# fursuits not made from fake fur



## Tapeworm (Sep 11, 2010)

I'd like to make a "fursuit" of Tape, the thing is though, Tape doesn't have any fur. 
I'd like to know what kind of fabric to use, and where to get the right color. I really lack any money right now, so it's gonna have to be really inexpensive. 
I know where to get the rest of the stuff I need. 

Also, Tape has these spike things that wrap around his arms, I'm thinking of using foam and covering that with something, then painting it. Could someone also give me suggestions for other ways to make those too?
(this might be helpful): http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4242260/


----------



## ShayneBear (Sep 12, 2010)

hmm...maybe lycra?

you can get decent (but inexpensive) fabrics at www.fabric.com


----------



## Deo (Sep 12, 2010)

Antron fleece. It doesn't show seams easily like other fabrics and is easily workable. It has some stretch and is much cooler than fake fur. It is well known amongst puppeteers and is also known as "muppet fleece" since Henson Creature Studios used it a lot. 
This suit was made with Antron Fleece and NFT fur as the mane> http://www.dmuth.org/files/claws/images/1064_large.preview.jpg

As for the spikes I would carve them out of foam and cover them with tool dip aka rubber dip or latex.


----------



## Tapeworm (Sep 12, 2010)

thanks.


----------



## SGRedAlert (Sep 25, 2010)

You scared me for a minute. x_x I thought you meant real animal fur.
Because my budget for Halloween is rather low, I'm commissioning KamicKrazi studios for arms and a tail, I've bought a $33 hat with fox ears from a shop on Etsy, and I made my own feetpaws from cardboard and lots and lots of duct tape. I don't know about tails, but for the feet I took cardboard from the bottom of a water bottle case to make the basic rectangle needed around an old pair of shoes, and then duct taped the hell out of it, then rolled up duct tape for the 4 toes, and since the feet are black I just used non-reflective black duct tape to gently cover it and make the dew claw toes. I kludge'd it up and used white sole pads for pawpads and white spoons for claws and they look great!
I don't know about tails but I don't think it would look to bad, using colored duct tape and cardboard, for a tail, depending on what species of tail we're talking about and how advanced it is. It may look kinda ghetto but hey.
As for fur, I think fleece or several layers of thin fake silk would look good.


----------



## Deo (Sep 26, 2010)

SGRedAlert said:


> You scared me for a minute. x_x I thought you meant real animal fur.
> Because my budget for Halloween is rather low, I'm commissioning KamicKrazi studios for arms and a tail, I've bought a $33 hat with fox ears from a shop on Etsy, and I made my own feetpaws from cardboard and lots and lots of duct tape. I don't know about tails, but for the feet I took cardboard from the bottom of a water bottle case to make the basic rectangle needed around an old pair of shoes, and then duct taped the hell out of it, then rolled up duct tape for the 4 toes, and since the feet are black I just used non-reflective black duct tape to gently cover it and make the dew claw toes. I kludge'd it up and used white sole pads for pawpads and white spoons for claws and they look great!
> I don't know about tails but I don't think it would look to bad, using colored duct tape and cardboard, for a tail, depending on what species of tail we're talking about and how advanced it is. It may look kinda ghetto but hey.
> As for fur, I think fleece or several layers of thin fake silk would look good.


 
Wut? And NO CARDBOARD. NO. NEVER. Cardboard is probably the worst thing you could make a suit out of. To work it has to be treated with resins and chemicals that done wrong can poison you, if not treated it will soak up dirt, sweat, and moisture and rot off of your body. AND what the heck does this post have to do with other materials besides fur? This is just you telling us how you made yours. Geuss what? We don't care.


----------



## Jesie (Sep 26, 2010)

SGRedAlert said:


> LOL DUCKTAPE AND CARDBOARD


 
_Bad idiot! Bad!_


----------



## Urbanwolf (Sep 26, 2010)

Deovacuus said:


> Wut? And NO CARDBOARD. NO. NEVER. Cardboard is probably the worst thing you could make a suit out of. To work it has to be treated with resins and chemicals that done wrong can poison you, if not treated it will soak up dirt, sweat, and moisture and rot off of your body. AND what the heck does this post have to do with other materials besides fur? This is just you telling us how you made yours. Geuss what? We don't care.



that sounds disgusting. Also why in the world would someone use cardboard anyway? its such a terrible material.


