Fabric, big shopping trip and a video

 The resin for the eyes came in the mail, still waiting on the ladle but once that's in I'll be pouring some resin.

 Close up on the fabric for the vision. As you can see, you can't see through it. Which is pretty great, because when I put it up to my face, I can. Very psyched to be able to disguise the vision area this well. The color is nearly exactly the same as the spandex for the skin.

 Eight yards of it for $56. Hopefully that will be plenty.

 And again, the vision fabric is basically exactly the same. Just thinner.

 Since it's the holiday season, end of the year, we got this fleece for half off which will work perfectly for the head when we get to the fiberglassing of it. Which hopefully will be VERY soon.

 If I could advise you one thing about this whole experience: find yourself a foam warehouse or a foam supplier to go to. This guy didn't show up on Google the first time around when I searched and nobody carried the foam we needed so we didn't find him, but he showed up when I needed nylon webbing this time around. So we went there, got the $8 worth of webbing, got a free can of glue and quite a bit of free foam. The guy was totally nice, and he just had stuff laying around that wasn't of use to him. Seriously. Save the cash.

 The tail looks way better now that I have hot-glued this webbing along it for a spine. It stays upright and only goes side-to-side unless I run, and it just...it swings SO much better. Highly recommended. It feels way sturdier now.

 Got some pink spandex for the mouth flaps along the side of the head.

 Originally we went to Joann's for Stretch Needles, but a nice lady there recommended these instead for the spandex. Haven't sewn with them yet but hopefully they'll work perfectly for what we need.

 Today I put on the whole thing I've got so far to take pictures and see what needs fixing. Still going to adjust the legs some, add the torso, I messed around with the webbing on the tail so it holds up better annnnd yeah. It's coming along well. Hopefully by January I'll be sewing skin and the head will be finishing up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUGygtqKbQ0&feature=youtu.be

A little video I took today as well walking around with it. :)

Nearly finished raptor legs.

 As you can see, I've progressed a fair bit since I posted last! The two pieces on the floor were before I cut them out, and keep in mind the toes still need trimming, plus the rest of the hook-toe needs to be done, and the little back dewclaw hasn't been glued on yet. 

 Here's where I'm at currently, still need the hook-claw-toe to be glued down which I will do when I have made the hook claw. I'm quite proud of the muscles really though, haha. It just looks so nice.

 The legs look so nice from the side, too!

 Just a little picture I took to show how the fat raptor claws look on the bottom toes. I remade the toes also, if you can tell because I wasn't happy with the lack of symmetry on the old ones. Very happy with them now, though!

 I also remade the hands, which looks quite nice now too. :)

Good comparison of the claws.

Currently I need to glue on the back claws, make the torso and then it's onto the hook claw and head. Very exciting, I hope to progress a lot but I need to order stuff. :\

DreamVision Creations Items.

I ordered claws, hinges and my fan from DreamVision Creations, which is owned by Monoyasha who made the velociraptor costume I'm so fond of. I ordered all the claws I'll need except for the one "hook" claw as I intend to make that one myself since I'd rather a different shape than what they offer. Overall I'm very pleased with my order although there was a little mix-up about getting holes dripped in some of them that I'll go over in a second.

 This is the fat raptor claw, which will be used on the toes. It looks really neat, haha.

 I spoke to Monoyasha about how she sewed these claws onto the fabric of the toes instead of gluing it down because it came right off when glued. I requested holes drilled at checkout for them but it was overlooked by accident so currently we're trying to figure out if I've got the right tools here to do it or if I'll need to send them back to get it done. I certainly don't want my raptor toenails to fall off while walking around. :P

 I ordered four fat raptor claws. Two for each foot.

 These are small feline claws for the dewclaw--I probably could have gone for a large feline claw for that but this'll do just fine as well. These will be glued down and I don't think we'll have any issues with them falling off...they're solid, not hollow and will probably be glued down with E6000. The only thing that makes me worry about these falling off is how they are going to be upside down.

 Skinny raptor claws, which will be used for the fingers. Six in all, one for each finger (duh).

 V-hinge for the head, which will be installed on it when it's all done. Sure hope it works well, haha.

 $8 will get you four pieces in all, enough for one head.

Then the fan! I ordered the 3 inch wide fan with toggle, $33. I don't have any batteries around to test it, I'll need to buy some 9V batteries (which are way expensive but that's all right) but I don't think it's going to be loud or anything based on now that I've played around with it a bit.

Raptor Legs. And kneecaps are annoying.

 So after the thighs were done, I kept working on the calves/ankles. I'm very proud of how the legs look from the side, still unsure about the future for the front of them. Haha. Very easy process to snip snip snip away and it's probably my favorite, way more enjoyable than the math and measuring.

 As you can see, I have a little piece at the bottom that runs along the side of the foot. I removed that as it was a hassle when walking.

 I'm still quite proud of them.

 Using the Foam Fast 74, I attached the legs to the dummy and then tried it on a while later. Gluing was easy, the stuff isn't as messy as I thought it would be. 

 Back of the leg. The back around the thighs won't be padded, at least not yet, as that's where the tail will go and we're going to try and make it fit around the tail as best as we can. Currently my goal is to be at the head-making by mid November. 

 Current front of the thighs...the one on the right isn't as carved down as the one on the left in this image. Not sure how much I like it honestly, haha. :b I think it'll look a lot better when I see fabric on it...but I dunno. We'll see.

 Obnoxious selfie with the dummy in the background. Didn't have anyone to take a picture for it. I think it's coming along well, keep in mind the kneecap is supposed to stick out further than the thighs so it will be more "bent" looking. But honestly? The kneecaps are giving me hell.

 Again, not sure how much I like the way it looks yet. Gonna have to see it with kneecaps and toes before I can really determine precisely what the thighs need.

 Okay, so lemme just say I have made many kneecaps that I have yet to be happy with. Circular ones from 2 inch foam were good for walking but they didn't look right. Made an oval pair and it looked terrible from the side. Tried laying up two together and it didn't look like knees. Not where where I'm going yet with that but I do know the legs are super-duper padded and are going to be the hottest part of the costume. Just gotta be glad I'm not putting any foam inside the legs...

 My foaming around the ankle zippers. The spandex will be put specifically around it so the zipper will not be seen from the back. Also keep in mind there will be a dewclaw back here toward the inside but I think I'll work on that when I have the front of the leg done and have the claws here (which, by the way are on the way! All of them ordered from Dreamvision Creations except for the raptor "hook" claw which I will be casting on my own since I want a different look than what they offer).

 More kneecaps I was not happy with. The Foam Fast 74 is pretty great. With the Super 77 it left this weird crusty feeling between the foam that was really difficult to cut through. The 74? Nada. It's like it's one solid piece of foam. It's dreamy.

Once again, more kneecaps I'm not happy with. I've experimented a lot so far but it looks like I've got more to go. Currently I've got this planned:

- Finish kneecaps. Front toes. Back dewclaw.

- Redo the toes on the shoes. Not happy with how they look and I think I've got a better method of doing them.

- Redo the fingers. I want a more muscular look to them. 

- Start carving the head from the rigid foam, then use the clay to sculpt over it and yadda yadda yadda. That's when I'll get into some more detailed tutorials. Right now it's just kind of boring foaming that's easy to figure out, haha. :b