DIY Harry Potter Death Eater Mask

Warning: this post contains several unintentionally creepy photos - plus one or two intentional ones. :D

So you want to be a Death Eater.

First off, shame on you. Really.

Second, hey, now you get to wear a cool mask! So let's make one!

Here's the one John and I just finished:

You Will Need:

aluminum foil

newspaper

flour

masking tape

paper clay (available at most craft stores)

sand paper

thin craft foam

metallic craft paints

To begin, you'll need a mold of your face. If you don't happen to have a plaster life-cast hanging around, then do this:

 AAAAA!!

Er, that's John, in the process of mashing two layers of aluminum foil on his face. Remember to close your eyes and hold your breath, and try to get it as relatively smooth and face-hugging as possible. 

Before you take the foil off your face, have a friend wrap some tape around the edges, to help strengthen the over all shape:

Crumble up some more foil underneath to help support the face mold, and then get ready to paper maché, baby!

Cut your newspaper into thin strips, and for the paste, dump a cup or two of flour into a large bowl. Add water to the flour until it's a good, pancake batter-like consistency, stirring to get out the lumps.

Now dunk your paper strips one at a time, squeeze off the excess, and start laying them over your foil mask:

 Remember to lay your strips in different directions as you go.

You'll want about three or four layers for a good, strong mask. You can speed up the drying process in-between layers by placing your mask in a 200 degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes.

Updated to add: Make sure you try on your mask again after each layer, since I discovered later that the paper mache can shrink and/or warp a bit. Re-mold it to your face as necessary, and then keep going. 

After your second or third layer, go ahead and peel off the aluminum foil from the back side of your mask:

This will leave uncomfortable scratchy bits of paste and paper, so do your final layer of paper maché on the inside of your mask, to smooth it out.

Once you're done with the paper maché, leave your mask overnight to make sure it's completely dry all the way through. You don't want any moisture left in there, or it could mold or rot. Which would be icky.

Ok, now you have a mask of your face! But odds are your face isn't THAT evil looking. (I hope.) So let's bring out your inner Death Eater!

Smooth on a layer of paper clay all over the mask, and then have fun sculpting some angry eyebrows, Angelina cheekbones, pointy chins - whatever floats your evil, evil boat.

Updated to add: If you add a thick layer of clay the excess moisture can re-wet the paper underneath, warping it. (While this didn't happen with John's mask, it did later with mine.) To prevent this, I recommend sealing your paper mache with a quick blast of sprayprimer.

Here's what John came up with:

All Death Eater masks have distorted mouths, usually with decorative grates or straps over them, so go ahead and smooth over your mask's lips, too. It helps to know which style you're going with first, though, so do some googling and find a design you like. Here's a sampling to get you started:

John decided to go with the mouth style on the very bottom right.

When you're happy with your sculpting, you can again speed up the drying by sticking your mask in a warm (200 degree) oven. Then give it a good sanding to smooth it further:

Now's also a good time to carve or drill eye holes, to help you center your design.

Next is the fun part: DECORATING.

Most Death Eaters have surprisingly pretty swirly bits on their masks. Print out a design you like, or just free-hand it on paper. Use those designs as a template on thin craft foam, and cut them out with scissors or a craft blade.

Also cut out your mask's eye holes, nostrils, and mouth with a craft blade. It will be a little shreddy, so just be patient and clean up the edges as best you can.

In addition to craft foam, you can also decorate with more paper clay, shapes cut from heavy cardstock, or even metal filigree pieces and charms. Sky's the limit!

For John's mask I added inner eyes lids made of clay, while he cut out a swirly design and mouth grate from cardstock and craft foam, respectively. Here they are glued down and based in bronze paint:

Don't worry if your foam cuts are a little rough; these masks are supposed to look old and banged up, so that's all "character."

Most Death Eater masks are silver, but they come in a wide enough variety that you can get away with almost any metallic finish. For John's we couldn't resist using our Modern Master's patina again, which turned out even better than we hoped:

SO COOL.

Once we were happy with the amount of patina, John used a little liquid silver leaf on a Q-tip to highlight the mouth grate & forehead scroll. Then I used Bead in a Bottle paint to make a few "rivets" on those same pieces. Those extra finishing touches really make the whole thing sing:

... or not so much "sing" as "screech menacingly." Mwuah-ha-haaa.

To be honest, this whole project has been an experiment in Things We've Never Done Before, so John and I are mildly astounded at how well this turned out.

To wear your mask, attach string or elastic by drilling a hole through the temples and tying a knot, or by riveting the strap in place. Do NOT try gluing the strap to the inside of the mask, as the strap will only tear off the first inner layer of paper. (Ask me how I know! o.0)

Here it is in daylight:

 

And after I added some black drips on the mouth grate, for extra creep factor:

 

Next John and I will be finishing my own mask, which is still in the decorating phase. We're hoping to wear these to Leaky Con the weekend of July 30th, which is a Harry Potter convention here in Orlando. We've never been before, and while they don't have many big media stars, I'm psyched to see their emphasis on YA literature: Holly Black, Scott Westerfield, and John Green will all be there. Suh-WEET! Plus any excuse to hang with other local Potter heads, am I right?

*****

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