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Vive la Difference!

10/15/2021

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Wolf partial fursuit mask by Sans Souci Studios
I love both Silas and Artemis, don't get me wrong! But I'm also really entertained by the difference between these two, especially considering that they're built on identical resin bases, with identical resin and silicone parts.
resin wolf base by sans souci studios
resin wolf base by sans souci studios with foam ruff and ears
Here we get a little peek under the skin, as it were. For Artemis (and her brother Garm) I extended the top of the head back and made ruffs out of foam, made the ears out of Varaform and felt instead of Foamies, and used the ear vents as bases/supports for the ears instead of sewing the vents in afterwards. The ears are glued onto and supported by the foam instead of the resin base, which allows more flexibility with their size and shape. I got this idea from Stuffed Panda Studios, and the designs of the ears and ruffs are adapted from her designs. Credit where credit is due!
cat with wolf fursuit ears
cat with wolf fursuit ears
Process pics. Ears freshly assembled, being inspected by the Feline Assistance and Cat Hair Distribution Department.
wolf resin base by sans souci studios with ears installed
wolf resin base by sans souci studios with ears installed
Foam added to the top of the head, ears partially glued on. Does this dude look weird or what?
wolf resin base by sans souci studios with cat
wolf resin base by sans souci studios with cat
Cheek fluffs added, and approved by the Feline Assistance Department. The triangular part under the chin helps with patterning the neck later on, and is cut off afterwards.
wolf resin bases by sans souci studios
Brother and sister with ears and foam added, ready for patterning!
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Houston, we have liftoff!!

9/11/2021

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Patreon Launch!

That was quite the summer project! I especially had fun making this video. I suspect my faithful and ever suffering husband (aka the man in the mask) probably had a good time too.
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Lips!

5/26/2021

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mold boxes for casting fursuit lips and teeth


​Looking over my photos on my Facebook page I realized I had wanted to do a post about making lips for my masks but forgot! So here goes!

The snaky looking thing in the long moldbox on the right hand side of this pic is my first attempt at a lip for my resin wolf head. I sculpted it pretty straight because that's how I had seen other lips sculpted  online. Silly me.
silicone lip on a resin fursuit wolf head that does not fit
silicone lip on a fursuit resin wolf head that does not fit
Above, trying to fit a silicone cast of this straight lip on my mask. You can see how it gaps underneath, between the lower edge of the lip and the jaw. No good.
 gluing a slilicone lip to a resin fursuit wolf head
Above, trying to glue the new lip on. I think that pile of clamps might be trying to tell me something.... 
pattern for a lip for a fursuit resin wolf head
making a pattern for a lip for a fursuit resin wolf head
Making a pattern for a more fitted lip. The green thing above is Frog Tape stuck to aluminum foil. I pressed a piece around the lower jaw, sketched the shape of the lip on it, and cut it out. I then made it symmetrical by folding it in half in the middle and trimming it so the two sides would match. Then I tried out the new shape back on the head (above), trimming and fiddling until I was happy with it.
sculpting a  lip for a resin fursuit wolf head
sculpting a lip for a resin fursuit wolf head
Here I've built the lip up in Monster Clay. It's built right on top of the pattern thingy, stuck on around the edges with a little more Monster Clay, so I can fairly easily remove and reapply the lip to the mask or adjustments as needed. 
lip sculpts for a resin fursuit wolf head
Above, the two clay lips next to each other for comparison. The new lip is on the bottom. Very different shapes. 
gluing a silicone lip to a resin fursuit wolf head
gluing a silicone lip on a resin fursuit wolf head
Gluing silicone casts of the new lip in place. Not so many clamps needed this time! (The rubber bands here are actually serving as clamps here too.) I tried using Weldbond instead of hot glue, as Weldbond is theoretically stronger and doesn't leave those lumpy ridges when it dries. Weldbond takes about 24 hours to fully cure, hence the clamps. It did a good job, but I'm not sure it does enough of a better job to justify the long wait time. 
silicone lip on a resin fursuit wolf head
silicone lip on a resin fursuit wolf head
And, the new lips freshly installed. Wheee!!
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Strapping a head with a hard hat suspension

3/9/2021

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Picture
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(Please pardon the friendly local neighborhood middle aged geeks....)

