# Logistics for a bird fursuit (mostly the head)



## YuPuffin (Jan 6, 2013)

Hello, YuPuffin here. It looks like the general questions topic is really old so I'll avoid necroing it.

I was planning on making a fursuit of my puffin character Yu at some point in the future (still not sure when), and I've looked at tutorials all over the place but there are a couple of organization problems with this future fursuit on which I would like some help from more experienced people. Some of it is technique, some is placement and some is basic beginner questions.

(Here's an image of a tufted puffin so you don't have to go dig for it.)

My first question was about seeing out of the mask. I'm not planning on making a moving jaw or leaving the beak open very much (if at all), so I'm not planning to see out of the beak. However, the puffin's eyes are on the side of its head, not the front, so seeing out of the eyes while keeping the mask realistic (at least a little) would be challenging because of the eyes' placement. I'd love some insight on how I'd be able to see out of the head.

My second question relates to the first one somewhat, since it concerns ventilation. As I said, I'm not planning on opening the beak much, so I was wondering what I would do for ventilation. I'd also like an explanation on how ventilation works - I don't know whether you can breathe through the fur and you just leave holes in the foam or what. I always guessed it was just leaving holes to the inside of the mask but that never made much sense to me.

Third, I was wondering how padding worked. Do you attach foam to the inside of the bodysuit or do something else entirely? A majority of the fursuits I've seen (and I've seen a lot, since they're all so awesome and I love admiring them) have some form of padding on the body and/or legs to make the shape of the person inside seem like more the shape of an animal, but I don't know how to pad the fursuit.


My fourth question was mainly brought up by my family: how much of a time commitment is making a fursuit. Specifically, if I can make a pair of footpaws in twelve hours, how many hours would anybody estimate it would take to make a full fursuit? I'm not expecting a specific number - just a range is fine. (I've never made a fursuit before, so I'd guess it would take a long time, but I don't know how long that is.)


Thanks in advance for your help!


----------



## jorinda (Jan 7, 2013)

> My first question was about seeing out of the mask. I'm not planning on  making a moving jaw or leaving the beak open very much (if at all), so  I'm not planning to see out of the beak. However, the puffin's eyes are  on the side of its head, not the front, so seeing out of the eyes while  keeping the mask realistic (at least a little) would be challenging  because of the eyes' placement. I'd love some insight on how I'd be able  to see out of the head.


Same problem for a seagull. This is how the fursuit maker solved it: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8635157/  - vision will be through the hole over the beak. It will be covered with mesh, so noone can look inside.




> My second question relates to the first one somewhat, since it concerns  ventilation. As I said, I'm not planning on opening the beak much, so I  was wondering what I would do for ventilation. I'd also like an  explanation on how ventilation works - I don't know whether you can  breathe through the fur and you just leave holes in the foam or what. I  always guessed it was just leaving holes to the inside of the mask but  that never made much sense to me.


Breathing through fur isn't good. The air doesn't circulate well, and the exhaled moisture will make the fur damp. A slightly opened beak would be much more comfortable.




> Third, I was wondering how padding worked. Do you attach foam to the inside of the bodysuit or do something else entirely? A majority of the fursuits I've seen (and I've seen a lot, since they're all so awesome and I love admiring them) have some form of padding on the body and/or legs to make the shape of the person inside seem like more the shape of an animal, but I don't know how to pad the fursuit.


You can attach padding directly to the suit. But it is better to use Under Armour (or something similar) and attach the padding to that. So you can take it out and wash it separately from the fursuit. Padding always increases the heat inside the suit, and you'll sweat a lot.


----------



## Dreaming (Jan 7, 2013)

Yeah, looks like the bigger issue there is eye placement. I would say... go for the realistic approach if you like, just make sure you've got a handler with you at all times

As for ventilation, add some noseholes and screw some old computer fans in there. And padding? The only technique I've really seen in action is a separate padding suit, which was pretty much just padding strapped to suspenders (though this was used for legs)


----------



## YuPuffin (Jan 7, 2013)

Thanks for the help! The vision over the beak sounds like a good idea - puffins do have large beaks but I can probably find some other more creative way to see out now. If I open the beak I'll have to come up with some way to make the mask not look like it's staring blankly |D

Padding makes sense now. I was under the impression that you could attach padding to the inside of the suit, but just putting it on a special outfit of under-armor makes a lot more sense. 

I take it with ventilation that you just use a material other than fur that's more breatheable or something?


----------



## Bir (Jan 7, 2013)

For eyesite, you can simply put white or painted brown mesh along the seams of the beak where it touches the face, that would be great for vision. The part where the top "lip" sort of spreads out really close to the face to create the edges of the "Smile" can also be a great area for ventilation - nobody would see it and it would be right under your nose. Red mesh around the eyes can also be great for ventilation - they're a bit high up on the head, so it'll be easier for that hot air to escape. 

Also, you can work with just plain mesh and very little foamwork for the head - since you don't want an open beak, this will help with some of the heat. My head, Bir, is made completely out of mesh with very, very little foamwork (just on the ridge of the nose and the eyebrows! Along with some padding for my actual human head around the edges of the inside).  Along Bir's chin there is plain black mesh that the longer chin-fur sort of hides, and I can see out of it as well as breath out of it. You can do the same thing for the beak - leave a long stripe on the very very bottom of the beak open so you can breath out of it, it will also make it lighter and harder for it to retain moisture.


----------

