Tusken Raider Mask Tips
The mask is probably the most important piece in the ensemble. If it doesn't look right, the entire costume will suffer. Begin by buying a baseball cap and removing the bill. Go ahead and adjust the cap to fit your head now. Depending on how you wrap your cloth strips, it may be difficult to resize it later.
Strips of tan cotton duck canvas were added to the outside of the cap to make the "bandaged" effect.
The Eyepieces
The eyepieces were made from used 35mm film containers. To achieve the tapered look, wrap the film containers in a few layers of masking tape. Apply Gesso or Bondo on the outside and then wet-sand until smooth.
Cut the two slits in the bottom with either a Dremel or Exacto knife, then prime and paint silver.
The Tusks
The pieces below the eyes were made from magic markers. Seperate the outer casing from the ink and tip and clean throughly. Prime, and paint the outside silver and you're ready to roll!
Warrior Spines
The four silver posts on top of the mask were made from writing pen tops. the clips were removed and the tops were primed and painted silver.
The Mouth and Nose
The mouthpiece was constructed from foamcore "wireframe", masking tape and paper mache.
Then, it was covered in black vinyl strips.
The nose was sculpted from Sculpey and baked in the oven to harden it. Sculpey can be found at any hobby shop and is inexpensive. The nose is held onto the mask with pieces of a metal coat hangar.
Tusken Raider Outer Robe Tips
The outer robe is simply a large piece of tan fabric found at the fabric store. There is a slit cut in the middle of it so the wearer's head can fit through and the ends were frayed.
To achieve a realistic looking fray, make a very small cut in the fabric where you want the fray to begin.
Then, let 'er rip! Tear the fabric along the edge until the entire piece is frayed.
The "dirty" effect on this robe was achieved by mixing ink and water and then misting the garment with a water bottle. I recommend Higgins Acrylic inks (I mixed red, blue, yellow and green) to make a brown wash. You could also add some Higgins Black Magic. Pretty much any colors that have an "earth tone" will work here.
Tusken Raider Inner Robe Tips
The inner robe is actually two pieces of fabric that attach together with velcro. Buy a lightweight piece of fabric, cut it into two equal sections and cut a "V" in each section for the neck.
Use velcro to attach the two halves together.
Tusken Raider Bindings Tips
Here you can see all four bindings needed for the costume. Two are for the forearms and two for the calves. These pieces are made from the same Cotton Duck canvas used on the mask.
Simply take a large section of the outer robe material and cut it into four 2 foot squares. Cut four three foot strips (and three inches wide) of canvas and sew or glue them to the larger sections.
Wrap the large sections around your arm/leg and then wrap the strips around your arm/leg until you've completely covered the desired area. To avoid using unsightly safety pins, tuck the end of the cloth strip into another strip.
Boots
Take some of the extra fabric left over from making the outer robe and tear it into several long three inch strips. Wrap these strips around the parts of the boots that will show and secure the ends of the strips with fabric glue, super glue or hot melt caulk.
Be sure to leave the heel of the shoe open. You'll be less likely to slip if you have a little traction.
Tusken Raider Bandolier Tips
These pouches can be made from either vinyl or leather. Leather will involve a little more work but it will look a little more realistic in the end. Leather and leather products can be purchased online from Tandy Leather.
The instructions given here will be for leather. If you're using vinyl, skip the parts pertaining to: dyeing, burnishing and sealing.
Begin by drawing the pattern (LOOK ON THE BOTTOM) on a piece of heavy paper or posterboard.
Then, buy a large bolt of leather. You'll be making between eight and ten pouches so make sure you buy enough material. Take your pattern with you when you go to buy your leather!
Chose a thickness that is fairly lightweight but not so thin that it won't hold up during construction and use.
Now, it's time to cut your leather. Scotch tape your pattern to the leather. With a razor blade or scissors, cut the OUTSIDE shape of the pattern into the leather.
You'll notice you now have rough edges. Use a felt dauber and some burnishing compound to give the edges a nice, professional look.
Next, you'll want to dye the pouch. I used a dark brown dye. With either a felt dauber or a sponge, apply a liberal amount of dye to the smooth side of the leather. Don't worry if it doesn't go on evenly. When it dries, it will give the pouches a more weathered look. It may take more than one coat to get the desired color.
NOTE: If you chose to dye the backside of the leather, be aware that the dye may soak through to the front, leaving splotches.
The buttons on the front of the flap are made from thumbtacks. Just push the pin in through the flap, and crimp the tack on the other side with a pair of pliers. Use glue on the back side to help keep the thumbtack secure.
You'll need to cut a slit in the front of the pouch to tuck the flap into.
To attach the pouches on the main belt, you can use velcro, snaps or glue.
Main Belt
This is simply a strip of vinyl or leather that hold the pouches. The width should be exactly the same with as the pouches and the length will be custom tailored to you. Both bandoliers cris-cross over the right and left shoulders to for an "X". I recommend you make these solid pieces (shown above) and slide them over your head.
After all the above steps have been complete, weather the vinyl by scraping it with sandpaper, bending it, misting with spray paint, etc..
Tusken Raider Breather Assembly
The breathing mechanism is quite simple to make. Start off with a can of tomato paste, cut a slit lengthwise along the can and drain the paste. Rinse the can clean.
Note: Do not remove the top or bottom of the can! You'll need it later.
The silver pieces on each end of the breather are simply the caps to paint bottles. A hole was drilled in the center of each cap to allow the brass pieces to go through.
The brass pieces are miscellanous plumbing pieces found at the hardware store. There were two pieces used on each side (four total).
Working with one side only: one piece goes on top of the silver paint cap and another goes through the hole on the other side of the paint cap and screws in to the first brass fitting.
To make the silver harness, run a piece of wire coat hangar through plastic tubing. The coat hangar will allow harness to be custom bent to fit you. After painting the tubing silver, you may want to wrap it in more cloth bandages so the paint won't rub off on your suit.
The final step is to wrap the tomato paste can in brown vinyl.
