My Predator Mask Paint up + build

[Jim N]

Hi folks,

Just thought I'd share my photos of my Predator mask paint up and build.

I joined the Lair in Feb this year and have been lurking around for a while gathering info and tips from the wealth of information available here.
I then finally bought myself a mask and an airbrush and compressor kit and thought I'd give it a bash, although never used an airbrush before I was keen to see what I could achieve. So I've taken a load of photos of my slow progress as I'm still not finished yet!
Looking for some of your expert comments and advice.

Here is the blank mask purchased from Jaqthelad on ebay, he's a really nice chap who gave me a lot of tips, he also kindly base coated it for me:

I decided to change the starting colour, and then started to build up some colour:

Added mouth colour and more detailing:

Head Detailing:

I also started making my own dreads from scratch, It's a long process, added a few in these pics:

OK, now I felt I was getting somewhere, I had added more detailing and dreads and added a coat of Liquitex gloss varnish and then added a pair of glass animal eyes which i got from Snowdonia supplies which I think now really add to the overall look:

I've been looking for dread rings for a while, but for the moment I popped into B+Q and got some brass pipe olives from the plumbing section

Thats where I'm up to just now, still to add the teeth, quills, more dreads and other minor details, but hoping to get that done over the next few days, got a lot more dreads to make too. Hope you like it so far and that it makes me worthy of joining you guys in the Lair!

I'll post some updates soon.

Many thanks to you guys for the many informative posts that you have made over the past years which is where I got most of the help and ideas from.

Please post your comments or questions, any help is very much appreciated

 

[jaded]

Looks really good man, what did you make your dreads out of? They look great

 

[Jim N]

Looks really good man, what did you make your dreads out of? They look great

Here's my dread making guide:

I got a hold of a wooden broom pole cut it in half and sanded down until pointed to make 2 masters. Then add a few coats of varnish to seal the wood. I then screwed them to a flat board. (You could also try using a snooker or pool cue for the master) I got some black latex colourant and mixed a small amount to normal air drying liquid latex.
Then brush paint the latex onto the poles. This is done for a few coats, then to speed things up I added latex thickener and added another 3-4 coats. The coloured latex is a grey colour until fully cured/dried when it turns black - so no painting involved!
Once fully dried sprinkle on baby powder and peel the latex back so effectively the smooth inside surface becomes the outer surface - ok?
You're then left with a floppy black dread, which then needs to be stuffed carefully with synthetic wadding which can be bought cheaply from ebay.
Use a thin pole or garden cane to push the wadding (in small pieces down in to the dread). When it is fully stuffed, wipe down with a wet cloth or shine up with some rubbershine if you're into that and you should have a respectable looking dread. As I said it is time consuming but could be speeded up by making more master poles.

here's some photos:

Hope this is of help

 

[Usurper]

1st of all congratulations.

Not on the mask hehe, on joinig our tribe you will love it here.

youll find you learn alot each time you use a airbrush, but for a 1st time i think youve done really well.

 

[Superman7]

wow, great work dude, also the dread tips are cool...thanx

 

[T8001]

kewl ace job!

 

[Jim N]

Thanks for the feedback, hope someone found the dread tips helpful

 

[ptgreek]

Awesome..really awesome!

 

[Jim N]

Here's an update for you guys

Added teeth, quills and a few more dreads.

Nearly done now just need to add more dreads, quills and some beads.

Hope you like it!

 

[esdain]

oh nice, i actually hate that mask, but your painting has done it good, i still don;t like it but your painting is impressive.
the dreads are a nice touch and fairly simple, good for those ppl that can;t afford or don;t want to splash out on Bambooies. my only concern will be the weight when there is 40+ on the mask

 

[predator666]

Looking well, once the rest of the dreads etc are on it'll defo complete the look. The picture of the close up of the eye is class