August 9, 2026

I began the week painting a Jabba-like barge that I purchased about a dozen years ago and set aside.  It is a Jesus Labiano design (Desert Skiff) and 13 inches long and 6 ½ inches tall.  It’s compatible with 28mm or 32mm figures.  The model went together rather easily and has great detail.

At the same time I discovered the Labiano design barge, I also found a group of Star Wars style buildings I had purchased at about the same time as the barge.  Two of those buildings had been purchased for the purpose of creating Jabba’s palace.  In 2007 I bought four Lemax Halloween bases (mountains) because they were on clearance for 70% off and I was sure they would be of use in the future.  That future is now and one of those bases will be the mountain base for Jabba’s palace.  The Lemax base required a good deal of modification… hiding the unwanted, expanding a surface for one of the buildings, and adding the main ground-level entrance.  The entire piece stands 14 inches tall.

With the exterior of Jabba’s palace done, I painted what I think will be the last two of my Star Wars buildings.

August 2, 2026

Most of my time at the workbench this past week has been devoted to painting the figures that will populate my Natoshoo’s cantina.  The only figure I couldn’t fit into the cantina’s floor plan was a drunk Hutt.  Great figure, and he’ll serve as an option for the cantina.

With the cantina’s figures’ done, I painted a group of space plants for my Star Wars town.  I got these years ago and regret that I can no longer remember the source.