Tusken Raider WIP

[3DImpact]

Well, WIP in the almost past tense - pretty much all that is left is the respirator.

I've wanted a Tusken Raider display piece for a while and have been sitting on all the parts to put it together for almost a year (a combination of being somewhat intimidated by it all and having just too many other projects all running at the same time). A few weeks ago I finally gathered up the courage to get it all started.

The base kit is by DHPFX (Darth Hair) with Godzilla metal parts. I ended up supplementing the leather bits and cloth in the DHPFX kit with additional purchases of matching materials so I'd have extra (that was a wise choice, as I ended up needing it). Pics of the assembly progress along the way:



And here is the completed helmet/mask in an appropriate setting for comparison to the screen-used reference:



It's not perfect by any means (I'd like the cloth to have been a bit more coarse in its weave for one thing), but I think it captures the Tusken essence well enough for a display piece.

On to the respirator - I'll try to post the steps on that as I go this time...

Dan

 

[darthjones]

GREAT job!!!!!

 

[TatooineMachine]

Nice work. I’d try dying the edges of the leather so they blend in.

 

[ABE]

looks amazing :eek

 

[3DImpact]

Nice work. I’d try dying the edges of the leather so they blend in.

Yes, good spotting - I'll do that. The edges got stained the same as the overall surfaces, but in soaking in over time it's lightened quite a bit. I'll touch that up to match the overall shade.

Thanks!

Dan

 

[azheat01]

Love it, nice work! This may be one of my next projects.....

 

[3DImpact]

With some work and holiday travel out of the way I've finally been able to get the respirator can finished up so I can call this build complete.

I've seen references to the on-screen can being made from vintage Silvo or Brasso cans so I sourced a few of those to get the right look and dimensions/proportions. I used the well-known BTS hero shot of Peter Diamond holding his helmet that shows good detail of the can to measure everything and try to match mine as best as I could.

I used a bead of JB Weld around the join between the cans to get the solder seam that shows from under the leather wrap.

And now this one joins the rest of my display collection.

Dan

 

[TatooineMachine]

Looks GREAT Dan, nice work!

 

[imaginager]

Looks fantastic. The DH kit's face seems more correct (it's longer in the front vertical axis, maybe?).

Anyway, couple of questions. What did you use to paint the plastic prior to wrapping? Also, what did you use to dye the muslin wraps?

Thanks for posting this, I got inspired to track down the metal parts and a DH kit.

 

[3DImpact]

Looks fantastic. The DH kit's face seems more correct (it's longer in the front vertical axis, maybe?).

Anyway, couple of questions. What did you use to paint the plastic prior to wrapping? Also, what did you use to dye the muslin wraps?

Thanks for posting this, I got inspired to track down the metal parts and a DH kit.

Thanks, imaginager! For sure get that kit and those parts and have fun with this - I did and I'm so glad I spent the time to research it and put it together. It was a ton of fun!

I didn't really need to paint the underlying white ABS of the DH kit but I thought I'd do it just in case it might help not to have to put as much 'background', underlying material down. I used the sand-colored Rust-Oleum Multicolor Textured spray paint. You ought to be able to find it at any major brand hardware store. Seemed like a good base coat to use and it also had the advantage of providing a good grip surface for the hot melt glue to stick to when gluing on the cloth strips.

I dyed the cloth strips in several steps, but with a base color from the Rit Dye color formulas called Sesame:

Color Formulas — Rit Dye

1⁄2 Cup Taupe
1 Tablespoon Tan
1 1⁄2 Teaspoons Lemon Yellow

in 3 gallons of water.

I actually then adjusted this in a couple of re-dying stages adding in a bit of Dark Brown and Black and Cocoa Brown until I had a color and darkness that appeared to match the on-screen images. You'll want to play with several test dye batches until you reach a color that looks right to you. I dyed the entire sheet of cloth before I then ripped it into the strips, but found that the frayed edges were a bit light after ripping and it might have been better to rip the strips before dying. To fix mine after the fact I just dipped the freshly ripped edges in a batch of the dye again to darken them up a bit for a better match.

Hope that helps - have fun with it!

Dan

 

[imaginager]

Thanks, Dan! I'll put your info to good use. Much appreciated!

Allan