"ANH" Tusken Raider Build (July, new Costume Pictures!)

PFMF

Active Member
Another costume build parallel to my Dark Souls project. As if I had not enough to do, but alas lets get started.

Now, a little bit about my favourite costume. Back when I was pretty young my uncle showed me this old film. Star Wars "A New Hope". And with that I was hooked. The space ships, the lightsabers, Darth Vader. It is quiet obvious that from that point on I was a big Star Wars Fan. But one thing really stayed with me. The Tusken Raider.
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The costume is as genius as it is simple and recognisable. A few years back when I was starting out with prop building and cosplaying I build myself a Tusken Raider Costume. Now by my standards nowadays it is pretty simple and rough, but back then I was pretty proud of it.
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After a few times I had worn it on conventions, it sadly stated to fall apart and went into storage.
But it never really left my mind. And a few months back I got the "itch" and started planing for a new and improved, accurate Tusken Raider.

The first part I have tackled is the mask. It is build from the "Godzilla Tusken Raider Mask Kit". It is pricy but said to be the best.
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I have to say, building it was a real treat. Everything fit well and the metal parts are beautiful and make the whole thing feel "real".
The finished mask is really close to the original, so close even it may be hard to distinguish it from the original.
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The mask is held on my head by a cut down bicycle helmet. It is reasonable comfortable and holds on pretty stable.
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The next part are the Inner-Robes.
I have been researching for some time to make them as accurate as possible. For this costume I am working of the Peter Dimond Tusken Raider.
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The InnerRobes are made up from:
-The Under Robe. It reaches down to the ankles and has long slim sleeves.
-The actual Inner Robe. It is shorter than the Under Robe, is split in the front similar to Jedi-Tunics and has short wide sleeves.
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I have also fund a fabric that is pretty similar to the one used in the original Outer-Robe.
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So, finally something new.
My Bandoliers and Belt arrived and I threw everything together for a test fit. I am quiet happy with them and a bit sorry for what I am going to do to them when I get to aging.
Here is the whole ensemble so far:
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Thanks. A lot of work went into making it as accurate as possible. On the picture I am only wearing the Inner Robes and I did a lot of researching to make them look just like the original ones. To find a photo that showed how they look around the arms was probably the hardest part as there is not a lot of reference material and on nearly all pictures the Outer Robes cover most of the costume.
 
I even got a fitting fabric with a similar pattern to the screen used one.

So, onward with the build. I have finished ageing the bandoliers.
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To create a realistic used look and patina (as the real bandoliers were aged though real usage) I first started with beating and stretching the leather to soften it and create wrinkles. Then I proceeded with treating the surface with acetone to dull it and create lighter coloured areas similar to real bleached and worn leather.

After that the bandoliers were brushed with a wire brush, beaten with a hammer and pulled over gravel to get the used edges and scratches right.

Last step was creating a patina. I used salt water, ash and dust to create the grime simulating exposure to the elements.
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So. Lets get to those parts that do not get that much attention but are VERY important for the costume.

The Boots:

My boots are made from very comfortable and light knock off Crocs. Bonus points for already existing venting holes. Hell, they even got a soft gel layer that makes them even more cushy.
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After removing the loop, I made a sleeve and sewed it to the shoe. It has a slit on it's side so I can slip in and the rubber band on top holds it to my calf. The lower wrappings are glued to the shoe, and the upper part gets wrapped around the sleeve after the slit is laced close.

This construction prevents the wrapping from slipping or coming lose and is all in all pretty robust.
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The Gloves:

The base for the gloves is, surprisingly, the same model of glove that got used in the original Costume in "A New Hope". Hard to believe but they still get produced, made from the same fabric, with the same pattern and can be bought in most hardware stores across the world.

To make them easier to wear, I made some concessions. Instead of the glove and some lose wraps like the Original Costume had them, I made the wraps and gloves into one piece. A lot more comfortable and easier to get on.

I cut down the gloves and added a short sleeve with rubber a band at the end. This creates a base structure to hold the wraps and the band stops them from slipping.
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Afterwards I fixed the wraps, that are made from the same denim fabric as the mask wraps, to the gloves with a few stitches and some thick yarn.
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The Neck Seal:

In case of the Neck Coverings I also diverted from the Original Costume. Instead of loose bandages that get wrapped around the neck like a shawl, I decided to make a Neck Seal. This is a lot more comfortable and will not slip or come undone, which especially in the neck region, is very bothersome.
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The Neck Seal is made up from a rectangular pice of cotton fabric that has been lined with a thin fleece, to stiffen it and make it more comfortable, covering the neck and a circular pice that covers the shoulders. The Wraps, again the same fabric as the head wraps, are stitched to the neck part.
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The Neck Seal is fastened in the back with snaps that are hidden when the seal closed. Works really well and is a lot more resilient than velcro.
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Those are some well thought solutions ... to wear a costume for just a few minutes in a scene on set with a wardrobe team standing by to aid, is quite different from cosplaying a costume for several hours on end at an event . . . so kudos for your skills in solving some of those issues in wearing those wrappings around your moving body :)

Chaïm
 
Yeah. Nowadays I put a lot of thought into making my costumes comfortable and easy. Makes for a much better Convention Experience when the costume just works.

