# Monster Hunter Felyne Costume - Questions



## Kitari (Mar 31, 2013)

Aloha =),

Been wanting to make a suit for a long time now, but finally got pushed over the edge by seeing a suiter at kawaiikon 2013 >w< I originally (and still do) want to make a suit (or two) of my own personal characters/random ones, but I was having a hard time picturing them and drawing up reference sheets so I decided to stick with something that already exists - a felyne from the monster hunter universe.

http://images.wikia.com/monsterhunter/images/6/6c/Felyne.gif

I just finished the reference sheet this morning:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v187/JunFudo/fursuit1_zps25fdc534.jpg

As a first time suit maker I'm rather scared and overwhelmed at the amount of work to be done, but I'm more than confident I can get through it; just hopefully my suit will look good too! lol Anyways I had some questions in regards to how-to on this suit:

-Eye holes in tearducts with FM eyes: Can this be done? 

I tried to relatively keep the eyes as close as I could together without  altering the character, but I dont think Id get very much, if any,  vision through mesh eyes. How would it work on a face such as this where the character doesnt really have tear ducts? I know I could just paint the mesh the same color as the fur, but I think that would look gaudy =\ Any other tips for sight holes?

- Ventilation Where!?!?!

I live in Hawaii. Its fairly cool during kon time, but still hotter than  mainland at the same time of year. =\ Trying to figure out ventilation on the head is perplexing. The fur on this character will be short pile everywhere (so no ear holes) and the nose is too buttony, and mouth non existent, to get airflow through. I'm not sure how im doing the head base yet, but I'm pulled towards mesh (lined with light t shirt cotton?) and foam built up around it.

-Shaping Odd Heads?

Anyone ever make a rounder non-fitted cartoon heads before and can offer insight to this? The only thought I have is to get upholstery foam and carve the shape, then carve it hollow to make it light and attach it to a base? I could do that or even take thin green foam and shape it flat wise, but that would be harder  to get how I want it shaped than carving out the block foam. 

-Paint on markings?

Should I paint on the markings on the arm or sew them on; or even sew them in to the pattern itself?

-LONG Whiskers?

What whisker materials hold up best? I read fiber optics are good painted but brittle, yet Im worried about using 50lb fishing twine as I'm not sure it will hold shape that far out - it'll bend under its own weight.

-Body Suit Connections?

I've found plenty of individual tutorials  on hands, feet, bodies, heads, but not so many on how you connect them  without the seams or overlap being obvious. What is the preferred method  of connection between hands/arms feet/legs head/neck? Just overlapping  the material with short pile might make it seem like skin folds which I  dont want. =\

I think thats all the questions I have for now. Thanks in advance for any advice, tips, tricks, comments, or critiques that are given. =)


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## Dokid (Apr 1, 2013)

Okay to answer some of these questions.

Eyes- you can make the eyes all out of mesh that way you'll have great vision, and even better ventilation.

Ventilation Cont.- You can make the cat smile a bit and use white mesh like in some mascot style costumes for more v entilation. You can also put some ventilation ports in the ears if you wanted. 

Shaping the head- What you can do is just foam it so that it's really round. The reason that most people don't have this style is because they still want it somewhat realistic. But if you want 

Like this has a really odd shape head but it's supper cartoony.







You can hallow it out or not. Use white foam as it's very light. 

Markings- if you have an airbrush and you feel that you can airbrush them correctly and smoothly then go ahead. Or just sew them on. Sewing them will make them last longer since paint fades with wear.

Long wishers- I know some people use fishing wire and others get it from dream vision creations. You can even use black wire I guess.

Body suit- I can't really help you there since I've never made a bodysuit. Sorry :c


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## Dragoxicon (Apr 1, 2013)

Eyes:
Yes it is possible to have follow me eyes with tearduct vision. Beastcub does it all the time, along with several other makers: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/9489209/
I think you could possibly work in tearduct vision if you were to just use pink mesh where the characters actual tearducts are. Although, you might have better luck with just using a blue plastic (or painted) sclera and having black mesh as the pupil like:http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8786750/
Or, just using massive painted buckram eyes and painting the interior of them black to allow for better vision.

Ventilation:
I know you mentioned no ear holes, but I think your best bet would be having mesh vents in them with a mesh that matches the color of the fur. This way you can have small computer fans pointing in or pointing out to push the hot air inside out. Of course, depending on how you do your eyes could also help a lot with ventilation. The methods that would work best would be the ones with them being made entirely of buckram or with a large mesh pupil. 
I know some people also have matching mesh in their armpit area to further help with ventilation

Head shape: The character you're making has a pretty round shape so I'd recommend getting a beachball a bit bigger than your head with the different colored sections and using that as your pattern. Then you can just add foam to further detail the cheeks and the rest of the head.

Markings:
If you want something durable that's going to last, definitely go for sewn in markings You can just make your body and cut out the areas for the markings. Or incorporate them into the entire body pattern beforehand. Either one. As easy as painting them might be, I never see it last and work out well on body suits, and it just starts looking dirty after a while.

Whiskers:
I've seen people use horsehair for short-medium ones, but I'm not sure if they'll work for your character. I think finding a broom with black plastic bristles, then just cutting them off and gluing them in would be best.

Body suit connections:
Depending on how the overlap falls on the toes, I've seen it where it actually blends fairly well, but it can always come up when you're moving. 
I think if you added an invisible zipper onto the edge of your feet/hands and leg/sleeve bottoms it'd work fairly well. Though working with shortpile, I'm not entirely sure how well any method would work. Either that or possibly snaps.


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## Kitari (Apr 4, 2013)

Dragoxicon said:


> Eyes:
> Yes it is possible to have follow me eyes with tearduct vision. Beastcub does it all the time, along with several other makers: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/9489209/
> I think you could possibly work in tearduct vision if you were to just use pink mesh where the characters actual tearducts are. Although, you might have better luck with just using a blue plastic (or painted) sclera and having black mesh as the pupil like:http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8786750/
> Or, just using massive painted buckram eyes and painting the interior of them black to allow for better vision.
> ...



Eye: I was thinking more of the latter when planing the suit, but by my calculations/drawings I dont think I can make the eyes close enough together to see out of them at all. Maybe far center and peripheral, but definitely not straight ahead. =\ I want to refrain from altering the character as much as possible but Im stuck between a hard place and a rock >.<

Vents: maybe I will go with the ear holes, never thought about pointing them outwards to suck out hot air. Was the armpit mesh like a jersey material?

Head Shape: So do you blow the ball up, foam it, tape it and then pop it? >.>

Markings: sounds like sewing them in is the best bet then. Would sewing them on to versus into the suit make any difference?

Wiskers: Oooo broom bristles might work best =) thanks~!

Connections: I briefly entertained the idea of zippers but I thought that they might brake if the arm or leg is pulled/bent/stretched too far?


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