Finally the entire body was skinned w/ felt to get patterns.

Then the patterns were removed, layed out and nested to see how much fur was needed.

At $30/yd, buying too much fabric can be costly!

Fur is fastened to the body with zip-ties.

The head of the costume was heavy so I included three steel concrete stakes in the tail for counter weight. 

A little airbrush work added color and shadowing to the head.

Finally ears, saddle and the fake legs were added to finish off the Tauntaun. All that was left was to make the Han Solo and Luke skywalker outfits to compliment the Tauntaun.

I was just recovering from knee surgery, so my buddy Brian agreed to wear the costume for me.

Getting into the costume is difficult, it requires the 'rider' to first put the stilts on. Then the 'handler' lifts the body up and over the rider where the rider then has to put the backpack straps on. Then the handler runs to both sides of the costume and snaps the fur onto the hips hiding the riders real legs and stilts. 

We arrived at the Zone Ball at 9:30, had a couple beers in the parking lot, then mounted up.

As Brian strolled through the massive crowds, we were constantly being stopped for pictures. Large costumes have limited visibility and poor maneuverability, so it was my job to keep an eye out for spilled drinks and drunkards.

For the most part, the crowd was understanding, only a couple of chicks couldn't resist humping the Tauntauns ass and one drunk Joe Dirt got in my face.

Getting on stage was difficult. There was a handicap lift, but it ended up being broken. It took an additional two security guards and a Zone staffer to climb the stairs, but once on stage, it was all worth it.

Besides Rob's costume, the competition wasn't all that impressive. I'll let Rob tell the story of how it all went down, strobe lights and all :)

-Thanks Rob!!