That Deku mask looks spot on, you are going great!
Might I ask about your technique for bowling out the masks? I'm quite intrigued. Are you using one of the round carving tools (sort of like a chisel) used on a lathe? Haven't done much turning myself and don't know what its called, so excuse my lack of knowledge.
Also how where are you going to put them? Cause I barely have room for the two masks I'm doing, let alone 24!
Thanks for the feedback!
So two different answers for that. For the masks I turned on the lathe (the Blast Mask and the Deku mask) the inside was turned out. The mask was mounted with the back facing out on a faceplate. As it spins you take a chisel to the inside to hollow it out. If you're curious what that looks like there are a ton of great youtube videos on the subject, look for bowl hollowing.
For the rest of the masks, including Kafei's mask for example, I hand carve out the back using a chisel and mallet. In terms of tools the "round" or gouge chisel isn't actually lathe exclusive. Lathe work often requires gouges but there are some straight bevelled chisels that get used too. When it comes to woodworking people usually think of chisels as only the flat/straight ones used for joinery, but really there's all types and once you get into hand carving there are countless types of gouges/chisels.
So to answer your question to carve the back of the ones not on the lathe I use a gouge and mallet!
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You can see in this photo here the main gouge I use for hollowing the backs is the light handled one on the left and then I use the rubber mallet you can see the head of on the right. I've been meaning to make a wooden mallet since I've been doing so much of this type of carving lately. Maybe I'll have to throw together a small Megaton Hammer for doing the rest of my zelda projects
And yes space is slowly becoming an issue. Rt. now they're all sitting on my dresser but unless I start stacking them then I'm out of room there. It would be cool to make some shelving so they could be arranged as they are in the menu in the game but I'm potentially moving soon so that will have to wait!
Thanks for the question though! I hope that helps
Don't want to interfere here but back when I made Majora's Mask and the Deku Mask I took an angle grinder and equipped it with an 60 grit sanding disk.
This gave me the freedom I needed and for personally for me it's THE technique when hollowing out wooden blocks, etc.
Just my 2 cents
Using an angle grinder is definitely an option! Unfortunately when it comes to wood I find mine just sits in a box and has been gathering dust for a few years. With how soft pine is I would be hesitant to take a grinder to it for fear of it catching and tearing the piece. For a big mask of a harder wood like in your Majora Project I can definitely see why you went that route! (I don't think I could have done the job that cleanly with an angle grinder that's for sure). I find I'm quick enough with hand chiseling that I honestly can probably clean out the back faster by hand than I could with a grinder, saves the dust clean up too. Now I do use my dremel for a lot of the detail work, pine is so soft that trying to do any sort of detail with hand chisels is borderline impossible. If I was completely smoothing the backs I would probably take a sanding disc or grinder to it to speed that up though just because 24 masks and hand sanding doesn't sound too fun, and that's coming from someone who enjoys sanding/finishing work!
