Britta (LarpeR-Ning and DeviantArt http://poisonmilow.deviantart.com/) has carried out an ambitious large-scale project: 2 wolf-suits, a grey and a brown one. Shown here is the documentation of the evolution of the grey-white she-wolf “Youa” till july 2011:

The creature is no “werewolf” but a “beastman”; a non-human species. And because it is a “player- character” (contrary to NPSc; “non-player-characters”  working for the organisators of a game) I´m using the term “finished” only in a cautious and timid way like in “fully operational”: As impressive the outfit may look at this stage- costumes like this tend to constantly evolve and are never really “finished”.

The documentation is structured in the themes “mask”, “body”, “hands” and “feet”. The mask on the picture by the way is already the second one, but the building of the original wolf´s head is so interesting that it would be wrong not to show the pictures.

Ok, from here on Britta´s text (pictures can be enlarged via context-menu):

The mask

Above: Sculpted clay model of the mask. Inspired by some pictures on DeviantArt and after some talking with a friend I decided to attempt to build the mask by making a cast and using artificial resin.
Modelling with clay worked much better than expected and the idea of using crumpled-up aluminium foil as filler to save clay (and weight) proved a great piece of advice.
I deliberately elongated the snout and made it big, keeping in mind that the head´s final shape will be defined by the application of fur. The male wolf will also have recognizable masculine features.
The “eyes” you see in the pictures in the middle row are bouncy balls I used as substitution. I will later try making follow-me-eyes from resin.

“Follow-me-eyes” are built in a way that the pupil is set in a recessed point of the eyeball. Done the right way this creates the disturbing effect that the eyes seem to follow an observer´s movements: the mask “lives”.
Alex

Above: Latex- cover of the clay sculpture
To get a precise cast that is also slightly flexible (and hopefully leaves the original intact) I first applied a layer of a latex-flour-mixture.
I just blended latex and flour in a bowl until it had the consistency of cake dough and slathered it onto the clay-sculpture using my hands and a spatula. It was surprisingly easy and the mixture comes off the hands just fine.
To obtain a mask from the casting form the outer hull has to be strengthened. I will use plaster for this purpose. To connect the outer plaster- shell with the latex- cast I inserted small “anchors” (dried- up leftovers from the latex- pot) into the latex while it was still soft.
I recommend to have about one litre of latex ready for making the cast. I used about 1/2 litre but feel that the brow- area could have been strengthened a little more. I took special care to fill the eyeholes so that no plaster gets in there which would impede the separation of the positive and negative casts.

Above: Plaster cast to stabilize the soft latex- shell.
The latex- shell from the last picture would be way too flexible to cast the final mask from because when taken off the model it will not hold its shape. That´s why a hard outer shell is needed. I used plaster- bandages for this purpose. For this mask I needed five but for the slightly bigger one of the male wolf six.
For easier detaching from the model I made the plaster- cast in two halves: First I covered the right half of the latex- cast in plaster. When it was dry I put strips of aluminium- foil on the ridges to separate the halves of the mask, then plastered the second half.
Let the plaster dry well- at least until it cools down. In this case one night proved sufficient.

The term “linothorax” originally describes a pre-medieval form of upper- body-armour made of layers of linen bonded and strengthened with glue. We know this.
But nowadays the word is more and more being used to describe the material in itself (namely a cloth/ glue- maché).
This transformation of the meaning of a word is termed “neologism” or “morphologic derivation”. To get into a fret about it is called “a waste of time and energy”.

The material is very well suited for mask- building. It is either modelled onto a positive sculpt (with the convenience that one doesn´t have to build a negative casting- mould) or - like here- worked into a negative casting shell made of a sculpt. This has the advantage that the original is replicated very precisely.
Alex

The latex/ dough- shell detached very easy; only the nose got a small rip.
The nature of the material although took for a long time to dry- the nose was still wet when I took off the shell and it lost a few layers. No problem either because I´ll use a separately- built nose of latex or sculpting- clay anyway.
Next time though I´ll cover the whole sculpt with latex and dough; I let a few parts come into direct contact with the plaster and also didn´t apply vaseline onto the sculpt as a separating agent before making the cast. That´s why some plaster stuck to the mask when I took it out of the shell. I can live with that too because later fur will be applied.

Now to cut out  and clean the mask prior to adding joints and foam.

It all worked out really well. The gums are stable and look good.

