# Plague Doctor Mask



## VexFX (Sep 27, 2011)

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This is a Plague Doctor costume I made for 2011. The mask was constructed out of a lightweight foam material, then textured and painted to look like leather. Even up close, you would never know it was not real leather.

A soldering iron was used to melt holes (for stitching) around each piece, which hardens the foam and reinforces the holes. The mask pieces were then stitched together using hemp.

Inside the mask, there are 2 programmable RGB LEDs, one for each eye. In this case, the lights were programmed to a pulsating green. The LEDs are attached to the inside of the mask with magnets, so they can easily be rotated towards the actor's face to create a dramatic effect, or rotated away from the face to provide am more subtle (and less distracting for the actor) effect.

For more information on Plague Doctors and their role in history, check out the following Wikipedia page: 




A tutorial on how this mask was created can be found here: http://www.vexfx.com/blog/2012/02/plague-doctor-mask-tutorial/


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## psyko99 (Jan 11, 2008)

That came out great!

I was a plague doctor last year too. I was going to make my own mask, but I found an "Il Dottore" commedia dell'arte style mask at a second hand store. It wasn't exactly what I wanted but I ran out of time so it worked. Homemade is definitely better.


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## Eric Striffler (May 6, 2006)

That thing is gorgeous! I love plague doctors, they're so menacing and eerie.


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## VexFX (Sep 27, 2011)

Thanks! I hope to have some more detailed photos of the mask, as well as the construction process soon. Just need to write that tutorial.


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## JustJimAZ (Aug 19, 2010)

VexFX said:


> Thanks! I hope to have some more detailed photos of the mask, as well as the construction process soon. Just need to write that tutorial.


I agree.


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## Zurgh (Dec 21, 2009)

Very nice work!


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## Phantom Scarecrow (Sep 27, 2011)

That's a gorgeous mask! Hieronymus Bosch would be proud!


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## Sawtooth Jack (Apr 9, 2011)

Nice mask, looks great. I'm always tempted to be a Plaque Doc for Halloween, they are just about the coolest looking things, but looking out of those side-ways eye holes always ends up giving me a head-ache for some reason!


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## VexFX (Sep 27, 2011)

@Sawtooth Jack:
Thankfully the size and positioning of the eye openings actually provides great visibility. We took a lot of measurements to make sure that the subject's eyes would line up with the center of the openings.


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## Sawtooth Jack (Apr 9, 2011)

VexFX said:


> @Sawtooth Jack:
> Thankfully the size and positioning of the eye openings actually provides great visibility. We took a lot of measurements to make sure that the subject's eyes would line up with the center of the openings.


Saw your tutorial and may try to make one. Love the mask, and I'd love to find one that fits my face and gives me the vision I need. The heat gun use you recommend may help adjust the mask the way I need. Thanks for the reply.


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## VexFX (Sep 27, 2011)

Making your own is great for many reasons. It's a fun build, not too difficult, and the materials are super inexpensive. And you end up with a mask that suits your needs and theme better than anything you could buy at a store.

I suggest making a prototype out of thick paper (card stock, or several sheets glued together to provide some support). With a paper prototype you can fit it to the actor, tape/glue on more pieces as needed, explore different designs, trim without fear of damaging it (can always tape it up or add more paper), etc. And once you have the prototype, it's just a matter of cutting it into flat pieces and making a pattern.

I find the paper prototype method works great with simpler mask designs like this. Another common method (for more complex leather/fabric masks) is to start with a life cast of the actor, sculpt the entire mask out of clay on top of the life cast, cover the sculpt in tape, and then cut that tape into your 2D patterns. This method works best for really complex masks with lots of pieces. Thankfully my plague doctor mask only has 4 pieces, so fitting and shaping it with paper is fast/easy.


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