Skyrim: Khajiit in Nordic Carved Armor

I've pulled four copies of the khajiit mask so far. One is mine, the second goes to a friend who's in my Skyrim D*C group (and also staying with me at D*C--all five of us in the room are doing Skyrim costumes, three of which are khajiit!) and is not yet finished, the third went to another friend, and the fourth I made extra thick. It's my new master copy, for when I need to make a new mold given how many people who see this thing apparently want one. Another one has been paid for already and I just need to cast it. The second one I did we made too thin, so I needed to either redo it or fix it. We were able to brush on some thickened Dragon Skin while holding it just so and thus make it so it will be useable, but I still need to make it thicker and fill in a ton of bubbles. Since having it in the mold means I can't be brushing another copy into the mold at the same time, and for another reason I decided to make a support shell I could set the castings into.

The other reason (which is really the primary reason) was that I need to be able to make supportive shells for most of the castings (unfortunately the shells won't fit on the faces of bigger guys with wider faces, as the mask was sculpted around my face). However, because the overall shape is narrower toward the back of the head, I needed to make a support that's split down the middle of the face so I can actually remove the shell without distorting it. So a two-part support was in order, ideally one that I could actually lift and rotate around (the heavy mold is hard for me to move).

I had read about using fleece with polyester resin for speaker surrounds. I don't like polyester resin, but thought I would test because hey, who knows, it might work with my Onyx. And guess what--it does!

Fleece stitched (and stapled, but I wouldn't do that again) on over a ridge of aluminum foil as a separator between the halves:
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Covered with resin, before trimming the excess and splitting it open:
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Terrible photo of the master copy next to the support shell with that second casting in it:
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Flocking is going well. I really want to focus on my armor, rather than the prosthetics, but I've had five people ask me to make them masks as well so I felt like I should test things out on my mask before doing them on theirs. So I've been making a bunch of these things and definitely getting better at it. I made a couple of underskulls using the fleece and Onyx resin from my post above, with stitching the fleece into the mask to keep it in place, and that seems to work really well.

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The armor is coming along well too. The chest and shoulders, being the most complicated parts, were my biggest concern and both parts are going well. I want to have the armor done/wearable by the end of this month for an event. Might make it. Arms and legs are basically done as seen above, shoulders, chest, and back are all coming along, but there's a bunch of waist-level stuff I haven't started yet and I still need to sew the under suit and leather bits. We'll see. I have all the materials at least so it will depend on how much time I'm able to devote to this as opposed to my actual work.
 
Can't wait to see more!

I'm actually planning on starting my chest piece soon as well, but the scaling is worrying me a bit. I don't want to waste all kinds of foam! I'm not sure if I should make a cast of my upper body or make some paper patterns and trust that I did everything correctly...
 
As I understand it, there are several threads here and video clips on YouTube detailing how to make a tape mannequin (MacGyver/Mythbuster style) which would allow you to have a different view of the fitting process ...

I have also heard that using heat for cutting and shaping PVC foam could result in toxic and/or acidic fumes, do you have any recommendations to avoid damaged health and/or equipment?

PS: The Sweet Roll lacked the white glaze ... :)
 
Yeah, I've made duct tape dummies. I've also done full body casts, but not on myself. One would probably be a good idea, but honestly I just haven't felt like doing it. Plus it means another large item to store somewhere. I do have a mannequin that's just a couple inches taller than me, but unfortunately her proportions are nothing like mine.

I'm trying not to overheat the PVC mostly. I can smell the fumes when I cut it... should probably do that outside/use a respirator. You should REALLY be careful not to burn it, I understand.

And--I wasn't the one who made the sweet roll. It was left over from their sweet rolls of the previous day--I think the rest might have had glaze!
 
Excellent. One should always take safety and practicality into account in most every task and decision. ;)

That being said, I would be remiss if I failed to add; Good work. The mask looks very authentic according to the game(s). So do the bits of armour.

Do you plan on filling out the cavity between your face and the mask, or has that already been taken care of? Further more, will it be a full mask which holds itself in place by encompassing your entire head, or will there be other means of holding it in place?
 
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Definitely use a respirator. a N95 rated one. Even if you can't smell it there are fumes leaving the PVC. PVC when melted/burned degasses the dioxin Hydrogen chloride. It's a carcinogen so you really should protect yourself. A lot of what we use is carcinogenic, and if you expect that you will continue makeing props for years to come, you really should be wearing safety/protective gear all the time. This stuff is cumlative.
Safety school is now closed. :)
Hey really nice work there. I still can't believe how awesome your very first go at silicone went. Kudos!
 
The underskull supports the mask away from the face. A wig will be covering the back. I have a vague idea of how the strapping will work to hold the mask in place but haven't built it yet. I'm thinking something kind of like the supports for a hard hat.

I need to get my deck built and covered so I have a space to work outside. I'm a full-time artist and use only non-toxic stuff in my usual work, because I know I'm not going to be great about safety. But honestly--I knew overheating PVC was bad, didn't really think too much about the cutting and sanding fumes. I'll try and move those processes outside and wear my respirator.

Edit: Interestingly, it really looks to me like the main danger from HCl fumes is not carcinogenic but just chemical burns (I know, I know, "just" burns).
 
I'll have to watch that! I have thought about it quite a bit and was planning to do something similar to what most Chewbacca costumers do.

I tested laying hair into a thin line of painted-on wet silicone yesterday. It looks like it worked awesome. It's going to make the hairing process vastly easier/quicker. I also picked up some nicer white hair at a fiber festival, some lovely kid mohair top I believe. My fellow khajiit costumers came too, so all of us were searching for the fiber we needed. It was fun!
 
I tested laying hair into a thin line of painted-on wet silicone yesterday. It looks like it worked awesome. It's going to make the hairing process vastly easier/quicker.

As opposed to using a needle to push a few tufts of hair through the material at a time, yes I would guess that would be faster. :)
 
Just reading through this thread, some very creative ways of achieving goals, though on the health and safety thing, I understand why you don't want to use fibreglass/polyester resins, they are bad for you long term, and short term the fumes are a major depressant, however using urethanes as a replacement is a terrible idea, urethanes contain cyanide, every time you smell it or touch it you will be building cyanide up in your body, this will sooner or later start resulting in massive allergic reactions! My girlfriend has needed to go to hospital twice for massive courses of drugs so she could breathe on her own, her entire face and body was covered in huge enflamation and rashes. Another girl I know from work spent the week of her 21st birthday in intensive care because of the stuff, she's had to quit the film industry just to reduce the risk of coming into contact with it again.

Im not not sure how seriously you or anyone else is going to take this, but this is a warning to listen to! Especially as a woman, it can seriously effect ovaries, not so bad to guys in that respect but something to be wary of!
 
Actually, low doses of cyanide are easily dealt with by the body. While it is certainly possible to develop allergic reactions to urethane resins (I know people who it has happened to as well), it's not because of cyanide as I understand it.
 
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Quick test of airbrushing on faux fur (I got a few swatches and like this one best--monkey shag from Distinctive Fabrics). And underneath that is my mask with the edge that I have haired with mohair laid into silicone. I pigmented the silicone white so the roots of the hair will blend nicely. I think in the future layers I'll make it cream or slightly greyish, not so bright. I'll pigment the silicone black when I'm doing the stripes.

The faux fur will be for the back of the neck and tail mainly. It actually looks pretty similar to the real mohair, just a bit brighter. Not too bad and should be easy to tone down with some airbrushing, and it looks like I'll be able to add my spots and stripes without difficulty too.
 
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