Leather Bird Beaks

[Eisfalken]

Hey, folks. I'm new to the boards, but I've dabbled with leathercrafting on and off for most of my life. Recently, I've gotten a little more adventurous in wanting to make things that weren't basically pre-cut, pre-punched kits.

I've been puzzling over a specific project. It's a costume piece, a kind of "fantasy" headdresss sort of thing. It's really nothing complicated looking in theory: it's essentially a headband, possibly with one or two straps here and there to keep it on the head, with a visor shaped like a bird's beak, and strips of leather cut vaguely in the shape of long feathers (draping over head towards the back).

Most of it looks like I can figure it out, at least so far. The problem I'm having is that dang leather "beak" visor. I've tried Google for two solid weeks and can't seem to enter a search that helps me figure out how to do it. There's LOADS of info on Deviantart and other places on finished items, but I can't seem to get the right cut done. And it's not that I'm trying to recreate a bird's head in full; the beak-visor is just meant to look kind of like a raptor's beak. In theory, I'd like to also include the lower beak as part of a mouth/chin piece attached to it, so it looks at least somewhat like a bird with it's mouth open.

I figured I'd try leatherworking forums specifically. Sadly, either my search-fu is still weak, or there's just not a lot of discussion/work regarding this topic. So here I am. If there's no template to work with, what I need are guides on how to make the cut right so when bent, the leather will best resemble the beak. I know wet-forming the leather is part of it, so ideas on how to get it to shape and dry correctly would be helpful.

And if all this was in fact discussed previously, links to those posts would be extremely helpful and appreciated. Sorry if this topic's been done to death and I'm resurrecting the dead here; just can't seem to get a break with searching for it myself.

[biglew]

look up plague Dr. mask

[Pkay]

If you wet mold some veg tan hide it should be fairly easy to shape upper and lower beaks then leave them to air dry. Rest them over jar or pot to allow them to keep the shape. Make sure you turn up the head end so you can sew it to the head part or make the top beak overhead section and rear in one part.

Sounds like great fun. Put a fold in the length of the beak to give it strength, an upturned V.