Cinereg Puma - ugh.

Well all, here's the collected journal of the creation of my first fursuit.. what a royal piece it is. Time to build a new one! I had a chance to wear it around at FC2001, and may end up wearing it again at CF12 and other spots a few times.. but am already looking forward to retiring it. Several design flaws made themselves painfully obvious once I had a chance to wear it out and about. I could spend the time and energy fixing them.. and perhaps I will fix /some/ of the problems, but I really want to make a new suit outright. I'm sure I can do a better job.. this one ended up being a bit rushed toward the end of the project, and I used cheap fur, and... the excuses go on.

I'll document some of the 'rules' that I learned at a later time, but for now, I'll cover some the the horrible errors I made this time around.

• Not enough room at the top of the head for my melon head to fit properly resulted in a head that had to tilt down and 'look at the floor' for me to be able to see.
• Lack of adequate ventilation coupled with plastic eyes made for a SERIOUS fogging problem. My first night out, I lasted a full 10 minutes before I had to stumble back to my room in a blind fog. Anti-fog helped greatly on the second night, but only seemed to last a single night, as the problems returned the last night.
• Gloves were cheaply made, and the pawpads fell off. In the future, I'll have to do a better job attaching them.
• The tail wasn't properly attached at first, but some safety-pin modifications helped that problem by the second day. However, some additional tail sculpting will have to be done, as the tailbase looks overly bulky. ... Kinda like I'm trying to smuggle a soda can or something...
• It just looks... not so great. Pictures are below. Okay, it looks fucking terrible. I expected as much.

For entertainment porpoises, I've saved the old journal.. it's interesting reading for me.

Yipes... I can't believe how time flies. I've decided to put Roberto (the bobcat) on the back burner (YEEEEEEEOW!) for a little while, and focus instead on 'my' cougar character. As of two weeks ago, I've purchased the fur, Delrin rods for the tail support, and have wrangled a very helpful costumer into helping me with the tough parts of actually /building/ the thing. This one /won't/ be the same stretch-lycra that I've done and planned for other costumes.. instead, it will actually be a more complete costume, with headpiece and all. .. That's by far, the part that I'm dreading and looking forward to the most. Yes, at the same time.

Yet another change of plans, but this one is relatively minor. I am still building the cougar fursuit as planned, but have decided to build a 'cheap' version of it first... so I don't have to waste 'really nice fur' on a big screwup. Once I have a bit of experience with this version, I'll go ahead and continue with the second revision, though may change my mind on the species. Not sure yet, but...

About this 'practice' suit: I'm planning to make a cougar out of cheapish fur (6 bucks a yard. Woohoo!) and aluminum wire-framed headpiece. I will have some pictures posted soon, but will go ahead and mention that I've completed the wireframe, including giving a chickenwire mesh for mounting fur and foam, and have mounted the moving jaw as well. I have yet to get springs for the jaw, but that /should/ be a minor issue .. relative to figuring out how I was going to hinge it, anyway. The tail is also complete, and I really like the look!

In case I haven't stated it before (and it looks like I haven't), lots of thank-yous go out to Legend and Xodiac for all of their assistance and direction with this first revision... it's been a blast making it, and learning new techniques for makin' a critter.

Well, my original hope to have a fursuit done by halloween doesn't look like it's gonna make it.. but I have progressed rapidly on my kritter. Since my last update, I've added the jaw springs, taped and 'plastered' the head to give it a definite cougar-ish look, and today did some foam buildup and a little bit of fur addon! I hope to get the eyes in tomorrow, and whatever other amount of fur I can add, but it definitely won't be ready for Tuesday. Ah well... such is life.

One thing that I've been absolutely /horrid/ on in this project has been photo documentation.. which is rather evil, as it would be useful to ahve something to refer back to on my next critter. Erf. I /do/ have photos, /somewhere/, of the chicken-wire mesh phase, but nothing before or after. Bah. .. I'll be sure to get plenty of pics once it's ready, though! :)"

Damn, I'm taking my time, aren't I? Time for my list of excuses - I went ta Disneyworld and caught the 'happiest cold virus in the world'... which managed to develop into bronchitis. Apparently my body felt that sinus congestion and a runny nose wasn't good enough. And then there was the wedding.. and... anyway, my weekends were pretty much shot recently.

However.... I did manage to complete my head for the most part! The eyes are in, the fur is on, and it has even been airbrushed so it doesn't look quite like a hamster anymore! ... Now it looks like a hamster with cougar markings.. hmm. Well, this is the first version afterall... I'll do better next time.

I've begun the bodysuit, but it looks like that will be on hold for a while as well.. I'm going to be deported to Kansas City for a little while, as that's where my next contract is. I'm looking forward to it, but it does put a speedbump in my fursuit plans.. ah well. I've been assured that the bodysuit is 'quick' to complete.. so I should have it done by FC2001 at the very latest. My hope (now) is to have it done by New Year's eve.. might be some interesting parties to debut the giant golden hamster.. er.. cougar at!

Woohoo!! It's finally done.. or near enough completion that I have something that I can wear. I still need to do some airbrush work, some patches and seam fixes, add the teeth and claws, and more.. but it has enough of the basics (hand, feet, tail) that it can be worn. I won't be furless at FC this year! Woohoo!!

While finishing things up this weekend (I'd finished the bodysuit on my last visit, and got the paws completed this weekend), a friend managed to snap a few pictures of me in costume. This is before the sleeves, feet and pawpads were done, but ya still get a good idea. Take a peek!