Imaya

I am happy how it turned out! The party was a disaster of a night, but the mask was great. It needs some tweaks, but I was in a hurry and didn't have time to adjust. It needs some of the sides around the face trimmed (it is long ends by the straps stick out awkwardly), and the goggles need some more cutting down on the plastic and to be glued in so they stay in place. For a first mask, I am pretty pleased.

Yay! Everything went smoothly on the test mask (other than the fact it was a fugly and hastily put together design to begin with ). Cut it out, learned some things about cutting. I made a test mask with much more cutting detail than the plague mask so I could practice. Baked it and molded it. I was nervous the first 3 or 4 times out of the oven it didn't hold shape, but then it started to begin to stiffen, and near the end, I could do a lot more molding that held! Yay! The plague doctor mask is much bigger and bulkier, so I imagine it will take much longer to bake. Only really need to mold some curve into the beak, the rest of the mask holds its shape nicely on it's own per the foam demos. I did some minor freehand tooling on the test, none is needed on the plague one. Taking the plunge, cutting out the mask and will work on the stitching for the next couple of hours. Wish me luck (I'm still a bit nervous...)

Got everything in from Zack White... looks great! I am about to finish what I hope is the final foam prototype, and have a question about 'pinning' the leather in place. With the foam, I am able to glue and pin in place before I sew. But the leather will be too thick to pin, and I am not sure if any glue is safe to put in the oven. I need a way to hold everything in place while I sew, and it is too awkward to clip into place. I would only be able to clip on the ends, but need to steady stuff in the middle too. So... how do I stabilize the leather in place so I can line it up and sew it correctly? Is rubber cement or hot glue ok, even though it will go into the oven? The practice leather is pretty thick, all between 4 to 8 or 10 oz... trying to figure out what to make for practice. Nothing I can think of involves molding. I did get one piece (maybe a 5oz piece or so?) big enough for a regular face mask... maybe just make a simple mask molded to my face?

Ok, I will order some practice leather too (it's a good price where I am getting the leather piece). Other than a bowl, what else are good practice projects for molding and shaping? Maybe a simple face mask? What else? There won't be any tooling for the mask, but I will go ahead and make the simple cloth armbands out of leather for practice as well, mostly for the paint practice. They will need a little simple tooling. No shaping on them, however. The initial shipping charge is ghastly, so I am throwing in rawhide as a backup. At the least, I am going to cut some lacing from it to use in the armbands. I would make a sheath too, but the party I am going to most definitely won't allow even fake weapons.

Thank you! I goggled around, but couldn't seem to get an answer on whether or not I could tool that thick piece of oil tanned leather. I found a few tutorials on baking leather, and all use pretty much the same methods on baking, just as you describe. Pop it in on the lowest temp, pul it out, shape it, check for hot spots or burning, pop back in, repeat every four or five minutes. I spoke about the mask to a friend who has made some leather armor, and he was insistent that the leather would not harden correctly in the oven, and that I must put it on a form, oil it, and let it dry over a few weeks. It doesn't need to be as hard as armor, but the quick method of using the oven seems like it does the job for masks... right? It was mentioned here, as I have read in other places, that masks don't harden enough if you don't use enough heat or if you try to air dry them. Should I be treating the leather (such as oil) with anything to assist with the hardening process, or will it be fine? The tutorials I went over did nothing to the leather beyond wetting, baking, forming, and ending with an oil stain. The only difference is I will use acrylic, not oil, to paint it. From my fine art background, I know you can't paint acrylic over oil without undesirable results, but you CAN paint oil over acrylic and achieve improved results over plain oils. Will not adding something with oil before or after the baking be bad for the leather? He was quite insistent that the process I will use would leave the leather only stiff, not hard... so he has caused me to question my approach.

Sunday bump!

This is one piece I am considering using. It is cheap, already distressed, dyed with a light color and probably doesn't need a full paint job, just some actual white stain or maybe some white oil paints will lighten it up and still keep the mottled effect. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Leather-Cow-Oil-Tanned-Project-Piece-6-1-Square-Foot-Sand-10-ounces-Buffed-N-/141417093695?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20ed1d9a3f However... it is oil tanned leather? Can it be formed and shaped like veg tanned, by wetting and baking? Is there another method that needs to be used? It is 10oz, but doesn't appear unreasonably thick. Is it something I can work with?

Need to figure out how I am going to do this soon, so I am trying to narrow in the exact shopping list. I discovered the 'Speedy Stitcher'. Seems to be quite popular on Amazon. Thoughts? The price is right, and seems like it might simplify this project. I am only stitching, not sure if I will have time to even make a belt strap. I might just sew on fabric or something to tide me over, since the straps will be covered. Anyways, all the tutorials show sewing that involves leather stacked on top of each other, lined up edges, simple. However, with the mask, I won't be lining up anything perfectly, and need to keep both layers properly aligned as I stitch. A rotary tool will mark the top piece, but the bottom one will require constant checking and adjusting. That is why I am thinking the stitching awl might not be the best idea, since the holes will not be prepunched. It seems I will need to punch all of my holes ahead of time. To save time, perhaps I could glue edges together with something? What should I use? Or, I have a dremel tool and some really small bits that can zip a nice hole through both layers if I line them up together. Prepunching both pieces individually with an awl seems like a lot more time than I need to be spending on that part. Of course, if I am using wet rawhide, sewing should be really simple. I might throw a punch into the mix just so I have it if I decide to make a belt strap. I imagine craft stores will readily have some rivets and buckles available I can grab at the last minute if need be.

