Slave 1 - AMT Model - The Concept

At Wonderfest this year I picked up an AMT Slave 1 model kit with the goal to learn some ship weathering and lighting techniques.  It sat in my 'to do' pile since then, taking a back seat to other projects (alien busts, goblins, etc).

An attempt to putty and smooth the panel where Han Solo is supposed to show.

This past week I ordered some AK Interactive streaking, rust, and chipping effects so decided to test them out on the Slave 1 model.  I'll add that Plastruct Plastic Weld is great stuff as a side note here.

I began putting together the Slave 1 model kit, selectively choosing steps that would give me the most complete pieces that would be painted the same (but wouldn't obstruct putting it all together in the end).  As I worked I noticed a few things:

1)  The moving parts, while great, at times made the model seem 'cheap' due to alignment issues.

2)  The cockpit was setup differently than the photos I found to use as reference.  The model cockpit 

was setup for a single pilot only where the reference photos showed a secondary level in the cockpit with further seating for 2 passengers.  I wrote this off to another moving part trade off on the part of the model company so that the cockpit could swing around based on ship orientation.

3)  The 'Han Solo' in carbonite was cool but it fit into a front compartment without any sense of how it gets there and the panel that was left loose to show the feature off really was right on the front of the ship.  I considered doing a cloud city scene but found that the dropdown ramp in the back it too short to reach the ground around the ship's skirt, making a loading scene improbable.

Basically the model was worth the price paid but is definitely meant to be more of a kid's piece than a show piece in the long run.

So, here I am with a mostly together model and no great concept for a display.  Then I started thinking about the Star Wars movie universe where it was left 'unknown' if Boba Fett made it out of the Sarlac pit (Yes, searches and my son would point out that this was decided in one of the books and Boba Fett was indeed helped out of the pit by some other bounty hunters).  I say 'too bad, that wasn't in a movie' and I make my concept thusly.

Slave 1, abandoned for years on Hutt, panels pried off and bent back to allow the scavengers access to the more valuable components.  The paint, already chipped from years of yse is degrading further, rust and grime streaks run along the panels from the little rain that Hutt does get.  Some panels lay scattered about and a sand dune has taken over one side of the hulking ship.  The once large canopy has been beaten by sand and rocks as well as the tools of junkers, a few holes and cracks run across the thick glass.