Steampunk Tiki Part 2: The Mask

After creating a simple dress and vest, the most important part was the giant Tiki mask.  Since I wanted it to be very big, but not too heavy, I settled on foam for the base.  I have never made a prop with foam before, so this was certainly a learning experience.

The easiest part was creating a paper pattern.  I simply drew out what I wanted.

Tiki Mask pattern

Once the pattern was done, I cut out a backing piece and each decorative piece out of EVA foam floor mats (the grey colored foam) and thinner teeth out of craft foam. To allow myself to see, I cut out the inside of the whites of the eyes from the base mat.   The pieces were then bonded together with Barge's cement. Note: this stuff stinks and must be done in a well ventilated place!

Mask pieces glued together

Once the glue had set, I contoured the overlay pieces with a Dremel tool.  This step made a complete mess of the shop, and required safety googles and filter mask.  To create the wood grain, I followed an awesome Youtube tutorial from Craft Alchemist.  I drew wood grain on the foam with a sharpie (Note to self, dont use red if any of the painting is white.....)

Mask with contouring and wood grain drawn

After drawing on the wood grain, you make a ton of tiny slices in the foam matching the wood grain lines.  It looked like nothing was happening with the slices, in fact they were basically invisible.  I then heated the foam with a hot air gun and the slashes opened up creating a grain texture.

detail of grain texture

To seal the foam and allow the foam to be painted, the mask was coated with 3 coats plastidip spray.

coated with Plastidip

The mask was then painted with basic acrylic paints. It took 4-6 coats for each color, and the red sharpie bled into the white a little bit. 

Painted mask with human for scale

Next, I added glued 4 nails to the inside top of the mask and stabilized the nails with a second layer of EVA mat foam.  The bones are cheap leg and arm bones from a Halloween skeleton from the craft store are then glued onto the nails.  I then wrapped cheap twine around the bones at 4 different heights, using glue to keep the twine stable on the slippery plastic bones.  This formed a framework to support the fake ferns.  I then wove the fake ferns through the twine and glued the stems to the top of the mask.

bone and fern attachment back

bone and fern attachment front

To keep the mask on my head, I used leather straps glued to the mask back.  Since the mask is so flat, I had to add a piece of foam to move the mask out from my face.  The strapping goes around my forehead, not at eye level.

Straps to wear the mask

Here is what the mask looks like worn and with the staff and knife, which I will cover in the next two posts.  There were so many steps to the mask that required drying overnight that while the mask was started first, the other two props went much faster!

Tiki props