The following is Scott Holden's tale of building a "Luke Skywalker on a tauntaun" costume. For anyone who doesn't know, this is an animal Luke Skywalker rode in Empire Strikes Back.

Three years ago I decided I wanted to make a Tauntaun costume for the Zone Ball in Sacramento.  My wife advised me that it would be best to start as soon as I had finished building the house.

After we passed our final inspection, I started designing the costume in Solidworks. I was thrilled to find that someone had created a 3dStudio max mesh model of the Tauntaun online and was able to download the file and import it directly into my Solidworks drawing!

I also imported the model for a human body into the drawing for scale. Once the frame and custom stilts were drawn I began construction.

I didn't like the way the head looked in the model. I found some guy online who had pics of his own Tauntaun sculpture and was determined to make mine look like his. 

Using wood, expanded metal and Plaster of paris I made a 'skull', then sculpted clay over the skull to add the detail. 

The beginnings of a foam horn.

Horn with plaster.

Next I applied silicone (from a caulking tube) to the clay to make the mold. 

Silicone on the clay.

Completely siliconed head.

Covered with plastic. The beginnings of the "mother mold".

Building a shell of expanded foam around the silicone.

Then I made a "mother mold" out of MDF and can-foam to hold the molds shape. 

The silicone mold.

After spraying a mold release agent into the silicone mold, two-part expanding foam was poured into the mold to create a replica cast.

A similar process was used to cast the horns.

The complete foam head.

Using my Solidworks drawing, I created 3D fixtures to bend pvc into identical mirror imaged parts.

The frame was fastened to a Kelty back pack. Pvc was quartered on a tablesaw to create thin strips that I riveted to the frame to shape the body.

The Tauntaun needed to look actual size so stilts would be key to this costume. Drywall stilts were too 'vertical' so I designed my own stilts that had a natural dog-leg look to them. The feet on the stilts had an independent heel and toe with compression springs resulting in a semi-smooth stride.

Snowboard bindings were utilized for their solid hold and quick-release mechanism.

More pvc frame and strips were added to shape the leg. 

Late one night out in his workshop, Scott suited up into the beast to get some pictures, and to make a little movie of the legs in action. Unfortunately, he got tripped up on the stilts and fell forward, toppling to the ground.

Luckily, the ample frame saved him from injury, but he was strapped in and pinned down inside the animal!

He was incapacitated and there was no one within earshot to come unbuckle him. He literally almost had to spend the night trapped inside the tauntaun's body!

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!!