And now, intermediate Pictures of the Costume:

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The Costume was really comfortable and held up very well. It was even not all that hot. The linen fabric I used for the robe breathes very well and heat does not accumulate to much, even under direct sunlight.
 
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it's super beautiful, that with a little bit of weathering will be extremely realistic! congrats :thumbsup
 
roguefx: I got it from a local fabric outlet. You will probably find it nowhere else sadly. The fabric for the Under Robes is Bomull from Ikea. But I also have decided not to use the fabric I chose originally for my outer robes as it simply is not falling the way I want and to stiff.

Saifai: Thanks! But I already got an Ottoman thats probably as close to the real one without using a real one.


HB1098S:Thanks for the offer but I will build my own ones. So far I have seen no Outer Robes that really look like what we see on screen. They are most of the time sewn and cut somewhat different and lack the clasps/buttons on the arm holes. Even the 501´st requirements are not accurate to screen. By their standards my costume is technically not approvable. (I will probably get a pass as it is made to be a as close to screen accurate as possible)
 
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So, long time no post. But I am back from the Dead (literally to a degree as my Larp garments and learning the background for my Larp Character NSC, a Proclamator with the Undead Flesh at Conquest of Mythodea, took most of my crafting time last year) and at it again. So here we go:

Nerf Tusken Cycler Rifle
I decided, as it is impossible to find any fabric close enough to the original (in my opinion), to diverge from the Peter Diamond Tusken. So my Tusken will get a Rifle. One with function. Namely, as the title says, capable of firing Nerf Darts.

I started out with a Nerf Sharpfire which is the perfect blaster for that kind of conversion. (Thanks to the German Postapocalyptic Larp group the KFB and their Nerf Mossin Nagant tutorial)

First it was cut down in a way to still preserve its function. Then I proceeded to draw up the shape of the stock around it, that way I will get the right proportions. In the end it will roughly be 160 centimeters long. Which is pretty close to the ones we see in the Prequel Trilogy. Which is what I am using as a reference, as the Original Trilogy guns are pretty unspectacular repurposed real ones.

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After that, as I am doing a bit of a scrap build Tatooine style, I tracked down some scrap wood in my storeroom, cut it up and glued it together.

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This is how far I got today. Tomorrow its off to carving, filing and sanding. The treatment of the wood afterwards is something am not all too keen about, as I will do an oil stock using boiled linseed oil, which will take days to weeks. But it will give a really nice finish.
 
The glue is dry, so first step? Cut it down so its easier to work with.

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After that, its go on the most tedious part, but one of my favorites:

The Fitting

So, this is not my first time fitting parts in a wood stock, but the first doing it with something funktional. So there was some consideration how to do it. But in the end I worked it out and it went pretty well. Still hours of work.

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After that I needed to fit the barrel. That was quiet easy as I just wrapped some sandpaper around a piece of the piping I use for the barrel and sanded it in. No fitting, filing or anything else required.

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Next will be shaping and sanding the stock into its final form.
 
Next step:

Rough Shaping

Now that everything is fittet, its off to shaping.
And because I am lazy, the material was just taken off with the angle grinder and a woodsanding disc. Fast but incredibly dusty.

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Then I did the rough shaping.

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As I am not working of a screen used one, which would be futile as I use a Nerf for the core, I decided to make a fully carved stock. And I have to say, it really starts to look nice while still keeping the spirit of the prop. It also feels much nicer holding it.
 
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Before i continue with the sanding of the stock, I need to get something done first. How do I fix the barrel to the stock and blaster?
Well here is my solution.

I fixed a piece of threaded rod to the stock. I used epoxy putty and brass nuts to affix it. Makes or a very strong connection.

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Over this rod goes the thiner pipe running under the barrel. It a bit shorter so I can fit a nut on the end of the threaded rod. This presses the pipe and the barrel to the stock, with the start of the barrel sliding over the end of the blaster.

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All in all it makes for a strong connection and most of all can be disassembled. Which is quiet important as I will need to be able to get to the blaster to do maintenance, cleaning or if something breaks, replacement. (The capability to disassemble It makes it possible to just toss the old blaster and to put in a new one if it ever breaks.)
 
The Trigger
As the trigger needs to be funktional I went for metal. Nothing much to say about it. I just filed it out of a piece of scrap and polished it.

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The piece was then epoxied to the original trigger to make it line up right.

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Then I wrapped the assembly with epoxy putty to strengthen the connection. That way it will not come lose and be pretty resilient.

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Now all moving parts are done and it starts to look like a gun and not like scraps glued together.

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As all the moving and main structural parts are done, I can get started on the greeblies.
Here is a picture of some of the stuff I may incorporate. I am really happy to have found the lamp, as it basically already looks exactly like a scope and will need little modification. I also made the decision to go for another finish as i recently came into the possession of some shellack.

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