# Scias head



## Eleison (Feb 11, 2011)

Hello, everybody! I've been poking around the Fursuit comm on LiveJournal for advice on this (this is cross-posted there), but I have yet to dive into the tutorials on here. I just figured I'd get this post up so I can start getting some help. >.>


 As a birthday gift to my boyfriend, I was thinking of making him a head to go with his Scias costume from Breath of Fire IV. The thing is, I've never made a balaclava/mascot head before, so I have a huge fistful of questions. I've been looking through the memories in this comm for advice, but I was hoping to get a little more cohesion and specificity re: making a shaggy, near-eyeless, non-toony collie head.

WARNING: This is a very long, very demanding post. Don't feel like you have to address all of my questions, but of you could help me with any of them, I'd really appreciate it.


 First of all, here's a reference pic of Scias.


Second of all...

 I've decided the easiest and most comfortable/wearable way to go about this is starting from a balaclava. So I guess my first question is, does anyone have any advice for making a tight-fitting balaclava form just measurements? My boyfriend lives in a different state, and I don't know if I'll be able to sit him down to pin stuff on him any time soon.

This method seems like the best for attaching foam, and that's where my second-biggest pile of questions lies. Note from the reference that Scias has a relatively simple, rectilinear snout, and rather prominent brow ridges.

 I wasn't planning on making this with a moving jaw, so would it be okay to carve the whole muzzle out of a single piece? How much definition around the lips should I give it? I was planning on attaching a plastic nose like this one, but I certainly don't need 144 of them, and I haven't really seen any good-sized dog-style noses in craft stores, so do you guys have any advice on where I could get single ones? 20 mm also seems a bit small for this, so do you know where I might be able to find noses closer to 25 or 30 mm?

Next, the brows: how much of these should I define in the foamwork, and how much should be done with long-pile fur trickery? Which leads me into my biggest, scariest pile of questions...


The fur. Fur is expensive, and I'm sort of petrified of the amount of money I could waste not getting it all right the first time. I'll break down my pile of concerns:

 1.) The pattern. I was planning on starting with this, reconfigured slightly to fit the coloring, with fur in a mantle-like pattern, longer in front, to cover the neck and chest. The eyes would be made from sheer black fabric and maybe some white craft foam with markered-on irises, and would be mostly covered by the brow fur. This part I'm not having much trouble with - my existing sewing skills apply wonderfully here - but I figured I'd better make sure you can picture what I'm picturing. Hence the description. ^^;

2.) The pile. This is the part that has me most petrified and indecisive. I noticed that Scias' brow fur is much longer than his head fur, but not necessarily longer than his neck fur. Also, all his fur is quite long. Would 3" pile be too much, or would 2" pile do just fine? If I went with 3", how much trimming would I have to do? (It would probably all have to be scissored, since I don't have clippers beyond my dad's hair trimmer, and I have zero experience trimming fur.) For the brows, I was thinking of using this layering trick, but I'm afraid it might be a bit much to do all down the neck, which is why I was thinking of going with the longer pile in the first place. I'd kind of hate to get a bunch of 2" for the whole head and neck and a teeny bit of 3" just for the brow, but I guess I could just order a swatch of the 3" from DF if I ended up going that route... And would it be worth it to get shorter-pile fur for just the snout, or do you think I could do okay with trimming it? Would I have issues color-matching if that were the case?

3.) The source. I've looked around DF, but can you guys point me toward any other good fur-sellers? I've heard some talk about MM and Mendel's, and they seem okay. What do you guys think?

 4.) The color. Based on this review,  DF's 3" white seems just about perfect; collies have rough-textured fur, any stringiness left after brushing and washing should be okay, and the off-white seems like it'd be just the right color. But I've looked around their other colors, and for the orange parts of Scias' coat, I wasn't really impressed. Can anyone tell me how their burnt orange looks in person? I'm going more for rust and less for don't-shoot-me hunting garb. Or would I be better off buying a bunch of the white and dying it? Any tips on dying fur? I'll have to dye the ear tips anyway, since unless I can get multiple swatches of the dark brown or red, I won't be getting enough to justify ordering more just for that...

5.) The amount. Derp. How much fur do you guys think I'll need for this? I was figuring a yard each of the orange and brown should do just fine.


 Third of all, any ideas on other fursuiting communities I could cross-post this to? This comm is a wonderful resource, and I hope to get as much good advice from out on the interwebs as possible. I plan on asking around FA, if I can....


