Gargoyle Stilts, a more delicate stilt example

[Pootsforever]

i'm not sure if you added the skin to this commission or sent them with just the wooden frame, but how would you go about adding bird skin to this? your tutorials tell me how to fur stilts for a werewolf design but i need to add crow skin for my stilts. i'll probably come up with something but i'm wondering what you think.

[gryphern]

@Pootsforever Well, Poots, for regular or stretch fabric, make a careful foam sculpture of the shape of the leg over the wood frame. Glue (or sew them pull over) panels or sheets of your fabric to the foam. You can buy a scaly fabric or you can paint a plain fabric.

[TakaS013]

U made those?

[kikkin55]

cool but ima get powerrisers for my werepyre costuem so i can run n jump high n fast :D

[IAMFLAKY1]

how did the costume go? I really want to see it >w<

i noticed you never posted a pic of it.

[blackninjakat]

I'm looking to make a Gargoyle costume for halloween (based on that old "Gargoyles" show), but you say these are only for 115 pounds. I weight 135, and I'm worried they would break if I were to follow the blueprint.

[gryphern]

@blackninjakat Check the ones I built for Ben for the werewolf costume, and read the how-to book I link to (there's a video with the links to it.) These are super dainty, but fine for your weight range. if you look at the stilts for 200 pound Ben then you see thicker boards and larger support triangles.

[TheDarkone1111]

yikes ! ... that looks painful to wear ... but it looks cool =]

[gryphern]

@TheDarkone1111 Yikes are unfounded! The really tall stilts are when comfort becomes an issue -- muscle fatigue is a huge issue with tall stilts. Short stils are like wearing comfy pumps, you can go all day.

[Neighsayer24]

it looks like you kinda have to walk strangely in those so the toes don't get caught on the ground...

[anthrocrane]

@Neighsayer24 You do. I made a pair according to the Werewolf stilts, and you have to walk almost straight up and down to not trip or catch the toes on anything.

[XxPKxX]

These look great. I'm trying to find really detailed information on how to make custom digitigrade legs for a fursuit, however, I'm only finding ones that add an immense amount of height to the wearer. Do these add a lot of height to the wearer? I'm a 5'2" 115lb female, and the character I'm hoping to make is actually 5' even, but I am willing to be up to 5'6" if I have to. Is this possible using your method? I'd really not be any taller than that. Thanks so much!

[eddgr]

hey man thank's for the idea .

[joeloveshisshoes]

nice high heels

[drayygon]

This is the type of thing I'm looking to make for myself, as to have some digigrade hindpaw boots. Question I got though is, if I missed out the additional calf strap piece you included, would that put additional strain on my legs etc while walking and so forth?

I ask this as I intend to take fur material up from the foot to cover the shin area as I'm looking to make a partial suit with exposed lower legs.

Would you maybe suggest foam on the inside of the fur to conceal the calf strap?

[gryphern]

The risk without the leg calf brace (or in some design calf and thigh brace) is your ankle. With a calf brace if you fall, trip, or your stilt get caught, your knee, ankle, and foot all get a little bit of the strain. Without the calf brace your ankle takes all the stress of a fall or twist. Think high-heel shoe vs. medical leg braces. For skin-tight calf braces it's a question of technical skill and equipment (fiber glass, epoxy impregnated sheets, vacuum formed plastic, etc.)

[Nafertus]

Pretty awesome! ^^

About how long are you able comfortably to stand/walk on these? Seems like they'd rapidly get uncomfortable.

[semipessimistic]

so for a dainty gargoyle leg how would you cover it? gargoyles don't have fur and most material isn;t as forgiving as fur.

[gryphern]

attach smooth material at the center of a muscle bulge, cut, stretch and attach until it reaches the edge of the bulge, where there are indents. This is how surgeons do plastic surgery on the face--hide your seams where wrinkles are or shapes meet.

[gigaburgerer]

Yes but u nerdy people have to have a muscle to be able bulge to do that :D

[RedDrag0n414]

very awesome feet, I love them, but is there any way to make then not so tall or bulky in the leg area?I am not trying to critisize your work, I am making a dragon costume for halloween, as you prolly guessed, LOL, and the body is just going to be a full body unitard with scales glued on the back, with a dragon mask, golves and the wings, and I need feet like those, but not so big in the leg and not so tall.

[gryphern]

As long as you choose an appropriate metal you can heat, hammer, then quench it into a shape that fits the leg closely. If you don't do radical shaping you could hammer metal to fit your leg contours without heat and water, just make sure you're not weakening the metal, do some research .

