Skaught
Sr Member
I'm working on tricking out a Zuckuss mask for my eventual costume. I picked up the mask on ebay a couple months ago for only $100, and it's pretty nice.
The mask came with the eyes intact, painted silver. Included were two plastic domes for making "real" eyes. These fit perfectly so I assume similar domes were used in the original sculpt. I understand that the screen accurate method for doing these is with bubble wrap. I tested that out and, frankly, it looked like bubble wrap stuffed into a plastic dome (i.e. crap).
So instead I bought a bunch (six packs) of those little rubber no-skid feet, half sphere shaped, and stuck them all over one of the domes:
(this is after demolding. All the rubber feet came off):
Then I made an RTV mold of the piece:
I also pour some RTV into one of the sphere's so I could make a "positive" shape. I hang this down inside the eye mold to the final piece from being too thick and heavy.
I used Castin' Create clear resin from Michaels (see the OT thread about that stuff). Not the easiest to work with but it did the trick. I painted transparent glass paint called "Hologram Shimmer" to give it some iridescent flecks. Hard to photograph but it looks cool:
You're not going to see anything through these other than where the sun is in the sky, but it looks cool. Here's it test fitted into the mask:
I finished the second eye tonight so as soon as it's done curing I'll paint it up and hot glue these inside the mask.
I added a piece of metal "screen" to the front section. This is a screen accurate place to put something like this. I thought this material look nice. Kind of a honeycomb pattern. This is the only place to get air and vision. OUCH.
Prior to making the eyes, I made the hoses and canister that hang off the side. Thanks to some good RPF advice, I picked up some latex and wrapped a tube roughly with masking tape, so that it would have an organic feel. I added color (just acrylic paint) to the latex first, then paint it up after it dried for variation. It took about three solid coats.
I decided to attach it to the mask with earphone/guitar cord plugs. These hold tight and the inputs look natural in the mask.
Looks a bit like a big poop.
The canister appears a bit transparent in some pics, so I went with that. I used a clear storage tube with rubber end caps from Home Depot. I painted the inside with yellow glass paint and then watered down some brown paint and let it drip down the inside so it looked grungey and organic. I used the same masking tape and latex method to make the poopy parts.
Once enhanced I made was adding a speaker in the bottom, so I could put a voice changer inside the mask and not only be heard, but speak with an alien/bug voice (still looking for a good voice changer. Two cheapo Halloween store voice changers have been junked). I used the same honeycomb metal screen in the bottom and the speaker grill.
Reminds me of a wasp nest. And just like the other tube, it will attach with a 3" plug. This one, though, will also connect the speaker to the electronics in the mask.
Anyway, that's what I've been up to lately!
Scott
The mask came with the eyes intact, painted silver. Included were two plastic domes for making "real" eyes. These fit perfectly so I assume similar domes were used in the original sculpt. I understand that the screen accurate method for doing these is with bubble wrap. I tested that out and, frankly, it looked like bubble wrap stuffed into a plastic dome (i.e. crap).
So instead I bought a bunch (six packs) of those little rubber no-skid feet, half sphere shaped, and stuck them all over one of the domes:
(this is after demolding. All the rubber feet came off):
Then I made an RTV mold of the piece:
I also pour some RTV into one of the sphere's so I could make a "positive" shape. I hang this down inside the eye mold to the final piece from being too thick and heavy.
I used Castin' Create clear resin from Michaels (see the OT thread about that stuff). Not the easiest to work with but it did the trick. I painted transparent glass paint called "Hologram Shimmer" to give it some iridescent flecks. Hard to photograph but it looks cool:
You're not going to see anything through these other than where the sun is in the sky, but it looks cool. Here's it test fitted into the mask:
I finished the second eye tonight so as soon as it's done curing I'll paint it up and hot glue these inside the mask.
I added a piece of metal "screen" to the front section. This is a screen accurate place to put something like this. I thought this material look nice. Kind of a honeycomb pattern. This is the only place to get air and vision. OUCH.
Prior to making the eyes, I made the hoses and canister that hang off the side. Thanks to some good RPF advice, I picked up some latex and wrapped a tube roughly with masking tape, so that it would have an organic feel. I added color (just acrylic paint) to the latex first, then paint it up after it dried for variation. It took about three solid coats.
I decided to attach it to the mask with earphone/guitar cord plugs. These hold tight and the inputs look natural in the mask.
Looks a bit like a big poop.
The canister appears a bit transparent in some pics, so I went with that. I used a clear storage tube with rubber end caps from Home Depot. I painted the inside with yellow glass paint and then watered down some brown paint and let it drip down the inside so it looked grungey and organic. I used the same masking tape and latex method to make the poopy parts.
Once enhanced I made was adding a speaker in the bottom, so I could put a voice changer inside the mask and not only be heard, but speak with an alien/bug voice (still looking for a good voice changer. Two cheapo Halloween store voice changers have been junked). I used the same honeycomb metal screen in the bottom and the speaker grill.
Reminds me of a wasp nest. And just like the other tube, it will attach with a 3" plug. This one, though, will also connect the speaker to the electronics in the mask.
Anyway, that's what I've been up to lately!
Scott