----------



## Deo (Sep 26, 2010)

Ductape has fumes that will never cure and will cause you brain damage. Cardboard will look like shit, soak up sweast, and literally mold/rot off of your body as you wear it and you'll NEVER be able to clean it. 
NO. 
Apholstry foam, hot glue, faux fur fabric, thread, stuffing, sculpey, resin, latex, rubber. These are appropriate materials. Most everything else is not. Especially not "kludge". 
FUCKING FURRIES. WHY DO YOU MAKE THINGS OUT OF SHIT???














LET THIS BE A WARNING TO YOU ALL. 



DON'T CUT CORNERS ON MATERIALS OR CRAFTSMANSHIP.


----------



## TentacleLoveGoddess (Sep 26, 2010)

Deovacuus said:


> LET THIS BE A WARNING TO YOU ALL.
> 
> 
> 
> DON'T CUT CORNERS ON MATERIALS OR CRAFTSMANSHIP.


 
 Oh my freakin' eyes WHAT IS THAT THING


----------



## Deo (Sep 26, 2010)

TentacleLoveGoddess said:


> Oh my freakin' eyes WHAT IS THAT THING



It's a wolf. It also has a fake vag. So murry. It's owned by this person> http://encyclopediadramatica.com/ShadoWolffess

HEED MY WARNING NEW FURSUITERS. DO LOTS OF RESEARCH, BUY THE CORRECT MATERIALS, USE THOSE MATERIALS PROPERLY, TAKE YOUR TIME, GET REDLINES AND CRITIQUE, *OR ELSE THIS*.


----------



## DragonFoxDemon (Sep 27, 2010)

Deovacuus said:


> It's a wolf. It also has a fake vag. So murry. It's owned by this person> http://encyclopediadramatica.com/ShadoWolffess
> 
> HEED MY WARNING NEW FURSUITERS. DO LOTS OF RESEARCH, BUY THE CORRECT MATERIALS, USE THOSE MATERIALS PROPERLY, TAKE YOUR TIME, GET REDLINES AND CRITIQUE, *OR ELSE THIS*.


 
That is no wolf I have ever seen. And now I can't unsee that image. It makes me realize my first fursuit wasn't half bad.


----------



## Deo (Sep 27, 2010)

DragonFoxDemon said:


> That is no wolf I have ever seen. And now I can't unsee that image. It makes me realize my first fursuit wasn't half bad.



It's his third. And you can never unsee. NEVER. This is the whole intention of the internet.


----------



## Jesie (Sep 27, 2010)

And I thought he was wearing a rug. My bad!


----------



## Deo (Sep 27, 2010)

Jesie said:


> And I thought he was wearing a rug. My bad!



I was wondering when you would get in here.


----------



## Jesie (Sep 28, 2010)

Were did you find that thing? I have stuff in my closet that's full of holes and covered in stains and it still looks better than that...thing.

Were in god's green earth is the face? I've been staring at it for the last five minutes and I cannot for the life of me figure out A) how he can see through it and B) if it's actually a mutilated animal carcass.


----------



## Furr (Sep 28, 2010)

Deovacuus said:


> It's his third. And you can never unsee. NEVER. This is the whole intention of the internet.


...wait, this is a THIRD ATTEMPT? I really don't want to know what the first one looked like...


----------



## Deo (Sep 28, 2010)

Jesie said:


> Were did you find that thing?


 
0|\| 7|-|3 i|\|73rw3bz.






Jesie said:


> if it's actually a mutilated animal carcass.


 
Luckily it is not made of real fur. Then the horror would be too great to comprehend. And I don't know how he sees out of it. I just don't know. I DON'T EVEN...


----------



## FredlyFatchet (Sep 29, 2010)

Oh, ohfuck. I don't. Wat. 

Where's its face? I'm not kidding. I can't tell what the hell's going on on that thing.


----------



## Tally (Oct 1, 2010)

I thought this thread would be about using real animal fur! 

I was relieved when I read the OP.


----------



## Gavrill (Oct 1, 2010)

Tally said:


> I thought this thread would be about using real animal fur!
> 
> I was relieved when I read the OP.


 
Pfftt, a real fur (partial) fursuit would be fucking rad.


----------



## Shico (Oct 1, 2010)

Molly said:


> Pfftt, a real fur (partial) fursuit would be fucking rad.


