I'm probably complicating things, but here goes the math.


Measurements

1st. Measure from to top front lip area to the brace middle of the head.  Think about it as a straight line.  Let's assume for this example the measurement is 11.25"  Subtract .25 for the thickness of the foam at the back only since it doesn't look like there will be foam in the front. Diameter 11" divide this by 2 that will give you the radius, 5.5"

2nd. Looking down from the top of the head measure across with width where you believe the placement of the brim will occur. Let's assume for this example 8.5", subtract .5 which is .25 for each side..8" divide by two, 4" radius.

This the the formula

2 X 3.14 X square root (radius of longest measurement squared + radius of shortest measurement squared) divided by 2

Let's plug in e figures

5.5 squared is 5.5 x 5.5=30.25
4 squared is 4 X 4=16

2 X 3.14 X square root (30.25 + 16) divided by 2

6.28  X sq root (46.25)/2

6.28 X sq root 23.13. This is a good websites for sq root http://www.math.com/students/calculators/source/square-root.htm

6.28 X 4.81

30.21 is the inner circumference.

Use the same formula to calculate the outer circumference of the helmet.  Let's assume for this example e circumference is 42.26

Divide 42.26 which is the number you want to increase to by 30.21 which is what you have.  That is 1.40.  Multiply by 100 and you get 140% is what you need to increase the pattern by.

I agree with Lola you might need to think about the height of he skull, but the increase might take care of that.

Julie

If you get the numbers and what me to check them I'd be happy to.  Not guaranteeing, it's been a long while since I've had to use this stuff.  See now our parents told us we'd use math for something important. Do you think this is what they had in mind. LOL

Julie

Ok now my head really hurts.   I'll have to really look at it again once I have all the parts in the same room.

Yep the whole fit to the performer is going to be a pain. For one thing this is for a school and who knows which student is going to end up wearing it. We are already figuring on that for the body part of the costume but that is always a bit difficult to plan for with a mascot head. It is for a high school so you could end up with a freshman to a senior. If something is to big you can always pad out the inside of the helmet to help make a snug fit. I might need to look at some way to secure different helmets inside depending on the person wearing it.

Thanks for the input! I'll keep you all updated as I move forward.

Looking forward to seeing the process.

Julie

I have a few tips that might help you out with this since I've a built a few mascot (fursuits). 

It appears that the head is not going to be one of those typical huge mascot heads which will make things much easier for you.  My first suggestion would be to reconsider using a bicycle helmet as the base for a couple of reasons 1) they are notoriously hard to keep firmly on the head when the performer is very active. 2) they can limit the shape and placement of the mascot eyes and mouth which can lead to vision and ventilation issues for the performer.

My recommendation would be to build the head "Balaclava" style which will be formfitting but still flexible enough for a  reasonable number of different head sizes to use it.  To build this you cover a model with sheet foam and build out from there.  You can use your clay technique (which I use BTW).  A great item to have is a full size head armature, you can get them here:  http://www.monstermakers.com/product/deluxe-full-head-sculpting-armature-life-size.html.

Make sure you figure in putting a fan in the head for ventilation! It can get over 120 degrees inside a suit head in a big hurry.

I recommend checking out the LiveJournal Fursuit group,  there's a ton of information there and plenty of people willing to help out.   http://fursuit.livejournal.com/

Here's an image of one my costumes:



Good luck with your mascot project, looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

For myself, I'm actually doing mostly puppets now because costumes are very time consuming to build.

Cheers!

Shunaka
www.furville.com

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