I am of course refering to the mask used by Anck Su Namum in her fight scene with Nefertiri in The Mummy Returns, this one on the left :
It seems that there are no pictures of the original prop other than in screencaps. The only one I found was one with a Prop Store watermark, but I could not trace the auction. Could have been a replica, because I am quite sure it wasn't a screen or production-used one.
So depending on screencaps it is. Thankfully, there are quite a few to be had, and with rather excellent detail.
One of my main objectives to make this replica, was to give it the feel of having been used in combat.
The hero prop was nowhere near perfect, full of dings, scratches, bumps, dents, warts and bruises, as can clearly be seen in the screencaps.
And it plays the part perfectly on screen just as it is.
I also wanted to give it the look of having been made during the time period, being forged / hammered / molten metal joined etc, just like the hero prop.
I took far less artistic liberty than I usually do for this one, as it is a replica I wished to be as close as possible to the original. Not perfect, but so long as it screams ''Anck Su Namun's fighting mask !!'' , I'd be happy
Although I am sort of ok with sculpting ... I don't do faces
So I had to find a mask as a base.
It didn't take me too long, and I found one. Before buying it (all $6 plastic of it
), I resized / scaled (not warped to fit) the listing image superimposed onto one of the screencaps.
Except for the top left & right corner borders which would have to be more ''open'', I think it's a dead ringer.
Once it arrived, I zoomed in on a couple of screencaps till they were the same size as the mask I got and traced them out on to an old file binder plastic.
Those, together with printed screencaps, I hoped would keep me on track during the build
I started by cutting out the ''wing'' parts from balsa wood. Although balsa wood is perfect to shape into almost anything, it is smooth, and this was quite the opposite of what I wanted. I'd take care of that in the finishing.
In order to get the precise size, I cut the 'flaps' using the proportionate screencap tracing.
I then stuck the mask on to a manequin head, in order for it to be display-ready, and secondly, so as to keep the mask firmly in place to work on.
Spacers on the inside kept it stable and achieved the correct overall shape.
Next step .... off to the hairdresser
Stuck on braids, and put decorative clasps on the ends.
I then sculpted the raised parts with air-drying clay and stuck on a piece of string to simulate the edge decoration (see blue circle in printed screencap in the 3rd image).
And here it is painted & finished
And here the full view with it on the central unit bottom part, which I dedicated totally to The Mummy / Returns