CORUSCANT CUSTOMS

Figure and Diorama by:

Blue Snaggletooth

some8.1.jpg (28368 bytes) This photo gives you the overall feel of how things are developing from a bird’s eye view. The streets are starting to come to life with activity. The vendor’s market area is nearly 100% complete, which was seen in the last update as just a conceptual blueprint, and is located on the right in this photo. The main vending area offers 3 shop-fronts being: Bespin Imports (the greatest resource for underground arms in the entire city), a Jawa/droid exchange area and quite an elaborate general store (Florist) that is owned by a Ithorian who specializes in botany (let’s just say that this guy has a green thumb). Currently there have been 26 figures customized for SoME (and it’s still growing) for this project alone and I have several more to create. We will meet a few of them in a few minutes.
some8.2.jpg (34943 bytes) Here is an aerial view of the vendor’s market. This photo shows off the individual vendor/lots a little bit better. Up towards the front of the picture you see Bespin Imports, The Jawa/droid exchange is to the right and the Ithorian plant master’s “Florist” is to the left. Behind the “Florist” is a small fenced in junk yard (one of Watto’s many junk areas) with two working Pit Droids (but that is for another update). To the left of Bespin Imports you see an Aqualish merchant peddling his various items. When this area of the diorama is 100% finished it will feature 7 exciting vendor/lots packed full of intricate detail. Let’s view theses shops a little closer.
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Welcome to the florist!!! This is truly a diamond in the ruff. Plant life is very uncommon on Tatooine – the harsh desert doesn’t mix well with very delicate tropical plants, but that doesn’t hold back ol’ Narlon Roldo. Narlon is an Ithorian, who comes from a subtropical home world, on the other side of the galaxy. Roldo is on Tattooine by sheer accident. His space craft had a mishap and had to make an emergency landing on Tattoine. Once there, Narlon raised money by growing rare & exotic plants and selling them on the city streets. His ship was loaded with several strains of seeds from his Ithorian homeworld. He sold enough plants to get his ship repaired and in the process made a huge chunk of change to boot. After realizing the potential of his plant life proficiencies he decided to fly back to his homeworld and stock up on a variety of botanical seeds and cuttings with the sole intension of becoming a very rich man - and thanks to Mos Espa and the demand for such items this was a fairly easy task. At his newest market, Narlon sells custom made house plants, exotic fruits, seeds, eatable vegetation, and all sorts of gardening/upkeep items. With these items being in such high demand he is now quite wealthy, indeed. Jabba and the other Hutts are some of Narlon’s best customers. He is considered a magician of sorts and is known throughout the entire city for his great work.

some8.4.jpg (26720 bytes) Here is a ground shot of the market place. To the left you see “Bespin Imports” which is an arms dealership. This is the greatest place in Central Mos Espa to purchase high quality arms. They carry all avenues of weaponry. Much of the actual firearms are imported from Bespin, however this shop has many traditional Tattooine items as well. There are vibro-axes and vibro-pikes, long range Tusken rifles and Jawa rifles & pistols O-plenty. To the right you see a “purchase of the droids” type of situation with Jawas hustling their droids on the street. There are so many things to see and do in the streets of Mos Espa, so be sure to stop by all of the shops on your next trip to the marketplace.
some8.5.jpg (25886 bytes) This is another shot of the main area at ground level. Starting to come together! I have 5 more major pieces to be 100% complete with this diorama. I am currently working on mega structure #2 & cantina w/ working lights (see past SoME updates). After those are finished I will start the preliminary work on the landing bay, entrance into town (featuring Swoop Outlaws) & lower level of the cantina. There is much more work to do but I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I can’t wait to show you the next upcoming couple of updates. Things are getting exciting so you definitely need to check back soon for your next installment of, SoME.