Star Wars Diorama, 2026 Convention Season
Vader is late. One officer made that happen. That officer is currently standing in front of him.
Up front: a door mid-close, a second officer making himself invisible, two Stormtroopers minding their business, and two Death Troopers on private comms.
Around back, Tag and Bink are in exactly the wrong place at exactly the wrong time. Again. IYKYK.
Year built: 2026
Build time: ~2 days
Size: 10″ x 10″ (32 x 32 studs)
How It Came Together
Ten minifigures, two simultaneous stories, one ship, one very bad morning for at least one Imperial officer. The TIE Advanced x1 is the anchor, but this ended up being the most minifigure-driven build in the series.
The floor is a MILS base with white stripe detailing running across the surface. Imperial design language uses those stripes to indicate equipment placement or hint at an elevator, and they do double duty here: they break up what would otherwise be a flat field of gray and black, and they read as Imperial immediately. A few SNOT modules with 1×2 grill bricks add low texture across the surface.
The wall was the hardest problem. I wanted the angled Imperial doors mid-close, which meant working out the geometry in Studio using wedge plates before building anything physical. That became a small 2×3 modular unit that plugs into the MILS base and can come apart for transport. The vertical light bars flanking the door took several more prototypes, including one built physically. They’re a small detail, but they’re what makes the wall read as a hallway rather than a flat backdrop.
With the wall and base sorted, I laid the ship and all ten figures out on the baseplate to work out spacing. The TIE Advanced x1 doesn’t leave much room. Getting every figure positioned so both scenes read clearly from their respective sides meant pushing everyone to the perimeter and being deliberate about eyelines.
The TIE Advanced x1 is part of my Modular TIE Series on Rebrickable, seven TIE variants with a standardized connection system.
The full breakdown, including the door prototype process and the hallway wall iterations, is on Patreon for Tier 1 and above members. Tier 1 (Hangar Crew) includes a 7-day free trial.
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