 


Tally said:


> I thought this thread would be about using real animal fur!
> 
> I was relieved when I read the OP.


 
ummmmm

http://zhon.deviantart.com/art/Yakul-Costume-138806315

http://zhon.deviantart.com/art/Ibexotaur-In-The-Woods-93834512

http://zhon.deviantart.com/art/Mononoke-Group-at-NDK09-137157172

http://zhon.deviantart.com/art/Asterius-The-Minotaur-129264221

http://zhon.deviantart.com/art/Wild-Wolf-Costume-98348551


----------



## Gavrill (Oct 1, 2010)

Shico said:


> ummmmm
> 
> http://zhon.deviantart.com/art/Yakul-Costume-138806315
> 
> ...


 
Fuckin _awesome_


----------



## Shico (Oct 1, 2010)

Molly said:


> Fuckin _awesome_



From what I understand the person is a taxidermist, and while I respect that taxidermy is an art in of itself and is not easy to do...but...when it comes to making a "realistic" fursuit starting with the hide of an animals head to make the face feels like cheating when people Like Clockwork creatures, Beastcub, Beetlecat and Monoyasha can get things looking so damn real from scratch using fake fur and parts. :/


----------



## Gavrill (Oct 1, 2010)

Shico said:


> From what I understand the person is a taxidermist, and while I respect that taxidermy is an art in of itself and is not easy to do...but...when it comes to making a "realistic" fursuit starting with the hide of an animals head to make the face feels like cheating when people Like Clockwork creatures, Beastcub, Beetlecat and Monoyasha can get things looking so damn real from scratch using fake fur and parts. :/


 
Taxidermy is an art, just like crafting fursuits. The method doesn't really matter. It doesn't really matter _how_ people make it, as long as the customer is pleased with the result.

And of course, the majority of furries are not gonna be pleased when their fursuit is made of taxidermy parts.

Plus, with the kind of detail from a taxidermy suit, it's probably going to be _way_ more expensive than Beetlecat's realistic stuff. 

Besides, art's never really been about how much work you put into it. If you can get it done fast and it still looks great, that's not cheating. It's "being efficient with your materials". Of course, faster also usually means more expensive.

I would gladly get a taxidermy-esque suit, but only if I were rich.

Edit: Also how is cheating to use real animals to make _realistic_ suits?


----------



## Shico (Oct 1, 2010)

Molly said:


> Edit: Also how is cheating to use real animals to make _realistic_ suits?



Eh, it's kinda like comparing a photo to a hand done photo-realistic drawing...

As in both are still art and have their own merit but take different skills and different amounts of time to get the same look.

I guess "cheating" is the wrong word...I cannot think of the right word....But I will admit I am more partial to the realistic fursuits hand made from scratch with no real animal parts than I am to the idea of a taxidermy fursuit, so I am a bit biased on the topic and "cheating" may be too harsh.


----------



## Gavrill (Oct 1, 2010)

Maybe the word you're looking for is "It's less challenging to make things look real if they ARE real"?

Which is true. I don't know the person that makes these suits, but if their stitching/quality isn't as good as Beetlecat's or Beastcub's, then I'm not buyin. Sure, it looks great, but if it falls apart your first time wearing it, it's p worthless.


----------



## Deo (Oct 1, 2010)

Shico said:


> From what I understand the person is a taxidermist, and while I respect that taxidermy is an art in of itself and is not easy to do...but...when it comes to making a "realistic" fursuit starting with the hide of an animals head to make the face feels like cheating when people Like Clockwork creatures, Beastcub, Beetlecat and Monoyasha can get things looking so damn real from scratch using fake fur and parts. :/


 
Taxidermy is an art. It is incredibly hard to do what Zhon does. 
And your argument is invalid. Zhon's taxidermy pieces actually require MORE time to make than your usual fursuit, even hyper-detailed realistic suits. Keep in mind the taxidermy process, and the fact that she has to use creative ways to get a small animal skin over the larger frame of person while keeping it realistic.
She salts, lyes, and tans all the furs herself; which is an incredibly long and taxing effort. Then she has to rehydrate the fur, make it supple while not allowing it to be so supple that the fur fall off. It walks a fine razor's edge and can take weeks to months just to get the fur ready let alone peice it carefully together. See, using faux fur you can cut out the shapes of pieces you need flowig in any direction, with taxidermy you don't get that option. All the "fabric" is right there in front of you and adding more or taking out is a much larger ordeal. And for anything smaller than a black bear she needs to add fur to fit the human head and frame. Then there's the sculpting of the heads bases and the airbrushing needed.


