# SnowBunny the TaunTaun Fursuit WIP



## She-King (Oct 2, 2012)

(IGNORE THE DATE IT'S WRONG) This is about three days of work off and on. This is my third mask I've made. I want to be the first female tauntaun out there. I hope, once this is finished, it will make a good first impression. I'm trying a lot of new things with this suit as well. I have about five months or more before the comic con and anime cons I want to attend to in this thing. This suit is more for being recognized as something...recognizable that would make sense at these cons, lol. Especially, the comic-con and also to be the first female. I kinda want to be the first. I'm determined like that in this fandom.

The horns will be layered back near the cheek bones so they curve in closer to the face. Someone elsewhere suggested that. I don't know if I'm happy with the placement of the ears. For some reason, all of my masks, so far, have a mellow expression with drawn back ears. I want this girl to be seductive, but mellow in expression. I might change the shape of the ears, though, that might be what's making me indecisive with their placement. They should be in the right place, though, for the tauntaun from the refs I have seen. A brow ridge that slopes upward and the ears are right smack dab on the back of the head, but against the horns. I plan to do a curved neck technique as well that worked out into a very appealing accent on my first mask, a feature I plan to incorporate into all of my future suits. It will be my trademark. Just have to figure out how to make the mask cool with all the extra foam, which is what I'm working on with this mask, now, but still keep that graceful, appealing look I favor and you don't see in other people's 
fursuit heads.

MY ORIGINAL CURVED NECK TECHNIQUE








[video=youtube;yaPkaMIf_Bo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaPkaMIf_Bo&amp;list=UUekgVP9JeMnN2wARluRdmrQ&amp;  index=1&amp;feature=plcp[/video]





Anyways, this is SnowBunny, the tauntaun. I'll have plenty of time to fix it up, change things, make mistakes, fix them, and experiment. Definitely no money, right now, for fur. As with my second head I've made. Its foamed and well...foamed. No fur for it either. I've got a plenty of freaking foam, thanks to my mom bringing home foam slabs that people rest their heads on at the hospital she works at. Wish she could start bringing home fur for some reason. That would be loverly.

This head has the best design for ventilation of all my heads, thus far. Tauntauns have four nostrils, two sets stacked on top of each other. The interior of the mask is wide open and ready for a smallish fan, which I hope to install eventually, to pull the hot air out. Had trouble with my masks being too small-like on the inside and all the hot breath dries out your eyes and is just not pleasant to breathe in when you are really hot and sweating and it has no place to get out at because there's no escape for the heat.

I want the latest video game releases, but the money I will be getting, I think this would be a better investment to save it for fur, considering, I'm DYING to see what my new heads will look like actually finished, and I want to go to my second cons next year as well. I guess...the fur would be a better thing to save for. I hate not having enough money to save up for MANY things instead of one main thing, but fur is by far, more expensive than any video game I could purchase in on go. I want a fullsuit of this gal, too. That is my goal to have my first fullsuit at some point next year.

If I have a knack for this, I want to make it a personal business one day. Kinda hard though when you can't fur your heads and see your finished work. >8/

Critiques are welcomed with OPEN arms!


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## Dokid (Oct 2, 2012)

uhh the links seem to be broken. But once I can view it i'd be happy to give you come critique!


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## She-King (Oct 2, 2012)

Dokid said:


> uhh the links seem to be broken. But once I can view it i'd be happy to give you come critique!



Mmkays, fixed the link. All better!


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## Dokid (Oct 2, 2012)

Everything seems to be going well with the foaming! The only thing that others me is that taun tauns have hard horns...what material were you planning on covering the horns with? Also while I really do like the side view and how it gives that sloping horse look I'm not sure how well the four nostrils would come out since I can only see two right now.

Otherwise I think the idea of the foam in the back for the curving neck is really neat and I've never really seen anyone else do something like that. On a side note I was wondering if you would be able to make the fabric around that curved part less baggy? Since it gives it that fake look rather than a more realistic look.


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## She-King (Oct 2, 2012)

Dokid said:


> Everything seems to be going well with the foaming! The only thing that others me is that taun tauns have hard horns...what material were you planning on covering the horns with? Also while I really do like the side view and how it gives that sloping horse look I'm not sure how well the four nostrils would come out since I can only see two right now.
> 
> Otherwise I think the idea of the foam in the back for the curving neck is really neat and I've never really seen anyone else do something like that. On a side note I was wondering if you would be able to make the fabric around that curved part less baggy? Since it gives it that fake look rather than a more realistic look.




