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Zovik — See What I Didn't Finish...
Published: 2011-10-27 14:09:12 +0000 UTC; Views: 1248; Favourites: 22; Downloads: 9
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In time for Banzai?!?!Next year I guess.
Since I'm already fighting against the proportions of this character, I really wanted to make the mask rather compact.
I don't think you realize how many issues come up when you have a rigid close fitting mask/helmet. I sure didn't....
I have to fit my hair plus a wig underneath it which is much easier said than done, because I was dumb and formed the mask on my head with my hair down.
I've expanded the the back portion of the mask and sanded the inside enough to allow me to put my hair up in a wig cap and still have a little extra room. Not quite enough to comfortably wear a complete wig though. I don't know that I can expand it anymore with out it looking weird and warped.
Originally I was going to attach wefts of hair to the inside edge of the mask, but I couldn't figure out how to attach them, so I might try sewing the wefts to a wig cap. I don't know how well it's going to work though. :/
I figure that if I can make a partial wig, I can distribute the wefts in a way that's more comfortable by avoiding tighter areas and concentrating them in places with more room (and I'm taking about height, not circumference around it.)
I don't know if you can tell from these pictures, but the jaw is actually a separate piece so that it opens. It's not hinged or anything like that. It just has a piece of elastic that goes around my head. This allows the jaw to easily follow the movement of my jaw. Though it seems that every time I change something on the mask I have to readjust the jaw so that it aligns properly with the upper jaw.
I want to put some black fabric in the mouth area so you can't see my face when the jaw is open, but its a lot harder to put the mask on when the jaw is attached to the rest of the mask. I've considered attaching the jaw to a balaclava but I don't know how well it will work if I have to cut off the neck, underside of the jaw and possibly ear area of the balaclava. It might not fit under the mask either (if it does work, I might try sewing the wefts to that instead.)
Those horns need to be fixed. I had the positioned perfectly but then I moved the supports for the horns too soon when the base was drying so they sagged a bit. I decided to rip the horns off and re-positioned them, but I think I've bashed into the door a few too many times because while the base is still angled correctly, the rest of the horn is bending down too much. I'll try to restructure along the length of the horns so that they point up a bit more. If that doesn't work I guess I can just rip them off again and make new ones.
Suggestions are welcome. I really don't want to make another mask, but I may have to if I can't get it to work.
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Comments: 35
It might be a bit late, but what if you painted your jaw area with black facepaint rather than putting fabric over the mouth? Or a few of those lollies that stain your tongue?
Things like eating and breathing are otherwise a tad difficult.
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I've seen people do that, but I don't really like it. I think covering my face is creepier. I've been working on this part for the past week, and I've managed to construct it in a way that makes it work. Breathing isn't really a problem, because the fabric is pretty sheer.
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True dat. Well, if it look like breathing is not going to be a problem, then go for it :3
Looking forward to seeing how it functions.
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I know it's a bit late for suggestions but, Best way to attach hair is good old Hot Glue. if it's a solid surface with a rough texture it will stick. Rather then put a cover over the mouth mounted to the mask as that will greatly hinder movement as you noticed and having made a fully enclosed furry mask with 100% lining in eyes and mouth I can testify to how restrictive it can be. The best method is to use a face mask that wraps around the mouth [link] however you would be best to make it out of a light cotton with a athletic mesh in the front it's very hard to sew threw on it's own and only makes for a good lining keeping the mask thin lets the wearer tone down the heat and we all know how hot mask can get.
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Well, there are a few problems wit hot glue.
First of all, when I sewed the hair into wefts, I used sheets of smooth plastic to prevent the hair from getting sucked into the sewing machine. Removing all of the plastic from the finished weft makes the hair much looser and prone to falling apart entirely.
While I have been able to hot glue fabric to the plaster on the inside, it can't take a whole lot of tension before unsticking(which is what the problem was with covering the inside of the mouth with fabric, not so much the lack of mobility.) Long hair is heavy. Not to mention the fact that it's prone to snagging onto things. I don't know that the hot glue will be able to hold it for the duration of a con let alone a single de-tangling session.
