Making Claudio: General Head Help and Critique

How DO you make those Animal Costumes? (Fursuits)

4th-Aug-2012 02:34 am

Hello community! Me, my brother, and my friend have finally taken the plunge into fursuit-building. But while they're going with canine partials, as I probably should've done, I decided I was special and wanted to be different.

An extremely-toony Superb Lyrebird to be specific:

The head's been carved, at least as much as I think it can be until we procure other materials:

I've also done two beak halves in preparation for a moving jaw using merystic's awesome tutorial on here. It's still kinda of rough, I admit:

Before I continue too far ahead, I've had some questions lingering:

1) How would I make his mohawk? First, I was thinking just plain foam, but I wanted them to have some give and sway as I walked. So the next thought was sewing seperate shapes together and stuffing them, but would they stand up? Considering they'll be made/covered in expensive fur, I don't want to go in blind.

2) Is attaching the beak really just a matter of using copius amounts of hot glue? I've not seen any tutorials on here that discuss attachment in depth, and I'm afraid of it coming loose or falling off. Also, are the spaces present between the two beak halves problematic enough to facilitate using more paperclay or a complete redo, or will this be taken care of when I get to furring?

3) Is the shape of the head okay in general? Too small, too large? Needs more shaping? More pertinent: is the foam helmet on a balaclava even necessary and should I strip it of the excess (I've noticed makers like Matrices leaving a lot of open space on theirs, foaming only the essential bits like muzzle, eyebrows, and cheeks, and I chickened out)? Would it be significantly hotter otherwise? A fresher, more experienced pair of eyes would be appreciated.

Any other comments and critiques are also welcome. I really want him to be finished and look good in time for FWA 2013. Thanks in advance. <3

Tags:beaks, critiques, foam, hair / wigs, heads
Mood:artistic

Comments

4th-Aug-2012 07:05 am (UTC)

poprock_grey

That is ridiculously adorable.
Beak and shape look really awesome as well! When I went and attached the beak to the pigeon suit I made, I just used lots of hotglue and held on forever to make sure a proper bond happened.
Unsure about the mohawk part though. I'll be stalking the post for that info as well. :3

You have also inspired me to make a bird 'sona... :3

4th-Aug-2012 07:17 am (UTC)

sk_venge_ence

this looks great!
with a mohawk in this style.. carved foam might be the way to go, the weight of the fur will give them some sway

if nothing else smooth out the eye ridges a little
looking at your concept id say you need some serious cheek foam. Dont really worry about heat and the thickness of the foam.. what keeps a head cool is the open mouth, big eyes and hidden vents if you choose to build them in.

4th-Aug-2012 01:56 pm (UTC)

sharpecostumes

That suit is going to be just adorable. Going to second what Venge said below. Foam will be just fine for what you need. The key is making them a little narrower at the base so they have some give. the tension of the sewn fur should keep them upright while still being able to bounce and wiggle :)

4th-Aug-2012 04:27 pm (UTC)

nepenthe_bluth

Thanks a bunch for the comments everyone. I'm glad you guys find Claudio cute, but be careful; he's quite the troublemaker. :P

Carved foam for the mohawk? Alrighty, I'll try that; considering my current absence of anything resembling sewing skills, it would probably be much easier in the long run anyway.

And certainly cheeks will be added, but I'd been indecisive about whether or not they should be carved before or after I added the beak. Now I'm figuring there's no reason to wait; off to carving I go. x3

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