They do have hard horns, but for the sake of money, I might coat them in fleece and paint on the the markings it might need. I found out Wookie, another Tauntaun and the original tauny actually used liquid latex on his horns. I just don't have the money right now for that. The horns are going to be bulked up quite a bit, though before hand. I do have several months, though to get Snow ready for show, so later, I might be able to chisel down the horns to a more natural texture and then coat them in liquid latex.  There are four nostrils. The foam is just so dull it all blends in and I need to smooth the nostrils out to the point of being really crisp so I can fur it. It will be tedious, but worth it. I'll be able to breath through them too. This mask has fantastic ventilation.


Yes, when I draw my animals, I always like to give a nice curve to their neck. It's pretty to me for some reason, so, I'm going to incorporate into all of my masks because I don't see anyone else doing it and that will be my trademark. Also, it will set me apart from other fursuit makers and people will want me for that reason, if they skim through a bunch of suit makers.  So, on the advertising note, I think I'm set and I've found something that will make people want my suits. Sigh, if I can get this to take off of the ground. I just don't have the money I SHOULD have, being an adult, to work on this gig for several years, so it can stabilize itself. It's quite aggravating trying to start a personal business with no money, lol, especially if you're good at it, too.

The fur was short pile and I had some excess to drape down in front of me. It was my first mask too and I just didn't know the smartest way to go about making the curved neck when it came to cutting out the pattern. I think I'll make it one big unit with this mask and not separate units like I did originally. It kinda made it look fakish, like you said. I want to make the neck curve and fluff more 3D having the arched foam ENCIRCLE the neck instead of just adding an arch directly behind it. I might even use a neck pillow for some extra fluff like she has an excessive bunch of fur around her neck as well. I read up just last night about a neck pillow being used to add a boa of fur around the chest and neck. All though, that would add even more weight to the mask, unless it was a cheap light one. I just need the shape to fur around and it will give Snow a very pampered and prim look.

Sorry, I babble, lol! Thank you sooo much for the critique! I like the fact that you've actually MADE a fursuit before. Some other people on here critique and they've never made one before. To me, that doesn't make any dang sense! You should have some experience before you go whining about how a suit head doesn't look like what it's supposed to. It's not as easy as it looks and some people don't have as sharp of a sense to tell when it's not quite hitting the mark like other people do. I dunno, it just makes more sense when people that have done it before critique something they've made themselves.

Sorry, I babble again,lol.


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## She-King (Oct 3, 2012)

More updates! Yahoo! Bulked up the horns and still need to bulk them up more so I can shave them down and smooth them out. Did more work on making the nostrils more nitcable because peopel claimed they couldn't see them very well. The brow ridge is being bulked up and I"m working on defining the chin more.

A neck pillow will be experimented with to act as a mane or "boa" of fur that encompasses the neck of the pampered tauntaun. She's very pretty and snowbunny-like. It might make the mask hotter, when I was trying to keep it cool, though. I'm adding a fan in this mask and it will be the first head that's had a fan. The interior is big enough for one, so I'm going to use it to filter out the hot air.






[video=youtube;BX-KJVZ1etY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BX-KJVZ1etY&amp;list=UUekgVP9JeMnN2wARluRdmrQ&amp;index=2&amp;fea  ture=plcp[/video]


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## Dokid (Oct 4, 2012)

She-King said:


> More updates! Yahoo! Bulked up the horns and still need to bulk them up more so I can shave them down and smooth them out. Did more work on making the nostrils more nitcable because peopel claimed they couldn't see them very well. The brow ridge is being bulked up and I"m working on defining the chin more.
> 
> A neck pillow will be experimented with to act as a mane or "boa" of fur that encompasses the neck of the pampered tauntaun. She's very pretty and snowbunny-like. It might make the mask hotter, when I was trying to keep it cool, though. I'm adding a fan in this mask and it will be the first head that's had a fan. The interior is big enough for one, so I'm going to use it to filter out the hot air.
> 
> ...



Yeah that is a whole lot more taun taun like and I can definitely see the figure better.  Also try making it look what it looks like first rather than going for the whole breathable stuff.


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## She-King (Oct 4, 2012)

Dokid said:


> Yeah that is a whole lot more taun taun like and I can definitely see the figure better.  Also try making it look what it looks like first rather than going for the whole breathable stuff.



Right. I will do that, for sure!


