THE LIVING ROOM LEVEL
Due to limitations of the size of our diorama I had to reimagine the floor plan and reformat it to fit the display area
This is what I came up with:
ORIGINAL WALL CONCEPT
I was going to go with a single left corner unit and a right accent wall but when I got it set in place it looked off and the piano was too cramped. I decided to separate the fire place from the Piano Room. Although this is not screen accurate it works for our floor plan.
PACIFIC VIEW
I contacted 12InchFigures and asked him if he could augment a picture of the Pacific ocean I found on the net by adding the balcony and rail that can be seen in the movies. For a very small fee he not only added what I requested but he also thought to incorporate the glass seam lines in my back drop since I would be using a single piece of acrylic to cover it. I had this printed 16” x 60” for $7 at Staples
FINAL TEST FIT
I now had all of the components for a final test fit and IMO, everything worked.
FINISHING THE WALL SECTIONS
To create the vertical cement plank look of the walls I applied 5 thick coats of Kiltz primer and let it cure for 2 days. Then I hand scribe each line. They didn’t have to be perfect, in fact the variation made it look more realistic.
Then I painted the walls with a base coat followed by a light black wash to tone them down
FITTING THE ROCKS TO THE FIRE PLACE
There are rocks all over the mansion but I decided to only use them to accent the fireplace in our diorama. I used real rocks for this and cut the slots into them with my M-100 Brick & Paver Saw.
THE CEILING PANEL
The ceiling had to be a single unit that was easy to get in and out so that I could access to the electrical system for updates and repairs. Because it is so large I decided to make it from alternating layers of 1/4” plywood and 3/4” styrofoam.
This was a very time intensive process because each layer took a day for the glue to cure. As I created the layers I incorporated LED lights. When it was fully built up I did a test fit and this is how it looked.
Once I knew it fit and was going to work I just had to fill all the holes and paint it. I choose white for the recessed areas and rose wood for the rest. The lines were hand scribed in the same way I did the walls. I am very happy with how this came out
THE PIANO ROOM
Screen capture from one of the movies for context
While looking for a 1/6 scale piano I discovered the Sega Grand Piano. It is a player piano meaning that the keys move in sync with the music it is playing. These retail fro over $700 but I found one for $307 shipped from Japan.
To finish the room I added a bunch of 1/6 alcohol accessories and 3 pieces if art from the various movies. My wife suggested that Loki should be the one at the piano and I totally agreed.
THE MAIN FLOOR
Screen capture from one of the movies for context
Originally I was going to build a huge sectional couch and the coffee table but that all change once I received the Steve Rogers figure. He looked like he should be holding a guitar so posed him with a guitar near the fire place and he looked perfect. So continuing with that theme I decided to drop the couch and go with a party theme. I order a set of drums for Clint and I can populate the rest of the floor with various figures mingling about.
I’m pretty excited about this new direction and look forward to adding to it.
I still have the option to add the couch and coffee table later if I want to, which is what makes this set up so fun.
THE ‘EAMES’ CORNER
Screen capture from one of the movies for context
Our diorama features a 1/6 scale Vitra Eames lounge chair with ottoman. Vitra replicas are built from real wood, leather and steel and this model normally these normally retail for $795 but I got a used one from eBay for half price.
An incredible 1/6 scale reproduction Brice Marden hangs on the wall. A very nice member of the RPF named Whitehammer re-created this for me from scratch and asked for nothing in return. The guitars and animal skin rug are in every scene and I added the mixer table for fun.
The Eames chair is very popular choice for movies and television. There are actually 2 used in the Stark mansion, a nice black set in the living room and a beat up brown chair in the shop.
It’s supposed to be the most comfortable chair ever, so this is the perfect place for Stan Lee sit.
THE WHOLE SHEBANG
I tried to take a single pictures to capture everything for the Marvel collection thread and this was the best I could do.
