I'm pretty impressed the feet have held up so well. Doing raw latex colours is always a crap shoot - they just want to turn brown after a few years.
You've taken excellent care of them :)
Amazingly, I had to verify my age... again..
Should be working now.
..., gimme a message if your interested in other shades of latex, I have a bunch of rolls ready to go, and I'll do colors to order, provided there's no extra decals.
This was a post saying that there were some foot paws up for sale... but they went frighteningly fast...
However, since it looks like I'm immediately turning tail and getting back to making more...
I do expect to see a new appreciation emerge for how long decent rubber gear lasts by contrast.
But I think the market absolutely wants the chance to rock hard on a budget, then flame out a couple years later as big shiny disposable critter.
It's definitely a whole different thing.
Historically, silicone and vinyl have a couple years in them before they crap out. Maybe we will see that with this new gen of stuff, maybe not.
But you can still have a hell of a lot of fun in those years... and the price is right...
It leaves me the same place I've always been -
I'm just a mammal that makes stuff.
Ill make fursuits, rubber hoods, inflatable gear, cosplay armor, prosthetics, larp kit... whatever you want really.
I'll be looking for whats not being made and making it.
And the other stuff? Go buy that too :)
And the result is amazing stuff that simply didn’t exist till the last couple years. At a price that individuals like myself can't compete with.
Heck I've tried making silicone gear, that stuff is unforgiving. The skill of these makers should be celebrated.
But where does that leave me?
...
It’s exiting times for people who love to be shiny critters, isn’t it?
There's a huge number of far east workshops making fantastic silicone, vinyl and latex gear.
It really is a net positive that the community has grown to the extent that a company can begin to make these economies of scale...
The auction has now ended.
Martin, you are the highest bidder, I don't have any details entered. If you could mail me, that would be great :)
The auction ends today at around 9:15pm GMT (4pm EST, 1pm PCT) Thank you to everyone who supports me to make these things!
I do keep thinking about doing some dalmatian spot paws.
But its the white latex I fear. It's just so easy to mark, and when you are doing decals, your all over the latex for days.
I absolutely love how these look and their amazing fun, but wow, it took so long to make these. Hence the price
One day I'd love to do an entire inflatable tiger suit.
Maybe when Ive forgotten how long stripes take ;)
The stripey kitty paw set is up for auction!
www.rubberpaws.co.uk/auction?ult_...
It consists of giant arm length bopper paws and a pair of stripey inflatable footpaws.
The auction runs till Sunday and will be randomly ended in the last 15 minutes to prevent sniping...
Deflated inflatable spottykitty paws. Banana for scale.
Taking photos of the stripeykitty paw set for this weekend's auction.
Now I've got silicone all over my banana.
And, just like that. They are gone..
These have now sold out.
Did I head out for the day and accidentally leave back-orders on?
Maybe...
Will I be spending the rest of the month making paws to honor those orders?
Probably :)
I have two pairs of bopper footpaws available to BUY.
No auctions this time, I think I have the price point and that is £525.
www.rubberpaws.co.uk/product/blac...
For the black and..
www.rubberpaws.co.uk/product/blac...
For the black and white.
I need 2 meters..
Their normal minimum order is 5 meters...
However, for this one color its 7 meters...
Only it must be 10 meters... for reasons...
I'll use Radical Rubbers rust red.
Better quality rubber anyhow.
Wow, I just can't compete with Supatex's marketing genius.
I guess I'll have to buy... nothing. I've gone off the whole idea.
You get nothing sir, good day :P
Would be so much fun to make stuff like this.
It's got a different vibe to a lot of existing suits.
Auction has now ended, thank you.
White latex is such a nightmare. It stains in contact with so many things. But you never know.
If people are prepared to cover the amount of work these things take to make, all kinds of designs are possible.
I should probably mention that this long, laborious process was done by @sagelonestar.bsky.social - who did a fantastic job :)
I use Bostik 3851
It's closest to what you get for bike tires.
I buy it in 5L cans at £72 a shot.
Liquid latex will not glue well at all to sheet latex. Sheet latex has been through a lot of processes to make it impermeable.
Close up of spotted rubber patterning.
Every spot has laser cut and then glued by hand.
The glue is applied to both surfaces, left to dry then pressed together.
The glued area must overlap the spot so it won't peel off once inflated.
But glue is ugly, so the dried excess around every single spot is individually cleaned.
So. Much. work.
A photo of a bright yellow set of inflatable cheetah paws.
A photo of a bright yellow set of inflatable cheetah paws.
Up for auction this weekend.
So. Many. spots.
www.rubberpaws.co.uk/auction?ult_...
These were a considerable amount of work, and have a starting price to reflect that.
Auction ends at 8:15pm UTC. (Randomly in the last 15 minutes to prevent sniping)
SPOTTYKITTY
Houba!
That's a lotta spots...