There are a few basics to balancing and strapping a mask I have known since that very first maskmaking workshop I took at the dawn of time. The mask should rest on a wearer’s “third eye”, in the center of the forehead a little above the eyebrows. The strap should go from just above the tops of the ears to under the base of the skull/along the top of the neck. If you stop to think about it, you’ll notice that drawing a line around these points does not make a continuous circle, like a crown, but a bent shape with a shallow angle over the tops of the ears, as if someone had taken that crown and stepped on it.  
You can’t really get this bent-crown shape with simple mask straps, but it doesn’t matter much if the mask is lightweight and well balanced, as would be your standard paper mache Mardi Gras mask. But if the mask starts to get larger and more unbalanced, say, from a toothy long snout sticking out in front, it becomes both more important and harder to do. A simple strap that goes under the base of the skull will want to pull the mask down on the forehead, a strap that supports the mask directly behind the forehead will be too high on the head and want to come flying off.

 ​​After spending weeks trying to solve this problem, it dawned on me that someone years before me had probably already figured it out. I brainstormed lists of all the big awkward headgear I could think of, which ultimately led me to, the construction helmet. And lo and behold, construction helmet suspensions had that bent-crown shape I needed and were cheap and easily available on Amazon! And as a big added bonus, they are adjustable to fit just about any sized head. Now just to figure out how to install one.

(The black hoods in these pictures were an early idea  for installation. They didn't work. Well, except maybe to make us look even more geeky.) 




 One thing I learned, after much trial and error, is that the suspension needs to “float” inside the head. The suspension clips (those things that look like points on a crown) slide into slots in the construction helmet, leaving all the straps free to move and adjust to the size and shape of a wearer’s head. Attaching these straps permanently inside the mask distort them and keep them from moving as they should. I had to think of the equivalent of a clip slot in the head, and ultimately came up with the following.   









installing a hard hat suspension into a resin fursuit head base
Above, two straps made by cutting webbing (not elastic, we don't want these guys to stretch!) to about 12” lengths, feeding them through the two front clips, folding them in half and gluing the halves to one another.   No glue on the clips, they need to be able to rotate on the straps. The suspension will be (well) suspended from these straps inside the head, allowing it to move and conform to the wearer's head.

​Now, to make the "slots". The short story is, these two new straps will be glued between two layers of foam inside the head. I imagine the straps could also be riveted inside, or perhaps just glued to the bare resin, but foam sticks really hard to the scored-up inside of a head with hot glue, and the straps stick really hard to the foam so… Plus the foam provides a much larger gluing surface and therefore more security, in my mind anyway.

installing a hard hat suspension into a resin fursuit head base
​

Above, the first layer of foam, visible underneath the browband, has been glued into the head. Then, the the correct placement for the suspension is found, with the browband going across the forehead just above the eyes. The clamps are only temporarily holding the suspension in the correct place, the browband will not actually be fixed to the mask like this but will be able to move inside the head somewhat.  
installing a hard hat suspension into a resin fursuit head base
installing a hard hat suspension into a resin fursuit head base
Next, the two new straps are glued on the foam directly underneath the two preexisting straps with which they share clips. I glue the straps all the way from the front of the mask to the back, where I  trim off any extra. The more gluing surface the  better.  Again, no glue on the clips! 
making a foam lining pattern for a resin fursuit head base
I start working the top layer of foam before the suspension is glued in, and finish it afterwards.  Above, making a pattern for this part using standard duck tape patterning procedures. I often use aluminum foil under the duck tape in place of the more standard plastic wrap as it is easier to handle, especially in a concave shape like this. 
installing a hard hat suspension into a resin fursuit head base
installing a hard hat suspension into a resin fursuit head base
Next, cutting the slots for the clips into the pattern. Cut a little bit, try sliding the pattern over the clips, cut a little more, slowly but surely. Worse comes to worst the slots can be taped over and started over again.
pattern for a foam lining for a resin fursuit head base
Above, the finished pattern for the top layer of foam. 
 
installing a hard hat suspension into a resin fursuit head base
Above, the second foam piece has been cut out, laid into the head over the freshly glued pair of straps, and held in place with Wonder Clips. Working from one end to the other I'll unclip one Wonder Clip, smear hot glue around underneath the foam, and press it down until it cools. I work my way systematically across the head, unclipping each Wonder Clip in turn, putting glue under the foam, and moving on. The Wonder Clips keep the foam in the exact correct position while it's being glued. I'll cover the entire underside of the foam with glue, paying special attention to the openings for the clips. Lots and lots of glue, but again, none on the clips!!