I do have some concern that hot glue would melt the hair. Low temp glue might be ok, but I have found that it doesn't take a lot of heat to melt synthetic hair that's not heat resistant.
Also I need some of the hair to start below where the mask ends in the back. The mask only goes about halfway down the back of my head. It takes a lot of lighter colored hair to obscure darker hair underneath and there really is no way to pack that much hair into a mask that stops halfway down the back of the head.
I actually tried duct taping some wefts into the mask. In addition to the duct tape not being strong enough to hold the wefts I found that attaching wefts individually to the mask results in layering the hair backwards (hair closer to the bottom is on the outside, hair closer to the top of the head is on the inside.) In addition to it not looking quite right, it makes it really really hard to put the mask on with out the hair going everywhere, like falling into the tighter areas of the mask, getting caught in the jaw, or falling in front of my face.
And about the face mask, the main problem is that it would be exposed. A lot of the parts it covers aren't covered by the hollow mask and are meant to be bear. While I might be able to get away with a white face mask, I'd rather not because I don't want a random seam in the middle of my neck, and I would like to keep that area open to help me to not get too hot too quickly.
The reason I mentioned trying a balaclava type thing is because I figured I might be able to get away with cutting off the exposed areas.
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Try E-6000 that stuff will glue anything it's like rubberized glue but it doesn't melt takes about a day to cure fully once dry it's water proof stretchy. It's a non heat glue. If your worried about hair melting don't use fake hair use horse hair you can get it online or ask local farmers when they trim there horses. Comes in loads of colors and you can dry it it's a lot more resistant to heat. Real hair is a bit stronger to as usually the fibers will be thicker then most synthetics you buy and horse hair will be long and straight if it's cut from the mane or tail. You can Get away with cutting a lot on a balaclava also they are easy to make if you want one that doesn't stretch I get what your saying thou.
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this is so scary in person >.< even moreso because the jaw moves
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Just wait until you see it with the rest of the costume. >]
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XD You'll get a bit of a preview at Fannatiku.
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so Fannatiku will be spent seeing people cower away from you. just like old times ^^ always fun to watch, too
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Yeah, something like that. I'll be wearing the one I made for my brother, which, in my opinion, isn't quite as scary.
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Very awesome :3 i got my handmade helmet too but the Shirosaki's one (black) but with no horns u 3u how you did them and how you put them on the helmet??
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I made Shirosaki's too. [link]
I made the horns out of cardboard and duct tape. There are wooden dowels inside to help them be more rigid. Then I put paper mache over it. With Shirosaki's horns, I added another layer of cardboard (I wish I had done this step for the white mask too.) [link] And then I put duct tape, paper mache and some plaster cloth over that. I built up the areas beside the center ridge of the in order to make the groove in the middle of the horn.
Next held the horn up to the mask at the angle and position that I wanted it and traced where the base of the horn was located on the mask with pencil. Then I drilled two small holes withing the area that I traced. [link]
Then I unfolded a paper clip and bent it so that I could stick both ends out of the hole I had drilled (making it almost like a giant staple) [link] Then I stuck the horn over the paper clip prongs. [link]
Then I put supports under the horns so that they stayed in the position that I wanted and then filled that junction between the base of the horn and the side of the mask with paper mache. [link] Let it dry for at least 24 hours ( I didn't do this with the white mask and ended up having to redo the horns.
Next I built up the area at the base of the horns to make that sheath sort of thing that is at the base.
Hope this helps.
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Awesome!! thanks so much :33 what do you use for the helmet size?? i used my head hehe
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I used my head too, but I forgot to put my hair up, so it was a little small. I ended up having to expand the back portion out a bit so that I am able to put my hair up when I wear a wig.
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Thats cool :33 with my wig it fills me perfeclty ;D do you have a picture of your complete Shirosaki Vasto Lorde cosplay??
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looks really interesting ^-^ I'm excited to see what it turns out to look like.
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Thank you. c: I've been so excited about doing this cosplay. While it's disappointing that I didn't finish it in time, I now have the time to really make it into something amazingly awesome.
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So true ^-^ and I hope to be there to see the finished piece.
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