I believe (from what I've heard people talking about lately) that Cosworx is currently out of just the plain red Punky. I can't remember if it's still available in the Punky XL...but either way, there is a Red/1TL (or 1/Red TL...I can't remember which way it goes), which is basically black roots with red tips, and resembles Axel's hair pretty well. You'd be safe with getting one of those, or if you wanted, you could wait until the Red ones are back in stock, and then color the roots by hand with a black or burgundy sharpie (or both).
The thing about the plain Red punky is that it tends to wash out to orange in some photos when taken in direct sunlight (as you can see in my avatar). But on the whole it photographs nicely.
When I style Axel, I always start from the top and work my way down - this means doing the front "crown" as I call it. I start with the front middle spike and work my way around the frame of the face, then I go back to the top and start with the body of the spikes. This is mostly because the shapes around Axel's face are the ones that are most unique to his character, and anything in back can basically be improvised.
When spiking, I section off the chunk I want, trim when neccessary using a zig-zag cut ("up and down" perpendicular to the direction of the fiber). If you cut straight across, the spike won't taper and will look, well...choppy. Once I've got the length I want, I use Got2BGlued Blasting Freezing spray and give it a good coat all the way around (but not too much to slick it down and make it heavy). I then use a little (emphasis on
little) bit of the Got2b Hair glue and use it to slick and hold the tips together. After that, I let the spikes dry. You
can use a hairdryer to speed the process up, but make sure it's on a LOW velocity, otherwise the force of the air will destroy your work. Personally, I like to let things airdry before moving on...it takes me a LOT longer to get through a wig than some people, but the results are worth it, I think.
As for not destroying the spikes when you put it on...as long as you don't yank on anything too hard, they should withstand to you getting into the wig. I generally hold it upside-down, carefully, and then sort of...duck my head into it. Adjust as needed and then go. I highly suggest getting some clips to sew into your wig...
Sally Beauty sells them as Extension Clips. Sew them along the hairline of the wig where they can easily clip onto your wig-cap...and they're a lifesaver. This way you don't have to worry about getting bobby or hair pins into your styled wig and potentially ruining pieces of it.
If, at some point, your spikes get damaged, you can easily wash the product out of the wig by soaking it in warm water with some generic shampoo (I've used kid's shampoo and something like Garnier Fructise daily shampoo, 'cuz that's all i had on hand at the time. Wig shampoo, of course, will work fine too). You'll have to probably rub at some parts to get it all out, but once most of it is out, just let it drip-dry (or blow dry it, but not too much heat), and then brush it out, and you can re-style it.
Getting spikes under a hood would be tricky...I generally don't worry about it because Axel rarely ever has his hood up. Your hood would have to be rather...large to accomodate the wig without having to worry about squishing it. So if it's not something you really need the costume to do, I'd just not worry about it, and plan to leave the hood down for the most part.
I hope that helped a little~
Also, I know there are a few threads about Axel's Wig, but I wasn't satisfied.
any ideas how I can look at it?
