# Gas mask mutant ideas?



## ProjectFEAR (Aug 25, 2011)

I, I'm pretty new here but I have always had an uncanny obsession with Halloween, scaring people, and stuff like that. I'm looking to build a simple gas mask mutant prop using a PVC frame and mannequin feet and hands, as well as a mannequin head on which to put a mask. I've been trying to figure out how to give the body more structure, to make it appear more lifelike. I've considered (as I have written down in the plans) to wrap the PVC for the arms and legs in soft foam insulating tubes, then cover that with either liquid latex, drywall joiner or paper mache ( to make it look less crude). Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Will the mutant be clothed? If so, the unexposed areas can be bulked up with just about anything.

Pool noodles are certainly a good base to start with when bulking out a PVC frame. Monster mud or papier mache are likely to be cheaper options than liquid latex for covering the foam.


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## Death Wraith (Mar 23, 2006)

If you're going clothed then pool noodles are great for the arms. Then I use chicken wire to bulk-up the body of my props under the clothes. It's cheap and lightweight.

If you want more skin exposed then paper mache is the way to go, cheap and easy (fun) to work with. You'll find plenty of help/techniques for paper mache here and online elsewhere.


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## remylass (Sep 18, 2008)

Pool noodles and chicken wire here. Sometimes I use batting from the fabric stores to fill out the shoulders a bit. This, of course, only works if clothed.


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## ouizul1 (May 22, 2010)

I like using PVC to build the skeleton/frame first. It's fairly cheap and it's easy to tweak and adjust the pose and size of the creature. Once the pose is worked out, chicken wire works great for shaping the body. Once in place, the wire can easily be compressed, twisted, and otherwise adjusted. It can also be expanded/stretched by cutting and adding in a patch of wire, if needed.

The final covering is usually determined by how/where the prop is being used. For instance, if it's going in the swimming pool...then we just put clothing over it. If it's a one time prop...usually just paper mache or clothing/fabric wrap. If it's a more permanent prop, then monster mud. The advantage of paper mache is that it's lightweight and you can add bulk and features by "papering" over crumpled up pieces of paper that have been taped on without adding much extra weight. Monster mud will add strength and stiffness...but also a lot of weight.

Even if we use monster mud and fabric as a final covering...we'll wrap the creature in paper mache first. Mainly because it really helps hide the pattern of the underlying wire, but it also gives you a good preview of how it's going to turn out.

Kinda wordy...sorry about that. Your idea sounds intriguing...hope you post some pictures of it.


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## ProjectFEAR (Aug 25, 2011)

ouizul1 said:


> I like using PVC to build the skeleton/frame first. It's fairly cheap and it's easy to tweak and adjust the pose and size of the creature. Once the pose is worked out, chicken wire works great for shaping the body. Once in place, the wire can easily be compressed, twisted, and otherwise adjusted. It can also be expanded/stretched by cutting and adding in a patch of wire, if needed.
> 
> The final covering is usually determined by how/where the prop is being used. For instance, if it's going in the swimming pool...then we just put clothing over it. If it's a one time prop...usually just paper mache or clothing/fabric wrap. If it's a more permanent prop, then monster mud. The advantage of paper mache is that it's lightweight and you can add bulk and features by "papering" over crumpled up pieces of paper that have been taped on without adding much extra weight. Monster mud will add strength and stiffness...but also a lot of weight.
> 
> ...


What is this prop you built? It looks pretty neat...


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## Sawtooth Jack (Apr 9, 2011)

Here are a couple of links that may be of help, Gourmet (Dan the Monster Man) and Stolloween use different techniques to build mass and shape, but both are equally effective:

http://www.gourmetpapermache.com/

http://www.stolloween.com/

http://ultimatepapermache.com/

Ouizul1, I too would like to see how those props came out, specifically that fox, wolf, rat looking thing! Start a new thread if you have pics, the wire looks pretty intriguing!


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## ouizul1 (May 22, 2010)

Definitely check out Stolloween's stuff...he's one of the kings of paper mache. Another good one to check out is Jaybo's stuff at http://www.nickolsmanor.com/.

Yeah, it's a rat...stands just under 4' tall. Not sure if it's going to get done this year though. My workshop is in the basement and it suffered some minor flooding this past weekend.

One other advantage to an internal armature is that it's excellent for running some internal wiring or lights and such. In this case, the wiring is for LEDs in the head, powered by a 9 Vdc battery that will be hidden behind one foot.


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## Pavitti (Aug 25, 2011)

An alternative idea is to wrap a friend, in the pose you want your mutant mask man, in plaster impregnated bandage. Once dryed hard, cut away in sections, reassemble again with plaster bandage. Make a hole in the top and pour in liquid expanding foam. Tap Plastics has instructional videos for using the expanding foam.http://www.tapplastics.com/


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## ProjectFEAR (Aug 25, 2011)

Pavitti said:


> An alternative idea is to wrap a friend, in the pose you want your mutant mask man, in plaster impregnated bandage. Once dryed hard, cut away in sections, reassemble again with plaster bandage. Make a hole in the top and pour in liquid expanding foam. Tap Plastics has instructional videos for using the expanding foam.http://www.tapplastics.com/


Thanks! I was thinking about doing something like this.....


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