Trying it out. I'm pleased with how it works.
installing a hard hat suspension into a resin fursuit head base
Above, the suspension in the finished head. From these pictures you can get an idea of how it "floats" inside the head. It also makes the mask nice to take off and on, as once the back strap is adjusted to the wearer it's a lot like putting on a baseball cap. No straps to fasten and unfasten. 

I hope that this has been helpful to you. If you have any questions please feel free to ask! Thanks for looking!
​
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GIMPIN' Along

7/2/2020

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Photographing my first partial "Silas" for sale presented new challenges. I have an indoor tabletop setup to take pictures of smaller things, such as masks, eBay sales items and (not so) occasionally model horses. Unfortunately, the basement where I have my setup is too small with too low of a ceiling to be able to photograph an entire figure. My first thought was the great outdoors, but the lighting can be hit or miss, especially with a dark object like Silas.
black wolf fursuit partial by sans souci studios



​Here are some quick outdoor photos of Silas. It's difficult to see much detail in the partial as the lighting isn't quite right. I could fiddle with my camera settings to try to get a better exposure, but my faithful model and husband has breathing difficulties, and so can only wear the mask for maybe five minutes tops. Not much time for fiddling. 
black wolf fursuit partial by Sans Souci Studios





​My husband and I could theoretically switch roles, with me modelling and him taking pictures, but unfortunately photography is not my husband's strong suit. I'm modelling here while my daughter is taking pictures. She's a good photographer but has limited patience for these endeavors. Still, most importantly, you can see that the exposure is still not great and not a lot of detail is visible in the mask.

The beginnings of an indoor setup! My husband, a teacher, had just made a video with his kids at school and so was all excited about the idea of a green screen, so that's what we got for a backdrop. I learned shortly afterwards that any color solid backdrop would have worked, and a non green backdrop would have worked better, as the green threw up a lot of green reflections on the partial which had to be edited out later. But that's what GIMP is for. My floodlights from my tabletop setup worked just fine, though it was a pain to carry them up from the basement to the living room, which had taller ceilings.   

And....a downside of indoor setups like this one... cats love 'em. This older cat was relatively well behaved but our younger cat had to be locked out of the room, as she wanted to play with the backdrop REAL BAD and nearly pulled all the stands into every last item in the living room, including my beloved model horse collection.
green screen setup with cat
green screen setup
green screen setup with fursuit wolf head
green screen setup with wolf fursuit head
green screen setup with fursuit wolf head
The advantage of an indoor setup is that you can play with the floodlights until you get the lighting exactly the way you want it, and you don't need to put on the mask until you are happy with how the lighting looks. (Plus you don't even need to get dressed to go outside!)  The backdrop material is fairly thin, and in these practice photos above and  below you can see a square of light from a window shining through. We waited until dark for the official photoshoot, though as it turned out it wasn't difficult to edit the square out either.
Picture
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Above, my daughter mugging it up, and the first attempt to remove the green screen with GIMP. The urban backdrop on the right is one we cut and pasted from online to give this all a whirl. 




​(Photobomb..... )
green screen with wolf fursuit partial and cat
barre vermont pearl street granite sculpture



​If I were going to go through all the trouble of learning how to remove figures from their backgrounds, I wanted some cool backdrops to stick them on after! I took this picture on Pearl Street in my hometown of Barre, VT, a new pedestrian walkway featuring a granite sculpture of a castle. (Barre was given a large bequest by a wealthy resident, which was used among other things to commission a number of granite statues commemorating Barre's long history of quarrying and stoneworking.) It only seemed fitting to incorporate images of other local artists' handiwork along with my own.  
And, TA DAAAAH! The original greenscreen photographs with the finished pictures on the new backgrounds.