The Windsor and Newtons (aka, Wintons) are artist grade acrylic. Better than Liquitex, not as good as Golden (as least the student grade stuff I have isn't). There isn't anything wrong with Liquitex, but it is pretty low quality in terms of artist paints, and is pretty inexpensive, which is why I ask if one is better than another. Obviously, I would grab Liquitex if all is equal, as Golden can be spendy. But It isn't like I wouldn't use up the rest of the tube on my own paintings, of course. I ask about gesso since it is made to be applied to canvas directly as a sealer and flexible opaque base. However, it is of a lower quality than actual paints, so there may be good reasons not to use it on leather. I also imagine it would go on pretty thick! Thanks for the tutorial, I didn't see that particular one. The other ones I found didn't look very good. The idea to prototype in foam is a great one, I think I will pick up a sheet. It is cheap enough, and as close as I will get to leather! I am still considering rawhide too, just nervous about working with it and things going horribly wrong...

Here are the promised pictures. The white cast: And the shrink wrap pattern, which I used the cast beak and a dollar store halloween mask. Fits great, the eyeholes just need to be carefully cut out with the lenses. The rawhide does seem to match quite well, but I am concerned with it for a few reasons, mainly just it's reaction to water and uncertainty with the types of paints/ chemicals and sealers I can use on it. Comfort is easy to work in with a nice lining, so that doesn't concern me. The price is only a bit less than the veg tanned, however, so I am not sure if it is worth it. Might be easier to work with in some ways, harder in others. How many layers of paint will I need? I have a tube of Windsor and Newton acrylic, but it is almost out. Any excuse to buy more paints is a good excuse for me, however! I also have some white acrylic gesso (decent quality, but not top shelf), as well as cheap enamels. Plenty of good quality oil paints too. Does one brand or type perform better than the other in this application? Any sort of priming I should do? What do you mean by 'leather finish' (just aging or wiping off, perhaps?) For antiquing, you just mean to lightly brush on some darker colors to age it, yes?

Only have had a bit of time off from work to poke at this, but I made a shrink-wrap plastic mold around the plaster one, then cut it and measured it to get an idea how much leather I need. Roughly 18" x 18". I will make another cast with the proper face fit, eye holes, etc to use as the actual pattern. I need to order the leather ASAP. What is the ideal weight of the leather? I have found good prices for everything from 5oz to 9oz, and just want to make sure I get the right balance of workability and stiffness. Also, what tools will I need? I am pretty new to all of this, so I am keeping it simple and just hand stitching along the mouth. What do I need? And what should I look for in paints/ stains (need white, but it is ok if it looks a bit 'rough' or 'rustic' in the finish). I have a decently thick box knife to cut with as well.

More pictures of the cast to come, I am just bumping this thread for any more input. After stepping away and looking at the cast, I was not happy. I fussed with it quite a bit, tearing half of it off, and eased the angle on top of the nose quite a bit, getting it fairly flat on top. I will study the pictures closely before the final layer, and decide how much of a ridge, if any, to add in. It seems the beak is quite flat and wide, so I need to fire up the game to confirm all the angles. The cast is drying now, and I think it is a much closer base than it was before.

Alright, cast is done (no eye holes, didn't line up on the cast. I will figure that out later) More or less correct, I think I will add a bit more curve to the nose when baking. It doesn't need too much more. Once it dries properly, I will sand out the lumps too, and add the proper curve back in the bottom from the base to the center (it was collapsing, I added more than I wanted). Still a bit damp due to all the plaster cloth. Oh, and some better reference pictures I found later:

Phew, thank you! I watched a couple tutorials on youtube, and both actually had ovens that went down to 150, so I was afraid mine would be too hot. The tutorials went over the importance of putting the mask in for a few minutes, shaping, putting it back in, and repeating. One also made a point to mention burning, tips to avoid it, and made it clear she pretty much watched her masks like a hawk to ensure they were not burning. If anything, I may end up not baking it enough out of fear of warping it. So I will make some sort of sample piece with scraps first to make sure I get a process down!

Now, I assessed the tools I have available to bake the leather, and this may change the project if nothing will work. My oven only goes down to 170F. From what I researched, ideal is something like 130F, 150 is ok if you watch it. 170 sounds like it will be too high? Maybe crack the door while it bakes? Alternative options include leaving it outside (today it is still over 100F, but it will drop to the high 90s by the end of the month). It is also very dry here, usually no humidity. Other options are a heat gun or a hair dryer. I have both. I also have a toaster oven, a decent sized one... but I think once I get the mask done, it still won't be big enough. Can I make this work?