Now to the mistakes I made:
1. In the first try I made the gums too broad and set them too low into the jaw. So I cut off a piece of the mask and rebuilt the gum.
2. I used the wrong “hardener”, making the cast gooey and useless.

But the technique itself works well and I look forward to using it in further projects.

Above:
Eyes
The eyes are made of 2 halves casted in the form of a painter´s palette. The separation agent to be able to get the shapes out of the casting- form has to be good or the shapes will stick. I also molded in an LED (light emitting diode) per eye which are only barely visible when the eyes are painted.
Then the eyes were glued in (remember to solder the cables of the diodes first) and I sculpted eyelids with air- drying modelling clay.

Jaws
The jaw mechanism is similar to the okld one and also has moving chaps that retreat when the mouth opens. In thge version above on the right the nosebridge is a little too massive and the nose itself looks too prominent. I changed that.
I think I´ll work with this mask and adjust the proportions using carved foam. The next mask will have a slimmer nose.
For the stirrup around the upper jaw I used an aluminium strap. The chaps are made of thin foam mats that I latexed to get the right look. Two layers of cloth connect the chaps with the aluminium stirrup and the nose bridge. To smoothen the edges I used fleece liner.
The final form of snout and nose bridge was achived by adding another layer of foam that was then carved and smoothened with scissors and a flexion wave tool.

Nose
The nose was first sculpted with air- drying clay. Then I made a mould from latex and casted the positive shape. It was coloured with acrylics and sealed with Isoflex. This makes the lose look “wet” and protects it.
But perhaps I´ll sculpt it again with slightly different proportions.

Above: Ears
The mask can do big ears with the help of two servos. First I drilled holes in the top of the head which host most of the servos´ bulk. The motors are fixed with hot glue. On the servos I attached aluminium tubes. The picture shows the first test; later I used a disk as support and bend the alu-tube in hook- form for better fit. The rest of the ear´s flexible shapes as are made of foam rubber.
Then I furnished the ears with cloth and coated the insides with red- coloured latex. The latex again was painted with acrylics and sealed with Isoflex.

On the last picture the mask is wrapped up in tape from which the paper patterns for the application of fur will be made.

Further changes are the sides´ foam reinforcements and more modelling clay arond the eyes to create a more wolf- like look.

The next step is fur.

Above: Fur
The paper pattern for the required fur parts was made using tape and clingfilm to roughly determine the required shapes.  Then I glued them onto the mask using Pattex Transparent and hot glue.
I took out the servos again because I don´t really like the mask but have no more time to make another one before the events I intend to wear the costume at. I´ll install them into version 3.0.
I also redid the nose- the first one was too small.
The fur now has to be dressed, trimmed and coloured.

Above, right side
The finished parts until mow: Mask, upper body, tail, gloves. Legs are still missing.

Above:
Sat down yesterday for a hour and started to paint the head with bristle brushes and acrylics.

For my taste the head is too big in relation to the body. I also think the space between nose and mouth is too big. Unfortunately these are things I will only be able to correct in version 3.0.

But I like the way the colours take shape. The mask benefits from the new contours. They also  take away much of the plush look.

This is the state of the project until march 2011.
The documentation shows fair and square the straits, troubles and difficulties one has to contend against to produce a result- up to the most radical of all problem solutions: new construction.
Nobody is spared this (see for example my heavy egyptian armour). But nevertheless not one of these “unsuccessful” attempts is in vain- they all are ways well suited to travel and serve as tutelage and inspiration.
When you scratch build “things” as complicated as these yourselves you will know the phenomenon: you have to learn to love your creatures, for they are but a weak portrayal of what you had in mind originally.
But in honesty: take a look at the solemn, dignified face of the wolf above left- objektively it is quite far from “unsuccessful”.
Alex

The body

For a good a fit as possible I sewed a covert zip on one side under the arm. This makes it possible for me to get into the costume all by myself which was important for me.
The coattail- like bottom under the tail is held together with velcro tape.
Maybe I´ll also connect the jacket (upper body) with the trousers (legs) using velcro but I´ll make these connections when both pieces are finished.

The next step will be to trim the fur and then colour it. I want a light grey wolf and the thought of producing a good gradient using only brushes and paint makes me tremble a little. I don´t have access to an airbrush- set but I think if I work meticulous the other technique will do.

