Wow I totally missed this thread "duh" I bought a new pool and got someone engulfed in it. I want to follow this though. Shawn looks good to me so far.

Very nice work Shunka.

Thanks for the tips.  I'm interested in your suggestion about using a Balaclava as the base. I had not heard that term so had to look it up.  I've built mascots before and worked with many heads built by others like VeeCorp but never seen that approach before. Not sure it would work in this application since I am afraid the snout is going to make the head front heavy in this case and unless I am missing something I don't see how the stocking hat would have enough body to counter that.

Wish they could afford the fan in it but not in the budget.

I kind of like the idea of a life size base for sculpting. I did this one in the smaller size then enlarged in photo shop after scanning in.  I think I might have lost some things in the enlargement process but still am pretty pleased with it. I'll have to grill you on the pattern process at some point. I have the full head sculpted so had two chances at it and the first layout and cut of the taped off head I was not real pleased with. The second side I was better able to see in my mind where the lines and cuts should be. I am hoping I can figure out how to pass on this "sight" to others. I tired to find some resources on-line for this method but never really found anything on the actual marking out of the pattern shapes.  Once I realized that I needed to apply my knowledge in wardrobe to the process it started to click.  Still not sure how to explain it to folks though.

I've been thinking more about the concept of using a Balaclava as the base inside. How did you normally attach it to the foam structure. The reason I ask this is I was thinking if it would support the weight of the snout that maybe I could devise a way to make the balaclava something that you could change out. I know that with other shows I've worked the big thing is keeping the parts of the head rather it be straps or even parts of the head on the inside where the actors face touches clean. It would be great if the balaclava could be taken out and washed in between uses or even have more the one for each person that uses the head.  I have the feeling that even within the school year there could be multiple students using the costume.  Perhaps it could be snapped into the head. 

I've worked with a few heads built by a person who worked on Lion King and other Disney characters. They have "helmets" of sorts that has a mechanism at the back base of the head that you turn to tighten down. The beauty of the little thing is that you can press a button in the center of it that releases it in order to get it off the head. Works really well but as I understand it is something manufactured for Disney directly and they hold the patent on it.

In building a balaclava style head you glue the foam directly to the fabric,  this acts as a base and a form that you build out from.  Usually the central part of the head is simply covered with foam then the snout is built out from there.  On occations I've modeled clay directly on the head bust for the muzzle and build that seperately. Then I built the head core and glued the muzzle piece onto that. 

The end result is the core balaclava fabric stays with the head.  When wearing the suit I usually have 6-8 extra balaclavas that I can swap out since they get drenched in sweat in no time.  BTW,  I sew my own balaclavas out of cotton lycra...cheaper that way.  Lots of patterns out on the net for those.

We're actually in the planning stages of building a new suit, a white lion.  I'll post images during the build process.

As for cleaning suits between uses this is great stuff:   http://shop.satinstitches.com/cgi-bin/Item.pl?action=ShowCategory&category=costumeaccessories

Wish they could afford the fan in it but not in the budget.

I use 40mm 12 volt computer fans for ventilation.  They can be picked up at Jameco.com for around $8  along with a $1 9 volt connector from Radio Shack and a 9 volt battery and some wiring and you're ready to go. 

Shunaka

How can you swap out the balaclavas if they are glued in?  I was thinking about whooper poppers but they don't always hold under stress. Maybe industrial Velcro would be an option.

Looking forward to your pics on the white lion build.

In regards to the "Fresh Again" is there any strong smell from the product after you use it? I've used similar products but most have a pretty strong odor to them that inside a head can be quite overwhelming.

The balaclava that's built with the head could be pulled out after construction depending on the type of glue you use, I usually leave it in place.  One then wears a second balaclava that takes most of the moisture,  a wipe out with damp cloth after use usually takes care of the inside of the head.  I also have a portable homemade blower that drys out the head quickly when I'm performing.

Swapping costumes between performers can be interesting;  I've heard some nasty stories from character performers down in Disneyworld and the costumes they have to wear.  Even though Disney has staff just to keep the costumes clean, skin issues can happen.

Fresh Again isn't too bad smell-wise, way better then Frebreze in any case. You'd have to try it to see if it works for you.

Shunaka

Cool stuff guys. Yes Shawn, you should think about doing a tutorial on using the clay model process for making your patterns. I'd be interested in that.

Here is an image of the interior of the Kobalt fursuit for reference.  Some of the inner liner was removed to adjust the fit. The front of the head/muzzle is actually a one piece casting made out of expanded foam.

http://www.furville.com/fgallery/displayimage.php?album=7&pid=16#top_display_media

Shunaka

So at least in this case you are vent the flow of air out of the head... right?  Thanks for the share.... I love seeing the innards of things... ewwww  that sounded kind of wrong.

so Shawn.. could you give me a quick written instruction of how you get your pattern off the clay figure? I'm itching to experiment...

