SAMANTHA DETAILS
CHARACTER
Samantha Kemple is a character created by Ken Sample. I obtained permission
from him to do this costume before I began.
Samantha Kemple is an anthropomorphic skunk. She is a character
created by Ken Sample. Samantha is contemporary and suburban.
She is an athletic tomboy, a little shy, and very good looking.
She can't spray and does not smell like a skunk.
CONSTRUCTION
I obtained the fake fur from Monterey Mills in Janesville, Wisconsin.
HEAD CONSTRUCTION
0. Plan/requirements: I wanted to do a mask style head based on a lifecast,
similar to the work of Ed Kline. I wanted the mask to
incorporate my own eyes, since eyes are the focus of any face and the
face is the focus of the costume. Artificial, unmoving eyes just wouldn't
give the realism I wanted.
1. I obtained a head and neck lifecast of myself.
It took 5 tries over the period of a year.
Mark Saunders (who used to work in the creature shop for Universal) did
my final lifecast which I coated with a dozen layers of polyurethane
sealer. Thanks Mark!
2. I sculpted Samantha's features over my lifecast with artists clay (1 year)
The oil based clay (Roma Plastilina) never hardens so I could keep on
tweaking the sculpture. Several artists gave me constructive feedback
on how to improve the sculpture and Mark Saunders helped me with the
cheeks a little.
As I said, I wanted to make a mask which incorporated my own eyes.
Since Samantha's eyes are large and widely set, I had to use tricks and
compromises to make the face work.
It turns out that the spacing of my own eyes served as a limit to how far
apart I could set Samantha's eyes, and that in turn limited how wide I
could make her head. This makes the head slightly off model, but I
can't help it without resorting to artificial eyes.
3. I then cast a 3 part negative of the sculpture with Hydrocal cement.
4. I then Slushcast about 5 layers of liquid latex into the negative.
5. I attached the resulting latex mask to the headband from a cheap hardhat.
6. I then painted the mask and applied the fur.
The fur was applied with a nifty technique - I applied an adhesive to
the latex suface, then applied a piece of fake fur UPSIDE DOWN and
BACKWARDS. When the adhesive dries, you cut away the cloth backing and
now you have fur coming "right out of the latex" in the right direction.
7. Samantha's mouth was originally going to have super-realistic taxidermy
teeth, but they looked TOO AGGRESSIVE, so I just cut a strip of rubber
to look like two lower canines with incisors in between.
Bits of brass stock and painted polyfoam went into finishing the mouth.
8. I attached a white wig (which was deliberately oversize for Samantha's
head size)
I actually need a wig with more "POOF" - bigger hair would make
Samantha look more on model.
9. Made glasses from plexiglass circles, brass stock and the lead channel
used to make stained glass.
BODY CONSTRUCTION
0. I wanted a skin tight body suit - no floppy PJ look here - after all,
the body is as much a sculpture as the head and the last thing I want
to do is hide it. Less clothes show off more body.
1. I constructed a Gaff to hide what needs hiding.
2. Obtained Amazon Drygoods corset to take 6 inches off my waist.
3. I meticulously carved polyfoam to make Samantha's breasts, hips, and
"front of pelvis curve" padding. I also added extra bicep padding to
make my shoulders look narrower by making Samantha's arms have a larger
diameter.
4. Stood still for 10 hours straight while BJ Staehlin draped a muslin
patern over me wearing all this foam.
5. BJ did the sewing - result came out excellent - she's a pattern genius.
6. Special zipper work and strain relief in back done by BJ. This helped
us not only hide the zipper, but make sure that tension wrinkles didn't
appear in Samantha's back when I moved my arms. Also, this helped
augment and protect the zipper.
7. Samantha actually has nipples - never intended to be seen directly, but
they add another element of realism under other clothes.
8. Replaced foam breasts with water filled rubber "icebags" for more realistic
motion of breasts.
TAIL CONSTRUCTION
1. Constructed primary support of tail from 1/8" x 1" hot rolled steel.
This "J" shaped piece goes from my waist down to my coccyx, then curves
away from me and up to about chest height.