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## ScaredToBreathe (Oct 4, 2012)

I am not a fursuit maker, so I can't really give worthwhile advice.
But this looks to me to be just about the best thing ever.


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## Dokid (Oct 4, 2012)

Oh and I just realized..The eyes are looking down quite a bit. They're at such an odd angle that I actually didn't notice that there were irises inside them.


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## She-King (Oct 4, 2012)

Dokid said:


> Oh and I just realized..The eyes are looking down quite a bit. They're at such an odd angle that I actually didn't notice that there were irises inside them.



I know, it IS weird and I don't know how to fix that because I've cheated my way out of doing effective follow-me-eyes before. Any advice on how to fix them? I know I might need to paint the irises smaller inside the eye and give the eye more white so you can see the illusion better. They are down that low because well...hm...I want feminine-looking eyes and I want them to be narrow and angular for that look and they only way to make them look that way was to put them in like that. 

Anyway I can fix that, you think? I'm trying something weird instead of just toony eyes, but I don't want toony eyes at all. My style isn't toony its more stylized and realistic. Maybe even fantasy. But the one thing I do know is smaller irises for sure because I'm not convinced my eyes follow when I see them.


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## Dokid (Oct 4, 2012)

She-King said:


> I know, it IS weird and I don't know how to fix that because I've cheated my way out of doing effective follow-me-eyes before. Any advice on how to fix them? I know I might need to paint the irises smaller inside the eye and give the eye more white so you can see the illusion better. They are down that low because well...hm...I want feminine-looking eyes and I want them to be narrow and angular for that look and they only way to make them look that way was to put them in like that.
> 
> Anyway I can fix that, you think? I'm trying something weird instead of just toony eyes, but I don't want toony eyes at all. My style isn't toony its more stylized and realistic. Maybe even fantasy. But the one thing I do know is smaller irises for sure because I'm not convinced my eyes follow when I see them.



From all the follow me eye's I've seen..I think that you've got them wayyy too deep or something.


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## She-King (Oct 4, 2012)

Dokid said:


> From all the follow me eye's I've seen..I think that you've got them wayyy too deep or something.



They shouldn't be too deep. I mean, the bristol paper I used and formed into the loop is only an inch thick. That's what most follow me eyes are. It think the bridge of the nose of my fursuit is just too shallow or not deep enough, I think. Do you think that might be it? I do need to bulk up the brow ridge more, though, for sure. Perhaps, my head needs more of a forehead? I was going to do that anyways, but maybe that's why they aren't doing right for me or anyone else, lol.


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## She-King (Oct 10, 2012)

Okay, I thiiiiink I'm happy with the eyes. I don't know, yet. Do they look girly at all? I'm not sure. I don't know. They are actually very slightly uneven, but would that be too noticeable in the final fur? So  could i leave them that way? I removed the weird head mechanism in the back. It was making the whole head look stupid so it's gone. I'm going to get a neck pillow and add that to the balaclava to help with the neck curve instead of the foam ribcage. However, I don't know if that will be any cooler than what I was trying to do before. 

The pictures were taken after the video so the pictures are the technical and official mask as it is now. The eyelashes were just...no, so I removed them and outlined the streamline eyes with black. I don't know if you do this before or after you fur the mask. I guess you could do either or. I just don't know because I've never done follow-me-eyes before. I've only finished one mask out of the three I've made. Too poor to afford the fur to actually finish any dang thing I make.

Anyways, I desire critiques for the eyes, mostly and any advice you have with being symmetical and working neater. I have a lot of trouble with being clean, smooth, and smart about making my masks. Something is ALWAYS off or lower or higher than something else and I'm getting tired of that. How can I work neater and make a cleaner finish for furring? My work is much cruder than most first time fursuit makers and I don't know why. What I'm I doing different? I layer and cut down a lot rather than measure out pieces and glue them down. I don't think anybody uses as much foam as I do and I want to know why. What do people do to be perfectly or symmetrical to the naked eye? I've tried measuring out foam shapes, but it doesn't work out to my liking. I don't think I know how to measure and get the shape I want. I just want neater and cleaner finishes if I'm going to make this into a business. I need to figrure that out NOW!






[video=youtube;mySZqW_CLTg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mySZqW_CLTg&amp;list=UUekgVP9JeMnN2wARluRdmrQ&amp;  index=1&amp;feature=plcp[/video]


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## She-King (Oct 13, 2012)

Well, this mask has taken a turn for the worse. Whatever is wrong with it, now, I hate it and I don't know what to do to fix it. I'm running through some options and I'm not liking the work that's going to have to go into fixing it. Getting really tired of fixing this stupid thing and I find out I STILL need to fix it YET AGAIN because something is still wrong. I want a final product I'm happy with and I want to make sure I'm happy with it when I do fur it.

