dbowker3d
New Member
This project was completed a while back but I thought it'd be good to post it anyway, as the Harry Potter is pretty much a perennial phenomenon as each generation of kids grows up with it. These masks are especially featured towards the end of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and in the movie are meant to look like they are ornately carved and cast metal. I believe the production designers said they referenced Faberge eggs in terms of materials and detailing... I made a couple of these since it was part of a whole family theme that year. We bought some heavy black robes and other accessories to round it all out.
Mask Number 1:
The first one was made with a plastic mask as the basis, which I soon realized had a number of drawbacks (like not being good to cut into at all). Though overall I really like how it looks, it was also much too small for any adult face. In any case, it was more of a practice run because as I said, you also can't carve into it, so I looked into another base mask to use...
I found out you could actually get "real" opera masks made with traditional materials and that was the ticket. I started with a simple "opera" mask made of cloth and plaster materials and then added layers of my own material to achieve what I needed. Initially I used body filler to build up the areas above the eyes and fill in the mouth, but then added a thinner layer of plaster filler for easier carving. Once the carving and shaping was done it was given numerous coats of antique silver paint, with some brass highlighting around the eyes. The carved linework was rubbed with water-based acrylic paint so it could be safely wiped from the rest of the surfaces. So thus we Mask Number 2:
Lastly wands: These were based on photos plus production notes that stated that many of the Death Eater wands were a little more "organic" looking than the standard linear and carved wands you'd normally see. I assume that was because they can be allowed to look a bit more claw-like and menacing, In any case, the top version combined a solid walnut dowel, shaped on a wood lathe. It was then married with an interestly shaped branch section I found for the handle. I drilled into the end of the branch "handle" and wood glued them together, finishing with stain and natural wood oil.
The lower wand was made entirely from a tree branch and had this perfectly ugly knot that made for a great handle portion.
Mask Number 1:
The first one was made with a plastic mask as the basis, which I soon realized had a number of drawbacks (like not being good to cut into at all). Though overall I really like how it looks, it was also much too small for any adult face. In any case, it was more of a practice run because as I said, you also can't carve into it, so I looked into another base mask to use...
I found out you could actually get "real" opera masks made with traditional materials and that was the ticket. I started with a simple "opera" mask made of cloth and plaster materials and then added layers of my own material to achieve what I needed. Initially I used body filler to build up the areas above the eyes and fill in the mouth, but then added a thinner layer of plaster filler for easier carving. Once the carving and shaping was done it was given numerous coats of antique silver paint, with some brass highlighting around the eyes. The carved linework was rubbed with water-based acrylic paint so it could be safely wiped from the rest of the surfaces. So thus we Mask Number 2:
Lastly wands: These were based on photos plus production notes that stated that many of the Death Eater wands were a little more "organic" looking than the standard linear and carved wands you'd normally see. I assume that was because they can be allowed to look a bit more claw-like and menacing, In any case, the top version combined a solid walnut dowel, shaped on a wood lathe. It was then married with an interestly shaped branch section I found for the handle. I drilled into the end of the branch "handle" and wood glued them together, finishing with stain and natural wood oil.
The lower wand was made entirely from a tree branch and had this perfectly ugly knot that made for a great handle portion.
