Crap, looks like that second photo is blocked from hot-linking. I don't blame them, but they also blocked it from just pasting the URL into the browser! Man, they're really cracking down.
Yeah, I thought about the idea of using foam. I do have some foam sculpting tools. I'm just not sure about the durability. Maybe I can do some prototyping this way, and see if I can learn to carve wood the same way. Dunno.
It's interesting that in the first picture, the big green beast-head crest looks like it might be fabric or leather or something, since it has wrinkles down the back.