The Mask

[newmagrathea]

Hey everyone, it's been a super long time since I've started a thread, and I don't think I've ever had a thread on this part of the RPF. I'm usually on the Star Wars side of things. Anyways I picked up this casting of the Loki mask from the movie The Mask a couple years ago. The story, if I remember it correctly, is that the seller acquired the molds that the screen used masks were pulled from and was selling casting that were painted up. I messaged him and asked if he'd be willing to sell an unpainted casting because I like a project and rarely buy completed props, and he said he would. He mentioned that this was going to be one of the last pulls from the mold because it was very tired and worn out. The casting I received was pretty rough, tons of air bubbles an the end of the nose was basically missing due to a large trapped air bubble. But no big deal it could all be fixed.

Finally I got a little time to work on it and started the process of fixing the casting and painting. I made some videos on the build.

 

[newmagrathea]

I started off fixing the nose, I had mixed up some two part epoxy for something else and had plenty left over. So I wrapped the end of the nose with some tape to make a barrier wall and put it in there. Later this will cause an issue, but it was the catalyst to me starting this project. I didn't capture that on video unfortunately, it was just a quick thing I did with some left overs.

 

[newmagrathea]

It was about three months later that I really started this project fully. I tried using Bondo glazing putty to fill some of the holes but that didn't go the way I wanted, not bad, but not good either. The next thing I tried was Tamiya white putty, just smearing it on, scraping out the crevices and rubbing some steel wool to knock down the rough bits left from scraping. The Tamiya is how I did most of the front of the mask holes, it was a pretty tedious task.

 

[newmagrathea]

I discovered that the spot on the nose that I had filled with the two part epoxy was rubbery after I had primered the front of the mask. If I touched the nose it was soft, which would make the primer crack and flake off. Can't have that, so I scraped out as much as could and redid the end of the nose with some Aves Apoxie sculpt (I love this stuff). And started using the Apoxie sculpt to fill in all the large holes on the back of the mask. Finished up the back of the mask with the Tamiya putty and laid down another coat of primer.

 

[newmagrathea]

Now it's time to paint. I tackled the wood part first, I figured it would be the most difficult since it's the most organic in shape and color. Since a couple screen used masks have been up for auction recently I had some pretty good reference photos. I started off thinking I would try to dry brush the colors on, but quickly discovered that airbrushing was the way to go.

 

[newmagrathea]

And for the finale, I paint up the nose bridge. My reference photos showed a bit of texture that was no present in the casting and I wanted to add it. I used a mixture of paint and fine saw dust dabbed on to the surface. I worked pretty well, but I think if I was going to do it again I would try sponging on some Tamiya putty. Getting the colors just right went pretty well until I did the green, which I over did. But I was able to correct it and get the effect I wanted. I had to wait forever for the semi gloss clear I ordered and had to stop working on the mask. I went on vacation and came back and it still hadn't arrive.

 

[newmagrathea]

I made a random trip up to my local hobby store that usually is out of everything and they had the semi gloss clear I was wanting and had been waiting for a month and a half to get delivered. So I was able to wrap up the paint work in about an hour.

The final video will be out on Wednesday if you're curious.

 

[Too Much Garlic]

Cool. That turned out amazing. To go from what the casting looked like originally to what you ended up with... it's like it's not even the same mask. You did great work to fix that piece. I believe the propmaker making those castings is a member here.

I have wanted to try out the Bondo glazing putty, but then I saw the following video where this prop maker was using some Elmer's wood filler that according to her was much better to remove seams and fill holes. So may check that out in the future.

 

[newmagrathea]

Final video.

 

[SheerHeartAttac]

That paint job looks nice.

 

[PHArchivist]

Good lord - did he mix free Bubble Up in the resin?

Excellent recovery and paint-up!

 

[newmagrathea]

That paint job looks nice.

Thank you!

Good lord - did he mix free Bubble Up in the resin?

Excellent recovery and paint-up!

Much appreciated. Not sure what the deal was with the resin, it looked like bread.

 

[SRF]

Very nice job. I bought one of the same castings myself. Mine is also in roughly the same shape as yours was. Would you be open to repairing another one?

 

[newmagrathea]

Very nice job. I bought one of the same castings myself. Mine is also in roughly the same shape as yours was. Would you be open to repairing another one?

I cannot, I simply don't have time to work on my hobbies anymore. I would recommend using Aves Apoxie Sculpt, I found it worked the best.