All I can say for learning GIMP is, GIMP Workshop baby!!! These videos were very easy to follow and the guy's voice was very calm and soothing, which helped keep me from freaking out and throwing my computer out the window on more than one occasion. Especially helpful were these videos- this one on how to remove an object from its background and this one on how to remove a furry object from its background. This one, in addition to being about removing an object from its background also had info about how to make simple shadows and remove colored reflections (like the green on Silas' fur and jacket).
green screen with wolf fursuit partial by sans souci studiosPicture
wolf fursuit partial by sans souci studios
green screen setup with wolf fursuit partial by sans souci studios
wolf fursuit partial by sans souci studios






​Background photo number two, also of the granite castle sculpture on Pearl Street in Barre....
barre vermont pearl street granite sculpture
Below, images made with this second background photo. And more GIMP workshop videos that were helpful: These three on the Path Tool, a basic operation on GIMP, video one, video two and video three. And a video about how to make shadows, though this one turned out to be more elaborate and complicated than I really needed. The shadows underneath Silas in these finished photos were all created with GIMP.
green screen setup with wolf fursuit partial
wolf fursuit partial by sans souci studios
green screen setup with wolf partial fursuit by sans souci studios
wolf partial fursuit by sans souci studios
I decided I wanted to do a collage of all my photos for Silas' auction. The photo below was meant to be the background for the collage. In it I learned to do a cool new thing called the Orton effect, a somewhat blurry, dreamy,  and light-filled affair. 
wolf fursuit head by sans souci studios
And actual videos on how to do collage in GIMP, video one and video two. 
wolf fursuit partial by sans souci studios
And TA DAAAAHHHH!!!! Finished GIMP photos. I'm very happy to say that Silas' auction was successful and he has since gone on to a new home.
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Making a Quick and Simple Spray Booth for Airbrushing

11/8/2019

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Geez, I had no idea it's been so long since I've updated my blog! But I have been working steadily and hope to have a new mask to auction soon. Part of the holdup was having a place to paint. 
Spray booth for airbrushing made out of rigid insulation
Diagram showing spray booth and air circulation in room
​I followed the instructions for building a simple spray booth I found in this article in Fine Woodworking magazine. (Link to the article can be found here.) The two illustrations to the left sum up the most relevant info nicely. In summary, the booth is made out of rigid foam insulation and the sides and back are fastened together with duct tape, so it is lightweight, foldable, and easy to transport. The back panel has a hole cut in the center into which a furnace filter is placed. A box fan is set behind the hole for drawing air through the filter. 








The booth is placed in a way to take the best advantage of the room's air circulation, with sources of fresh air in front of it and a means of venting painty air behind it. Since there is no actual ductwork to contain the fumes, the booth does not exhaust them completely, but I can attest that it does cut down considerably the painty mist that otherwise hangs over my work area.  

It's important to note that this booth is only for water based paints such as acrylics. It is definitely not suitable for solvent based paints, that's a whole nuther animal entirely!  

 .





​And now, time for my own booth. ​​Before I did anything else, I made a mockup out of scrap cardboard, to be sure that I would like the dimensions and find it comfortable to work in. I actually wound up doing a fair bit of painting in this mock-up. 
Cardboard mock up of spray  booth for airbrushing a fursuit head



Right, my own booth in progress. ​I used one 4' x 8' sheet of 1/2" thick insulation that I purchased at the local lumberyard. I chose a white color so that as much light as possible would be reflected back onto my work. Since the fiberglass inside the panel was very irritating to my hands, I also put duct tape over all the cut edges to contain it. It's white, so it's hard to see here.  






Spraybooth made of rigid insulation for airbrushing a fursuit head
furnace filter in a DIY spray booth for airbrushing
furnace filter in a DIY spraybooth for airbrushing
​Left, making sure the furnace filter is installed correctly! The arrow has to match the direction of the airflow when the filter is installed.

The filter is a basic, inexpensive one. According to the Fine Woodworking article, a higher grade of filter, one that could screen out microbes, dander, and such, would get filled with paint and plug up too quickly. Here you can also see the duct tape I applied around all the cut edges to contain irritating fiberglass.




