Thread: Wolf from an animated Christmas deer

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I pretty sure the Van Dykes eyeballs have flat backs to them. I don't know if you could back light them. I think these look great. Come as a pair.

Coyote/Wolf/Fox , North American, Glass Eyes at Van Dykes Taxidermy

And this might come in helpful too. How to Use Sychron Eye Capsules

They also do custom eyes: Van Dyke's Custom Eyes

Here's a taxidermy tutorial on setting eyes into taxidermy body forms that might give some of you some ideas: How to Set Mammal Eyes Using Van Dyke's Clay Gun BTW you can see the back side of an eye getting ready to be placed in one of these pictures.

Anyone out there dabble in taxidermy?

I'll get some updated pics of mine soon. I've been working on it off and on.
My mask had eye holes and I just used a needle and thread to sew up the eye holes (from the inside of the mask). Worked great.
I've got some mouth animation going also. Not hard to do. I'll try to post a pic of my setup,
Here's the mask I'm using. I got it a couple of year ago at K-mart (this is after I sewed the eye holes shut):

Originally Posted by Ghost of Spookie

I pretty sure the Van Dykes eyeballs have flat backs to them. I don't know if you could back light them. I think these look great. Come as a pair.

Coyote/Wolf/Fox , North American, Glass Eyes at Van Dykes Taxidermy

And this might come in helpful too. How to Use Sychron Eye Capsules

They also do custom eyes: Van Dyke's Custom Eyes

Here's a taxidermy tutorial on setting eyes into taxidermy body forms that might give some of you some ideas: How to Set Mammal Eyes Using Van Dyke's Clay Gun BTW you can see the back side of an eye getting ready to be placed in one of these pictures.

Anyone out there dabble in taxidermy?

Does stuffing a thanksgiving turkey count? This is helpful eye info. I have several masks to adapt for our little backyard haunted trail - and finding a source for eyes that can be illuminated is great! Thanks so much.... and .... BOO!

Originally Posted by HallowSusieBoo

Does stuffing a thanksgiving turkey count? This is helpful eye info. I have several masks to adapt for our little backyard haunted trail - and finding a source for eyes that can be illuminated is great! Thanks so much.... and .... BOO!

Turkey! LOL. Just so you didn't misunderstand what I posted about the Van Dyke source, I don't know if those can be back lit. I'll try to call them tomorrow and find out though and report back.

DaveintheGrave, love your prop head. It's coming along really well. Those eyes! Look forward to see the head animated. What color fur did you end up buying BTW? Thanks for your update.

Thanks, Spookie! I'll try to get some pics/vid of it.
I ended up buying this gray fur from E-bay. It's REALLY well made and I think I have enough to make 3 or 4 wolves :
3 Yard Lots of Gray Faux Fur fabric NICE Made in Japan - eBay (item 270454875042 end time Oct-10-09 19:14:33 PDT)

Surprisingly it even matches the fur on the mask I'm using. Kind of light gray on top, with black fur underneath.

Thanks for the recomendation - I just bought the same fur off ebay! Where did you get the mask/Did you post a pic of it yet? I'd love to get it now & not wait for the fur to come and match it.

Thanks again!

D

Don't know about DaveintheGrave's mask (he said he bought it a few years back from Kmart and they don't sell this one any more), but Spirit Halloween sells one (comes with hands). If you go for the Spirit one, look for the coupon posted on the forum to save you a little money.

Grey Wolf Mask with Hands in Accessories, Wigs, Masks, Hats, & Makeup Halloween Masks Classic Character Masks


Around the same price from Amazon and others: [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Grey-Wolf-Mask-Halloween-Prop/dp/B002AC2BMQ/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=miscellaneous&qid=1253300733& sr=8-6]Amazon.com: Grey Wolf Mask Halloween Prop NEW: Everything Else[/ame]

Going up in price: [ame=http://www.amazon.com/Scary-Wolf-Howling-Costume-Mask/dp/B000OIMXM6/ref=sr_1_22?ie=UTF8&s=apparel&qid=1253300801&sr=8-22]Amazon.com: Scary Big Bad Wolf Howling Costume Mask: Apparel[/ame]

Here's another gray wolf mask (double the price however):

Grey Wolf Mask - The ABoyd Company


You might also be able to save money by picking up the Target or Kmart brown masks ($13) and paint it gray. I bought a brown one and will most likely paint it black. Alternatively, Halloweenmart sells this white one ($20) through Amazon you could do the same thing with (this might be a nice pick if someone buys the white fur from JoAnne's): [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Forum-White-Wolf-Mask/dp/B000IUUP0M/ref=sr_1_39?ie=UTF8&s=apparel&qid=1253301067&sr=8-39"]http://www.amazon.com/Forum-White-Wolf-Mask/dp/B000IUUP0M/ref=sr_1_39?ie=UTF8&s=apparel&qid=1253301067&sr=8-39[/ame]

I saw the wolfman mask at target and at k-mart.

Originally Posted by zleviticus

I saw the wolfman mask at target and at k-mart.

I just saw it at Walmart.

Originally Posted by Dragonomine

I just saw it at Walmart.

Dragonomine was it gray though? The werewolf mask I saw at Walmart last night and online was brown not gray. I think the person who bought the gray fur was hoping to find a somewhat matching gray mask like DaveintheGraves.

BTW I dug through our garage and found a deer to use for my wolf prop yesterday. I could have sworn I bought the one from Big Lots last year (even remember being in another town going to get it) but the box I had said Walmart. So either there's another one somewhere or I'm totally confused about it. The Walmart one is actually nicely constructed with sturdy metal framing. The lights were a cinch to take off since they had these little recessed clamp areas to connect to the wire and they lifted off easily. Didn't have to worry about the antlers or tail either. The motor on it is really quiet. I assembled him, plugged him in and threw my wolf mask over his head. Left him on for a number of hours to see if there would be any problems. All is a go. This deer has an upright head and turns it side to side. My hubby came home, looked at it and asked if he could take it to the office. hehe. Later I could swear I saw him pet the thing on his head...I might have to guard this prop with my life. I'm still looking into what eyes to use on him (the ones he has or others) and hope to settle on some this weekend. Need to measure the mask to see how much space I have to work with. I'm also debating on how to turn my brown mask black. Don't want rush into anything so may take some time to mull it over and work on another project in the meantime. We did pick up a speaker jack for my white haired Spirit Ball guy at Radio Shack last night. I've seen my husband eyeing that prop too...