Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Dr. Beulenpest, A Steampunk Mask

My leather plague doctor mask has been very well received. I made it as true as I could to the historical model, with nothing added, but all along as I worked on it I was thinking of how I could make a steamier version. I have enough ideas to start and so I've begun creating it.


Above is my preliminary sketch. It includes cold cast resin eyepieces and beak tip, along with a leather surround studded with domed rivets.


I started by lengthening the beak (from the first one) in the plasticene model, and incorporating the eyepieces into the clay. I also altered the seams to make the mask more interesting.

Since the resin beak tip is a major change I decided to start there in the fabrication stage. Here I have simply cut off the plasticene beak. Next I hot glued a popcorn cup down around it in preparation for pouring a silicone rubber RTV mold.


Above is the clay beak partially covered in the rubber. I will add more silicone into the cup, then wait 18 hours for it to completely cure. I will cast the beak tip in resin, then shape it to how I want it. I am calling this mask Dr. Beulenpest, the German word for bubonic plague.

2 comments:

  1. Tom what kind of resin do you use. Are you heat curing or is it a standard hobby resin?

    ReplyDelete
  2. It is a room temperature urethane, which you can buy from Smooth On.

    ReplyDelete