Sorry to hear of your troubles. Unfortunately this happens a lot with custom work.  It is one reason so many people get turned off with doing custom orders.  I know that lots of times folks reduce prices thinking it may get them a leg in or experience but as a rule that never pans out.  My motto is if they want custom I am going to make them pay for it and if they want it as a rush order I expect their first born.

I haven't built too many costume characters myself form start to finish but I work on a lot of them doing repair and up keep. Let's me see the insides of things and how they hold up over the long haul. The bulk of what I see is made by Vee Corp and they do a pretty good job but they are expensive.

I could have done with that advice before I started... thanks for giving it. Take note everyone. That was precisely what I thought... I thought it would generate more work. But it did not, in fact caused some bad vibes. Not a job offer since then.
   On a side note I notice kingart4 that you are using green foam. Is that a denser foam? (I have not seen it here where we are) I used a cardboard structure with  soft foam covering before cloth, to be able to get it light enough. What material Shawn, would Vee corp use for a head the size I did? I once saw on one of those reality talent shows, an inflatable plastic suit. That  looks interesting, and light, but easy to puncture.

Here is the latest.  Mainly been sewing.  But added some detail to the head tonight.  Still needs a tongue, a fan and some touchup.  But you get the idea... 

He is really taking shape. Love the fabric you have covered him with.

Question on the fan:  Blowing in or out?

I like his eyes!

Question on the fan:  Blowing in or out?

I think that depends on how many ventilation holes you put in the head.  I think as a rule they have the fans pull air into the head but if you have really good vent holes through out the head you may get better flow if you use the fan as an exhaust fan.

Wow nice work! Wish I had the talent to sculpt foam like that. Looking forward to seeing more!

If you blow the fan out would you get enough pressure to blow some red, yellow and orange streamers out the mouth to create flames (though they would be constant, might not be good) reversible fan direction and the "flame" could suck back in.
If you are running it from a battery you could try both by just switching terminals, see what works best (and let us know)
An exhaust fan could create a fair bit of noise outside but a fan sucking air in might be loud for the actor in the suit! Very interested to see which way you go...
By the way, great job!
Scoob

@Shawn - I don't want to put too many holes in the head (I have enough for the both of us!).  So maybe in to start...

@Gabriel - Thanks!  I balme it all on ADD!

@Scubasteve - I actually found that they make spray cans of smoke for testing smoke alarms.  I'm going to rig one up so he can have smoke.