Maus

Well my heart just stopped looking at that! that is just STUNNING! I have to agree with Shtoink here. But I still hope to be some day.

mind *kerpow* blown. That is extraordinary; but after seeing so much of your work and its amazing qualities I shouldn't be surprised, yet I always am.

I've got some masks finished and I love the way they are shaped and the tooling on them- my problem is is that they are kinda floppy. I've wet molded them- some are at the perfect stiffness and some aren't. What I am confused about is that they were all cut from the same hide... anyway, I'm trying to figure out how to stiffen them up. I know that some people make masks and then 'cook' them for a little bit to pull out the moisture and make them stiff. But I've heard that that can make the leather brittle- and I do not want that. Not to mention I really don't want to have to remold them. Also I know about some spray you can put on to stiffen saddles but I think that may be too stiff. Does anyone have any ideas I could try? Thanks!

Thats some great advice. I'll have to see if the wood shop on base has any dowels. Most stuff I need is hard to get my hands on out here- I may have to go the 65 dollar route, but I'd rather try to make my own. The mask that I'm hoping to texture is that of my parents dog- a Doberman Pincher named Castle, so I want to try to get a good look for the shorter style of hair... So I'm thinking to do this a making several short length cuts (maybe a half a centimeter or so) that go in the direction of the fur would be about right. What do you guys think? (sorry for so long a delay in responding-- the computer and technology Gods Reaaaaally dislike me.)

Thats not a bad idea. A lined beveler has been on my want list. I figured it'd be a good tool for doing feathers. I made a mask that I hand cut all the feathers, but to give them the right texture I used a hairblade tool-- and I can't help but think the lined beveler would have not only been easier- but would have caused a lot less colourful words to cross my lips while working on it.

That is absolutely stunning!!

I like that idea, but i have a slight hindrance... I don't speak Italian... and I"m not sure where I could find a hardware store here that would carry it... or where a hardware store is at all. Lamentably, I don't get off of the base very often.

I think I have some of that I've been sitting on... but 15 bucks is hard to argue with. Shame its a bit far from Naples. I miss being able to just walk in and see the leather for myself.

Wow. That was a great tutorial... I'm a little intimidated by it but that was exactly the look I was hoping for! I'll have to give that a shot. I have a hair blade tool, but mine doesn't look like yours, I got mine from tandy so I don't recall if it has the pointed parts on it so I can use it up side down like you did to make the very short hairs. any recommendation as to how to do that without that? I'm assuming the slow method of a scalpel but I wouldn't mind advice from a pro.

Thanks Ferret! That is a wonderful link that should really help me out quite a bit. I'm not too concerned about making a helmet. I've been making historical costumes, and other odd ball shapes and things before. I should be able to handle this without a problem. I've had to do some odd ball finagling with felted hats making them work for different theatre shows. (I'm a costume shop minion) I am aware that there would have to be seams. but I figured I'd ask people with more experience in making them than I. I already have a head form that I use for FX makeup that will allow me to press and work on it. And I know the one I posted was made of of plastic- but it was the shape over all shape I was looking at.. Thanks for letting me know the name of that particular helm. I'm aware that I will have seams- its the nature of the beast- but it never hurt to glean some info from those with more experience. Hivemind, I don't disagree with you, Whew- I wouldn't want to do all of the seams on the helmet I posted.. it isn't even one I'm fond of per say but it was the right shape. My goal with this helmet is to then start molding and building other pieces to attach to it. I rather liked the masks/helms from the Legend of the Guardians of Ga'hoole, and I know I'm showing my geekyness here, but wanted to try to make one for the hellovit and the challenge. My logic is you can't improve or learn much if you don't ever challenge yourself. I know I can easily carve the mask portion but it was the helmet part that was throwing me for a bit of a loop. I figured since this is mostly going to be used as a costume piece- and a dust collector for when its not in use- 7-8 leather would be fine... or would a heavier leather be better. I don't have a terribly large head... so I'm hoping I wont need that many feet of it.

I want to make a simple hard leather helmet... something with a silloutte(sp? sorry spelling is not my strong suit) similar to this http://www.museumreplicas.com/p-1058-elven-larp-helm.aspx *sigh* I wish I could find a better picture one from a historical reference.. but this gets the job done. But I'm really unsure as to how to go about making it. In the ideal world I would like to use as few pieces as possible as I want to keep it fairly thin/light since it is going to be used primarily as a way to hold a mask on. But this is a first for me- so I'm brand spanking new on armor making... So any and all advice is appreciated. Thanks!

I'm working on a bunch of animal masks right now, and realized I've done all of them stylized and not one realistic one. I'd like to do one like that. So I looked into figure carving finese... and that helped a little. But the fur patterns he's dealing with are at a much smaller scale than what I am working on. Also I'm lacking some of those tools. I've thought about scoring some in with my stylus but I'm just afraid that is not going to give that proper three dimensional look of fur. So basically what I'd like some advice on is how to get a large scale realistic fur texture. has anyone done this before?