2. Extended primary support with #9 wire to get entire length.
Top of tail is almost as tall as the top of my head.
3. Primary support attached to my waist with webbing and a bra fastener.
The short side of the "J" (with wings bent from #9 wire) goes around
my waist after I put on the corset.
4. BJ constructed a tail envelope in 3 layers to be put on this armature.
3 layers lets us give it the shape in cross-section.
The top layer is the fur on the top side of the tail.
The bottom layer is the fur on the bottom side of the tail.
The middle layer is made of muslin and has sleeves in it into which the
armature is inserted.
The middle layer includes several dog bone shaped cross wires.
To give the tail a nice "part", the top layer of the tail was
stitched to the middle layer vertically down the center.
5. The tail envelope was then stuffed with foam packing peanuts.
Packing peanuts do rustle a bit, but they were the only thing I
could find that was light enough such that the tail would not
collapse under its own weight.
CLOTHES:
Samantha has three outfits:
1. a Daisy Mae style tied shirt and cutoffs. Very casual.
2. A jogging outfit - Sportswear.
3. A Jessica Rabbit style red sequin strapless gown.
In my opinion, the Sportswear look works best for Samantha, and is the most
in character, but the gown may look better with a little fine tuning.
(Strapless gowns need LOTS of magic to stay up where they should).
SUITING UP and PERFORMING:
--I stop consuming all caffeine 4 hours before suit-up.
--One hour to put on, 45 min to take off.
--Yes, the costume is hot - but once the costume saturates with sweat, it
cools itself.
--I carry around a big water bottle and drink water frequently.
--Heat is my enemy - In hot weather I'm limited to 1-2 hours
--I can go about 6 hours at best - there's no way to go to the bathroom.
--If I drink too much water too fast, I have to hold it until my body re-
absorbs the water out of my bladder. (Not as bad as it sounds)
--I wear black makeup around my eyes so they blend with the fur of the mask.
--I can talk, but I can't do a good feminine voice, and I can't be easily
heard, so I avoid talking. I also have trouble hearing with the mask on.
--I need one handler - especially to get in/out of costume.
--How to walk and act
I've practiced a variety of feminine walks, but I still don't have it quite
right. Lots of people have given me advice, but it still isn't quite right.
--Stage presentations
I've adopted a variety of Marilyn Monroe moves for a short on stage dance.
It has some potential, but I'm awfully stiff on stage.
APPEARANCE:
The costume looks best in person. Samantha in 3D and in motion looks much
better than static pictures - photos tend to break some of the illusion
designed into the costume.
Samantha is taller than she looks from a distance (perspective trick)
EXPERIENCES:
--Big tails are REALLY REALLY Clumsy. Even with practice.
--Drooling Men
I must admit it was really fun to have groups of people (mostly men) competing
to open doors for me and get me things - kinda addictive... I now understand
how pretty women can get a big head really easily...
(I could practically SEE the IQs dropping all around me.)
--Women like the costume too! Especially the tail.
--Uncomfortable men - as soon as guys know there is really a guy inside - they
avoid Samantha or become very "restrained" in their comments.
--Same old LAME LAME LAME skunk jokes (or sometimes not recognized as a skunk).
--Hugs: People want hugs for several reasons:
--Innocent love of a big furry character.
--They want an excuse to press themselves against that female torso
--They suspect and want to use the hug as a "test" (for falsies?)
--They know who's inside, but want to find out how realistic I feel.
(feedback is that Samantha passes the hug test unsettlingly well)
--Gropers -rare- dealt with quickly and mercilessly when in character
--Getting hit on; even more rare, flattering, and uncomfortable. It's tricky
to let them down gently.
--Dancing - watch that tail.
--Elevators - watch that tail.
--Kids - kids will harass you and blow your cover for the fun of it. What
a pain.
--Bad TAIL days - sometimes you just can't do a thing with it! :)
Costume Effectiveness:
I figure that about 1/3 of the people spot that there is guy inside Samantha
fairly quickly. I am 6'2" after all.
Another 1/3 recognize that there may be something not quite right about that
large skunk woman, but they aren't SURE. They don't see a skunk woman
every day, so they don't really have much of a reference.
