# Crit/suggestions on Betta Fish suit concept



## Nataku (Jan 1, 2013)

Hello everyone, I've been looking into creating a fursuit for a bit now. 
But I wanted to try my hand at making something other than a fox. Or a wolf. 
So I came to the idea of a betta fish. They're cool little guys, pretty fins, lots of colors, easy to customize, good candidate for an anthro right? So I figured, surely, someone has done a betta fish fursuit before. But google has failed me, I couldn't find a one. Really, I couldn't find fish fursuits in general, I've found a total of... two? Maybe three.
This has only driven the point home further for me that I want to make a betta fish fursuit.




Quick character doodle. Bettas are feisty little things.
 Of course, there is the issue that fish aren't exactly.... human like. So with a grain (or spoon) of salt, I took some liberties in design there. I haven't decided on any markings or colors yet, I more working on the form itself right now. Of course if you have any colors you think would look cool, lemme know.




(click images if you want a bigger versions of the pics)
Very rough suit concept so far. The features I'm looking to include so far:
~following eyes
~digitrade legs
~webbing between toes and fingers
~tail fin that can 'flare' open like a betta's, operated by bowden cables run to the hands inside the suit

The tail is currently my biggest concern because I wonder if it would be considered 'too long' to be taken to a furry convention. By my estimates, its likely going to extend out horizontally about four feet from my rear. Being as I've never been to a furry convention before, I don't know if this size is acceptable, or if there's some general 'your suit should not exceed these dimensions' bit I haven't found yet (if there is such a guide/list someone please link me!)
I'm also still playing around with what exactly I'm going to use for the tail 'struts' if you will, pliable metal strips (ie clothes hangers) or pvc piping or something else. I'll need to make rigs of each to see which moves best and has the best weight/bulk to be carrying around.

Also, thoughts on what material to use for the skin. I'd say fur but fish haven't got any. Would fleece be the right choice? Or is that too flat? If I used a short pile fur, how short can one go before crossing the line of irreparably ugly kind of bad? 

Right now I'm still in the planning/concept stages, so any advice/input/redlines/whatever you want to throw at me would be much appreciated. I'd really like to see more fish fursuits out there, and I'd love to hear what other people think about the idea too.


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## Black Ice (Jan 1, 2013)

I don't know jack about making fursuits or conventions, but I think a fin mohawk would be a really awesome addition to the concept


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## Dokid (Jan 1, 2013)

Okay so I say that fleece is you're very best friend with this fursuit. But your going to have to be very careful with it because you don't want it to really sag much. Otherwise I guess super short fur would work but it'll look a bit odd.

As for the Metal coat hangers VS PVC pipe. Go with the PVC. It'll be easier and it won't rust. 

Also the tail won't be a problem. You will probably want to trim it a bit down to make it more proportional to the human body. that or make it longer width wise rather than length.

I've seen suits with gigantic tails and they don't seem to have much of a problem. Most people know to get out of the way for suiters when they need to get somewhere.


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## Brazen (Jan 1, 2013)

The most appropriate material that comes to mind for use is neither fur nor fleece, but latex. Now, unfortunately (or maybe fortunately for you, I don't know) that drives you straight past murrsuit territory into full-fledged fetish gear. The good news though is that there are plenty of latex murrsuits in the fandom, Furaffinity should probably have some examples.

EDIT: Here's an example, you'll notice it looks like your concept sketch past the difference in webbed dorsal fins and tail. For the purposes of accuracy I must insist you go with a similar design, the idea of an amphibian/fish having a fur texture is beyond retarded.


