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Jess-Bot — Paper mache elf ears
Published: 2012-02-13 15:17:40 +0000 UTC; Views: 6978; Favourites: 26; Downloads: 204
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Description
Elf ears I made out of paper mache for a friends coming up skyrim themed party, took me two and a half days but that was mostly drying time.Couldn't be bothered getting out my camera so heres a shit quality picture from my phone haha
Oh, also, I made the base using this fantastic and ingenious tutorial by FrealaF [link]
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Comments: 20
Great work ! I really need a pair of those for my elf cosplay, but all my tries were unsuccessful...
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I should probably a tutorial for them myself, but the only camera I have is a 3.2 MP phone camera. No good! What are you having trouble with?
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I want big long ears but they will be too heavy and hard to fix them on my real ears. I tried with paper clay on a structure made of metal wires, but it was long, too heavy, and I didn't how to fix them on my ears !
I should try your way, even if I fear that the big size of the ears will make it impossible too...
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If minimum weight is your goal, I suggest a subtractive approach (rather than building up, additive). Go to the hardware and find some sort of sturdy aerosol expanding foam. There's tonnes of different varieties, so just ask and they'll give you the best brand for your project. Then make a mold from a box of some sort, for really long but flat ears maybe an empty box of crackers or shoe box. Fill it up with the expanding foam, wait for it to set, and then carve the ear shape from them using exacto blades, kitchen knives, whatever you've got laying around. Some foams set quite solid, so for a smoother skin like texture take a fine grit sand paper and give it a once over. If you want to spend a little extra money and give it a more realistic appearance, you can add little details in latex!
I made some ram style devil horns using this approach, only I sprayed the foam directly onto a piece of wire so I could more easily attach it to a headband.
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Thank you ! I wasn't thinking about foam, yet it's a very good idea !
I already have some block of foam I bought, ready to use !
But one final question... How could I fix them on my ears ??
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Well if you're using foam, probably the best thing to do would be to carve out a slot on the inside of the ears for your natural ear to sit and then use spirit gum. Spirit gum might be a bit tricky to get if you don't live in the US, so if you are outside of the states it'd be best to buy it online like I did (I'm Australian). What kind of texture is the block of foam? Is it springy like mattress foam?
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Awwh, yes it exists in my country but it's very expensive ! I know I will use it once, just for the ears... so I think it would be a waste buying a entire bottle ! I think I will do as you said : carve out to sit my natural ears in, but then I will try some aluminium wires to fix the ears around my natural ears...
The complete name is 'extruded polystyrene foam', it is actually use for thermal insulation when building houses. Looks like a big flat block. Like 1m40x70. Mine is thick : 6cm, good to sculpt flat things like these ears !
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That's a pretty good idea! My paper ones stayed in place fine without anything to fix them, they just had a flat flap type thing for my ears, so I'm sure using wire will work!
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God, those ears are AMAZING! I would love to make them. I've got a question - which part of the tutorial did you follow? How exactly did you make them?
Because from what I know, paper mache is a mass made out of paper, so it's kind of different than paperroll...
I would really appreciate any tips
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Yep yep that's right! Kinda like when you sculpt something, generally you make an armature out of wire to give it some structure. So what I did was make the toilet-roll ears and use them as a base, to give it structure, then build upon that with paper mache. If you have the time and money I'd definitely recommend moulding the finished ears and making copies out of perhaps silicone. Better texture and better quality!
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Thank you for all the helpful tips! I assume that you've made them from the most difficult tp ears?
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Yes that is correct! Another tip, when you make them you have to wet the roll. So you should leave em to dry overnight then give em a coat of PVA glue and let that dry as well. Just so they're a nice n solid base for your paper mache.
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Love them! I'd like to make a pair for myself for my Zelda costume. Because the ones you can buy are just a bit out of my price range.
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I bought a $16 pair from the local costume shop, and they looked horrid. I was like "You know what, I can make better elf ears than this!" So I did! Haha. Well if you follow the tutorial I posted, you can pretty much paint those peach and have some pretty decent ears but I wanted mine to be more realistic.
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Awesome! Thanks! I'll have to try this out. XD
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Link me a picture when you're done! n_____n
and thanks for the fav haha
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