

This diorama shows one of the most heroic scenes in the (sci-fi) movie history ever: A single one-man space superiority fighter tries to blast a giant space station by hitting a small vent exhaust with a proton torpedo. I am sure you all have seen these fantastic action sequences many times so there is no need to explain….

The 3 X-wings are micro machine ones. I removed the lasers and replaced them with small plastic rods. The air intakes were also removed and rebuilt. After a complete new base coat I painted typical markings on the fighters so every fighter looks different. I also used decals from my decal sparepart box to give the X-wings their own look. A little bit washing and weathering with thinned enamel colors finished the X-wings.

The 3 X-wings in this scene in the movie are

• Red 2 - Wedge Antilles
• Red 3 - Biggs Darklighter
• Red 5 - Luke Skywalker

The trench was made from Death Star surface panels. I used two different sets. The first set are the ones which Tony Agustin primarily built for his Y-Wing dio. They were available in the starshipmodeler store for a short time (and will be again - Ed.). The second set of Death Star surface panels I used is the one offered by triliance.de. These tiles are smaller and high detailed as well. I also used plastic sheet in various thickness and parts from my spare part box for detailing the back wall and the floor of the trench.

For the back wall I tried to match the wall shown in the movie. I used several screen captures from the DVD. There is one good shot of the back wall when the laser towers in the trench are firing. I was not able to catch any sharp stills of the trench`s floor - the filming camera was always in movement. So the floor is a freestyle patchwork of all tiles and parts I had - I like the way the floor came out.

In “Star Wars - Episode III” I saw pilots flying through space after their craft were blasted. Maybe this happened to pilots in “Star Wars - Episode IV” as well but George Lucas was not able to show. So I decide to place a “Lost Hero” on my diorama - this is Tiree / Gold Two! He was the first pilot shot down by Darth Vader in the trench. After his Y-Wing was blasted he flew one or two miles through the trench without his craft. He finally crashed into a death star building…. “Dang! What kind of warhead was that?”

Image: Vader's eye view

Image: From below

Image: From above

Image: Closeup

Image: Side view

Image: Ouch