I have, I believe, finalised my ears. My previous post discussed why I want sticky-out Toggenburg ears, and this is what I aimed at.
A YouTube video suggested using Sculpey, which is a low-temperature oven-fired clay. Basically, model in clay, stuff it in the oven at 120°C for 20 minutes, and the finished product is hard but slightly flexible. As latex or other plastic doesn't seem to be available where I live, I thought I'd give the Sculpey a go.
First I made a pattern from newspaper, then an armature out of tinfoil in the same shape. The flat shape is basically a quarter-circle with the pointy end cut off. When it's rolled up, the conical ear shape is formed.
Mindful of the weight of the clay, I rolled a sheet as thin as I dared, and put one sheet of clay each side of the tinfoil. Then I made the other ear, and put them in the oven.
And here's the result. The Sculpey is 'Terracotta' flavour, which is pretty good even without painting, but some fur on the outside would still be required.
I stuck the ears on to a plastic headband under my wig, and then discovered a fundamental problem.
They're miles too big.
What looks in proportion on a Toggenburg goat is ludicrously wide when applied to a human head!
In addition to aesthetic considerations, these clay ears are way too heavy. They bounce around, swing almost independently of head movement, and eventually break the headband.
So I trimmed them down to a more sensible size, and got another headband.
The trimmed-down ears were a great improvement. They were still a bit heavy, and the tinfoil was now visible along the trimmed edge, but I dealt with that with some fur on the outside rear surface.
Irritatingly, these Mk II ears still proved too heavy, and the headband broke. Again. I clearly needed to find a lighter solution.
This is what I came up with. The same cone shape as before, but cut out of black fur, and with grey short-hair fur inside, all stuck together with Elmer's Glue-All. Once the glue had gone off, they held their shape quite nicely. I inserted the folded end of a wire coathanger between the fur layers, and stitched the other end of this into the skullcap of the wig. Now the ears were posable, and permanently attached to the wig.
I stitched some black fur around the sides and back of the wig so that my actual human ears were completely covered, I ensured that the goat ears fell exactly over my earholes, and adjusted the angles so that they looked natural.
As a final piece of set-dressing, I added an ear-ring that I found in the needlework box.
A YouTube video suggested using Sculpey, which is a low-temperature oven-fired clay. Basically, model in clay, stuff it in the oven at 120°C for 20 minutes, and the finished product is hard but slightly flexible. As latex or other plastic doesn't seem to be available where I live, I thought I'd give the Sculpey a go.
 |
| Ears Mk I |
First I made a pattern from newspaper, then an armature out of tinfoil in the same shape. The flat shape is basically a quarter-circle with the pointy end cut off. When it's rolled up, the conical ear shape is formed.
Mindful of the weight of the clay, I rolled a sheet as thin as I dared, and put one sheet of clay each side of the tinfoil. Then I made the other ear, and put them in the oven.
And here's the result. The Sculpey is 'Terracotta' flavour, which is pretty good even without painting, but some fur on the outside would still be required.
I stuck the ears on to a plastic headband under my wig, and then discovered a fundamental problem.
They're miles too big.
What looks in proportion on a Toggenburg goat is ludicrously wide when applied to a human head!
 |
| Ears Mk I are too long and too heavy |
In addition to aesthetic considerations, these clay ears are way too heavy. They bounce around, swing almost independently of head movement, and eventually break the headband.
So I trimmed them down to a more sensible size, and got another headband.
 |
| Ears Mk II. Shorter is better |
The trimmed-down ears were a great improvement. They were still a bit heavy, and the tinfoil was now visible along the trimmed edge, but I dealt with that with some fur on the outside rear surface.
Irritatingly, these Mk II ears still proved too heavy, and the headband broke. Again. I clearly needed to find a lighter solution.
This is what I came up with. The same cone shape as before, but cut out of black fur, and with grey short-hair fur inside, all stuck together with Elmer's Glue-All. Once the glue had gone off, they held their shape quite nicely. I inserted the folded end of a wire coathanger between the fur layers, and stitched the other end of this into the skullcap of the wig. Now the ears were posable, and permanently attached to the wig.
 |
| Ears My III. Lightweight |
I stitched some black fur around the sides and back of the wig so that my actual human ears were completely covered, I ensured that the goat ears fell exactly over my earholes, and adjusted the angles so that they looked natural.
As a final piece of set-dressing, I added an ear-ring that I found in the needlework box.
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