That being said I love Zhon's work. I don't necessarily love the fact that the suits were made out fo animal hide, but that's none of my business. As to buying an animal hide fursuit it would be exteremly hot. Fursuits make you sweat, but the backing is just woven fabric, and is thrus filled with holes. A hide is the leather and the fur and is incredibly hot. It would also require much more care, cleaning and maintainance to ensure that the fur does not fall out in bald patches on areas of the body where movement moreso occurs.

I find these setbacks to be enough to make me not want a suit made out of animal hide, but that's not to mean that I'm going to complain when others express how much they like it.


----------



## Gavrill (Oct 1, 2010)

Deovacuus said:


> words


 
Crap, I didn't take into notice that she went through the whole tanning process herself. Yeah, that makes it infinitely harder. 

I would still get a suit, something like her wolf "suit" where the entire front is open. That would be nice and breezy.

And it's only 1,200$, less than some fursuits crafted from fake materials. That's pretty awesome.

(And I would never use it to scare the shit out of children, I swear.)


----------



## Shico (Oct 1, 2010)

Deovacuus said:


> words.


 
Like I said earlier "cheating" is the wrong word, as Molly put it "less challenging to make things look real if they ARE real" is more what I meant.

Taxidermy animal parts gives one a head start on things _looking_ real compared to making a head look real from scratch, *(keey phrase "head start on looking real" I am not saying anything about how long one takes or how hard one is vs the other)* but I understand it is still a challenge to work with animal hide and make it fit a person and be the right shape, and it is challenging to make it not look, well, dead.

And I did say "I respect that taxidermy is an art in of itself and is not easy to do." and that " both are still art and have their own merit but take different skills and different amounts of time to get the same look."

So I was not trying to/did not mean to bash taxidermy suits or say they are inferior or anything like that...


----------



## Gavrill (Oct 1, 2010)

Well, like she(?) said, Zhon tans the hides herself, which is A LOT of work. I'm actually surprised her suits aren't _more_ expensive, because that takes time and effort.

Taxidermy in itself is a very expensive hobby and the work is seasonal unless you're really frickin amazing.


----------



## Deo (Oct 2, 2010)

Shico said:


> Taxidermy animal parts gives one a head start on things _looking_ real compared to making a head look real from scratch, *(keey phrase "head start on looking real" I am not saying anything about how long one takes or how hard one is vs the other)* but I understand it is still a challenge to work with animal hide and make it fit a person and be the right shape, and it is challenging to make it not look, well, dead.


 
See here though it's not a head start. The only difference is that the fur has shorter areas that would have to be shaved on normal suits. Other than that the same exact paiting, sculpting, detailing process occurs. There is no head start. And unlike most other suits her suits require careful hand double sewing. Most other fursuiters can use a sewing machine, Zhon cannot. 

See, Zhon takes this http://media.photobucket.com/image/skinning/GravityKillsPics/Skinning-2.jpg (NSFW, gore, not Zhon's pic) and makes it into this http://zhon.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d2an3mz. Get it? Now everyone stop it. Both are very difficult and Zhon's work is not less amazing or difficult just because of her different materials.


----------



## Shico (Oct 2, 2010)

Deovacuus said:


> See here though it's not a head start. The only difference is that the fur has shorter areas that would have to be shaved on normal suits. Other than that the same exact paiting, sculpting, detailing process occurs. There is no head start. And unlike most other suits her suits require careful hand double sewing. Most other fursuiters can use a sewing machine, Zhon cannot.
> 
> See, Zhon takes this http://media.photobucket.com/image/skinning/GravityKillsPics/Skinning-2.jpg (NSFW, gore, not Zhon's pic) and makes it into this http://zhon.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d2an3mz. Get it? Now everyone stop it. Both are very difficult and Zhon's work is not less amazing or difficult just because of her different materials.


 
Okay I get your point now.

You sound tense, would you like a cookie??? :3
*offers whatever kind of cookie a Tazzy Devil would like*


----------



## Toxic.Vixen (Oct 2, 2010)

Deovacuus said:


> It's a wolf. It also has a fake vag. So murry. It's owned by this person> http://encyclopediadramatica.com/ShadoWolffess
> 
> HEED MY WARNING NEW FURSUITERS. DO LOTS OF RESEARCH, BUY THE CORRECT MATERIALS, USE THOSE MATERIALS PROPERLY, TAKE YOUR TIME, GET REDLINES AND CRITIQUE, *OR ELSE THIS*.



omg I think I'm going to be sick x___x
lol
It's a painful reminder that you need to be careful at cons, because that dude might be who you're snuggling with.


