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Crafting / Fursuit
Species Falcon
Size 1280 x 960
File Size 184.3 kB
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FINALLY FINISHED my head mere hours before Vancoufur! Only my second head attempt ever, super happy with how it turned out!
Progress shots in my scraps, I'm boarding my flight like right now so I'll describe it more later!
WIP shots
Beak before sanding
Beak airbrushing setup
Beak airbrushed, before varnish
Head sculpting, upper beak mounted
Head with eyes, EL wire, lower beak mounted
Head adding ears and fur
-- --
Okay the promised description!
-- --
This is the head I built for my gyrfalcon gryphon fursuit, most of it in done over a few days right before Vancoufur. I was sculpting the foam head in my spare time 2 weeks before the con, and the fur finally went on the day right before the con. In total it probably took 8-10 days full time to make it. Phew. I wasn't sure if I could make it in time! It's also only my second ever fursuit head. I'd earlier made a valiant, overnight first-time attempt at Howloween in November 2014 which I learnt immensely from but was frankly embaressed of (the shape was all wrong!) so it's not posted here XD I'm so, so much happier with how this head turned out!
I decided to make my own head a while back because there weren't really any falcon head or beak bases out there that fit my imagination. Most beaks out there are heavier, like eagle beaks, and most bird fursuit heads designed with forward-facing eyes and tear duct vision, while I wanted a more realistic falcon head and beak.
The beak is articulated, although it doesn't have any hinges - the lower beak is directly glued to foam, which simply flexes. There is a 40mm 12v Noctua computer fan inside the beak, powered by 12v of AAA batteries or a 9v battery as a backup. (I tested other 40mm fans and they emitted far louder whines which were audible enough up close so I went for the Noctua.) The nares actually help ventilate especially when the beak is closed but the default beak position is slightly open.
The beak is made from lightweight clay on a wire mesh base, sanded with 220, 400 and 1000 grit, sealed with Golden GAC-700 clear sealing polymer, painted with liquitex basics acrylics, airbrushed with Golden high-flow paint, and varnished with liquitex satin varnish. It's directly modelled after real gryfalcon beaks - I had a dozen beak references printed and on screen throughout the process - and I did a lot of math and design drawing (which I should probably scan) before comitting to the final shape. Even so it's not symetrical because of my inexperience in wire mesh sculpting but I guess it adds character XD
The head itself is constructed almost entirely out of foam. 1-inch foam is used for structure and shape. A single headband acts as the primary anchor for the entire head. 1/2 inch foam is used for the final outer layer to which the fur anchors to. The ears are creatology fun foam backed with double-layer wire mesh for shape retention. The eyes, eye ridges, and ears are lit with 2m of EL wire powered by a 3v inverter. It's a rather tight fit formed to my head.
The eyes are made of plastic lenses from cut and sanded plastic globes. Idea from keianza. Black chiffon, the material used for tear duct vision, is on the inside. Gyrfalcon irises are extremely dark such that the entire eye appears black (kind of like my human eye colour) so it all fits! I see out directly through the eyes. Because of the realistic position of the eyes I lack forward or low obstacle vision so I mostly look out slightly through either side. Kind of a trade off from front to side/peripheral vision. I'm sure a better design could retain some forward vision but maybe that's for a future head design.
I always joke that my stuff is permanently a work in progress and this head is no exception. I need to add another layer of varnish to the beak, add in a tongue, try to figure out a way to hide my mouth when the beak is wide open, improve on the electrical connections and battery compartments... BUT this is actually probably the most "final" part of my whole fursuit. The rest (wings, bodysuit, talons) are first-try, learning/testing versions that I'll have to come up with new versions of by next year.
WIP shots
Beak before sanding
Beak airbrushing setup
Beak airbrushed, before varnish
Head sculpting, upper beak mounted
Head with eyes, EL wire, lower beak mounted
Head adding ears and fur
-- --
Okay the promised description!
