Wear Wolf? - CLOTHING

Hey everybody,

This is a project I've been wanting to do for a while and finally have finished!!! I worked on this guy for a while in big bursts, finishing a lot of the building all at once. Then it sat for a while before getting fully finished. I missed pictures of a few steps along the way, but they are pretty simple steps, such as finishing the eyes. I looked at Youtube videos on making similar masks to get the basics. It was a LOT of trial and error to really get it going and I learned a lot along the way!

I started by building a framework from plastic mesh. This was where there was the most trial and error, getting this to sit just right. It was reinforced with bristol board to hold the foam. I used split back tacks to secure the lower jaw on but let it move a bit.

Then I pinned on foam to build the shape of the wolf, again LOTS of trial and error! I used a bunch of videos from Youtube as well as pictures of masks from the internet and cartoon pictures of wolves as references. I cut the bottom from Tim Horton's coffee cups to use as stand-ins for eyes. (These ended up looking so good I kept them) Once I was happy with it, I glued on all the foam on.

I built the teeth from scrap polymer clay and spray painted them white. Pink felt served as the gums. I made a paper template of the top and bottom jaw to make sure the teeth would fit inside my mask. I used foamcore for the bottom and roof of the mouth and covered those in black felt. For the nose I used a scrap of vinyl, folded and sewn to shape. I glued the teeth in and just put the felt "gums" in temporarily. The nose was just pinned on for looks.

Next came the fur. I used shaggy brown fur, on the snout I shaved it down to be shorter. I furred the eyebrows next so they would stick off the rest and give my wolf a bit of personality. The rest of the head was covered with the long fur in the directions that seemed most natural. I furred the bottom jaw and shaved it the same as the upper.

I sewed the ear covers so that the fur would run down on the front and back, then shaved them to a bit longer than the snout I left the fur at the back of the head longer than the mask to cover a bit of the wearers neck. I glued stretched black pantyhose over the back of both eyes, so I could see out but they appear black from the front, then attached them permanently. I glued the felt "gums" over the edge of the fur around the teeth for a clean finish and secured the bottom jaw.

The jaw is articulated so it moves as I move my head up and down, giving it a howling look when I look up! Like I said, I learned a LOT making this. The visibility is quite limited, as it sits a little high, so you can only see straight out or up. If I did it again, I would make the frame bigger as the foam really adds bulk and the eyes shift up as you build. I am SUPER happy with how he turned out as a first try though!!!