The last 1/3 seem to buy the gender illusion totally.
I try hard not to have my real identity given out too soon - Guys give
a much better response when they don't know (or at least aren't sure).
Sometimes I hear arguments in my wake - most frequently two women disagreeing
over whether there is a man or a woman in the costume. Heh.
--So, what does Ken Sample think of the costume you made of his character?
Mr. Sample is a man of few words and is unfailingly polite, but I think he
feels that my effort doesn't quite capture the character.
He suggested that I maybe should have done one of Samantha's taller sisters.
Every time I see him he asks if I am enjoying wearing the costume.
Out of costume:
--People start inferring all kinds of weird things about my Gender
Identity and Sexual preferences and such.
I tell them "It's JUST A COSTUME!"
--Guys who have always wanted to try a female costume (but never had the time
or the guts) now have lots of respect for you.
--One becomes known as an "expert" in the field which is a mixed blessing.
--Drag queens, female impersonators, and the Transgendered who DON'T take
themselves too seriously think you're cool.
--The Transgendered who take crossdressing VERY SERIOUSLY sometimes aren't
comfortable with you. I've been told that many T*s don't like Samantha
because I'm "just a poser", that is, because I don't crossdress as a
regular part of my life.
OTHER DISCOVERIES:
The following is well known to women (and some men), but there is a difference
between knowing something intellectually and experiencing it.
Drooling Men and the Minerva Mink effect:
It would certainly be easy to get a big ego with some of the responses I got.
I can better understand how attractive women can easily get the big head.
All that attention is ADDICTIVE too!
Sometimes I felt like Minerva Mink - there is a nasty temptation to
USE ones popularity in semi-cruel ways. I resisted, but somehow
I knew that Samantha would be forgiven for just about anything (by a man).
Nobody complained when I accidentally bopped them with my tail.
The Fickleness of good looks:
Under the right conditions, a female body can look really really attractive.
Unfortunately it is very easy to lose those right conditions and look like:
--A Linebacker
--A Balloon
--A Hippo
even with a costume. little things can easily ruin the effect.
QUESTIONS and COMMENTS I get:
--Where did you get those glasses? (I made them)
--That prescription looks awful weak for such thick glasses. (Gimme a break
optician boy, They're FAKE! )
--You must have the same optometrist as Jack Salem! (Heh!)
--How big are Samantha's breasts? (4 lbs each - this isn't usually the
kind of answer expected)
--What size is that? Well, my Samantha costume is 12% larger than the
character. The character is DD. So I buy DDD for the costume.
--How..uh.."anatomically correct" is the costume? (sorry, not THAT correct)
SILLY QUESTIONS I get:
--Isn't it HOT in there? (actually a valid question, but I'm tired of it)
--Do you have to shave off your moustache? (no - It's under a mask)
--Which bathroom do you use? (the one in my room)
--Where did your...you know... go? (It's very compressible - don't worry)
--How does your ..Wife(?).. feel about this? (She's mildly amused by it all)
--How do your kids deal with this? (they like to blow my cover-thanks guys :P )
PROBLEMS:
Samantha's hair needs to be bigger
EXTRA BIG THANK YOU list:
B.J. Staehlin - for draping and sewing the body suit, the tail, and more...
Candis King - for putting up with this and doing hundreds of unglamorous
things to help me make this costume a success.
Mark Saunders - for my lifecast and creative input
Ken Sample - for letting me use your character.
BIG THANK YOU list:
Winston Howlett - for construction of the Red Sequin Dress
Robert Hill & Ed Kline - for inspiration and trail blazing
Karl Meyer - for frequent creative input and control of the "Laugh Factor"
Mike Grodeman - for creative input and construction of the Sportswear
Scott "Hatch" Norman - for creative input and help with Samantha's debut.
Lex Nakashima - for technical assistance that really improved the mask.
Steve Plunkett - for creative input
The members of the FURSUIT list - for various tech assistance.
Michele Solomon - for creative input and materials
Frank Darrow - for construction assistance
Mary Lynn Skirvin Johnson - for obtaining source material
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