[magicmaker2006]

show your self!! i think you are gorgeous!!

and BTW the Stitls are awesome!!

thanks!!

[LoociCraft]

It doesn't look comfortable :-S

[gryphern]

Yeah, a bunch of people have sent me photos and stories about their costumes with hooves. As long as you don't make it too dainty so there's a good balance point and contact with the ground you should be fine. There's a couple photos in the book linked to off the main stilt video's info page and my homepage.

[finalconsecration]

I'm making a Dis/Demon/Satan costume for Halloween. (Already starting because I'm a nut like that.) I'm doing the digitigrade stilts and wings. Would modifying the paw into a hoof work? Would it be harder to balance?

[TheLongLostRanger]

dude those arent stilts those r high heels

[finalconsecration]

High heels have HEELS. These stilts don't. That's why the bungee cords are used

[mannyblkz]

this is a great vid thanks for the closeup and very detailed look

[rellymark]

perfetto!

[latnahc]

is that tape on there????

[gryphern]

...OMG just like it says in the video description

[MarowakDidIt]

How does it feel walking in those? Is it like high heels? Like walking on tip-toe? Does it hurt?

[gryphern]

In the book there's a nice horror story about mounting the leg braces wrong, along side other experiences but as long as your shoes are well-fitting, or you wear thick socks, your toes don't slide to the front too badly. The base is really wide, so it's not the same as high heels. It's..stiltish? Similar feel to using drywall stilts or stilt walker equipment. I think it's fun. I've made them low and used them and high and used them, the high stilts took more leg power.

[MarowakDidIt]

I heard that digitigrade animals are stealthier, with proper padding could they be so quiet to the point you can sneak up on people to scare the polyester out of them? (I'm kind of evil, I know) >:-D

[gryphern]

Yeah, BlackCat, you can see her video of her testing hers out in a hallway, made a good suggestion for a foam strip between the toe and food base. With foam on the toe, on the base, and between the two, they move very, very quietly. Check out the book for padding placement ideas.

[famousanus]

i wanna be a dinosaur!

[MightyTrebor]

Who doesn't!

[seankreynolds]

You probably could make money selling kits for these....

[gryphern]

I've found people don't want to pay more than the base cost of supplies for these kinds of products, so a kit would be lots of overhead to micro-manufacture with a low mark-up. But, selling the instructional book gives a similar profit ratio (low) for less cost, so I get more overall sales. It's all really interesting.

[seankreynolds]

Yeah, in general, people are pretty cheap. The book sounds like a much better idea, I'm glad it's working out for you. I'll have to order one this summer. :)

[hsg141]

What kind of foam did you use for the feet?

[gryphern]

Lower density furniture foam, in this case, cushion foam for stools and stuff. But any furniture foam scavenged from an old couch cushion, or scraps from a hardware store that cuts foam from sheets will be fine. You can ayer and glue scraps together with hot glue then carve them into your shape.

[BadWolfChannel]

Oh neat. =O I would love to make my own digitigrade stilts.

[UnlockedZero]

looks kinda painful

[redbarroness8]

hey im a big fan of your how to vids my question for this is r they like the werewolf ones in making them that is. i'm making a cosplay outfit and it requires stilts like this. any pointers?

[dragonay07]

These are really cool, I've been thinking about making a gargoyle costume for next halloween. Is it harder to balance on these then the werewolf ones?

[ArticAkita]

interesting at least YOU did a show how they are supposed to work and show how the back are assembled, maybe somebody out there will do a walk through on building the stilts so people out there don't do something not right and brake their ankle in the process.

[RastafarianPilgrim]

Is this video without sound or is my computer spazzing out again?

[gryphern]

Silent, the stilts were quieter than the static from the camera, so I just killed the audio.

[ToAddictedToStayAway]

weird lol xD me and my friend were thinking of following your werewolf stilt blue prints and stuff for our gargoyle cosplay :/ but here you do gargoyle stilts...lol it all works xD

[HBWFOWNER]

hey did you check my stilts and my elite head mask i most say thanks 4 being so dam creative

[gryphern]

Yeah, I've actually been linking your stilts to folks who ask me about reducing the braces or trying to make platform feet!! Did you see the new video up where it's this design, but done with metal (just search for nw videos about digitigrade stilts) Really nice looking! I asked the guy to post his plans, I hope he does!

[HBWFOWNER]

that sounds kool, and i hope i help those people that got links to my videos.

right now I'm working on is 4 fingers effect for my costume due to the fact elites have 4 fingers. then a energy sword