​ I also added bulb weatherstripping around the outside of the filter, under the theory it would make the booth more airtight. I'm not sure it was worth the effort. In trying to get the weatherstripping into the gaps I sometimes had to make the gaps larger, so I may have been working counter to my purpose.
​ 
 
plexiglass top for DIY spray booth for airbrushing
diy spray booth made of rigid insulation for airbrushing
 Above, the top for the booth. (Check out how dirty the filter got after only a few uses!) I made the top out of 1/4" plexiglass, not the insulation as in the Fine Woodworking article, as I wanted to be able to get as much light as possible in the booth. Portland Glass cut a piece to my specifications for around $30.  I made a "lip" out of the insulation and hot glued it to the plexi to help keep it in place.
 
diy spray booth for airbrushing a fursuit head
And, ready to rock and roll! Let's get this party started!
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Handpaw Hijinx

3/17/2019

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Teens modelling handpaws



​So I've made two heads, and now I want to learn to make tails and paws to go with them!! Whee!!! My last blog post covered my tail making adventures, now it's time to move on to paws. Here, my daughter and her BFF model the first two sets I made.
 


Teens modelling handpaws

​While in theory it should not have been too difficult to make a pattern for a tail, I wound up going through three versions before I came up with one I liked. So I was delighted to find Freakhound's free and extremely cool paw patterns online. As it was, I was going to have to learn a ton of new skilz in order to make handpaws, so it was really nice to have that one less thing to worry about.  Click here if you want to check the patterns out.


​

 Some of the things I learned included using bias tape to edge the cuff (Matrices' tutorial here) and appliquing toebeans (Matrices' tutorial here) (and Kloofsuits' here). While Freakhound's pattern includes pretty complete instructions, I also got a lot of good information on general construction from Kloofsuits's two handpaw tutorials (part one) and (part two). These include instructions for doing the toebeans as little "pillows" sewn into the hand instead of applique, and a very good demonstration on making liners.

One thing I haven't found anywhere, however, is clear instructions on adding resin claws. All the instructions I have found are for sewn, fabric claws. So I'll have to figure that out for myself. Supposedly it's just cutting a hole in the fingertips and gluing them in, right? 
Teen handpaw battle
Teen handpaw high five
fursuit handpaws with appliqued toebeans and resin claws
My first pair of practice handpaws, made out of my "cheap" white fur. The toebeans are appliqued vinyl, the claws are resin. The cuffs have a bias tape edging and no lining, since early on in my online explorations I had read that linings were a luxury, good only for retaining sweat. However I found the resin claws made the tips of the fingers floppy and stuffing was helpful in stiffening them. And a liner is useful in separating the stuffing from the hands. Which  brings me to...
Fursuit handpaws with sewn in pillow toebeans and resin claws
My second pair of practice handpaws. These do have a lining as well as the bias tape edging. The toebeans are felt "pillows" sewn into the white fabric, a method Kloofsuits describes in her tutorials above. This method needs less skill than applique to yield a very nice result, though it takes much more time and patience. (This is what podcasts are for!) Even though these were just practice handpaws I wish I had used fabric other than felt, as it pilled all to hell in about two seconds and looks awful. At this point I'm also feeling frustrated by the claws. They look crooked and haphazard in both sets of paws, pointing in whichever direction they feel like when I glue them in, no matter how careful I try to be.
resin claws for fursuit handpaws
So down into the basement I go to sculpt, mold and cast new claws. I based these on the claws in Freakhound's pattern hoping they would better harmonize with the overall handpaw design. I made the originals out of Apoxie Sculpt and polished them to a high shine using the Novus plastic polish system.  I made two modifications to the bases of the claws in the hope that they'd more likely to wind up straight in the fingertips: I made them oval, not round, so I could tell which were the tops and undersides of the claws from the inside of the paw, and I  drilled holes in them for stitching the claws in to the paws to keep them steady while gluing.
black fursuit handpaws with resin claws
And the a third set of paws, this time made of "good" fabric, with faux suede sewn-in "pillow" toe beans and the new resin claws. I'm pretty happy with how these look.

​These paws also have a different kind of cuff than the bias tape edging that Matrices demonstrates. I was OK with less than perfection with the two practice sets of handpaws, but since I'm hoping to sell them I wanted these black handpaws to be perfect. The bias tape edging defied me four times on these paws, and four times I ripped it off. I wound up buying Kloofsuit's deluxe handpaw pattern just for the instructions on this kind of cuff, and I'm very happy I did. The download is available to purchase here.
fursuit handpaw cuffs
And, giving the handpaws a try!
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A Tale of Tails

3/12/2019

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sketching a pattern for a fursuit wolf tail


​I've made two furry heads! Yay! Next, making tails and paws to go with them! Whee!! This blog post will cover my tail making adventures, the next will cover my forays into paws.

