Tusken Raider ANH Complete Build

RandomPropGeek

RandomPropGeek

New Member
Hi everybody,
i'm quite new to building Star Wars Costumes. I started last year by sewing a Jawa Costume for surprising my wife, as 2 Jawas are better than one. She ordered a Rubie's one for Helloween and I made two Enfield 1903 Bandoliers of leather, to get rid of those crappy foamparts from the costume. We had lots of fun in the costumes. From that day i wanted to build a Tusken Raider Costume and started researching. I have a backround of doing living-history for 20 years, so i know what it takes to research and recreate as close as possible to the original. I decided to go for the Peter Diamond costume, as it appealed to me mostly. An eye opener was Adam Savages's review (to be seen on YT) of the Peter Diamond Mask, owned by Stephen Lane. showing so much detail in the video, it gave me hints in construction that could not be seen on photos from the web.
All parts are made from scratch and are made of the actual material.
As of yesterday(Oct 5th), this is the result of the mask by now (Weahtering required)
More pics of parts coming soon...
TUSKEN2.jpg

TUSKEN1.jpg

TUSKEN3.jpg
TUSKEN6.jpg

Went to Tatooine to buy my wife a blaster...
 
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Today i did the first dress up test. What you realize instantly, is where the bulky/baggy look emerges from. Wearing 3 layers of cloth is quite something. Unfortunately i had to hold the camera myself. But hey, Tusken love those tech bits don't they?
Anprobe2mail.jpg

Here's some details:
TUSKEN13.jpg
TUSKEN8.jpg

The can tops are turned on a lathe, as are the hex nuts (13mm rod) the bottle caps are from german 1 litre Coke bottles. Damn close to the originals...

When i started making the bandoliers, i found out what the Peter Diamond Tusken wears, isn't a Martini Henry bandolier as often mentioned. Martini Henry bandoliers have huge loops to hold the black powder filled rounds and are divided in 4x10 and 2x5 sections. That doesn't fit to the reference photos at all. Bandolier 1 is clearly identifiable as "Lawrence of Arabia"/Ottoman/Turkish". Bandolier 2 is divided in 2 (visible) sections of 15 loops each. I found no such bandolier reference. Also at least 3 of the visible loop bolts are punched right trough loops meant to hold a round. After making a mockup of heavy paper and some fiddeling around with measurements, it became clear that bandolier 2 has to be made for the .303 british rounds, or similar calibers. But as most of the props where made in England, i'm pretty sure bandolier 2 is a custom piece.
Here's a comparison of the two rounds to make things clear
TUSKEN9.jpg

Left .577/450(Martini Henry Rifle), right .303 british
TUSKEN7.jpg

While cutting a template for bandolier 2 i had worries not be able to reconstruct the rest of the piece, as i found no reference photos, for the part hidden under the cloak. Well as i found out soon, there's most probably no other compartment before the "bend", as all photos of PD show a very tight bandolier No 2, almost right in his armpit which suggests there was no additional compartment...
Noticed the orange button?
 
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This is shaping up beautifully. The SW costumes are known for having tons of layers. Even the most "simple" of the costumes use up a ton of fabric if they're made correctly. I hope you can incorporate some sort of ventilation in the mask to keep you from overheating.

I love the bandoliers on the Peter Diamond Tusken. It just sets it apart from the others.
 
Psab keel said:
This is shaping up beautifully. The SW costumes are known for having tons of layers. Even the most "simple" of the costumes use up a ton of fabric if they're made correctly. I hope you can incorporate some sort of ventilation in the mask to keep you from overheating.

I love the bandoliers on the Peter Diamond Tusken. It just sets it apart from the others.
Click to expand...
Oh yeah, plenty of room for a cooling fan...
 
Talking PD Tusken robe fabric: I didn't spot any near close weave pattern on any costume build i found on the net. Monkcloth seems to be kinda near at a quick glimpse, waffle pique also from a distance, but really not satisfying in my opinion. I read somewhere about blankets with a similar weave than the PD Tusken, but couldn't find any. So by chance i got some yards of cotton fabric from a friend who's a tailor and fabric collector. She brought it from one of her journeys, but couldn't remember where she picked it up. Long story short:
TUSKEN12.jpg



Quick update: Talked to my friend on the weekend about the fabric. Guess what? When i mentioned Tunisia she was all on it. That's where she got the fabric from...





This is how i got started. I turned the eye pieces and bloodspitters( did anyone of you ever see a Tusken spill blood out of these??) on my lathe, to get a sense of proportions and size. It turned out to be that these were too big in diameter and too short in length. But for a mockup close enough. This was all before i found the pics from Propstore London with the resin casts of original pieces besides a tape measure...
TUSKEN18.jpg


Slowly building up the shape with layers of plywood:

TUSKEN20.jpg


The almost final shape, before filler and sanding:

TUSKEN21.jpg


The original nosepiece is very short, so the shape of the shell has to be formed accordingly:
I improvised a vacforming setup and voila, the 3rd testpull with ABS:

TUSKEN25.jpg


I used helmet liners for wearing comfort and despite the heavy weight and the tendency to tip forward, the helmets/masks stay where they ought to be. Also, if you notice the ridge between the eyes, which allows for clearance of the wearers nose, makes it almost a comfy piece. When i saw some of the shells that are around, i thought of Alan Fernandez's story of his bloody nose while filming...and 46 years later people still have to deal with that issue... ts ts ts...
 
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RandomPropGeek said:
Talking PD Tusken robe fabric: I didn't spot any near close weave pattern on any costume build i found on the net. Monkcloth seems to be kinda near at a quick glimpse, waffle pique also from a distance, but really not satisfying in my opinion. I read somewhere about blankets with a similar weave than the PD Tusken, but couldn't find any. So by chance i got some yards of cotton fabric from a friend who's a tailor and fabric collector. She brought it from one of her journeys, but couldn't remember where she picked it up. Long story short:
View attachment 1748894
Click to expand...
The monks cloth is a close substitute but still way off from the original fabric. I think I read somewhere that it may have been sourced locally in Tunisia.

This fabric you chose is super nice. A lot better looking than the RL blankets I’ve seen used as well.
 
I guess two Tusken Raiders can do more damage than one...
Just finished my wife's one:
TUSKEN16.jpg


TUSKEN15.jpg

I placed two mouth activated buttons inside the snout, that will be connected to the sound module. (cables/silicone covers not attached yet).They can be swung out of the way to get into the helmet. One will play random Tusken sounds, the other the destinctive scream. So hands free for me!
A small speaker is placed above the buttons, pointing outwards. Hopefully i won't get deaf.... I use adafruit modules, with a mono amplifier.
 
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I'm loving this build! If I wasn't involved in so many other projects I would make a Tusken for myself. This is awesome.
 

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