Above: Tail
First I cut the tail´s approximate shape out of a newspaper. Then I transferred it onto the artificial fur (again: pay attention to the fur´s nap (the direction the hairs point in) and sewed it together.
As inlay I used an about 80-cm-long piece of garden hose. Later I cut off about 15 cm because the tail looked too fox- like.
I glued twirled florist´s wire with hotglue into the hose´s end and used this to attach it to a piece of leather.
The small screws and the white cord are a test to make the tail movable respectively tense it a little later. It moves not quite as I intended but anyway I don´t want a real “moving tail” because these look too cat-like.
The tail is stuffed with tailor´s filling fleece. Previously I attached the tail´s fur ends at lugs I glued onto the hose with hot glue to prevent the hose from warping inside the construction. Thus, the fur stays in place.
The pictures show the first version (I really need a big mirror). It looked too much like a fox´s tail but because shortening is easier than extending I could unstitch the thing and shorten it a bit. The final shape is much more suitable for a wolf.

The claws

Then the fingertips and knuckles were added working from finger to finger. With the second hand I´ll first do all fingertips, then all knuckles; this seems to be the faster way to do it.
For the tips I principally built a box around my fingertip that on the underside has two layers of foam. Then I glued a thin strip of foam around the claw and carved it with nail scissors. The flexion wave tool proved too fast-turning and uncontrollable for the purpose.

The knuckles were made in a similar way with double layers of foam on top and single layers at the sides. A small piece was added towards the high part to smoothen the blending.

The look that emerged is a positive surprise for me. The fingers´ slightly spread position is at first a little unfamiliar but I soon got used to it.

The firmness but also flexibility of the claws is sufficient enough to use them as weapons InTime but they are also suitable for picking up a pencil. The buildup of the fingertips takes away a little of the fine motor skills but I wore the claw yesterday while making cappucino or cereal and look forward to further tests when both claws are finished.

Now I just have to treat them a little with silicone. The next step will be the application of fur.

Surely one can use a kind of paper pattern for the fur coverings but I accepted waste of material and just glued the fur onto the back of the glove. Looked quite muppet- like...
Then I cut off more and more, all the while glueing further. In a few places I also fixed the fur with some stitches.

I want to wear protectors under the fur so the gauntlets mustn´t be too tight. To prevent slipping out of place they need a rubber inlay at the top.
I pondered the problem of attaching the rubber for a while until Hana had the ides of sewing a tunnel and putting the rubber bands in it. To hinder it from twisting I attached it on one point inside the gauntlet. Thus it is fixed but also changeable and adjustable.

To close the gauntlet I first dressed the protectors, then fixed the fur around the arms with pins and marked the seam with a pencil. Then I sewed the fur together inside out and - after testing the fit- cut off the surplus fur.

Many would stop now what I consider a mistake.
Left picture, lower row: Preliminary trimming of the fur.
I used ligature scissors for it- normal ones would have made my fingers falling off but with this tool it all went smoothly.

I shortend the hairs between and on top of the fingers. Later I will probably also shorten the fur on the back of the hand but this can be done only with the upper body completed.

At this point I again thought of stopping, but for the like of the look I decided to proceed and also put fur onto the palm of the hand.
The long fur has the disadvantage that white threads are woven into the carrier cloth which are visible when the fur is cut too short; which I did at the edges.
Also during the test- phase (yes; cappucino- making) i noticed that when grasping things I mostly use the padded areas.

So I took short black plush- fur that is mounted on black cloth this time and glued it onto the palms around the pads.
The plush has made the paws a little stiffer but now they look much more realistic.

The feet

They impair walking only slightly and running is also possible, but after the Role-Playing-Convention and about 3 hours photoshooting in a forest I had to reattach the toes. The fur nevertheless hold them together so I will probably keep the construction that way and only cohere the toes with a strap of leather.

I am astonishingly satisfied with the feet and also like the way they blend into the suit.

Above and below: First test

Me again:

In the meantime the she-wolf has absolved several performances. For more pictures here´s a link to one of Ralf Hüls´galleries. There´ll be no better pictures like these...
http://kamerakata.de/gallery/v/larp/sonst/mannwolf/ .

Above: Drachenfest 2011

Meanwhile one can meet the wolves in the gameworlds- which doesn´t mean they are finished. As character- players (no NPCs) they and their equipment constantly evolve.

And Britta´s documentation and description of the working techniques is as comprehensive as one would wish.
Thank you very much!
Alex