First, a pattern! Pressing my poor kid into service as a model,  and sketching a pattern for a wolf tail. (My kid is begging the cat to come rescue her.) 
Next, hitting the Interwebs for all the tailmaking tutorials I could find.  Kloofsuits' was one of my favorites (view here). Switch Cosplay's was another (view here). The biggest difference I found between these two was the their methods for making the belt loops, Kloofsuits' below left and Switch Cosplay's below right. (That's my very helpful hubby holding the tails up and mugging it up for the camera.) I ultimately decided on Switch Cosplay's method, as the loops were less visible when the tail was worn by itself on a belt. Kloofsuits' method is less fiddly and probably stronger, but I suspect it's meant for tails to be worn through a hole in a fullsuit, where the loops would not be visible anyway. 
loops on a fursuit tail
loops on a fursuit tail
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 Wait a minute, math?? These equations are for figuring out the diameter of the tail "cap" in Switch Copslay's method if I had the measurements of the end of the tail, and vice versa. These saved me endless amounts of trial and error and frustration. (Thanks to my ever amazing hubby for coming up with these for me!)
fursuit tail patterns
I also did a lot of experimenting with the same pattern using different numbers of pieces, placements of seams, and direction of fur, the sketch above showing the different variations I tried. The one on the far left represents a tail made of two halves sewn together front and back. The advantage is obvious- super simple to make. The second one from the left is made of four pieces and has a seam going down either side as well. This helps give the tail a fuller, rounder look. The third pattern is made of eight pieces and is good for a tail with a black or white tip, and would also allow the fur to follow the tip's curve more closely. The last one is made of twelve pieces and can be used for a tail with a different colored underside, and allows the fur at the top to follow that curve more closely. I made all of these tails out of my solid, "cheap" white fur to be able to see any difference most clearly, and while I did like the way the fourth variation came out the best, I'm not sure I liked it that much better to justify the extra time it took. We will see. One thing I DID like about the fourth variation is that I could cut it out of my fabric with much less waste, since it was easier to fit the smaller pattern pieces on odds and ends I had on hand.
 white fursuit handpaws and wolf tails
white fursuit handpaws and wolf tails
Here I am, experimenting on kids again. (They are expressing their sentiments on the matter, though that is harder to do with four fingered handpaws). Both these tails are made from the same pattern,  but the one on my long haired daughter is the two piece variation, and the other on her BFF is the four piece one, with a seam running down the sides as well as the front and back. The thing that struck me most about these tails however was the way they seemed to come out of the kids' back at right angles, which made them look more like horse tails than wolf tails. Back to the drawing board.
white fursuit wolf tail
altering a fursuit tail pattern
Above, tail pattern, take two.  While I like this one better I still think it comes out of the back at too sharp of an angle. As I often do, I printed out the photo and sketched ideas for changes on it, and used that for a reference for the third pattern.
white fursuit wolf tail
white fursuit wolf tail
white fursuit wolf tail
 Above, showing tails I made from the three patterns I did side by side, the one on the right being one being the one I ultimately wound up using. You can see the different angles at which they come out of the  back. The one on the left is the four piece variation, the other two are the most complicated twelve piece one.
fursuit wolf tail and handpaws
And TA DA!!! A finished tail, made out of "good" fur, intended to be part of a partial! This is the variation made with twelve pieces, with my third pattern above. Can't wait to start the head. Whee!!!!
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Attempting casting resin in two colors, part three- success!!!

1/13/2019

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 Check it out! Jawsets cast in two different colors! Aren't they bee-oootyful??
resin canine jawset cast in two colors
resin canine jawset cast in two colors
I decided to try a method I had thought about before but had dismissed as too difficult- making separate models of gums and teeth, making sure they fit well together beforehand, and then molding them. I knew that teeth and gum components carefully cut apart from a single a rubber jawset model and molded separately would make casts that would fit back together with no problem. However, as I wrote about in a previous blog post, the repeated  molding and casting in rubber that this method requires caused  bubbles to build up in the casts over time. Yuck!!

