Harry Potter: Make a Death Eater Mask!

So me and my friend wanted our costumes for the book launch to be EPIC. Everyone always dresses as Harry Potter, or some form of Hogwarts student, and I have been guilty of that in the past. However after seeing the masks that Death Eaters are going to be wearing for the OotP movie, we knew there was only one thing we could do.

This is my first time making any sort of mask, so bear with me if I'm suggesting something incorrect. :) The end result turned out pretty spectacular though!

Most of these pictures were taken by friends while we were making the masks (ie. not for the purpose of an instructable), so they're not necessarily the best for an this and I'm probably missing some photographic steps.

If anyone decides to use my project, PLEASE send me some pictures! I would love to see your masks!

Step 1 Gather Ingredients

You will need:

Plaster Bandages - these are bandages already coated in plaster (meaning you just need to add water). I found mine at my local art store.
Vasaline
Straws
Aluminum Foil
Lots of newspaper
A Bucket of warm water
Towel
Headband to hold up your hair
Metallic Acrylic paints
A friend

Comments

[gamingzombie]

You know if you want to not use your own face you could buy your own foam mannequin head and use plaster over that easier and only need one person.

[jrose8]

if you dont want vasaline all over your face or mask you can use a wet paper towel or two. I did that when we had to make masks in art class and it keeps most of the mess off your face altogether. most people were able to wipe a tiny bit of plaster off their face with a wet towel.

[cranezysam]

Instead of doing all that work with the plaster bandages(I hate those...), couldn't you just buy one of those cheap plastic masks that they have at Michaels, and cut out the holes with an X-Acto knife?

Anyway, thanks for the instructable!
I'm going to surprise my sister with a Lucius mask at Christmas. =]

[cranezysam]

This is what it looks like with the plastic mask.

[luvablemurder]

thats a good idea but i think the plaster way is so the mask fits on your face perfectly, where the store brought ones are a random persons face shape.

[Hugo4123]

that looks like one from the movies

[Illidan]

last time i made a moulded plaster mask tiny bits of plaster went under my eyelids, it hurt A LOT. not moving your face while is sets is easier said than done. also- i dont know if you mentioned it in the instructable but in my experience the inside of the mask remains vaselined forever more.

[grimsqueaker]

I couldn't find this on the internet but my friend was paranoid of getting it in her eyes as someone told her it could blind her. I imagine if the plaster had a chance to harden in there it would not be a good thing! Yes, not moving your face is easier said than done. Make sure to tell your friends not to turn up the music and start prancing around like pirates while your mask is setting! The inside of my mask isn't too vasaline-y actually, but I did leave it on for quite a while as it set so maybe my skin absorbed most of it? It is a little slick around the forehead.

[Illidan]

well plaster hardened touching my eyes and i didnt go blind my eyes and mouth were covered so i couldnt see anyone prancing around but i spent half an hour gesturing for them to turn of the james blunt on the radio to no avail

[BraisedDuck]

u could try dunking tissue paper in plaster of paris and let it harden that way... it has basically the same effect, maybe somewhat thinner

[TheSweetRevenge]

 xD i think i'll get one of those cheap halloween masks instead of my face. :] don't think i'll be able to bear having wet plaster on my face for long =D

this is great, btw :3

[Rue_Ryuzaki]

just so u kno ur actually supposed to start at the nose with a criss cross cuz thats where most of the masks strength is trust me i made like 5 masks out of plaster bandages but good job none the less

[Jesus.]

i was a deatheater last halloween ;)

[spotfrog]

I didn't use paper mache, but rather another, similarly uncomfortable process of cutting and taping pieces of cardstock to my face until the shape was correct. I painted it with a latex primer to add some weight and solidity. The final paint-job was done with a coat of silver acrylic, over which I applied masking tape designs when it was dry. I then coated it with a mix of black and silver, peeled off the masking tape, and viola! It might be too late to make a mask for the premier tonight, but I hope this gives someone some ideas for the future. : )

[JKibs95]

Man... hard to believe the last movie came out last year...

[JKibs95]

no, wait... 2 years ago?

[JKibs95]

geez...

[mg0930mg]

This one was supposed to come out last November, remember?

[JKibs95]

oh yeah... I forget: why'd they postpone it?

[Danzy]

Great job dude, I'll do mine tomorrow (I need to buy plaster bandages) anyway I was thinking about this project and I didn't want to use vaseline coz I don't have any hair on my face yet but, after I saw that comment "My brother tore his eyebrows out doing this" I will use it :) I can send u pictures of my mask but tell me your e-mail or something

[whiteoakart]

I will second the warning. Put lots of vaseline on your facial hair. My brother tore his eyebrows out doing this (he thought he had enough vaseline on). That's a special kind of self-induced pain, with a side-helping of humility walking around eyebrowless.

[Crucio]

Couldn't you just cover your face completely with a layer of aluminum foil and then plaster on top of that to avoid vaseline? A-foil is so easy to shape, so this could save a lot of eyebrows and gooey mess. :) BTW, GREAT JOB, GRIM! You guys look AWESOME in those last pix!

[thedubbedmime]

I agree. I think if you put a hole layer of foil on the face this would be alot easier. also, I think you should sand down the mask to a nice finish.

[grimsqueaker]

We did try it with aluminum foil at first, but it didn't mold to our faces at all! So we just went with the plaster and it worked out a lot better.

[grimsqueaker]

Ouch! His WHOLE eyebrow? :S Yeah, my friend didn't put enough over her hairline so that was pretty painful for her. I was pretty paranoid after hearing horror stories from the internet so I did put enough on myself!

[teamcoltra]

Can you sand these down to make them a little smother/metallic looking? I am new to plaster.

[izzozzi]

Nice job! Informative instructable, and the mask looks good. Keep 'em comin'! BAM!

[NeonSpleen]

totally being a death eater this halloween. Thanks a bunch for the tips!! *hug*

[alex-sharetskiy]

Eat that DEATH!

[cwhara]

Hey matte, After mask dries, put some gypsun on it. Results are much better. ;D

[dwhp]

heres my way I did it sorry bout the lolqwerwegf lolpics

[dwhp]

I saw this then tried to make a paper Mache one.I added some cloth to keep it on.

[saxyboy95]

i just saw this a week ago sadly and ive been looking for plaster bandeges for a while and i cant find any. i live in jonosboro illinois and im basicly in the middle of nowhere and i wanted to know if just plaster could work? please tell me asap.

[Sunbanks]

Try a craft store...That's where I got plaster bandages for my fifth grade science fair project

[grimsqueaker]

I don't think pouring pure plaster on your face is a good idea. :) If you can find bandages, and find plaster, and mix them together...

[saxyboy95]

still there

[saxyboy95]

or goze

[saxyboy95]

what if you dipped newspaper shreds in plaster. also thank you

[grimsqueaker]

I have no idea, this is my first time trying this so I don't know how well it would work! Maybe paper mache??

[gravehearted]

we had a lot of fun making them, they scared the bejesus out of little kids at the book release too, he he. I used clock parts on the mouth of mine, since i looked everywhere for the right kind of hinges. Also, I started out with a lot more detail and realized it looked better less busy, so recolored over much of it with silver. thanks so much for sharing this - we're really happy with our masks