Tobi's Mask: Naruto

This was created entirely on a whim, this mask. I had no costume I wanted to do with it, I had no commission for it, I just wanted to make the mask because I knew I could do it better than the weak masks I'd seen around cons, which were all flat, tended to be cardboard with marker and... fail. Thus, the mask was born.

I started off with a leftover bunch of Model Magic from the gourd project the year before. I formed it into the familiar oval shape, shoved my face into it, and let it dry between two books it had a curved shape to fit my face. Not the most advanced of techniques, but it worked well. Then, I penciled in the lines where I thought the grooves were, and lightly went at them with a dremel. The eyehole was made by, no joke, pushing a pencil through, gouging some out, then letting the clay dry around a film canister. Sanded it, perfect hole.

Here you can see me goofing off with craft foam, the 'scales' of Tobi's armor, and a much more refined version of the mask. The grooves are deeper and smoother now, done entirely with a dremel and sand paper.

Sorry the quality is poor on this one. You can see a close up of the grooves. You can also see I've gotten that weird bit of clay at the bottom/chin area.

Several (and I mean several) layers of geeso later, the mask is smoothed out mostly. I didn't want it to be perfect and look like plastic.

I painted over it with orange paint, and added the head band. It's surprisingly comfortable, if a bit nose-squishing.

Most people use a marker or something to make the grooves. I decided that the ones above just didn't pop enough, and the mask ended up with that plasticy look I was avoiding. So I mixed some brown paint, not black, and water together and sponged it into the groves.

I am hugely pleased with the look it ended up with. Realistic yet stylized, comfortable to wear, and it looks amazing. It has age to it, and it looks like it's been on a ninja's face for who knows how many years. <3~