The pictures don't really do it justice. The Dewback is really impressive in person. The head moves as does the mouth. It's a real hit at events. When they walk around in it the tail swings back and forth.
It's a PVC structure underneath, with semi-rigid packing foam constructed in an airframe like structure, then surfaced with very thin sheet foam. The scales are army PT mats.
It was something that Dan was working on for a while and then in 2012 it really came together. It was really impressive how well it turned out. These creatures he makes are more like giant puppets with the puppeteers inside.
What's really impressive is how proportional it is. If you've ever made full suits or large props from scratch, you know its easy to be building all of these different parts and then only realize you have scale problems when it all comes together. Yet everything came out the right.
It also breaks down pretty nicely into a trailer. Head, legs, tail, trooper, etc.
I'm not going to spoil it, but his newest project surpasses the Dewback in every way imaginable.
It has been three years this September since my Dewback was displayed for the first time at Star Wars Celebration. Yes, it is a costume, (though it takes two people to walk in it). For 'Dewey's' third birthday, I acquired the huge desert landscape backdrop, and they were displayed together for the first time last weekend at the Cincy Comic Con. We had a good turn out of 501st Sand Troopers, so we were able to make some great photographs.