 Thank you guys SO MUCH for all your help! I'm really excited to get started on this. ^^


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## dinosaurdammit (Feb 11, 2011)

Want my honest opinion?

Buy cheep ass cloth- not even good quality, pretend you are furring your head with it then cut out the outline of it. This gives you an idea how much fur to use. Search online and order samples- its cheep and you can see what you are dealing with. When you pick your fur use the cheep cloth template to cut out your fur. Make sure you pin the two together to make it stay put and use an exacto knife and cut from the back (side opposite of the fur). Fur comes in different "piles" or length- by ordering samples you are bound to find one that suits your needs. 

Hope it helps.


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## Eleison (Feb 12, 2011)

Oh man, that's brilliant! I cant believe I didn't think of it. ^^; Walmart dollar-a-yard table, here I come!


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## Trpdwarf (Feb 12, 2011)

What I'm going to suggest first is this. If you are going with the balaclava method the best way to make a snug fitting head is to have some sort of form. If you look around on Ebay/Amazon you can find life sized dummy heads made of Styrofoam for pretty cheap. Order a few, and when you have one that matches his size us that.  Trust me, having this head form is one of the best ways to start off on the right foot. (You may be able to find a local store that sells the same thing).

The second thing I'm going to suggest since you are a newbie, is a link to a really good tutorial: http://www.matrices.net/balaclava.asp
Lots of people use this and get good results from it.

As for your pattern, the best way to make a good pattern is to get yourself some clear packaging tape, and some duck tape. Get yourself a exactoblade or a box cutter too. You also need a marker. Get a perm one that will show up on your duck-tape. This is simple. Once your head is done with being foamed wrap it snugly with clear tape. Then wrap over with duck tape. Use a marker to mark out your pieces, and also make arrows to demonstrate fur-grain (which way the fur should go). Then use a sharp thing, follow your lines and there you have it...a pattern. You can flip it upside down, and use it to trace your shapes.

Now some people will tell you to glue your seams. I'm going to tell you otherwise. We tend to chase people out of here who try to push for that because it's stupid advice. What if you need to shave something down? What if you mess up? It's a lot easier to do both if you didn't use hot glue to cheaply put together your seams. Plus I'm sure your mate would love a head that's got the best possible durability. So your pieces need to be sewn together. It's like making a skin for the head. Sew your seams. Do it. Trust me.

Now for your fur I can't see you needing a 3 inch pile. I've got that stuff on hand and it's a bitch to shave. Also sissors? Unless you are a dog groomer it's probably going to come out terrible to cut it that way. Go to any store like JC Pennies, or similar and you can probably find a man's hair trimmer buzz thing for cheap. I've picked them up for around 15 bucks. It's not that much when you are going to get something much better for shaving your head down. Make sure your practice with it on a spare bit of faux fur before shaving your head.

As for noses, get a block of sculpty clay. Make your nose, bake it. That's one way. Another is to sculpt it out of foam, and then hot glue suede or fleece over it and then trim. I'd give you more advice but I've got to go to bed. I will point you to two good threads to look through: http://forums.furaffinity.net/threads/42331-Official-Fursuit-Help-Thread-%28For-those-looking-to-make-or-looking-to-buy%29
and :http://forums.furaffinity.net/threa...S-AND-TUTORIALS-A-LIST-FOR-NEW-FURSUIT-MAKERS

When I can I'll come back more and see if I can answer some of your owner questions.


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## Eleison (Feb 13, 2011)

Thanks, Trpdwarf. ^^ Um, point-by-point reply-thing I guess..

I was planning on using a wig form / foam head; there are a couple beauty supply  stores around here that sell them. I'll still need measurements though,  since most of the ones I can get are sized for small women and I'll probably have to bulk it up anyway. Oh well.

I've made full masks and balaclavas before, so I've got the hang of the basic shape and what kind of fabric to use. Considering I wasn't planning on making this with a moving jaw, do you think I still need the big elastic artifice? I guess a strap across the top of the head and wrapping around the face to support the weight of the snout would be good, but do you think the snout will be heavy enough to even need that much? I'm making the core out of green upholstery foam, which is pretty lightweight; the fur itself should be able to support it well enough. I just worry a little about his face drooping..