So I would use teeth I cut out of a resin cast to make that part of the mold. I would use a plasticine  "borrowed casting" of the gums (I talk more about this technique in this blog post), physically removing any bubbles before molding it. Bubbles can be removed from plasticine but not from rubber!  I would make sure the teeth and the gums fit very well together before making molds of either. The big challenge would be not squishing the models and ruining the fit during this process.


Jawset model in the freezer
 SIlicone rubber tipped clay shaping tools
​

Which brings us to this picture. Why, you may reasonably ask, is there a jawset model in my freezer? Very simply, freezing the clay helps keep squishing to a minimum, so I can check the teeth and gums for fit and do as little damage as possible. This kind of plasticine, Monster Clay, contains a high amount of wax, so it freezes very well. 






Pictured here are another secret weapon in my arsenal, rubber tipped shaping tools. These also helped keep squishing to a minimum, as they made it possible to apply just the tiniest, most precise amount of pressure to only the areas it was needed. Unlike big fat fingers.


​
Clay gum models for resin canine jawset
Above, the plasticine gum models in their Lego mold boxes, ready for rubber.

Right, rubber poured over the models. Coloring it like this helps to show when the two parts of the rubber are fully mixed, so that it can be stirred only as much as necessary, avoiding excess bubbles. Pouring the rubber into the molds from relatively high up, in a thin, slow stream, also helps to break bubbles that have formed while stirring. Brushing a thin coat of rubber over the model, letting it partly set, and then pouring the rest of the rubber in also helps, as bubbles trapped against the model can more easily rise to the surface and break that way.
 Pouring mold rubber for a canine resin jawset


And, resin gums poured into the two new molds.
Casting resin gums for a canine resin jawset
 
Teeth waiting for mold rubber for a canine resin jawset



​Teeth waiting for rubber in their own Lego mold box...
Mold rubber poured over teeth for a canine resin jawset
Picture


​And rubber poured. Another thing that helps eliminate bubbles is tapping the mold box on the work table after the rubber is poured, to help the bubbles rise up to the surface and break.









 (I found myself often thinking of this scene from Finding Nemo during this whole thing...)


​Resin gums cast into one mold, teeth into the other...
Resin teeth and gums cast for a  canine jawset





​And, teeth and gums removed from the molds, and... THEY FIT TOGETHER!!! YAAAAAYYYYY!!!!
Putting together teeth and gums for a resin canine jawset
I said it before, and I'll say it again... aren't they bee-ootyful???!!!
Resin canine jawset  cast in two colors
Resin canine jawsets cast in two colors
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Attempting casting resin in two colors, part two

12/30/2018

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silicone rubber canine jawset










I don't remember what inspired me to make the upper half of a jawset out of blue silicone rubber, nor what inspired me to use it as a window cling in the dining room. However seeing it hanging there gave me a new idea to try for a two part mold. So here goes!
Below, cutting the teeth away from the rubber jawset as neatly and carefully as possible, and then cutting holes through the entire thickness of the piece. Then, inserting it back into the original mold. The idea is to pour white resin into the mold for teeth, remove the blue part, and then pour pink resin for the gums.
Making a mold for a resin canine jawset
Making a mold for a resin canine jawset
Casting a resin canine jawset in two  colors


​Here goes nothing! The white resin is poured into the mold. (The mold on the left hand side is for claws.)

Casting a resin canine jawset in two colors






​The blue mold piece is removed, leaving the white teeth in the translucent mold piece.








Pouring the pink resin into the mold. It overflowed a little to one side, not a big deal as it can be trimmed off after it sets up.
Casting a resin canine jawset in two colors
Below, the final product. Not too bad. (Tangent alert- the stuff that looks like pink slime is in fact pink slime. When resin is overloaded with colorant it will not cure properly. I was using Smooth-Cast 65D here, a white resin, and I had to put in too much colorant in order to get a color other than very pale pink. The saints at the Smooth On tech support department recommended I switch to a transparent resin, Color Match 325, which I did.)
Resin canine jawset in two colors overloaded with pigment
After I made a bunch more of these I decided this method may  not  be everything I hoped it would be. Sometimes pink resin would leak down over the white teeth and while I could carefully scrape it off before the resin set completely, this was something I'd rather not spend my time doing. Also, I would  get thin spots or bubbles between the teeth and the gums at times, which would make for weak castings (I could crush in these spots with my fingers) which was definitely something I did not want. Time to try another method. Onwards!
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