I've been wanting to try my hand at creating resin blanks, except that I'm not a huge fan of mixing chemicals and I don't really have a well-ventilated area to work in (plus I live in PA, so it's too cold to work outside this time of year)
Using a to-scale model of a human head as my guide, I'm going to model the head, jaw, and hinges in 3D Studio Max, and then have them printed using Polyamide, which is light, durable, slightly flexible, and inexpensive (compared to other printable materials).
Even though my background is in 3D modeling, I realize that this could be a complete flop. I don't know of any other fursuit artists who have attempted something like this, and I know of only one or two artists in the fandom who have created 3D printed figurines. This technology is so new that it's mostly used on an industrial level, but I still think it's worth looking into. Once it becomes more commonplace and printers come down in price a bit, I could see this becoming a faster, cheaper, and cleaner way of creating blanks.
Some general questions I have about blanks:
I've read that springs can be used in place of elastic to give the jaw a good "snap". What sorts of springs, and how / where are they installed?
What sort of screws are used for the hinge? If I know what type of screw I need, I can measure the diameter of it and model the holes into the blank and the hinges before they are printed, so I won't even have to worry about drilling.