Custom Star Wars 1/6 Tusken Raider (aka Sand People)

From Wookiepedia :
Tusken Raiders, less formally referred to as Sand People or simply as Tuskens, were a culture of nomadic, primitive sentients indigenous to Tatooine, where they were often hostile to local settlers. The term Sand People was given to them due to their existence in the desert, and was in use from at least around 4000 BBY; but the more formal name of Tusken Raiders was acquired much later, due to a period of concerted attacks on the settlement at Fort Tusken in 98-95 BBY. Although this name is often used as a common term for the race, it actually refers only to the participants of the attack on the settlement.

Specialists studying the past of the Tusken Raiders also used the term Ghorfa to denote an earlier sedentary phase of their culture, and lastly Kumumgah, for the earliest stratum of sentient civilization on the planet, believed by some to represent a common ancestry shared by the Ghorfa and the Jawas. In the culture of the Tuskens, to expose any part of the flesh was forbidden and seen as a disgrace.

This custom made Tusken Raider is the grand daddy of all my later custom works. This is the very first 1/6 figure I have actually customize back in Apr 2001 - 14 years ago! Driven by desperation for the love of the character and how expensive it is to buy the Hasbro's version, the only available 1/6 Tusken Raider at that time.
Having seen Tony Diterlizzi's upgrade of stock Hasbro's 1/6 Star Wars figures, I thought I could do the same and that fuels the actions later. Tony's works wowed me till no end and he is arguably one of the best, if not the best, Star Wars customizer/upgrader during that time.

Being the first attempt, I am skeptical about it being a success. Not willing to use a better build Dragon 1/6 body, I chose a cheapo Action Man body as a base. Here you have a printout of Tony's upgraded Tusken Raider for reference.

The face construction is arguably the most challenging of the whole custom. I have to think about indigenous methods as you can see from the picture.
First, a flexible plastic mask was cut out from plastic shopping bag. Eyes were from polycaps of model kits and so were the twin "tusks". Mouthpiece was sculpted with milliput 2-part putty.

Let the wrapping begin. Head wrap were made with cloth strap with Nitto 300 industrial strength double sided tape for adherence. 14 years later, the straps are still firmly bonded to the face. That's what I call a good tape :)
Hands and Legs (boots) were of bandage materials. I should have used bandage materials for the head as well but I probably thought I'd do that for the 2nd Tusken Raider I'm gonna do (but never did come around it afterwards).
Can't remember what paint combination I used to paint over the wrap but I think it should be Tamiya Acrylic Khaki (XF-49) + a little Olive Green (XF-58).

Did not take pictures on how the garb were made but it should be pretty straight forward by the look of it. Cloth material used was the same as the material used for head wrapping.

Gaffi stick was scratch build as well. The shaft was sprue from model kit's sprue tree. Pointed tip was a 1/35 scale German PaK40 (75mm) shell round. The other 90deg tip was a wheel sprue of a 1/35 scale model tank. Putty sculpted over to form the shape.
Four fins were cut out from plastic card.
The Gaffi stick couldn't stand the test of time. I probably could have lost it after moving house 2 times since 2001.

Like I said in my 2014 Top 5 Collectibles entry, the Sideshow Tusken Raider came in 2nd and the Tusken Raider will always have a special place in my heart. This is the reason it is so.
Put the hands together to create when you wanted something but is out of reach. That is always part of the joy in 1/6 collecting.
Have went on to create a few more with the Rebel Fleet Trooper featured HERE in an earlier blog entry. Hope to show my custom Death Star Trooper in time to come.