# Fursuit head? T.T HELP...



## tsuki-manedwolf (Aug 17, 2009)

Does anyone have the time to give me a few pointers? I am on my third fursuit head of my own character I've built several this year and I'm never happy with them. I'd like to make a third that makes it to more than one con. I know there are things I"m doing wrong... Can someone give me some help? 

First, here is my second head in various stages:
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/ind...viewPicture&friendID=37523699&albumId=2780163
Here is a ref sheet:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2272450/
Dummy head drawing:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2635414/

Info:
-a balaclava base
-no moving jaw, too much of a pain in the ass
-I'd prefer if the head coudl smile, I can't seem to achieve that, does anyone know exactly how to do it?
-i'd rather the eyes not scare the shit out of me every time I look at them.
- the fur is fun fur, its three inches long
- want to take time with the head this time around and have it done by furfright, in mid-october

What I want to do:
- make the face smile and have a distinct shape to the muzzle (The shaping I think I know how to do this time around)
- use follow me eyes that are almond shaped, like this:
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/ind...dID=37523699&albumID=2464192&imageID=51511621
-Can anyone help? I do have some experience.. I need help with shaping the foam like.. around the eyes, cheeks and a bit with the bottom jaw.
-the character is my fursona... the look I'm going for is friendly, sorta hyper/innocent looking.. 

Please if you can, I'd love it if I could get some help.


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## KarabinerCoyote (Aug 17, 2009)

Not many people would know what a maned wolf is. (A long-legged fox of South America.) I give you credit for that.The Mixed Candy site mentioned that heads with fixed jaws have better facial features. I've only built one head using moving jaw and balaclava method, a second WIP.


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## Keryu (Aug 18, 2009)

Just a bit of advise ^^
The first thing I noticed is the cheeks. If it is going to be a fixed position jaw then you may way to think about adding a bit of cheek a bit lower. Right now it, to me, looks like it's cheeks were severed off in a freak boating accident ^^;;

Also I'd suggest to open the mouth in the fixed position. No use making a suit if you're just gonna die of asphyxiation lol


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## Scout_Auxfur (Aug 18, 2009)

Well one thing I am trying is a wire base frame, and then building off of that.


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## tsuki-manedwolf (Aug 19, 2009)

Keryu said:


> Just a bit of advise ^^
> The first thing I noticed is the cheeks. If it is going to be a fixed position jaw then you may way to think about adding a bit of cheek a bit lower. Right now it, to me, looks like it's cheeks were severed off in a freak boating accident ^^;;
> 
> Also I'd suggest to open the mouth in the fixed position. No use making a suit if you're just gonna die of asphyxiation lol




xD I know exactly what you're talking about with the cheeks. xD You shoulda seen the first head, that was a total nightmare. With that particular head it had a moving jaw, and ya can't put the cheeks on top of the elastic or it reduces flexibility. I'd rather not have an open fixed mouth. I think it looks weird. :3 Thanks for the tips!


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## tsuki-manedwolf (Aug 19, 2009)

Scout_Auxfur said:


> Well one thing I am trying is a wire base frame, and then building off of that.




o.o Needless to say, me + wires = scary shit.


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## Keryu (Aug 19, 2009)

tsuki-manedwolf said:


> xD I know exactly what you're talking about with the cheeks. xD You shoulda seen the first head, that was a total nightmare. With that particular head it had a moving jaw, and ya can't put the cheeks on top of the elastic or it reduces flexibility. I'd rather not have an open fixed mouth. I think it looks weird. :3 Thanks for the tips!


Lol, I hear ya on the first suit nightmares. Mine was nothing short of horrific! The muzzle looked like a fox and the head looked like a bear when it was suppose to be a wolf XDD I know that with the suit I'm doing now, I still need to put in the fans, bring the cheeks up some more and install some cool hearing amplifiers >w<


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## Glitch (Aug 20, 2009)

Here's a pointer: ditch the fun fur.
Sorry to sound rude, but that is THE worst; it would be bottom-of-the-barrel, but it corroded away the wood and is seeping into the dirt.

I can recommend Fabric.com (I was very surprised with the good results.) for some 1 1/2 inch shag, and they have the colors you'd need for the head.  You can order in half-yards as well.  ^^

Here is a tutorial for those style of eyes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HpHj0EJAKk
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ss9GeDcI8eE&feature=related

The "smile" all depends on the way the foam is, so you could work with thinking of how you need to make it look happy.  Bring up the "corners" of the mouth by putting some foam there, like dimples, to have the muscles that show on your face while smiling.  

If you need specifics for your character, pm me.  I am relatively experienced in mask-making and the first one I pulled off quite well.  I am working on mask two with a certainty in what I am doing, so I can help you out with the process.  ^^
The masks I do only take a week or two depending on shipping time.


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## Trpdwarf (Aug 20, 2009)

I have to agree with Glitch. Ditch the fun fur. It's crap stuff.

