This is my model of Jabba’s Bantha II Cargo Skiff. This was used to transport the prisoners Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Chewbacca to the middle of the Dune Sea, where they were to be thrown into the mouth of the Sarlacc.
Why
I decided to model this in 1/12″ scale for 6″ Black Series figures because the size is almost perfect to fit on my book shelf. Ikea Billy book shelves are 762mm wide on the inside. At scale, I need to cut 28mm off the “wing” at the back, but I’m also producing a full sized one in case I want to display it somewhere else. This is the FOURTH Tatooine diorama that I have designed. I did the Lars Homestead first, then Docking Bay 94, then the Ubrikkian Landspeeder 9000 Z001, (which I am still working on) and now the Bantha II Cargo Skiff.
What
It’s another dual FDM and resin print. The larger parts are FDM, with resin printed details. For this project, the control console, top body, hand rails, engine greeblies and steering vane assemblies will all be resin printed. The rest will be FDM.
This was an enjoyable project to model. The hull and steering vanes were especially fun. I loved the organic shape of the vanes, and it took probably 3 tries before I was happy with the overall shape, but I think they turned out well.
Progress
I am currently splitting the model into printable parts, because it’s too large for my printer. There is a flat “surfboard” part that is basically the deck. That gets split into 2 pieces. The bottom hull gets split into 3 parts, strategically placed along the ribbing details to minimize their visual impact.
Updates
04/21/2025
After a couple months hiatus, I am back to working on the Skiff. I FINALLY have the main hull split for printing on my Kobra Max. The main hull is split into 3 socketed sections and will be printed in 2 prints. The surfboard has been split in 2 and, there are 2 versions of the tail, because at this scale, the screen accurate tail will not fit in the Billy Bookcase. I modeled a screen accurate one and a short one. I believe I have all my fastening figured out and incorporated as well.
04/23/2025
All parts have been separated, meshed, optimized, and arranged for printing within the respective build volumes of my 2 printers, my Photon Mono X 6K and my Kobra Max. There are 30 total parts, 8 FDM and 22 resin. I have started slicing the files and will begin printing this week. Very rough estimate is between 65 and 85 hours of printing.
05/07/2025
I decided to model and print the magnetic cargo lifts that they used to pick up the droids out of the sand at the end of the scene.
05/12/2025
I finished all the printing, and ran into a few problems along the way. All of the resin parts worked perfectly. I have a few things I need to adjust, but not too many. The 3-part hull had a few issues. The joint sockets I made followed the outside contour of the ship, which is curved, and that made the supports very hard to clear. The next issue is that I didn’t check the level of my work table, and the 3 parts are not glued perfectly level. Also, the repulsor lift details didn’t print very well in FDM, and sanding/smoothing them out will likely lose the detail completely. Finally, I needed some place to stow the magnetic cargo lifts.
So before I reprint it, I did a bunch of redesign. I made the join sockets trapezoidal with straight sides to make removing supports easier. I use a chisel to do that, so straight sides are super simple to clean up, curves not so much. I cut out the repulsor lift details, and made those resin to preserve the details. I also cut out some sections of the hull and designed interior detail panels and doors that are now printed in resin for the magnetic cargo lift stowage compartments. It is not shown in the movie where these are actually stored in the movie, so I took some liberty with the placement.
05/21/2025
All the printing and reprinting is done, all the design changes (so far), and I am on to the sanding and joining stage. I’ll be taking notes on assembly
I have finished organizing the STL files and reference images (155MB zipped!) and am writing up release notes. I’ll post them sometime this week. Full Instructions to follow soon.
I have decided that the door system is unproven, and some people might want to make it without the internals, so I have included 2 versions of the hull middle section, with and without doors.
You can now build it several different ways:
- With cargo lifts, cargo lift stowage compartments and cargo hold interior
- Without cargo lifts, without cargo lift stowage compartments, with cargo hold interior
- Without any internals at all
In addition, you can build any of the three variations with or without sculpted damage.
STLs
The STLs are now available on Cults 3D!
Parts Catalog