One astute observation I have made and I kinda knew when I first put the eyes in. The muzzle is too short and the eyes are unnaturally high. I should be able to see out of my own eyes, not tearducts. It's more apparent, now, that I've somehow built the mask out of porportion to my own face. I don't even know how that happened. Probably by not using a real balaclava with set eye holes and using a balaclava that just pulls over my head with a great big opening for my face. The one's I have been using were free, but I've been having extreme problems navigating my heads and their layout because these balaclavas are just cheap pieces of crap.

Should I just flat out, tear the eyes out, lengthen the muzzle, bring the ears down and make the mask the way its supposed to be? It will take some work and some tampering, but I think that's my over all problem. I want to build this mask right, unlike my first mask. This is my third mask, but the second one to be finished, if I can get the money to finish her.


I know I made this video asking for advice on my eyes, but should I just tear out the eyes, again, and reconfigure the mask to where I can actually see out of the eye holes? I'm not happy with how it looks anymore and I think I should get to work fixing it. I want to to do this right and I want to make sure I KNOW how to do it right, if I want to start taking commissions  I don't want to be screwing up like this on someone else's mask! Overall, I see how other people do their heads and I want to be proud and pleased with my work. Not anxious, and begrudged about how it looks. I plan to go to cons with this thing and when I look at pictures, I want to be happy about how the suit came together, not displeased.

Any tips and advice on my observation or what I can do to get this mask back on track?

[video=youtube;h0eBa-B3egE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0eBa-B3egE&amp;list=UUekgVP9JeMnN2wARluRdmrQ&amp;index=1&amp;featur  e=plcp[/video]


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## She-King (Oct 20, 2012)

I think this might be my final look, for now, unless I get advice on changing something else, but I'm pretty happy with how it looks, for now. I'm going to try not to change it anymore. I've changed it so much, I kinda liked what I had the last one before the last post. I liked my profile, but I worked on it too much, experimenting and I've gone too far to go back. Critiques are welcomed with open arms! Please, nothing sarcastic or pointless, this IS a display of my art and I would appreciate something that's actually constructive, professional, and useful. Pease and tankies!

[video=youtube;ctKdgE-KRi4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctKdgE-KRi4&amp;list=UUekgVP9JeMnN2wARluRdmrQ&amp;index=1&amp;feature  =plcp[/video]


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## Dokid (Oct 20, 2012)

Oh hey! There you are!

Anyways in all seriousness the eyes look much better int he fact that we can now see them and they aren't as awkwardly angled. I really like your front view since I can now see all the details in the face including the nose.  Moving jaw seems to be pretty responsive as well. I really do like that profile that you have going on there. It's really easy to see the taun taun look even through the side. Especially that it's not boxy at all.

Now for the parts that you probably won't like. Since your so far away I can't really tell but I kinda see an underbite going on. Not sure if you wanted that or not. But that's something that's easily fixable. 

Annd that concludes what I have to say critique wise.

Of course for the horns I saw one fursuit maker use a latex covering (it was cloth but looked like latex) for the horns. Or you could go with fleece to get a more toony look.


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## She-King (Oct 22, 2012)

Dokid said:


> Oh hey! There you are!
> 
> Anyways in all seriousness the eyes look much better int he fact that we can now see them and they aren't as awkwardly angled. I really like your front view since I can now see all the details in the face including the nose.  Moving jaw seems to be pretty responsive as well. I really do like that profile that you have going on there. It's really easy to see the taun taun look even through the side. Especially that it's not boxy at all.
> 
> ...



The underbite is something I fixed after the vid. Nothing serious, it just needed a trim. 8) But, no I didn't mind that, I knew that was there because i watched the video so many times over to see if I was happy with it, lol. I'm weird and I have to see myself in motion with the mask on to decide if I like the shape and profile. I like to know I look good in public as well, lol. My vids are sometimes longer for no real reason, just so I can wonder around from all angles and do weird stuff so I can see how it will look. Anyways, I blab!

Hm...I'm not sure what I want to do about the horns. I think applying fleece would be an easier way I could do it because I know how to hand sew and all that stuff, but I do want a fantasy/realistic look to my head too. So you say it looks like cloth, but it's latex? Is it a latex cloth material or sprayed on?


