Abel Nariko

And that’s a wrap on the Gaahleri World Creator Cup 2026!

I’m absolutely thrilled with how this final result turned out—it exceeded all my expectations and has easily become one of my favorite projects to date. Bringing custom sci-fi vehicle conversions out of my imagination and turning them into physical, tangible models is hands down the most rewarding part of this hobby.

A massive thank you to everyone who followed along with this build, dropped comments, and shared their own amazing projects throughout the contest. It’s been an absolute blast! Regardless of competition results, I’m leaving so proud of the finished piece, and even more grateful for the incredible new friendships that grew out of this journey and connected across Instagram and beyond.

Thank you all for the support! Let me know what you think of the final look!

We are entering the final stretch of the Gaahleri World Creator Cup 2026!

In this update, I’m sharing how I securely fixed the starship to the display base. To make this project truly unique, I engineered the mounting system so the entire diorama can be hung on the wall like a framed piece of art. Displaying a model vertically changes the perspective completely and opens up awesome new possibilities for studio displays.

NEXT WEEK: The final reveal! Stay tuned for the complete showcase featuring full paintwork, weathering, and integrated lighting.

The environment for the Spectre II is officially finished, and the level of depth turned out incredible! Here’s how I wrapped up the terrain:

• Puddles & Moisture: Applied Vallejo Water Effects for the rain puddles and coated them with Green Stuff World High Gloss Varnish to achieve that ultra-wet reflection.
• Static Grass & Vegetation: Used an electrostatic flocking applicator to plant dark-toned static grass, paired with a few withered bushes for a natural, rugged landscape.
• The Secret Touch – Projected Shadow: To take the groundwork to the next level, I used dark pigments to map out and render the cast shadow of the ship directly onto the terrain!
• Tonal Contrast & Dry Brushing: Layered multiple dry and wet earth pigments across different zones to create realistic soil variations, finishing up with a dual-color dry brushing pass to make all the surface textures pop.

With the terrain complete, all that's left is mounting the Spectre II and turning on the lights for the final reveal

I am already on the final face of the project, there will only be a couple more updates, one on how I am going to fix the ship on the base so that it does not fall when I put it in a whorl on the wall and another on the final result, thank you for joining me in this project and I hope you can enjoy it and learn something throughout my updates your friend Abel Nariko loves you very much.

The environment for the Spectre II is officially finished, and the level of depth turned out incredible! Here’s how I wrapped up the terrain:

• Puddles & Moisture: Applied Vallejo Water Effects for the rain puddles and coated them with Green Stuff World High Gloss Varnish to achieve that ultra-wet reflection.
• Static Grass & Vegetation: Used an electrostatic flocking applicator to plant dark-toned static grass, paired with a few withered bushes for a natural, rugged landscape.
• The Secret Touch – Projected Shadow: To take the groundwork to the next level, I used dark pigments to map out and render the cast shadow of the ship directly onto the terrain!
• Tonal Contrast & Dry Brushing: Layered multiple dry and wet earth pigments across different zones to create realistic soil variations, finishing up with a dual-color dry brushing pass to make all the surface textures pop.

With the terrain complete, all that's left is mounting the Spectre II and turning on the lights for the final reveal.

I am already on the final face of the project, there will only be a couple more updates, one on how I am going to fix the ship on the base so that it does not fall when I put it in a whorl on the wall and another on the final result, thank you for joining me in this project and I hope you can enjoy it and learn something throughout my updates your friend Abel Nariko loves you very much.

With the ship’s paint and lighting fully complete, it’s time to build its environment! Here is how the display base is coming together:

• The Frame: Started with a simple, budget-friendly picture frame to serve as the structural border.
• Terrain Shaping: Cut and shaped an open-cell XPS foam board from Green Stuff World to create the main ground volume and topography.
• Texturing: Sealed and textured the entire surface using Vallejo’s Diorama Effects wet sand paste to establish realistic earth textures.
• Wet Effects in Progress: Applied rich, damp earth tones as the base color. Next up, I’ll be adding clear resin/water effects to simulate realistic muddy rain puddles!

It’s amazing how a few basic materials can completely change the scale and mood of the vehicle.

Before moving on to the final assembly and mounting it onto the display base, here’s a complete showcase of the finished paint job on the Spectre II!

From the base desert camouflage and hazard stripes to the heavy chipping, oil washes, custom Aurebesh decals, and kitbashed mechanical details, every single step has come together exactly as planned. Extremely happy with how all the subtle wear and tear textures look under the studio lights!

Next stop: integrating the ship onto its custom base

The ship has officially reached its final stage! The new LED setup is completely installed and wired up—and this time, I’m 100% satisfied with the result. The lighting distribution and atmospheric glow inside the cockpit and engines are exactly what I envisioned.

With the vehicle and electrical system officially finished, it’s time to move on to the final phase: building and shaping the custom display base to bring the whole scene together.

Hope you all like how it's turning out.

Another heavy technical step completed for the build, focusing on the interior and the canopy!

Here is what went into this phase:

• Painted Cockpit Interior: Fully detailed and painted the entire interior cabin.
• Fiber Optics & LEDs: Drilled micro-holes throughout the control panels and ran fiber optic threads paired with LEDs to illuminate the console controls.
• 3D Printed Clear Resin Canopy: Printed the front windshield using transparent 3D resin and post-processed/treated it until it achieved glass-like transparency. It worked like a charm!

Even though the electrical installation is functional, I’m not 100% satisfied with how the lighting distribution looks inside. Since I want this build to be top-tier for the competition, I’ve decided to swap out the current setup for some new GSW (Green Stuff World) LEDs to get the exact atmosphere and glow I'm aiming for.

I'm already starting to see the end of the project.

I originally planned to use commercial decals for this build, but then I had an idea: why not print my own custom waterslide decals in Aurebesh, the written language of Star Wars?

My first attempt was a complete disaster, though! I didn't realize that after printing on waterslide decal paper, you have to seal it with a coat of varnish before dipping it in water... so the printer ink just completely dissolved in front of my eyes. A tiny detail I learned the hard way!

In the end, after applying the varnish, everything turned out great! I was able to customize the ship with details like:

• My studio's name (Paintground).
• Tactical markings like Unit 7, DSRT-03, DS-DT-87, and WARNING labels.
• A classic WWII-style Pin-Up Nose Art, giving it that authentic vintage warbird character.

It was definitely a learning process, but seeing these unique details on the ship made it totally worth it.

I want to thank you all for the love I am receiving from this city that Gaahleri has created

We’ve hit a major milestone on the build! The main hull is officially finished. The base paint, desert weathering, industrial hazard stripes, and all the metallic components with their corresponding washes and wear are fully complete.

To take it a step further, I decided to do some classic kitbashing! I collected spare greebles and parts from previous projects to naturally detail and fill in a few areas that felt a bit bare. It gives the ship that extra level of mechanical realism and unique character.

Now, we’re moving into the final stretch:

1. Installing the custom LED electronics setup.
2. Painting and detailing the cockpit interior.
3. Installation of customized decals
4. Building a fitting custom display base.

The end is in sight! What do you think of the added kitbashed details?