3/12/07
So I covered the sides (in one continuous piece) and the top of the frame with 1/2 inch sheet foam. (The bottom has an adge of about three inches all around but is otherwise open.) The back is glued together at the top but open and overlapped a bit (like the plastic canvas) on the bottom half or so.
I made a pattern for the eyes and mouth on a piece of paper the same size as the face. I used an image of Mac from the Foster's sticker book, knowing that I neded him to have his mouth open and in the center. I didn't want an expression that was too extreme, though, but the mouth had to be big enough to see though. Since the eyes are so close to the mouth, I decided to make all three features viewports. I would have preferred an expression like the picture on the main page of this section, but it really does have to be open. The eyes are identical but I made the mouth deliberatly asymmetrical, higher on one side, to make it look...fun, and more like in the show.
This is what it looks like on me with the eyes and mouth cut out. After taking this picture I made the holes bigger by about a half inch all around - the fabric of the face will have smaller openings, the size of these in this picture. But I initially cut them this size in the foam so I could see just what it would look like later.
So then I made the eyes and mouth. They are made of white and black organza fabric, respectively. The eyes have small circles of black broadcloth for pupils, and are then covered with a piece of thin clear upholsery fabric (I thought making them shiny would look good). The mouth fabric is backed with a piece of window screen, and the tongue is Fun Foam. The shapes of these pieces don't really matter, as the face fabric will have the holes cut appropriately, that's why I just made them rectangles/squares. (And remember that the eyes will actually be smaller than these, I know the pupils look too small here.) Everything is glued with hot glue.
For stability, and to make the bottom edges more unform, the underside of the head is made up of a couple big sheets of Fun Foam, with an oversized neckhole, and a slit in the back to connect with the opening of the back of the head.
Here it is on me (remember that these shots are taken of myself in the bathroom mirror so this is opposite of the actual face). The visibility is pretty good. Right now you can sort of see me in there, but that's because there's a lot of light coming in through the foam and from the underside. When the whole thing is covered in fabric and the neck isn't open, it will be very dark inside and I will be much less visible.