Need some feedback...

[Kenda]

I desperately would like to have a real nice suit someday, and have been kicking around a few ideas.
I'm thinking of making real blinking eyes using pneumatics. I'm leaning towards using a small air line in my mouth that when I seal my lips around it and blow, it blinks the eyes. Working on some actual mechanism plans in the near future. Has anything like this already been done?

[Buhei]

Eyes, I have not seen them blink. But, I did once see an alien head [from the movie Alien] move its upper lips to a growling form.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7t0VywKtKk
I was thinking that kind of thing would be neat for horse/dragon fur suit-heads. o.o

I think it'd be possible to make blinking eyelids.
Just dunno how ^-^;

Sorry I couldn't be of any help~
But best of luck to ya!!!

[Buhei]

[Oh for got to mention]
* That kind of upper lip snarl movement would be awesome on allot of suits, just minus the extra mini alien mouth that pops out... 0_o'
Freaky extra mouth... D: *nightmares*

[Lady Serpent]

Hm..

The trouble with eyelids blinking is that you'd usually want them to blink down, and then come back up against gravity.  If you had a really light, hollow eyelid with an air tube connected to it, that blinked from the bottom up instead of top-down, you could probably do a decent job with blowing air to make it blink, other than the inevitable 'pshhh!' sound every time.

The only thing that comes immediately to mind when thinking of an air-blown top-down blink is that you could /possibly/ have it weighted on a small string/cord behind the eye so that it's natural, gravity pulled state is open.  But, this would mean you'd have to figure out a way to 'blow' that one down, too, and it might be more effort to blow it downwards with a weight than it would be to blow a light eye upwards.  (More mechanisms involved including the small (but probably noticeable at that light scale) friction of the string on whatever pulley sysem you hook it up to to get it to open the eye 'upwards'.  Not the most simple thing to construct, but it could certainly be feasable.

If you're putting in that much effort, though, it might almost be worth it to see if you can do it some other way, possibly with electronics.  It wouldn't be terribly hard to rig up something simple like that with a bit of know-how and an idea.  Plus, you avoid the awkward 'pffff!' sound every time you blink.

You could even do something where the eyes blink mechanically, just by having a piece that's in contact with your cheek and one with your forehead, so that when you scrunch your face up, it pushes the eyes closed.  (But this would involve a piece for your cheek, and probably another for your eyebrow, and an eyelid on the top AND bottom, which could prove to be not very attractive for the suit.

My suggestion would be to work on a regular suit (or even just a head) first, get a feel for how facial construction works, and then get ideas from there on what you might do for the next one.  They take a good chunk of time to make, but the experience you get is invaluable, and you'll no doubt learn a lot on the first one that you can then impliment (plus the other, more animated ideas) on your next one.

[Lazimur]

On a similar note, the moving ears and jaw on this suit are pretty freakin awesome!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRXbXxWRBs0&feature=channel_page

I'm not entirely sure how you could pull off the blinking eyelids, I imagine electronics would be easier in the long run. Blowing into the airline might be a little bit of a pain, especially if you want a continual effect. (Then again, if you're not talking in suit, maybe not) Best of luck to ya though, hopefully you can find a way to make it work!

[Temperance]

Lion of the sun made a sheep recently with blinking eyes and moving ears:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjvxDf2Mww&feature=related

Trouble with anything with anamatronics is it's a lot of extra stuff DX
A Huge power box and a RC controller to make the stuff move:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNWA2LyjBxA

[Kenda]

I used to work with pneumatics a lot, and I was thinking a sealed circuit. There would be a spring return, single acting piston hooked to both eyelids from above. Genly blow into a tube that would be loose in your mouth, kinda like a hydration pack, and seal your lips to exert a little pressure. It forces the lids down quietly, and gently allowing the air back in your mouth would eliminate any noise on the return stroke. Not to mention the tiny volume of air in use. I find electronic gear is usually heavy and noisy. I used to be into RC cars, so I already thought out that route. Someday...