Well it was pretty easy really.  I used an old roll of masking tape so it was not very sticky so I think in this case that helped. Because the layer of tape did not seem to be sticking very well I then did a layer of papermache' over that to make sure it would all stay together. Then once the layer was dry I started sectioning off with pencil/marker where I thought I would want the cuts. I started with a line down the middle to divide into right and left then went from there.  That is the part that I am not sure how to explain. I had posted these in another thread but will post them again. They helped me to remember what I knew about costume patterning and went a long way in helping me envision how I needed to section things out.
 

http://youtu.be/lwanTSrpXQk

http://youtu.be/gNB8MGGlFqE

If you are using an oil base clay I don't think you really need to have a releasing agent before you tape the model. At least I've never had an issue with my papermache and like I said in this case the masking tape was not real sticky. Now if you used duct tape that might make things a bit more difficult but you could try putting plastic on the form first. I felt in the smaller scale I would loose to much detail. Also it was kind of nice to have the tack when I did go to transfer the pattern pieces to paper. They stuck to the paper some and I was able to trace around them. Might be that painters tape would be a good option if your masking tape is new and has a lot of tack.  The reason I transferred to paper was so I could scan them into the computer and enlarge.

Thanks Shawn, the boobs video was very helpful as well ... and I had a go at getting a pattern off a model wipped up during an ad break. It worked great I think. I used masking tape as you did, stuck the pieces to paper, scanned it, then drew up outlines in vector, then sized them up and printed out, cut the foams, glued... then ran out of foam. This one is before any 'adjusting' just straight from the model. I think I might size up slightly less large... but the theory works well, not so much trial and error with the foam. There was a little adjusting to do while assembling the foams, to take into account the thickness of foam and also to allow for gluing edges in some places but, thank you for your help, you have opened a door to another creative room for me.

   

Isn't it cool!  I feel like you that this makes things soooo much easier!  I do think that in modeling the mouth of the puppet that it should be sculpted open a bit more.  I could be wrong but in my experience mouths hold up better if you create them in as full open position as you can. The concept is that foam compresses ok but tears instead of stretching. Although looking at your end result this may not be an issue.  I saw your pics earlier when I checked your pig picture in your album and got really excited... almost ran through the rest of the post to see if you had posted about it.

You mentioned that you vectorized the outline.  I can't for the life of me figure out how to do this. I use Adobe Photoshop Cs4... I know I've done it before and it could be I did it in Illustrator but now my version of Illustrator is locked out because of Adobes stupid licensing protection. It is licensed but can't seem to get it unlocked. Any suggestions or pointers. I could live without it but if I vectorized the lines I figure it would be easier to clean them up and make more professional if I wanted to share the patterns I come up with.

HI Shawn, YES, it has opened up great possibilities for me. In the past we were so busy just trying to produce that I did not put too much effort into developing new character forms, although I have  over twenty mold sets  for  characters we do have, should I need to pump some out.(I made 18 copies for Cuba, and now have one pig in their puppet museum ) We made over a hundred characters out of 6 head forms for one series, so we got by, and usually making a new form meant a two week committment, which did not have enough of. Recently I have improved in technique and speed on fabric covering, so I began to do a little more. I do a workshop in a school every week and that helped me to get back into character form making, so now.... I did the head in the pic in a couple hours, so I am excited!
  Vectorizing...I have the Adobe CS5.5 suite... but frankly ..ditch photoshop. I prayed for about three years before being given version 1.5, then a couple years ago was given CS4 .. now CS5.5  but I hate how you need to be a millionaire or God has to do some sovereign act to get you a licience. and then they jealously lock you out, annoying activations,  etc. For one set I bought a pirate version as it was easier to install than the licienced version I owned. I used Photoshop on an animated series I helped out on long disitance , so I learnt it....and then went back to my humble fireworks 3 That I have had since the  90's. Unfortunately it don't work with windows 7. (sad and nostalgic goodbye music)and even paintshop pro version 4 that I bought for a dollar in the  90's (haven't tried it on win7 yet) Photoshop is complicated and simple tasks are a bother. I recommend 'Gimp'. It also has its quirks and odd way of doing things, but it is FREEEE. The latest version is portable
   So to vectorize...in whatever program you choose,import your scanned 'sticky tape bits' picture and on another layer draw with your pen (vector drawing tool)Turn everything off when you are done except the vector layer and export that. Nice and clean.