Amaterasu (Okami).... help!?

[Parrotfish100]

Well, someone beat me to the Okami idea, but not to Amaterasu! Thats right, the main character. Now how should I go aboout doing this? I've never made something like this before... How should I make the head?

Oh, and don't worry about the mirror on the back... I can get that one. I'm more of a prop guy :p

Reference pics:

http://media.ps2.gamespy.com/media/678/678618/img_3845961.html
http://media.ps2.gamespy.com/media/678/678618/img_3845962.html
http://media.ps2.gamespy.com/media/678/678618/img_3603508.html
http://media.ps2.gamespy.com/media/678/678618/img_3603503.html


Pretty awesome pictures, huh?

[Ani_BEE]

http://forums.cosplay.com/showthread.php?t=40695&highlight=fursuits
http://forums.cosplay.com/showthread.php?t=14913&highlight=fursuits
http://forums.cosplay.com/showthread.php?t=92149&highlight=mascot
http://forums.cosplay.com/showthread.php?t=84138&highlight=mascot

http://matrices.net/fursuiting.asp

this is just for starters on the number of tread on this site do a general search for mascot and their I plenty more.

[Parrotfish100]

Excellent. Thanks!:)

[Eleryth]

Are you going for mascot or anamorphic or like...um, someone did an awesome Kirara from Inuyasha, where they walked on all fours with stilts under their front hands to make it more event... try searching the galleries for it.

www.fursuit.org should help if you're going the fursuit/mascot route.

[Parrotfish100]

Most likely walking on two legs :p

I don't want it to be comical-looking... like a mascot head would be. I'm going to try to make it as close to the 'real' Amaterasu, but on 2 legs. I don't feel like being all hunched over all day ;)

I've never had too much luck with wire framing... but then again I was trying to make a spherical shape using chicken wire. NOT FUN. That'd probably be my best bet for the head.


Ok, so I checked it out on fursuit.org, and the idea of a bodysuit covered with cushy foam looked like it'd work well, since you can easily shape the foam. Now with this idea, it'd probably be a better idea to have all of the foam seams flush with one another, right?

[Ani_BEE]

Well your base structure should be the same as if your making a mask out of anything else since the fur will distort the base shape the more definition you put into the structure the better.

So the only spherical shapes I see are on the cheeks. For the most part you may want to find a picture of the bone structure of a wolf since Amaterasu is really more like a wolf with clouds protruding from her joints and arms then base the structure of the head from that instead of guessing what it should be. Look at are your local book store and sketch a side, front and top view of the skull or head shots and base the dimentions of your structure on that.

As for the flame you can make it from fabric stuff it with cotton batting or foam and suspend it with a piece of 9 gauge wire running the length of the structure and have a harness that supports it from under your arms and comes out of your suit from where the head and body meet.

[Parrotfish100]

So as far as the fur goes... I think I've felt wolf fur before. Isn't it kinda coarse and long? Any recommended sites for buying this fake fur? I know the fabric store near here has kinda a bad selection of furs. funny, since the store is massive. -___-

[Draconargentum]

Just for the record, Parrotfish, I did beat you to the Okami Amaterasu idea. Came up with it about a month and a half ago. I haven't started construction on it, and probably won't until summer comes 'round, but yeah. That's that.

Anyway. I'm planning on going quadrupedal like Monoyasha's Kirara, with PVC pipe on my arms. I personally have a wolf for a pet, and as far as I can describe fur texture, there are two layers: the rough outer layer you described, commonly known as the guard hairs, and the thick, heavy, somewhat oily undercoat. I've also been puzzling over what to use to simulate fur similar to that, and I was thinking of white velour. It doesn't have the two layers, but it looks passable, in my opinion.

A problem that I'm going to have though, and that you might want to consider, is that of ventilation, whatever fabric you happen to use. I live where it routinely gets above 100 degrees in the summer, and very rarely below 65 in the winter. If you can come up with an idea to ventilate a full-body fursuit and are willing to share it, I could probably find a way to tweak it to fit for my own costume.

Good luck, by the way! Post lots of pictures!

[Ani_BEE]

What your looking for use imitations fox, rabbit or long hair shag wolf in white. The rabbit is the most natural looking/feeling but it’s really expensive your more likely to find white long hair at a fabric district or Joann.
http://www.denverfabrics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=31681&Category_Code=FR-solid&Product_Count=80 it’s not white but the length and thickness is the same as you want to fined.

I wish you guy’s luck!

[Parrotfish100]

dragon- fine... you beat me to it :p But I came up with my own idea *looks proud* (I didn't see it on the forums) ;) Geeze... you're going to try walking on all fours? Thats gonna be a pain...

White velour... ok. I'll check it out. Now for the face fur... thats a different length. Are there techniques for making the hair shorter? I saw one on a fursuit site, but I didn't understand it much... something about shaping it with a razorblade and gluing it to the face...

Ani_Bee- thanks for the site! I usually go to Joann stores, but they only have a few things of fur at the one near me... not much of a selection. the difficult thing to do is #1- finding the right fur... #2- finding in in pure white color :p I was going to dye a few parts to look like ink, but the majority needs to be white

[Ani_BEE]

I would say you can find it at Fabricland but that chain is only in Canada. I have two major fabric district near me one in Toronto and one in Hamilton.

I suggest doing a yellow pages web search for fabric stores to your closest major cities and if you get a high concentration of hits in a general area say one or two streets you’ve hit the jackpot.

Sometimes if you ask the store owner they can ordering the fur you want to buy. White and black shag are really popular so they tend to sale out faster then other fake furs.


Here’s a list of different fake furs. The shag is best for the body over all. But the fox has the short hairs.
http://www.big4fabrics.com/fakefur.html
You may be able to order a roll but I depends if you really need that much fur.