I'm a bit confused about your pattern-making method. Am I supposed to get the clear tape off of the foam when I'm done? I'm a little concerned about damaging the foam, if that's the case. Or do I just leave the clear tape on and fur over it? But that would make the head less breathable. Or am I wrapping the clear tape sticky-side out in the first place?

And of course I was planning on sewing my seams. ^^; Most of the reason I offered to do this is because I have some existing sewing skills. Any advice on machine vs. hand sewing, and what sort of stitch to use? I have access to a heavy duty upholstery machine, so machine-sewing thick fur-fabric won't be a problem; it worked great when I made a suit in shorter pile.

I guess I'll get me some clippers, then. I was looking at the 3" pile because, if you look at the reference pic, Scias has really long, fluffy fur on his face and neck, and I wanted to make sure I got the rough-collie effect just right. I've found a few furs in 3" pile that seem to be the right color; I suppose it'll depend on what I like best after I get a hold of some swatches.

Anyway, thanks again for all your help. ^^ I look forward to hearing more from you.

Whee, this is fun!


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## Trpdwarf (Feb 13, 2011)

Eleison said:


> Thanks, Trpdwarf. ^^ Um, point-by-point reply-thing I guess..
> 
> I was planning on using a wig form / foam head; there are a couple beauty supply  stores around here that sell them. I'll still need measurements though,  since most of the ones I can get are sized for small women and I'll probably have to bulk it up anyway. Oh well.
> 
> ...



I don't know what your budget is but there is something better to use that wig material. If you can spare the 45 to 50 bucks per square foot you can go with material from National Fibers Technology: http://www.nftech.com/

If you don't intend to make your jaw movable you really don't need the elastic.

Hmm let me see if I can make this easier to understand.

Materials: Box Cutter or Exactoknife, Perm Marker, Duck Tape, Clear packaging tape

Step 1:  Tape up your head with clear packaging tape.
Step 2:  Tape over that with duck tape.
Step 3: Use a permanent marker to mark out your pieces (these will be cut out to use for a pattern). Make arrows to demonstrate where the fur grain goes.
Step 4: Use sharp thing to cut through all of your marked lines.
Step 5: Gently pull away your pieces.

After this you have a head with no tape on it, and a pattern to use. Does this make more sense? I like this approach. The extra layer of tape helps prevent damage to your foam.

You mentioned you use that green foam? I've never worked with that stuff so I'm not much help in that area. If you worry about drooping of the snout, well shorter more petite snout builds are going to be more...solid and less prone to drooping versus longer snouts. I know this much from watching my friend foam heads.

Now for tips on sewing, the first and most important thing is to not use regular all purpose thread. The better threads to use are either Upholstery or Quilting. As I don't own a sewing machine I can't give much advice there. All works I do are hand sewn. As such for things that I know the seams won't go through any major stress a simple in and out, with a little reinforcing (like a loop stitch) is fine. You can use a little more reinforcing in areas where you know there will be a lot of wear and tear but you can't make the seams too tight or you could have ripping problems later.

I do suggest that if you need to machine sew, do a simple in and out stitch first if you can. That way you have control over your seams and with longer pile furs you can push the fur in and only sew the backing itself. Then machine stitch for reinforcing. Then you have a seamless look if it's got a long enough fur pile.


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## Eleison (Feb 17, 2011)

o_o The NFT stuff is definitely out of my budget. And I wasn't planning on using wig hair at all; just a foam head (sometimes called a wig form) to build the thing on, if that's what you were looking at. As far as outer materials, in fact, I think I may have narrowed it down to White Wolf's Fox fur in Rust and DF's Extra Long Hair fur in White, though I'll have to order some swatches to make sure. And Sculpey for the nose, and sheer black fabric and craft foam for the eyes.

While we're at it, does anyone know if White Wolf sends swatches? I couldn't find any indication on her site if she did or didn't. And if she doesn't, I don't suppose anyone would have a tiny scrap of the Rust lying about that they'd be willing to send me? I'll provide shipping info via PM and even pay for postage within the US.

Meanwhile, Trpdwarf, thanks for clarifying your pattern-making technique. I think I'll try dinosaurdammit's cheap-fabric method first, and then try yours if it doesn't work out. The snout will have to be long, being a collie snout, but I'm not actually too worried about it drooping; at worst, I can shoot some wire through it and make a harness that attaches to the back of the head for rigidity and support. The weight of the ears at the back should hold it up nicely, anyway.

You guys are so awesomely super helpful. ^^;


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