Leather Help: Recreating A Movie Prop

[Brundelfly]

Dear Leather Artists.

Im here from another forum, where the primary focus is movie props. Recently, I have started on a project to recreate a mask from a popular sci fi movie. STARGATE

I know little about leather, or where to find the material for this particular piece.

Im hoping someone can help here.

The leather appears to be a very thin leather, folded into itself to hide a seam.

Here are the pictures. Any idea where to get this type of material, or what it is called so I can ask for the right item?

Thank you for your help. If you need any help molding or cast, or working with fiberglass, I would know more about that than I do leather and would be happy to answer any questions.

A close up. Appears to be a split leather, that has been embossed.

The front:

The Back where the fold is:

Edited November 25, 2012 by Brundelfly

[Chief31794]

Brundelfly,

Without seeing it live it's hard to tell. It looks to me like Pigskin Lining dyed that color. Pigskin is about 2oz leather (1/32" Thick) and has that texture.

Perhaps someone will know more about it than I.

Chief

[TwinOaks]

The construction of that should be pretty straight forward. Simply sew it together inside out (it's a long sleeve), then turn it outside-out.

[Logans Leather]

PM me. A friend of mine worked in the masks and many other props for Stargate. I can talk to him and see what he can tell me.

Funny, I've been considering reproducing this mask in molded leather, probably with an armature inside. I have some molding and fiberglass questions for you too.

[shtoink]

To be honest, the type of leather may not be that critical. The key here, I think, is the color and thickness of the leather. Most likely any leather that is thin and soft, similar to denim maybe, will allow a free movement and should fit the bill. Goat or sheep can be colored like that and still be soft and durable, too.

This leaves you with a few options and you probably don't need too much leather to get the job done. You also have the room for experimentation and testing, just in case your first try doesn't work out the way you like.

I have to agree with TwinOaks that it looks to be a simple tube shape that was sewn inside out and then inverted to place the seem inside. The embellishments are then added afterwards with similarly colored threads to anchor it to the leather.

[Brundelfly]

Thanks for the help and info everyone.

What is the best source for that type of leather?

Tandy?

[Chief31794]

Springfield Leather Company, they have some tooling pigskin which is natural color and you would be able to dye it to the color you're looking for. Call them and tell them what you want, what you're doing and they are very helpful with suggestions.

Chief