How to make an Anglerfish mask

I wanted to make a Halloween costume that I could scare all the little Japanese kids with, and that I could take off quickly when dealing with stoic Japanese businessmen. So I needed something that was just a mask.

I got the idea for this mask from this guy, earlier this year:
http://geeklabs.blogspot.com/

Step 1 Paper mache a balloon

This step is pretty basic - find a balloon that's larger than your head (much larger, if you want breathing room)

I ended up using two balloons, so if the balloon color changes, that's why. One popped while I was taking a break.

Good instructions for paper mache-ing can be found herehere

Cooking the paste really works- I never did that when I was a kid, but things worked. Cooking the paste works BETTER.

Comments

[cowscankill]

where you wrote "here" (as a link), i would like to know how you did that

[HIGHVOLTAGE-Z]

this has nothing to do with the topic but "COWS WITH GUNS"

[harpreetmattu]

What do you mean?

[cowscankill]

yup :P

[laernmoer]

where it says "link" in the title bar of your editing windo, click link.. or do you mean the paste? I'm confused.

[harpreetmattu]

click link

[cowscankill]

(removed by author or community request)

[Arbitror]

Here?

[cowscankill]

I know how to now. Heh, i should delete that comment.

[laernmoer]

I just clicked the "link" button and put the word "here" in the "link name" box. then put the URL in the "Link URL box".

[harpreetmattu]

I like the way they did it and the way you do it you click on Good instructions for paper mache-ing can be found herehere the are 2 here one is a link simply click on that and it will com.
But i would like to know on the picture the bottom is not with newspaper.
Why?
Please tell me somebody.

[deathnotx101]

I guess you think your very pun-ny?

[deathnotx101]

"Yeahhh, the deep sea Angelfish has no reason to be happy, but she has no fricking idea, what else to be." A song about Angelfish by Hank Green AWSOME mask, you stun me with your creativity, not that I have a reason to be surprised anymore with all this talent. Thanks for the DIY <3 ^_^

[flammablesquid]

I loved this and took the liberty of trying it for Halloween! It was the hit of the party! Thanks so much for the Instructable! Mine had battery pack mini led's and it took half an eternity to hot glue the scales on. The eyes were tap lights covered with balloon latex.

[laernmoer]

Nice! pretty cool looking!

[Tool Using Animal]

That is totally awesome, of course you know, you're dressed as a girl anglerfish...

[laernmoer]

seriously? I had no idea. ah well.

[Tool Using Animal]

Yep, male anglerfish have the good life, they latch onto the female with their teeth, their bloodstream fuses with the female and then they wither away until they're just a pair of testes. Still I think very few people would notice, and it's still the second most awesome marine inspired halloween costume at instructables ;-)

[maven]

Here's the life cycle of the male angler according to the Oatmeal! http://theoatmeal.com/comics/angler

[Arbitror]

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cryptopsaras_couesii_(triplewart_seadevil).gif The males are so small!]

[navionflyer]

Thank you so much for posting this.  My son was an anglerfish in his second grade school production about the earth.  This mask was definitely a hit with him, the other kids and parents.  I did the eyes a little different.  I used a set of white LEDs and taped 7 together in a group and hot glued them in place.  Then I hot glued a half a ping pong ball over the lights.  They turned out really well.  Also, your suggestion for putting a ping pong ball over the lure light was spot on.  There were some other little things I did different because of limited time, but all in all it turned out great.  Thanks again.

[mushroomdude]

im con fused how meany layers of papper mecha do you need

[Doggie Stylish]

*very* fun 'ible! the last comment about the hard hat is a pretty good idea. i might try to make the mask doing that.

[laernmoer]

i just commented about using foam on that comment. The foam pushes against your head and will hold the mask firmly.

good luck!

[elih]

 i saw an idea for a support system on another instructable
you can hot glue a hard hat to the inside of the fish and then it willsit on your head
you may have to cut off the top of the hardhat for it to fit

[laernmoer]

well, that sounds like it'd work. the problem is getting a hard hat and cutting it. Unless it's a toy, the ABS plastic can be really tough to cut.

Another method could be to put pads of foam on the inside. I saw this on another instructable - use an open celled foam pad glued to the sides and have the foam push against your head.

the open cell will allow the sweat to move (or even wick the sweat away) from your head.

Good luck!

[sortiz04]

I love it, but this is so nerdy. Too much fun.

[sortiz04]

this is awesome. I can't wait to do it for my 7 year old son. He chose this as his underwater fish, and I want to duplicate it on a smaller scale. Very cool

[Arbitror]

Awesome job! It looks great! But but what would make this 'ible better is taking some pictures in the dark!

[Arbitror]

Sorry, never mind, I completely missed the dark picture!

[=SMART=]

Thats so awesome !! Shoes come off in my house too, it makes it much cleaner and more homely :P

[Kazooie]

Congrats on getting on Gizmodo!

[laernmoer]

whoa! thanks for the heads up and the link! I had no idea!

[goosezilla]

Awesome! I love how simple this hat is to get together. :)
I made a similar hat a while ago that might also be useful to look at for using paper clay and hot glue as detailing tools.
http://www.craftster.org/fishhattutorial

[Parrotgirl]

when I first looked at this, my first thought was that a bike helmet (you know, the old melon shaped ones...) would make the perfect base. It would stay stable, be comfortable, and be easy to paper mache around! Just a thought :) I love this costume!

[laernmoer]

Good idea. If you can somehow get the rest of the shape, that would be an ingenious design. Or maybe squeeze the helmet after the balloon is popped.

[Kazooie]

I made one following most of your instructions. it turned out pretty awesome i think. I used a 4 AA battery pack for LED's and put in some wires in the "fishing pole" part to light up the ping-pong ball. I wanted to find something more transluscent, but couldn't think of anything in time. I also used some foam i had to cushion the inside. It was very comfy after i got it all right, but hard to work with the wires, and it got really hot. Thanks for the idea, my friends thought it was cool.

[laernmoer]

Nice! the ping pong ball is a nice touch and the cushioning on the inside looks like a good idea - for some reason, I didn't think of using foam, I was trying to fabricate something from cardboard. Even with all my ventilation I cut on the body, it was still hot on the inside of mine as well. I think it was the light bulbs from the flashlight that really heated things up. Glad to see you enjoyed it! It looks great!

[ArtisticBabe]

Hey bro, this is so cool looking! It makes me think about "Finding Nemo". :) In response to your not having an idea of how to cushion your head and make it stable: I have a little easy idea to give stability and cushion. Get a matching color (snug fitting) beanie like black and buy about 10 inches of Velcro with the adhesive already on it. Attach one sticky side to the top of the beanie (sew too so it'll last a long time) and them stick the reverse side to the inside of the mask running tip to back. This way you can take the beanie out and wash it or whatever and reposition it so it sits exactly where you want it too because I imagine it sort of slips around a little. Hope its a bit of a help: Velcro can save your life!

[laernmoer]

Good idea, I'm giving the mask to a friend this year, so that should work like a charm. Thanks!