So the next thing that my enithorox maquette needed was a tail. My initial idea was to use a brass coat hanger wire as the base support for the tail.
Unlike the majority of this sculpt there will be very little clay used for the tail. At the base of the tail clay will be added. But most of the tail will be a sleeve of trimmed and airbrushed fur. Light and semi-flexible.
My quest to find a brass coat hanger was a bad mishap. I thought to check the neighborhood Goodwill Store only to discover that it had closed 2 minutes before I got there. (My fault for starting my tail project so late).
In fact a few stores had closed at 8pm. So I went to a local Dollar General store hoping to find something that I could bastardize into a similar support. They carried no wire coat hangers, but as I was about to leave in defeat I spotted a two pack of fly swatters for only a dollar fifty. Talk about luck and affordability as well.
I went home, broke out some tools, some burlap wire ribbon, some duct tape, and went to town on the fly swatter wires. After shaping and twisting them into the right form I duct taped them together and then added more burlap ribbon with more duct tape to produce a tail that I wanted.
Then I cut a small wooden dowel and taped the base of the wire to that dowel. The rest of the wooden dowel was taped to the wooden sprue/stub that is the tail brace for the maquette.
I wrapped this tightly with paracord to add strength and even out the thickness and textural form of the tail.
Then using the burlap ribbon I thickened and evened a few areas which were then wrapped in duct tape.
This should make a very nice support for the tail shroud once that fur is added. Here are some progress shots. More to come.