-- --
This is the head I built for my gyrfalcon gryphon fursuit, most of it in done over a few days right before Vancoufur. I was sculpting the foam head in my spare time 2 weeks before the con, and the fur finally went on the day right before the con. In total it probably took 8-10 days full time to make it. Phew. I wasn't sure if I could make it in time! It's also only my second ever fursuit head. I'd earlier made a valiant, overnight first-time attempt at Howloween in November 2014 which I learnt immensely from but was frankly embaressed of (the shape was all wrong!) so it's not posted here XD I'm so, so much happier with how this head turned out!
I decided to make my own head a while back because there weren't really any falcon head or beak bases out there that fit my imagination. Most beaks out there are heavier, like eagle beaks, and most bird fursuit heads designed with forward-facing eyes and tear duct vision, while I wanted a more realistic falcon head and beak.
The beak is articulated, although it doesn't have any hinges - the lower beak is directly glued to foam, which simply flexes. There is a 40mm 12v Noctua computer fan inside the beak, powered by 12v of AAA batteries or a 9v battery as a backup. (I tested other 40mm fans and they emitted far louder whines which were audible enough up close so I went for the Noctua.) The nares actually help ventilate especially when the beak is closed but the default beak position is slightly open.
The beak is made from lightweight clay on a wire mesh base, sanded with 220, 400 and 1000 grit, sealed with Golden GAC-700 clear sealing polymer, painted with liquitex basics acrylics, airbrushed with Golden high-flow paint, and varnished with liquitex satin varnish. It's directly modelled after real gryfalcon beaks - I had a dozen beak references printed and on screen throughout the process - and I did a lot of math and design drawing (which I should probably scan) before comitting to the final shape. Even so it's not symetrical because of my inexperience in wire mesh sculpting but I guess it adds character XD
The head itself is constructed almost entirely out of foam. 1-inch foam is used for structure and shape. A single headband acts as the primary anchor for the entire head. 1/2 inch foam is used for the final outer layer to which the fur anchors to. The ears are creatology fun foam backed with double-layer wire mesh for shape retention. The eyes, eye ridges, and ears are lit with 2m of EL wire powered by a 3v inverter. It's a rather tight fit formed to my head.
The eyes are made of plastic lenses from cut and sanded plastic globes. Idea from keianza. Black chiffon, the material used for tear duct vision, is on the inside. Gyrfalcon irises are extremely dark such that the entire eye appears black (kind of like my human eye colour) so it all fits! I see out directly through the eyes. Because of the realistic position of the eyes I lack forward or low obstacle vision so I mostly look out slightly through either side. Kind of a trade off from front to side/peripheral vision. I'm sure a better design could retain some forward vision but maybe that's for a future head design.
I always joke that my stuff is permanently a work in progress and this head is no exception. I need to add another layer of varnish to the beak, add in a tongue, try to figure out a way to hide my mouth when the beak is wide open, improve on the electrical connections and battery compartments... BUT this is actually probably the most "final" part of my whole fursuit. The rest (wings, bodysuit, talons) are first-try, learning/testing versions that I'll have to come up with new versions of by next year.
Category Crafting / Fursuit
Species Falcon
Size 1280 x 960px
File Size 184.3 kB
Listed in Folders
Thanks! If you want one really badly, I'd suggest giving making a head yourself a go! It actually wasn't too hard to make, and I started out without any drawing, sewing, sculpting, or any artistic skill really so I believe anyone can do it if they set their mind to it.
Thanks, wait til I find a picture of my full suit! We'll run into each other in Furnal I'm sure. The eyes are lenses made from plastic globes, with the same material inside as tear duct vision. I think there's a discussion about them in one of my WIP pages in scraps. I see pretty much just through the eyes, it works fairly okay but I can't read very well.
Haha, you do things last minute like me too! I 'just' finished the LED suit before VF. But had no programming setup... Hence... http://www.furaffinity.net/view/16049402/
So you actually look through the eyes? That'd be one heck of a forward blind spot.
So you actually look through the eyes? That'd be one heck of a forward blind spot.