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## Dokid (Oct 22, 2012)

She-King said:


> Hm...I'm not sure what I want to do about the horns. I think applying fleece would be an easier way I could do it because I know how to hand sew and all that stuff, but I do want a fantasy/realistic look to my head too. So you say it looks like cloth, but it's latex? Is it a latex cloth material or sprayed on?




Think like raincoat material. you know like that shiny yellow material that's on little kid raincoats?

Or some leather would work too. Faux leather actually probably would be better than raincoat material but it's up to you! Both can be hand sewn and probably should be.


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## She-King (Oct 23, 2012)

Dokid said:


> Think like raincoat material. you know like that shiny yellow material that's on little kid raincoats?
> 
> Or some leather would work too. Faux leather actually probably would be better than raincoat material but it's up to you! Both can be hand sewn and probably should be.



Oh! You have a point there! See, I didn't even think about that! I think I might try to faux leather. It's more natural-seeming and not so shiney.


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## She-King (Oct 31, 2012)

Unfortunately, I've ran out of supplies for SnowBunny. In other words, I don't have money for fur and she's going to sit like one other head of mine and remain unfurred. I'm putting her aside for the moment, so no more updates for a while. I also need a pet shaver or some type of shaver. That means I need cash.

In the meantime, I'm making an Akita head and furring him with brown fur I have left over from my first head I made earlier this year to put up for bid. I'll make WIP picks of him. This thread will probably be buried until further notice as sad as that is. Anyways, one latest update for SnowBunny. Keep an eye out, though! I will be back as soon as I can!

[video=youtube;4Hy82ZRrbRQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Hy82ZRrbRQ&amp;list=UUekgVP9JeMnN2wARluRdmrQ&amp;  index=1&amp;feature=plcp[/video]


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## She-King (Feb 3, 2013)

Got the upper body done, will do the head, claws, feet, tail and horns in the future. IF I can keep up this pace, she should be done well before the month is over, I have a lot of freetime on my hands with no school or work.

[video=youtube;h3DuFM-fBb0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=UUekgVP9JeMnN2wARluRdmrQ&amp;feature=player  _detailpage&amp;v=h3DuFM-fBb0[/video]


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## She-King (Mar 3, 2013)

[video=youtube;SIjBGo8z1r4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIjBGo8z1r4[/video]

The head is ALMOST done. I need to sew the cape together with her forelock, sew the ears to the cape, flesh out the inside of the ears with some fleece and sew that together. Glue it down. The suit itself is almost done. I need to get with a friend and duct tape my legs. She will be a two piece suit. She needs feet and legs and that will be it. I have her foam legs padding down and on tights all ready. Sadly, I'm out of glue sticks and with my limited and sparratic income, I work hard and fast, and then I have to sit and wait for more money, unfortunately, even though I have more free time than most people can imagine. It doesn't make any sense, but oh well. I'm happy to have gotten this far.

SnowBun-Buns, everyone!


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## She-King (Mar 7, 2013)

Took some photos outside while it was still light. It's hard to be a fur-head in public because people get curious and bother you when you're trying to do things related to walking around with your fursuit head on, lol. Not that I don't mind explaining, but for these, I was outside, took pictures, went in and took the head off. Wasn't really interested in explaining anything that day.

"What is that thing on yo' head?!"

The quote of the day for these pictures

All I can say for Snow is, she's one TOASTY-HOT mommaseeta! It was pretty cold, but she was so warm, I didn't need a coat or jacket and I'm usually really-really cold ALL the time.


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## RegencyBroughamDeluxe (Mar 7, 2013)

I like it a lot. The only thing I would change is to add some fur to the bottom of the left eye, to smooth out the shape, and maybe trim back the fur around the edges of the iris. Other than that it's just about perfect.


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## She-King (Mar 8, 2013)

RegencyBroughamDeluxe said:


> I like it a lot. The only thing I would change is to add some fur to the bottom of the left eye, to smooth out the shape, and maybe trim back the fur around the edges of the iris. Other than that it's just about perfect.



I will take that into consideration because I've heard about two other people say that. If three say it, it might be something I should be interested in, for sure, lol. All right, I will do that! Thanks!


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## She-King (Mar 17, 2013)

Snowbunny is finished and she had her first con last night! She was a HUUUUGE hit! I've never received so many comments and compliments on anything like this project. I'm very satisfied and I can rest now and prep for the new project!


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