Original Michael Crawford Phantom of the Opera mask - FINALLY!

Leather interior is white. I was told that the production uses some kind of kid leather from some kind of uber expensive space goat from Saturn or wherever. While that may be, it also doesn't make too much sense on how it seems to conform so well to the mask interior. It is form fit, not in pieces.

So...

To my knowledge, there are hides that conform better with heat and moisture than others. Cow is great at a certain stage (before it is entirely tanned and treated) but that is too thick anyway. What works - and seems to be what is used to the eye and touch at least - is a white colored sheep skin. Placed over a positive form and then literally painted and prodded with seriously hot water and a bristle brush, it conforms extremely well to the contours of this shape.
 
Wow! I only wish I could see one of the original props, they must be quite beautiful in person. I'm hoping to make one of my own, so forgive me if I sound stupid - I'm new to prop-making - but did you use fibreglass resin to create the mask?
 
darthjones, I have a question as you've seen the original in person.

Was the original mask clear plastic painted on the inside? I am asking because I remember Chris Tucker demonstrating the makeup in a documentary and he had a clear mask which he placed on the bust. Of course that could have been for demonstration only but was just wondering, as painting on the inside of a clear mask would give a nice appearance of a clear coat. And no particular reason, I am just curious.
 
heyitsdan said:
Wow! I only wish I could see one of the original props, they must be quite beautiful in person. I'm hoping to make one of my own, so forgive me if I sound stupid - I'm new to prop-making - but did you use fibreglass resin to create the mask?
Click to expand...

Hello! Sorry, but I have not been out here in too long. This one is fiberglass because the owner did not want to strip the leather (with makeup stains!) out of the original. So it was molded from the outside and layed up in THIN fiberglass - very sturdy but still slightly flexible. The originals were not fiberglass - kind of overkill unless there is something we don't know. :)
 
mvmagic said:
darthjones, I have a question as you've seen the original in person.

Was the original mask clear plastic painted on the inside? I am asking because I remember Chris Tucker demonstrating the makeup in a documentary and he had a clear mask which he placed on the bust. Of course that could have been for demonstration only but was just wondering, as painting on the inside of a clear mask would give a nice appearance of a clear coat. And no particular reason, I am just curious.
Click to expand...

Hello! The one I saw was straight up white styrene. I do recall that Tucker footage and was thinking that maybe he made a clear one to display/ store that bust. There could be clear ones out there and all it would take is a need to make more masks and have a plastics shop be out of one thickness in one type of plastic and have to go with another, slightly different material. Me, I suspect the vast majority of them are white styrene. ??? And painting it from the inside would be so laborious. There are tricks to getting this paint job done quite quickly from the outside if you do it right - then clear coat on that if you want. I did put clear coat on this piece here and then lightly rubbed it out - its probably a more time intensive piece than the used mask I saw. ???
 
So whats the chances of you selling these as depnding on price i think alot of people would be interested


darthjones said:
Okay, gang -

Not everyone here is a Phantom head but we're certainly mask people. This here is a Michael Crawford Phantom of the Opera mask. More pictures later in better light but the story is that I was contacted by someone with a stage used Crawford mask. It is a rather fragile thing, susceptible to heat, and in this case, cracked (minor). She asked if I could duplicate it for her since - well, as a backup. But this was molded from the front since we did not want to remove the original leather from the stage used piece. Not a problem - it was cast in silicone and I made an uber thin fiberglass pull, the one that you see here. It is certainly thin enough to have the wire and leather put in as well and that is what she would like.

Again, better photos later with color and all that but I painted it like the one she has. However, there is some sloppier paint on her original piece. I was more careful but the colors are the same.

Each one is a tiny bit different of course but this is pretty dang close.

Alright, the pics.
Click to expand...
 
Hello! I currently don't have plans to turn out any prop stuff because of my actual job - and times being what they are, that could run into a wall at any moment. So I'm just stressed out trying to maintain things on that front and pop into RPF every once in a while. I wish I could make a small batch of these things and maybe I will at some point because I'm hearing from more Phantom fans than I thought.

Feel free to check back down the road though. If actual work dries up then I'll have lots of time to make props and eat paper and salt sandwiches.

The upside and downside with this mask is that it is fiberglass, giving us a piece that is both more sturdy and which preserves the actual surface of the original. But the labor going into it is several times longer than that of styrene.
 
Hey DJ, simply awesome you got to work with a stage used prop from TPOTO...:thumbsup
Appreciating that your in no position to make any direct copies as of yet, I'm gonna add this thread to subscription in hopes that it will happen.

Cheers for sharing.. :cool

Gav
 
Took some pics of my Phantom mask, I was ASM in the London production a year after it opened, I had to do a few understudy swing parts on occasion as well as rehearsals. I was given my mask when I left the production, I remember spraying them up and the kid leather was tricky to keep, sweat and make up and all....I also have the original prop 'monkey box' this was used in rehearsals and original stage, it was upgraded and replaced, monkey removed. It was to be thrown out when I was there and we got to take some of the stuff no longer required. So have a few other original props. I had my mask framed up, it touches glass very slightly as you can see. Need to get it reboxed. The masks were delivered as whole face and we had to cut them down.
 
funny thing is, I was sitting here watching the Phantom 25th anniversary on my 2nd monitor when I found this. That is a phantastic looking mask. Im thinking of making one myself soon once I move and get settled into my new place
 
I too, would be interested in one of these if you do a run!!

I love Phantom and have lost count of how many times I've seen the show. This mask is gorgeous!!
 
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