cheers for the comments guys, much appreciated

arran - shave and cut is very cool, though to get really good results will take a bit of time (not good with only a few days left on the trial..) Not sure about the pose but I prefer a more side angle than front on at the minute as it shows the profile of the nose off quite nicely. Also if I zoom in on the perspective camera on a front view it goes a bit bowl shape. A bit of tweaking on a new camera might make it look better.

THX1138 - thanks man, hope to see you in the next challenge

brentlydavis - I've been playing with the ears recently and have added fur inside which points outwards and gets rid of the bald area. Hopefully it'll get rid of the gell effect

13th_resident - it is quite difficult to get the fur right. I think I should have used the ruffled hair option in shave and cut instead of the generic blond hair. If I had time then I'd go back and give that a try as it would probably give better results.

swankymonkey - welcome back, thought you'd disappeared there! I've been playing with thinned down hair in that area over the last day or two to cover up the edge and get some kind of transition there but at the minute its not working as hoped. Lightening the skin in that area is definately looking like a possibility...

I'm reworking the fine hair on the nosetip to try and get a defined line and blend it into the other fur - update tonight hopefully