resin head furring (hot glue)

[Calun the Bat]

Alrighty, friendos!

So I've been making great progress with the DVC resin head I got for my partial/cosplay, and I'm at the point where I have my pattern transferred successfully to the fur. Now I'm at the point where I need to worry about attaching it all.

Some people lay foam over it all, some do partial foam for adjustments and customization, and some use just the plain blank.

For me, my needs leave the plain resin blank as the base.

Now, what I'm in need of help with is this; when hot glueing, does one hot glue along the edges of each part of the pattern pieces, or should I lay thin lines across the entire area it'll be laying?

I was under the assumption that thin lines under the pattern would be the way to do it, but after reading several tutorials, I'm a bit flummoxed. In hindsight, it LOOKS like people just line the pattern pieces with hot glue, and lay it down on the resin blank?

I'm so lost. 

[Nori]

Wheee I did the same thing.
     If your hot glue gun can do hi and low temp, go with high so that there's less bumps. I am paranoid, so I put the glue all over on the fur and splatted it on the head. The high heat also makes it cool slower, so you can move it around if its not at the right spot. If you don't have that option, then I'd just glue around the outside, and if there's any curves, glue around there too (like the inward curve where the tearducts are).
     I also did an experiment with mine, scratching the resin on one side and not the other. The side where I have grooves with my exacto-knife stayed better and was harder to pull up compared to the side without the scratches. Of course it doesn't really matter a while lot, since most people wouldn't walk up to you and try to rip your face off.
    Some also and sew or use some kind of machine stitch and sew the pieces together and put it on the blank like a sleeve, but I'd imagine that would work better for foam heads, since if it doesn't fit exactly right you can move the foam around.

Hope this helps a bit


How did the elastic work out?

[Calun the Bat]

Oh! Wonderful! I think I'm ready to proceed then! Yeah, my last glue gun was very basic, so I used it mostly on foam armor, but this new one should definitely do the trick for applying glue to it all, if not the edges at least. 

I agree about the foam heads and the sleeve, or mask style. I kind of considered it, but I also didn't see how it would be terribly well suited for a resin one.

And thanks very much, it definitely does help!

The elastic worked out quite well. In fact, due to the head's available space and shape, I ended up doing a single support strap, because the elastic bands I had were two inches wide, so it provided a LOT of coverage. I'm excited to get to furring the rest of the head, and then the separate neck piece!

[Nori]

Awesome! Mine still slides forward a bit too much, I have to tighten the elastic
I followed this video for the neck... might help a bit as well, unless you're doing your own thing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfO2ne7Mz2U

[Calun the Bat]

Oh, nifty! It's VERY similar to this simple and drawn tutorial that I found floating around. The video should make it even easier to work on!

[Nori]

Hehe, she does great tutorials... I'm gonna follow her method for most things when I make my foam head
Glad I could help!

[Calun the Bat]

 

I started the glueing of the fur today, and it's looking pretty good! For a first attempt, it's certainly quite good.

I'm pretty proud so far!

I'm excited to continue the build, but I need to keep my slow and steady pace. It's been serving me well so far!

I'd LOVE to get a proper and full fursuit for my bat fursona, but thanks to cost I'm prioritizing the 'cheaper' partial for this build. To be fair, it gives me great insight for when I get around to the build I care the most about!

Thanks again!

[Nori]

That's great! And heh, I just posted a clip of my bodysuit on here, if you wanted to look at a somewhat bat-thing.

[Calun the Bat]

I just watched the video. It looks fantastic!

[Nori]

Aww thanks!!
At least now I know what direction to sew the fur when i make my character. The ears and arms aren't on the right way.
ooo and if you have problems with the head slipping, gluing/sewing a balaclava to the resin head and the elastic works wonders!