I first attempted to build my dingo character, Christian, in summer of 2012. His foam work is pictured on the left there. I remember being SO proud of him and boasted about his progress on Facebook and to my friends! He was a rushed project - something I intended on completing for Anthrocon 2012, but never did. In terms of looks, with fur on, he was not bad. In terms of comfort, vision, and all around functionality... a nightmare. I could barely breathe with the head on, see, and my nose was quite squished. Very hard to wear.

He was built directly onto a balaclava base - which means I did not use the bucket head method here. This was a problem for me because I found that the front of the mask was much heavier than the back since there was more material there. This weighed it down a bunch. I also had installed a DVC canine tongue, nose, and lower jawset, so that did not help with the weight either.

His eyes are made entirely of unicorn buckram that I purchased from a local JoAnn fabrics (which is fine if you know how to use it right) and white craft foam for the 3D effect. Black craft foam for ears.

Obviously, he needed a lot more shaping and refining. He needed a lot more care towards functionality and comfort.

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Four years later and on a whim, I decided to go for it and begin building Darius the smilodon (sabertooth cat). He's my main fursona and I opted out of doing him at first because I just thought he'd be too difficult to start with. He's currently lacking his saber teeth, but those will be made from fleece and polyfil and attached later.

He was constructed using the bucket head method with 0.5 inch thick foam and attached to a balaclava for the base. I took head measurements of my head circumference, head height, and eye measurements in the very beginning to ensure a perfect fit. I then patterned cheek, eyebrow, and lower jaw shapes to get a more accurate depiction of the species. Something I did not do with my dingo. I totally winged it with him on EVERYTHING.

His eyes are made from looser buckram, acrylic paint, styrene plastic, and white craft foam for the 3D effect. They are not yet completed and lack eyelids - something I am experimenting with right now.

Ears are made from white craft foam and foam from an exercise mat I had laying around. Really great material for ears!

I'm very happy with him so far. I think he is a much better improvement over what I did 4 years ago.

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My final thoughts on this are: DON'T RUSH. I rushed with my first head and it didn't turn out how I wanted it to. I've been taking my time on Darius and so far I'm SUPER happy with the results. Learn as MUCH as you can in your free time. Don't be afraid to try new or unheard of things. Utilize the internet, Youtube, and the Fursuit livejournal for helpful tips. Go the extra mile or two to ensure quality and comfort.

I am really excited to get back into this! It's only my second head and I've been having so much fun. I'm going to be furring him as soon as my eyes are completed and learning how to hand sew on my own.

Needless to say, this was a very big learning experience. I don't think of my first head as a failure at all - but as a learning experience. I've learned so much just by looking back and deconstructing him; seeing what I can do better in terms of quality or comfort... For instance: I will always use the bucket head method now, and always make my eyes with styrene plastic added in. All in all, I've improved a lot, I think, and will continue to try to get better!