Haha nice! Hooray for last minute fursuit-building! I don't know why but somehow it produces really awesome results... well, either really awesome or really scary XD There's a real feeling of accomplishment, especially if it's something that folks haven't seen before and really like. All that intense work is totally worth it.
Yes, it's a crazy blind spot. I have actually collided into people and those skinny metal pillars all around the lobby at Fureh because I didn't do the looking-side-to-side thing enough. Particularly when I stop to chat with someone beside me and then start moving again, forgot or didn't see something/someone in my path. But I'm getting better at it!
I'm planning to give my next head a bit more forward vision, so long as I can keep the shape of the head realistic.
Yes, it's a crazy blind spot. I have actually collided into people and those skinny metal pillars all around the lobby at Fureh because I didn't do the looking-side-to-side thing enough. Particularly when I stop to chat with someone beside me and then start moving again, forgot or didn't see something/someone in my path. But I'm getting better at it!
I'm planning to give my next head a bit more forward vision, so long as I can keep the shape of the head realistic.
I've often wondered using mirrors to help the vision with eyes that are far from a humans eyes... a lot of ppl immediatly go to camera's and little video screens... but that's bulky and heavy and laggy. Just simple parascope type mirrors should be enough to re-arrange where your vision is.
You should of grabbed some of those LEDs that Errol uses (which are the same as mine) the WS28212b's and you could of glowed all sorts of colors. I plan on replacing 'all' the fur on my suit after Burningman this year and will lace the head with LEDs before I refur it. The feet paws too. There's never such thing as 'too many LEDs' lol.
You should of grabbed some of those LEDs that Errol uses (which are the same as mine) the WS28212b's and you could of glowed all sorts of colors. I plan on replacing 'all' the fur on my suit after Burningman this year and will lace the head with LEDs before I refur it. The feet paws too. There's never such thing as 'too many LEDs' lol.
Hmm... mirrors could help if the eyes were offset, just from scaling to fursuit head size. I don't think they'd work for me though, since my eyes are almost totally looking out of the side of my head. No matter what there's that huge blind spot where the beak is XD but sometimes I think of vision enhancement if in a few years technology can advance to the point of having FLIR and telescopic zoom on very small electronics and optics... then it might be worth having the little video screens and all. Falcons are supposed to have very good vision XD
I already work with FPV video feed goggles for UAV piloting, it's pretty instant, light and compact. Just not compact enough to fit into a fursuit head yet, unless I had some spare cash to dissassemble a few units and try to rearrange components.
Haha that's cool! I can't wait to see the next iteration! I was actually wondering if it's possible to get LED strips of such density that it looks like lines shining through the fursuit. Currently I'm working with EL wire - my next project is to have wings with every feather outlined with EL wire. I already have the wire and inverters, I just need to build new wings and wire it all up :> I just saw there's an arduino shield for controlling EL wire so down the road I'm going to try that! Your solution of putting all the electronics on an inner suit is ingenious. I'm probably going to try that approach when I begin putting things together for lighting up the bodysuit.
I already work with FPV video feed goggles for UAV piloting, it's pretty instant, light and compact. Just not compact enough to fit into a fursuit head yet, unless I had some spare cash to dissassemble a few units and try to rearrange components.
Haha that's cool! I can't wait to see the next iteration! I was actually wondering if it's possible to get LED strips of such density that it looks like lines shining through the fursuit. Currently I'm working with EL wire - my next project is to have wings with every feather outlined with EL wire. I already have the wire and inverters, I just need to build new wings and wire it all up :> I just saw there's an arduino shield for controlling EL wire so down the road I'm going to try that! Your solution of putting all the electronics on an inner suit is ingenious. I'm probably going to try that approach when I begin putting things together for lighting up the bodysuit.
Aw thank you! I enjoyed gryphoning around so much at RF, people getting a kick out of seeing me birb about makes it so worth it! Truth be told the entire suit was really rushed and I made many first-time mistakes. I'm attempting a second iteration with hopefully better ideas and techniques, including sculpting and resin casting!
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