----------



## Jesie (Oct 3, 2010)

Shico said:


> Okay I get your point now.
> 
> You sound tense, would you like a cookie??? :3
> *offers whatever kind of cookie a Tazzy Devil would like*



BITCH I DON'T WANT NO COOKIE.

Damnit! What is it with random furries and hugs/cookies. We wouldn't take either from you in real life or a forum. Your imaginary cookie will not make your idiocy any less painful for us.


----------



## Deo (Oct 3, 2010)

Jesie said:


> BITCH I DON'T WANT NO COOKIE.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
This. THIS DAMNIT.
And I may seem tense, (the 'sona* is *fucking tasmanian devil for god's sakes. Take the hint), but you seem to be backpeddling. "Oh durrr I didn't understand and kept pushing my ignorance as lolIknow so now I offer teh imaginary internet cookie laced with roofies, maybe she'll forget loldurrhurr hugs!"


----------



## Fay V (Oct 3, 2010)

i laughed so hard at the cookie thing.


----------



## Shico (Oct 3, 2010)

*Looks at comic

So would coffee be a better peace offering then? 

*Runs away



(But seriously though my offering of the infamous digital cookie is my way of saying "my bad", ya know an ego-saving way of saying sorry without saying sorry. But I am sorry for yapping away with assumptions when I did not know what I was taking about/did not realize how much work goes into her taxidermy suits. My brain seemed stuck on the image of taking an already mounted taxiderm head off a wall and making eye holes in it. I did not realize she does all the work herself from skin-to-finish.)


----------



## Heliophobic (Oct 3, 2010)

*imagines PETA ruining real fursuits with red paint*

Bad idea, brah. Â¦D


----------



## Shico (Oct 3, 2010)

Grycho said:


> *imagines PETA ruining real fursuits with red paint*
> 
> Bad idea, brah. Â¦D


 
The drama about real fur keeps me from even getting a fox tail :/
And wearing a real animal tail on yer butt is nothing compared to wearing a fursuit made with real parts...I am not brave enough to wear a real-fur fursuit D:
Even if they are neat looking, I would be too worried about the extra possible drama to wear one. (And I am not just talking about PETA, plenty of "normal" people fuss over real fur too)


----------



## Deo (Oct 4, 2010)

Shico said:


> The drama about real fur keeps me from even getting a fox tail :/
> And wearing a real animal tail on yer butt is nothing compared to wearing a fursuit made with real parts...I am not brave enough to wear a real-fur fursuit D:
> Even if they are neat looking, I would be too worried about the extra possible drama to wear one. (And I am not just talking about PETA, plenty of "normal" people fuss over real fur too)


 
No, PETA threw a mini shitfit in the nineties over fursuits, then was told unanimously that fursuits were made out of faux fur as furries would not usually enjoy wearing the dead skin of the animal they like more than people. PETA decided this was very PETA-ish thinking, and has remained silent ever since on the topic of fursuits being made of real fur. Since the ordeal though PETA has commissioned big name fursuit makers, like Lion of the Sun, to make fursuits of endangered or exploited animals for rallies and protests. Like sending a guy in a polar bear fursuit afloat in a Washington DC reflection pool on a tiny 'iceberg' with signs. He was ofcourse arrested, and the photos of a guy in a fursuit being arrested did some small damage to the fandom but PETA got their rocks off to being persecuted while defending animals. *PETA loves us.* Especially since major cons take large sums of donatons from furries and the donations are then awarded to animal activist groups and animal sanctuaries.


----------



## Jesie (Oct 4, 2010)

I'm not a fan of real fur on suits, let me just leave it at that. I raised hell a time ago about real fur is anyone wants to bother looking that mess up.

I think PETA are batshit crazy. The intent is good, just not the presentation. I love animals. I myself would never do half the crazy shit peta targets people for mistreatment of animals.
I don't like real fur. I don't like the way it looks, the way it feels, the level of care required, or the fact that the animal I might intend to wear had to be pummeled with a blunt object and had it's skin ripped off of it while it was still breathing.

_No Thank You._


----------



## Deo (Oct 4, 2010)

Jesie said:


> I think PETA are batshit crazy.



They are. Why else would they willingly publicly associate with furries? loldurrhurr.
But I'm all for animal welfare, but animal rights is fucking weird. I will not work for canine suffrage. Sorry PETA. I won't.


----------

