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Once you have the muzzle shape and are happy with it, attach it to the fabric base using a hot glue gun, I prefer a low temp gun, it helps to keep the glue from sinking through the fabric and sticking to the mannequin head. If this does happen, once it’s cooled, put your hand under the fabric and gently massage it off the mannequin as you go, if you wait to do it in the end when more pieces are added your going to have a bad day. When attaching the muzzle make sure the notch you made lines up nicely with the nose.

Next use a strip of 1in foam and run it up the bridge of the face, in between the eyes. Do not make the strip overly wide (as it will impair the vision later on). Roughly around an inch wide does the trick. The strip being connected to the muzzle and up the bridge helps to hold everything together while you’re working and adds extra support for the muzzle.

Next add the bottom jaw, using the same methods in step 2 to map out the shape ensuring that the jawset you wish to use will fit in it. The bottom jaw should fit snug under the upper jaw and be a lot smaller, and the place where your jawset sits should be carved out slightly for a resting place for it once done. Once both pieces of the muzzle are on, be sure it’s straight and not crooked. Cut in a slit in the upper muzzle piece to give a lip like appearance. Be sure not to cut it too deep, and check to make sure your premade nose will fit in the allowed area.

Now it’s time to just really go at it, and cover the sucker in foam, it helps to do the cheeks next right after the muzzle to get everything in place where it belongs. Once again you can use a piece of paper and hold it up to the face and slowly cut at it until you get the desired oval shape you would like to use for your cheeks. Then use the paper as a pattern to cut out matching cheeks on the 4in thick foam. I like to put the cheeks on the head right after I cut them from the block of foam then use scissors to round out the shape and sculpt it down to my desired roundness. It’ll make the head look like a possessed tele-tubbie when you first glue the cheeks on, but in doing this its easer to eyeball the shape and round both cheeks equally.

Once the cheeks are on, surround the head in one-inch thick foam to complete the helmet like shape of the head and give it structure. Be sure to leave a nice big square gap for the eyes, the bigger the gap the better the vision and the larger you can make the eyes making it even cuter in the end (in my opinion). Don’t worry about making a round shape you can touch that up later after you install the eyes, its a lot easier then doing it before you install them.

To finish off the jaw, add strips of foam under the cheek bone, this piece should be smaller and slimmer then the upper cheek bone piece. Then under the bottom jaw, add a piece of foam going up, under the chin to make a cup of sorts for your chin to rest in. With the cup under the jaw and a long mouth slit, believe it or not this allows for a slight jaw movement when you talk, with your chin resting in the now cup you have made it will pick up when you move your jaw (this typically works best if you have a longer face). It’s not a very drastic movement like you can get in other methods or resin heads but it does work. In doing it this way without elastic it makes for a more comfortable to wear head in the end (When using elastic to make a moving jaw, it can rub against the wearer’s chin and cause discomfort or even a rash).

Next add your ears! Using a piece of paper, once again draw on your ear shape and cut it out on the 1in thick foam and place them on the head where you desire. Once the ears are on the foam work is pretty much done. At this point you should take the time to go back and fill in any missing spots and smooth it out using scissors to gently carve pieces away that look lumpy. Then slap on your nose! If you are using a resin nose, be sure to scratch up the back of it to help the hot glue adhere better. If you do not have a resin nose you can make your own from clay, or a plushy stuffed one from fleece.

It’s hard to explain how to foam a head, you really need to just go at it and find your own desired shape and style. It might help to pull up pictures as a reference of the desired shape you wish to achieve (i.e species). This step really contains tips on how I do it personally and what I have found works for me.