As for painting in black line I suggest to use fabric airbrush paint if you can find it that way if you airbrush the fur instead of paint it won’t flatten the hair out as badly. The brand I've found was Jacquard textile color.
http://www.dickblick.com/zz012/08/

[Aer]

I love their fur...

http://denverfabrics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=pomin

http://denverfabrics.com/pages/static/faux-fur-fabric.htm

I just got some of the microfiber fur and it's really nice. Years ago I ordered all my berserker rikku fur from them as well.
Not a lot of white in atm but they do get new stock frequently.

[Parrotfish100]

Here’s a list of different fake furs. The shag is best for the body over all. But the fox has the short hairs.
http://www.big4fabrics.com/fakefur.html
You may be able to order a roll but I depends if you really need that much fur.
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*squints* Too bad its so hard to see the length of the fur online X( Do you know what those "pile furs" are? Maybe that'd be good to use for a majority of the face fur... it looks shorter.

[MonoyashaJLA]

I'd suggest http://www.mendels.com/fur_solids.html
you can order 5 free swatches of fur to see what the texture and length of the fur is before you purchase any.
I think the (fox fur) is what your looking for, its about 3 inches long with shorter 2nd layer for fullness.

[Ani_BEE]

Kirara! *glomp*

Anyway looking at MonoyashaJLA costume it might be smarter to not paint the lines one but rather sew in black and red strips to give a cleaner line.

Since you have 5 swatch sample you can get the Fox in white to check the length that way you know what the black looks like in fox as well, then get a black and red Long Pile Shag as well as a black and red short Pile Shag.

Since the length is the same for Long and Short Pile Shag as the black and red you'll know what the white will look like that way you can chose based on the sample what red and black shag you want to use for the details since Fox doesn‘t come in cartoon red.

[Parrotfish100]

Ah, thanks for the site! I'm gonna ask for those free swatches to see the lengths and stuff...

Ok, ordered some swatches. I got samples of the Fox, Short fox, long pile shag, cubby bear, and seal (just cause they said its comfy ^___^). Lol, I won't use the Seal :p

Looks like the Fox ones are the way to go... but I don't know what to use for the face fur. Thats what I thought that 'cubby bear' might be ok for... it looked shorter.

[Parrotfish100]

I got my swatches in! It looks like the long Fox fur would be best. Is wolf fur really that long?

Only downside is, its kinda expensive...

For the face, it looks like the short fox fur would be best, but I'd still have to shave it down.

[Draconargentum]

About three inches? Yeah, Parrotfish, wolf fur (at least, the guard hairs) are about that long. I know this because all the fabric surfaces in my house is covered in it. -_-

[Parrotfish100]

You have a wolf? Awesome! They're illegal here... even wolf hybrids:bigcry:

Alright. I checked my dog's guard hairs and they're a little shorter, but thats cause she's a lab/german shephard mix... not a wolf :p

[azurelith]

cool. i wanna make an oki costume eventually ..... i saw the picture of kirara. i hope to make it somewhat like that. i would make him on all fours.

[azurelith]

i thought of one thing that would be sorta interesting if you did amateras. you know how she creates flowers/plants when she walks/runs? if would be interesting if you can get a vine/ flowers and attach it to your legs to trai around as you walk. my friend did something like that for halloween but she was a tree spirit, but anyway ...

[Draconargentum]

The only problem with that is that people would almost definitely step on the vines and could damage the actual costume. And the problem with ventilation still stands. Remember: velour, or most any furry material for that matter, doesn't breathe well and is a sponge for sweat. Then it matts and doesn't look so hot (pun unintended). Does anyone have any ideas for this, other than wear the costume during winter? -_-'

[azurelith]

The only problem with that is that people would almost definitely step on the vines and could damage the actual costume. And the problem with ventilation still stands. Remember: velour, or most any furry material for that matter, doesn't breathe well and is a sponge for sweat. Then it matts and doesn't look so hot (pun unintended). Does anyone have any ideas for this, other than wear the costume during winter? -_-'
yeah, this would be a problem with mine too

[Ani_BEE]

There are two solutions to this, one is the ventilation fans mentioned on the linked sites here and there are cooling vests.
http://www.1800mascots.com/accessories.php

If you can shell out the cash I recommend it.

[Fatkraken_]

heh, I'll be doing an Okami costume at some point (don't worry all you people getting proprietorial about "your idea", I'm in the UK so I don't count). Don't worry about it looking too cartoony, you can actually make quite a small, form fitting head quite easily

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v256/Fatkraken/kiba.jpg for example

how are you planning to do the shoulder fins and the swirly tail?

[lathspell]

Oh man, I really don't have anything important to say, other than I love your idea!! I would so glomp you, and I'm not the glomping type...well, maybe I would refrain myself...getting speared by chicken wire isn't exactly my idea of a good time.

[Mesoian]

Well, keep in mind, if you're doing this anthropomorphically...this is cross play.

[lithe-fider]

Aweee I wanted to do a on-all-fours Ammy too! X33 *idea popped into my head as I played the game* Thanks for the links everyone, very helpful! I wish you best of luck Dragonargentum and Parrotfish!! ^___^

I may still do it tho, even if you and others do it first....maybe I'll just do a on-all-fours Kyubimon *laugh*

[Fatkraken_]

in terms of fur length, remember than in animals, the hairs are quite stiff and are rooted and under muscular control. Faux fur is much softer and more likely to just lie flat. For example, the broad cheeks of a real wolf are almost entirely created by long fur, standing on end, when the actual flesh and bone of the head is very narrow and pointed. But when re creating that in a costume, you'd build up the cheek pads with foam or whatever and use a shorter fur, since fake fur would just mostly flop downwards and lie flat and would not give the dense, fluffy appearnece