Bird 'Kin

Muir

Fighter
So. I've been kicking the idea of playing a red-tailed hawkkin around for a decade or so now, but have had absolutely zero luck when it comes to figuring out a good way to do the makeup. It will absolutely need a beak so as to be very visibly not a Biata, but none of the options I've found are really spectacular.

Anyone else ever seen one done well, or played one yourself and have suggestions?

I know northfur/lyonshell do a beak prosthetic, but it doesn't look like it would really stand up to fighting and full event wear well enough to be practical for the cost.
 
I would go with a mask, honestly. I've thought about doing a bird kin before and I think that's the best way to make it work for me at least (I have difficulty with prosthetics on my face). It works particularly well for birds since they have pretty static faces anyway - all the expression is in the eyes/pupils, feathers lifting or smoothing (impossible to rep), vocalizations, beak gaping or clacking, and body language.

Magpie Bones does great work though you have to wait for an opening and then jump on it because those commission slots fill up fast. The larp masks are super comfortable. http://www.magpiebones.com/portfolio.html

There's also stuff like this: https://www.etsy.com/listing/241266746/bird-beak - it looks like they might be open to custom work.

Falcon Moon Studios also does absolutely incredible leather bird mask work and takes custom orders. Example: http://www.falconmoon.com/iridescentgryphonmask.html

Bird skull resin mask blank, you'd need to cover it with feathers or such - https://www.etsy.com/listing/184685617/bird-skull-masquerade-diy-resin-blank
 
I have a new bird of prey mask im doing the first of up right now... but yeah im not open till the start of next year... but if you can hang in there till then!

OR, if you dont want stuff on your face, go nuts with other aspects of bird. Think harpey, think mutant, tails, scales on the hands and feet, psuedo wings on the arms, and go nuts with feathrs on the head in a way that biata just dont have.

http://img01.deviantart.net/e5a6/i/2012/320/c/7/raven_harpy_by_k_einess-d5l65am.jpg (except dont impede your hands)
http://orig13.deviantart.net/2afc/f/2010/172/b/6/lafetefatale_no_6___harpy_3_by_poisonmilow.jpg (good design for the arms for larp)

http://img04.deviantart.net/5714/i/2005/349/4/0/raven_costume_by_ladybloodflower.jpg (springboard for headpiece concept)
http://julietsound.deviantart.com/art/the-irrational-bird-275477681 POOF
http://ashitaro.deviantart.com/art/Rise-of-Guardians-Tooth-Fairy-FACE-ART-342788154 More headpiece concept


For on-the-face makeup, conceivably you could skip the beak, but imply a yellowing at the lop and intensivy your eyes by emphasizeing your browns, or similar to biata ( final result will be obviously different because the rest of the costume works with you to make it different in an obvious way from Biata), use feathers on your brow or on a headpiece to drop your brow down, giving you kindof a permenently angry or intense look. (like a hawk)

Point is, you will not be mistaken for biata if you just go nuts with the theme ALL OVER, and make sure you have a set of wings and a tail at the least.
 
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It's a thought. I'm trying to avoid going too all out on the feathers simply because I fight hard. It'd be a pain to wreck my painstaking costuming every event by breaking all the feathers in the dirt.

Beautiful examples there, though! I was definitely thinking elbow length gloves done up with scaling like a raptor's feet would be a great look.
 
On the other hand- that might work for the character. So long as the supportive parts of the costume pieces are well made, the feathers being ratty might not be a bad look for a battered warrior... might be preening just isnt his thing. I will say they can actually take more beating than people think but the trick is choosing the right feathers. Goose wing and body feathers are probably the best bet, they have the greatest combination of flex and strength.
 
I have had the idea of a Crow-kin bouncing around in my head for a while, personally a half mask is what I'm planning on going with. The issue there is most bird masks that you see have a hooked predator's beak. The other thought was not using real feathers other then on the mask, either having the suggestion of feathers through embroidery on the clothing or having feathers made out of leather or felt or something like that.
 
Also real feathers can be done pretty sturdily depending how you do them. For tail or anything where the feathers are going to be big and protrude from the costume, I'd definitely stick with fabric or leather or whatever - but I did a few iterations of feather bracers for an old character, and the method could be used for other garments too. The bracers are still kicking around after several events of being beaten on and then being donated to NPC camp, and the feathers are still attached and intact. Basically this is for anything where having the feathers flush to the garment is desired.

I recommend using strung rooster coque as it's cheap and the feathers are very bendy, so they don't break like stiff feathers do. Strung coque is better than loose because it's already on a string or ribbon, making it easier to work with. (You don't want to place feathers individually. It's an absolute pain.) I got black dyed rooster coque (great for corvids; birds of prey would be better with natural) by the yard on cord/thick string years ago. Can't find it exactly the same now, but I just received an order from moonlightfeather.com of strung feathers and they're really, really nicely strung on sewn ribbon which will be even easier to work with.

Lay your outermost string of feathers out on the fabric. Glue it on with hot glue at the lower part of the feathers but above the ribbon. Use a thin layer on the fabric, don't go too thick, then press the feathers on. (I'm sure there is better glue for this purpose but hot glue works). After the glue has dried, take a stripe of plain half or quarter inch ribbon just above the feather ribbon and sew it over the feathers and ribbon. There should be a zig-zag stitch on your sewing machine - sew it one way then sew back across so that the zigzag intersects. You want a nice wide reinforcement. I used contrasting thread because I was making these as decorative, but the same color thread would probably be better for something intended to be bird parts.

Then add the next layer of feathers overtop and below the first layer, so that the first layer sticks out from under the second layer but the second layer overlaps the ribbon. Repeat the hot glue/ribbon/sewing step. Keep adding layers until your base material is covered with feathers. Then either leave the last layer of ribbon exposed, add decorative ribbon, add felt/leather/cloth feathers, or whatever you want to do to disguise that last layer.

I someday want to do a cloak or cape like this but it will be soooo expensive. Someday. The original bracer attempt only had the feathers glued on, and they came off so easily. I also tried hand sewing and it was awful, didn't look good, and took forever. Sewing them on with a machine and adding ribbon overtop after also gluing them on was much more stable and secure.
 
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