The Paws That Refreshes

While waiting for the zippers to arrive for the body, I started working on Rocky’s paws. I used as a reference Matrices’ excellent tutorial and pattern for basic paws. Of course, Rocky has only 3 fingers, so I had to modify the pattern for my purposes. After some dexterity tests I decided to group my second and third fingers into the middle finger of the paw.

Rocky’s paws also don’t have any pads or claws as drawn, they’re basically just 3-fingered hands. I did want some plumpness to the overall effect, so I decided to use some batting on the back side of the paw to fill it out. I peeled layers off a scrap of the Nu-Foam until I had the thickness I wanted. I also cannibalized spandex from the lower half of a shirt I cropped for my Brutus project to make lining for the paw backs, so the batting would not be rubbing against bare skin.

The other key to making these useful paws was grading the pile on the fur. I took out the pet clippers and had at. The palms are clipped down to a very short 1/4″ plush. The backs of the paws are clipped to 1/2″. Then the wrists (about 6″ worth) were trimmed to 3/4″, and the remainder (towards the elbow) left full length.

I did a quick assembly of the left paw and am mostly very pleased. There are a couple spots I need to fix with some hand stitching, and I want to deepen the cuts between the digits (make the fingers less stubby), but it looks pretty much like a cartoon 3-finger paw!