foam mask help

I'm doing a nightwing suit and have everything but the mask. I had already cut out my mask design on 3mm foam. I am looking for help on forming it to my face, making it solid, then painting it. Appreciate any and all advice.

You can heat form foam - warm it up with a hair dryer or heat gun until it gets floppy, then press it to your face as it cools. It will retain its shape somewhat, but you'll have to strengthen it. Check this link for a really great tutorial on how to do that: http://entropyhouse.com/penwiper/costumes/helmsdeep.html

You'll need to seal the foam before painting - Plastidip (or similar), or a 50/50 mix of white glue and water can do that. Otherwise, the foam will soak up paint like a sponge.

Check out the Search function here and read through some of the threads on the RPF - there's tons of great advice.

I'm looking to do the same thing but I can't find a good pattern/outline to start from. I'm not great with free hand drawing. Did you get an outline somewhere or just design your own?

ghibbits said:

I'm looking to do the same thing but I can't find a good pattern/outline to start from. I'm not great with free hand drawing. Did you get an outline somewhere or just design your own?

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I designed my own by sketching on a piece of paper until I got something I liked (and I'm not great at drawing either!) then folded the paper in half before cutting it, so both sides would be symmetrical. Try it on your face before cutting your foam version to see if you like it, or if you want to make changes. It's really a trial and error thing. And besides, foam and paper are both pretty cheap - if you end up with something you don't like, just try again!

Hey I'm in pretty much the same boat trying to build a nightwing mask and I had a few questions. First is it worth it trying to build up some of the surface shape of the mask (like you see with sculpted masks) by gluing more foam on top of the basic outline or would that just make it too big and possibly heavy? Secondly when you seal it is it best to seal both sides with glue/plastidip or just the exterior surface? Thanks.

capuchin16 said:

Hey I'm in pretty much the same boat trying to build a nightwing mask and I had a few questions. First is it worth it trying to build up some of the surface shape of the mask (like you see with sculpted masks) by gluing more foam on top of the basic outline or would that just make it too big and possibly heavy? Secondly when you seal it is it best to seal both sides with glue/plastidip or just the exterior surface? Thanks.

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You would really have to work to make a foam mask too heavy. You can try building up the surface details but you'd have to really work at smoothing the edges so you have a nice clean transition. I've personally never done it, but you could check Google or YouTube for tutorials.

For sealing, definitely seal the edges, since they'll be visible. I'm not sure about the back. If any parts of it stick out so the back is visible, then you would have to seal it so you can paint it, but if it's not going to be visible, I probably wouldn't bother. Though I'm not sure how bare foam/glue/plastidip/paint would react with an adhesive (if you're going to glue the mask to your face instead of using a strap). There may be some people on here with more experience, but you may just have to do a test if that's how you want to adhere it. I've never glued a foam mask to my face before.

For my mask I got one off the Internet just searched one up and traced it then looked at pictures and modified it then after I folded it on half so it's even and tried it on I liked it so I made one with foam which I didn't like so I cut up a party mask and it fit to my face and stayed and already had eyes cut out then I painted it no sealing needed also you can make a liquid latex mask for under 3 bucks