Raptor Costume - Design 1

Premise:
For a few years now I have wanted to make a suit similar in concept to those of the 'baby-zillas' from the 1998 Godzilla movie, in particular based on the following pre-production images: [link] and [link] (Images are © Tatopolous Studios)

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Overview:
(don't mind my chicken scratches please)

Here Are two approaches to getting jaw movement transferred effectively from the jaw of the wearer, to the jaw of the creature. Both are inspired by that used in This video: [link]

The important feature here is that the jaw is not connected directly to that of the wearer as in many traditional Fursuits. One could argue that using a wire to transfer the motion is too complicated, but consider this: a human jaw can only comfortably open about 15-20°. I want this jaw to be able to open to at least 3 times that range. To accomplish this one needs some kind of a gearing mechanism. However using actual gears is limiting, as to change the gear ratio you need to switch out gears. Thus the easiest approach is using a wire and then attaching it to the creature's jaw closer or further from the pivot point, allowing you to fine tune how much the jaw of the creature moves relative to that of the wearer.

In both of these designs, like in the video, a kind of fiberglass helmet is used as the base, and the whole design is made out of light composite materials such as fiber glass or carbon fiber combined with lightweight foam.


Design 1
The first design is effectively bolted to the head. while simple and effective, I feel that this design would feel very stiff when ' performing'.


Design 2
The second design is more elaborate, and just for shit'n'giggles I added a camera/HMD and sensory augmentation system, like those featured in the work of LionOfTheSun Productions: [link]

The main difference from the first is that the head is actually on a pivot, which would allow for the head to stay more level when leaning (see small diagram), and so would create a more dynamic and, in my opinion, more realistic result. To keep the distance the wire spans constant during this motion it has to go through, or as close as possible to the pivot point, circle around and connect in the back of the jaw. This might not be the most effective way of doing it, but I'm certain it could work.



More to follow.

Sketches/Designs © jo-shadow