ARG!! Curse you Leatheroo!! (ooh a rhyme-sorry) I need a printer and had all but decided on a ink jet and then you share that really spiffy trick- and now I'm undecided again!! GR! That is a really really extra spiffy trick!! I could get into all sorts of trouble with that!!!

Thanks!!! You guys really are not more then enablers... and thats awesome.

I know that vinegar is wonderful for aging brass, but is there a way to get that blue green patina on copper quickly? I'm trying to put some copper leaf on a peice I"m fiddling with and I want it to have that patina creeping up on it to make it look old and abandoned. Does any one have any experience with this? I have heard I can try salt water but I"m not sure how long that will take... and I will admit I'm not terribly patient. If will take weeks I'm not sure I'm willing to wait that long. If it takes a day or two that isn't too bad. Any help would be appreciated greatly!

It sinks? Really? Thant is so cool!! Sorry, inner nerd came rushing out there for a sec. I pity the chainsaw that had to take down that tree though! I've got an APO address BELIEVE me I'd be up a creek without one as shipping costs would eat me alive! I've been trying around craigslist, so far not much luck in Houston, St Louis or Cincinnati. Darn. I guess I just have to keep on trying.

Really? I couldn't find that thread! Much to my dismay But that is exciting news to hear/read!

Its kinda hard to find things on CL for me as I'm out in Naples Italy, and unfortunately for me don't speak Italian at all. I'll have to see what the hobby shop is like here, I guess I've kinda been avoiding it as I don't need any more hobbies to suck me in.. *sigh* I'm an easy sale when it comes to that sort of thing. But its worth a shot. I guess I'm not to fond of it because of the wood that they use on it, it seems pretty porous to me, and I wasn't liking the edge that it left on the masks that I used it on... I had better luck fighting with my nylon ones and then going to the corners with my shaft of my stylus. Which works I suppose, but I'd rather a good slicker so I don't have to fight so much.

Yeah I'm aware that midas is long out of business, finding spiffy stuff to late or "vintage" is always my luck. But it never hurt to ask. Looks like I"ll just have to troll ebay for a while-shoot. Oh well. Thanks whinewine for the link-- those are really spiffy, and I've been looking for an excuse to get a dremel tool. Oh the trouble I could get in, this will be fun.

I am relatively new to the leather crafting world, and just was introduced to some of the midas tools- but was told they can be hard to get hold of. Is there any other place other than ebay to look? Also I'm looking for the kanji of the Chinese zodiac a edge slicker that is small enough to fit in the eye holes of masks, I tried the new wood one from tandy and am rather disappointed in it. an acrylic/nylon would be fine, or cocobolo wood in a perfect world. as for the advice part, any hints to where I could hunt some of these items down would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Yes I did! thank you so much! I'm excited about these! Sorry it took so long to respond, I just got my wisdom teeth out, and the meds they put me on makes me high as a kite/ really forgetful. I wasn't meaning to be rude, sorry! but thank you, thank you, thank you!

Does anyone know where I can get the kanji symbols for the zodiac anywhere? I know I could probably custom order some but I've got a limited budget, does anyone know where I could find a set? Or failing that a really affordable customs shop? Thanks!

ARG!! for some reason my browser says that link doesn't exist! Gr! and I have been running all over trying to find a good top hat pattern!! *whimper*

I'm wanting to make a bird mask too some time, I know there is a way of doing it with one piece, I've seen it done, unfortunately I don't know how to do that. Sorry, didn't mean to get your hopes up. but if anyone else here knows how to do it I'd love to know just as much as Raven UK would too I'm sure. But if you want to do feathers I might be able to help you out some, I just finished a small face mask that was based off of a bird, and I tooled ever single little feather-granted it looked really spiffy when I finished, but the process of getting there was more then just a little monotonous. As soon as I can find my camera I'll try to post a picture ( Finally got our stuff from the movers and am still unpacking) I have a question about your design, do you want to keep it all leather or do you want to do mixed media and throw in some real feathers? I'm only asking as I have had great luck using rooster hackles and coque (sp? cock/rooster) tail feathers for a raven mask that I made, and it gave the mask that slick look that ravens had.

that is a very nice mask leatheroo! thank you for some of the advice, I tried some contact cement and have not had very good results with its strength. But maybe I haven't ruffed the leather up enough first. I'm currently using 4/5 oz leather, primarily single shoulders as that is what is in my price range. But you've got me a little confused on the stitching, I can see some of the finer leathers being easily sewn and flipped inside out but with a stiffer leather you're planning on wet molding I don't see how that quite works. Most of the time I paint my masks, but I really would like to do one where I do a very light dye so to leave it as natural colour as possible-that way the bruising in the leather from some of the tooling will show through. Sorry for the long response time, my husband and I just got orders to move to Italy so I've been runnin' around like a chicken with my head cut off.