Ok, so over the past two days I have put together my respirator for my Tusken. Overall it probably cost me about 2000 yen ($20). To start with I used a what I think is a container to store mixed paints. I was walking around a store near the paint section and happened to find these. I picked up two of them from the store for a little under 800 yen ($8). Quick side note, I am using a rough 100 yen to 1 dollar rate, so start doing your own math.

Ok, back to the respirator! I cut these containers roughly in half. I made one a lot shorter than the other since it would have to fit inside the other one. I then cut vertically down the sides of the smaller half, and made a sort of pinwheel shape. You can see what I mean in the picture. I also cut two vertical lins down the length of the longer tube to let it “open” up a little to fit the small end in. I then put some epoxy on the inside of the longer piece and stuck the two together. [ Remember to sand the area where you will apply the epoxy. It gives it something to stick too. This is pretty standard with a lot of adhesives. ]

Once the epoxy sets we are are ready to cover this badboy in leather. I picked up a piece of brown leather for about 200 yen. I first ran some sand paper over the surface, and then grabbed some glue I bought that would work with leather. I then wrapped the leather around the tube. You might need to hold the leather in place while the glue sets. You could probably use masking tape as well; I just held it in place for about 5 minutes. To get the gloss out of the leather you can use some steelwool to buff it out. I’ll get to weathering more in a minute.

Next up I needed some water pipe fitting that many use on their Tusken builds (see Studio Creations build). I could not find them anywhere. I asked the store staff and they looked at me like I was crazy. I ended up using the ends off some plastic parts I found in the gardening section, and some bolts. These would go onto the ends of the caps.

Next up I needed to make the rod that goes around the neck. I ended up cutting it in half and using two halves. I did this so that I could bend them at the same angles and lengths. I then epoxied them into the caps (also epoxying my “pipe fittings”).

Once everything was dry I trimmed the rods so they would match up in the back. I then painted the “pipe fittings” silver with model paint I had on hand. After that dried I dry brushed black paint on to weather and dirty up the respirator. Dry brushing is basically getting some paint on the brush and then wiping most the paint off the brush. You then brush your surface and you get some nice weathering. I did this on the leather as well. Some people prefer to mist black spray paint. To each their own.

Finally, I added a little leather in the back where the rods meet. Here are two finished pics. Enjoy!

It's Dirty!!!

The Finished Respirator