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## mirepoix (Jan 1, 2013)

I vote spandex.  I'm currently working on a spandex based partial for my dragon suit, and I've swatched a ton of places.  Fleece is too fuzzy for a fish, and latex is extremely difficult to work with.  (You can't sew it, you have to glue it).  Here, I've organized an imgur album to suggest some fabrics.  Most of them are from www.syfabrics.com but the offwhite and turquoise are this.  Also check out http://spandexworld.com/ as they have a pretty big selection.  I don't like "wet look" or metallic spandex fabrics in a large area as they look a little... odd.  I think you should vary matte and shiney fabrics to get a neat look.  Swatches, swatches, swatches~

Here are two excellent resources for making a spandex zentai:  Stretchy.org and http://www.patternschool.com.  Stretchy will walk you through a really basic zentai, but the guy is a little hard to follow.  His glove directions are excellent; I swear by them.  The zentai he makes really only works for men as it isn't complicated enough to make a feminine waistline or allow for bust.  If you're a dude, I recommend it.  Pattern School focuses more on womens' bathing suit design, but is still a great read.  He talks about accounting for stretch and the reasons behind scaling your pattern.

edit:  I don't think you should worry about how big your tail is if you make it nice and flexible.  EVA foam would make a lightweight, flexible skeleton, maybe.  (EVA foam is those puzzle piece floor tiles, craft foam, or I belive McMaster-Carr sells just plain sheets of it).  You'll probably have to sacrifice sitting down, though


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## Nataku (Jan 3, 2013)

Thank you all for your feedback and help!
Here's some doodle thoughts on potential finnage addition to the head.






Dokid - you bring up a good point with rust. I don't plan on taking this suit in the water (definitely not functional for swimming) but I suppose rust over time even without being in the water is still a possibility, especially being as a I live beachside and salty air does wonders on cars, I can bet it would do the same for a wire frame.

Brazen - thank you for the link, that orca is very cool and I definitely like how they have done their tail. However, I want nothing to do with murrsuits or fetish gear or any of that stuff, and certainly don't want my betta fish suit to be associated with that sort of thing. And the latex like that does definitely conjure some images in that vein, so I think I'm going to try and avoid that. Also, while it works for the orca, because they have smooth skin, bettas have scales, so I'd like a little more texture. All the same, definitely agreeing that fur on a fish does kill the concept, thank you for providing me with other possibilities.

Mirepoix - wonderful links for some fabrics to consider, that was all very useful. I swung out to my local hobby lobby today for some other things and wandered through their fabric section, and the microdot spandex you have in your imgur album I managed to find there, truly that is some gorgeous fabric, I think I'm going to have to try and use that in the fins of the suit. The EVA foam is also a good suggestion that I think I'll explore, we've got a harbor freight around here that carries that stuff, so it will be fun to see how well that can be shaped and how well it takes some weight.

Thinking about the responses on the fabric, I went looking for something more scaly and fish like and found these fabrics, which I'm hoping will mimic 'scaling' more believably on a suit.
Personally I think that's the most fish scale-y of what I found
Interesting scale look, though wondering if it's 'too loose' of a scale
Perhaps heavily overlapping scale appearance
Large, obvious scale pattern. Vinyl, but I'm hoping not so fetish inspiring?


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## mirepoix (Jan 4, 2013)

Look at his pouty little face!! 

Do you have access to an airbrush?  I haven't tried this technique on fabric yet, (but I will within the next two weeks; FC is comin' up fast!!) but how about finding a solid fabric, then airbrushing through a net?  I'm gonna try a mesh net fabric I found at jo-anns, the kind that you would see in a lunchbox or a laundry bag.  The holes are about an 1/8th inch big, but I bet fishnet stockings would work, too.  I got the idea from this video.  The fabric is neat because you can pull it to change the shape of the holes.

I really like that turquoise taffeta fabric, but I'd worry that if it were all over you'd just end up looking kinda fluffy, instead of sleek like a fish.  The black vinyl doesn't say "fish scale" as much as "moving blanket" to me, honestly :/  Though if you like the dimensional look, maybe look into free motion quilting?

Oh snap I have a friend of a friend who made a bad-ass Zora costume, let me see if she documented it anywhere else besides facebook...  That reminds me, look up Zora costumes.  Yesssss.  (It's almost five in the morning, i am being silly, forgive me)

edit:  found it! http://veraseri.yolasite.com/studio.php

edit AGAIN:  http://www.furaffinity.net/view/9604122/  <---this padding reminded me of your initial concept art


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