Help with prinny cosplay?

[Jail Bait]

Hi there! Trying to make a prinny cosplay in time for fanime 2010.

I want it to be a whole suit, and I planned out most of it. I already bought the fabric and made patterns...I even finished the dummy version with cruddy cloth. I have a beak that opens when I open my mouth, so-so ventilation, eye holes from the beak-nostrils or when I open my mouth...

The problem? I want my prinny to be nice and fat, huggly and squishable. (at least soft-ish to the touch, not like carpet over cement or anything...) I don't know how to achieve this without using a whole lot of fiber-fill (I'm trying to avoid the uber-hot mascot costume syndrome).

I was wondering if chicken wire is strong enough to hold it's shape, but flexible enough to take some abuse. (Cosplayers like to hug, afterall, and most are clumsy.) Or if I should use a sort of metal skeleton underneath the chicken wire for re-enforcement. (This would be VERY costly, so I'm hoping to avoid this, as well.) Or perhaps outer chicken wire with a layer of fiber fill "blubber"...

The costume is going to be a lot larger than I am (see pic, I put a basic human figure about my size in the costume, not how I would fit in it, though.)



I am also hoping it would be somehow collapsible, so I can actually store it.



tl;dr

Any clue how to fatten up my prinny
1)Without stuffing the entire thing with fiber-fill
2)Without using so much metal that it's weighed down
3)So it can be squished into a large suitcase

Any suggestions are welcome! I have many years sewing experience and have made a few furry's fursuits before, I just never had to fatten them up. ^_^

[Azuru]

Oh, you could fill it up with foam ;D. Like the foam they use for Halloween costumes. The costumes they use it for those kind. like you could use thin cardboard, then line it with the foam so its squishy and easy to fold into your suitcase. :D(Ive seen a spongebob one made out of that foamy material and an m&m costume made with it before :)You could try that.) Hopefully this helps! ;)

[BrightHeart76]

What comes to mind may not be totally plausable...but you know what you're doing more than I do.  See if this idea would help.  What about creating a kind of chicken wire type gride out of plastic boning?  The boning should be more likely to hold its shape and bounce back  much better than any metal wiring. 

Just an idea.

[Jail Bait]

Thanks you guys, I'm just going to use upholstery foam and some poly tubing. I hope it comes out well!

[Azuru]

Your welcome! :)
Hope it turns out well! ;D