You might want to use instead something more like a punky muppet. Distinctive Fabrics and Mendels Far out Fabrics both have a nice selection of the plus 1 inch material and the backing is great.

Linkage:
http://www.mendels.com/fur2.shtml
http://www.distinctivefabric.com/category.php?cat=LONGFUR

I also suggest that when you foam version three, cut a flat slice out of the top of the snout, and the round the sides and reshape it so it looks more defined, and more like a canine snout. I cannot suggest much for a smiling mouth unless you are doing a moving jaw because we do something that in the cartoon style Wusky head translated into a friendly looking smile. It won't work on a non moving jaw, though (I don't think). You could try carving the sides to turn up a bit to give it more of a semblance of a smile.

EDIT: As for the eyes, that definitely looks like(the link) that it was done using some sort of a bowl technique. I don't have a tutorial I can think of off the top of my head. Usually they have some material creating a bowl for the eyes, and there is screen.

Also I have to throw something out there because the ears on your head bug me. This is just a suggestion and you are free to ignore it.

Shy away from making the ears a huge wide triangle like in version two. I would suggest reworking the ears to look more like Maned Wolf ears and less like a Fox ears.

Compare the structure of the two ears:
Fox:http://animals.nationalgeographic.c...s/animals/images/primary/red-fox-sleeping.jpg

Maned Wolf: http://www.ryanphotographic.com/images/JPEGS/Chrysocyon%20brachyurus%20Maned%20wolf.jpg

I suggest taking the ear structure of the critter into consideration for V3. Also I would also suggest trying to make the ears stand more erect. Take a look at Zeke's head, and how the ears stand up like so: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2602233
Again this just a suggestion.


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## Trpdwarf (Aug 20, 2009)

KarabinerCoyote said:


> Not many people would know what a maned wolf is. (A long-legged fox of South America.) I give you credit for that.The Mixed Candy site mentioned that heads with fixed jaws have better facial features. I've only built one head using moving jaw and balaclava method, a second WIP.



It was only a year ago that the fandom did not know much about it, and now it's becoming less obscure. I changed from a Maned Wolf to a dragon partially  because I was tired of trying to get artists to do it correctly. It's hard to pull off a costume of it (to date I still have not seen one done correctly)...it's even harder to find an artist willing to sit down and pay attention to anatomy. It's a shame, the maned wolf is such a pretty creature. It's so graceful.

;laughs; Funny thing is I have the same problem or can, as a dragon.


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## tsuki-manedwolf (Aug 20, 2009)

Glitch said:


> Here's a pointer: ditch the fun fur.
> Sorry to sound rude, but that is THE worst; it would be bottom-of-the-barrel, but it corroded away the wood and is seeping into the dirt.



There's a problem with that. I've already bought the fur and I HAVE spent money on it. I"m not about to throw it out. I'm gonna stick with it for this suit. It actually doesn't look that bad, to me.  And the con is very soon and I don't really have the time or the money to be investing in more fur.

:3 Thanks for the other info!


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## tsuki-manedwolf (Aug 20, 2009)

Trpdwarf said:


> I have to agree with Glitch. Ditch the fun fur. It's crap stuff.
> Also I have to throw something out there because the ears on your head bug me. This is just a suggestion and you are free to ignore it.




I've had the same fur from version one, I'm gonna stick with this fur for now. I dont have the time or the money to get more fur. :3 Maybe for 4.0 if I ever get that far. As for the ears, I only did the triangle thing due to a lack of time. I'm gonna do the best I can with the materials I have, and I've learned a lot about anatomy since then (I draw, dhurr x3) and so I'll take a look at the ear thing. I'm not that big a fan of the way Zeke's suit is made. Its gorgeous, but not really.. how I picture my character, if that makes sense. :3 I also have an idea for the eyes!


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## Trpdwarf (Aug 20, 2009)

tsuki-manedwolf said:


> I've had the same fur from version one, I'm gonna stick with this fur for now. I dont have the time or the money to get more fur. :3 Maybe for 4.0 if I ever get that far. As for the ears, I only did the triangle thing due to a lack of time. I'm gonna do the best I can with the materials I have, and I've learned a lot about anatomy since then (I draw, dhurr x3) and so I'll take a look at the ear thing. I'm not that big a fan of the way Zeke's suit is made. Its gorgeous, but not really.. how I picture my character, if that makes sense. :3 I also have an idea for the eyes!



Ah, well when you next go out and buy fur again, try to find a different material. I can understand sticking with what you already have.

As for the ears, ah so that's why. You don't have to make them so big or as tall, but when you go for the Maned Wolf as a costume anatomy becomes super important because if you don't pay attention to it, it makes or breaks if it even looks like the critter. Zeke's is a hybrid between a Maned Wolf and a Coyote, so it would not fit your character of course. I just used it as an example because the ears really did turn out well for being more erect.


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## tsuki-manedwolf (Sep 2, 2009)

Do you have any clue on how to change eye shape from the basic round look? I'm going for toony follow me eyes.


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