Majora's Mask is my all time favorite Zelda game, so I guess it was only natural that I make Majora. This project is the culmination of several months of on and off work, due to school and work. I am extremely pleased with the results I ended up with. I learned how to make this as well as other props I have in the works through classes at SCAD.

Check out my blog to see more... http://boundclockprops.blogspot.com

Shoot me a private message and if enough people are interested i'll make a production run of a few castings.

Step 1: The Beginning

I began this project with a really basic computer model in Rhino to give the general size and placement of everything. After generating the CAD model I separated the parts into different layers mostly for fun so I could get a sense of what it looked like. While in Rhino I split the main structure into three segments horizontally so I could print off a top view of each piece and place it onto layers of pink foam and make the structure for real. Then took these templates with spray adhesive and glued them to layers of pink foam. I then took them to the band saw and cut them out. The next step involved stacking them (using more adhesive) and sanding away until i achieve the shape I wanted.

Step 2: Main Shaping

Now most people know pink foam is good for doing ruff shapes and has no real permanence especially with the introduction of solvents sooooooo I coated the foam with a layer of my favorite material of all time... epoxy putty, specifically in this case I used Apoxie Sculpt.

Next came the fun part (I jest since bondoing and sanding takes a long time and is very repetitive) I apply a layer of bondo to the surface to even it out, followed by immense amounts of sanding, then repeated this process several times. I followed the final sanding step of bondo with spot putty to fill in the small gaps, then of course sanded that smooth.

Step 3: The Horns

With the CAD model from Rhino I exported a version into Illustrator with measurements of all the parts and printed them off so I had a reference while I was lathing away. Then with half the horns completed I decided it would be easiest to have a perfectly mirrored set if I just casted them multiple times... so i did using Re-Bound 25 and Smooth Cast 325.

To apply the horns I sanded the bases at a slight angle to make the parts look right when attached. I then applied a small amount of hot glue to them and stuck them on to blend them I used.... you guessed it epoxy putty! Followed up by a small amount of bond and spot putty, and off course lots of sanding.

Step 4: Main Details

With essentially the main parts done I drew the details onto the mask so I knew where to place the parts. At this stage I also drilled out the marks that I could. I used aluminum armature wire and bent it to shape 2D then contoured the pieces using the mask itself. This was again followed by putty, sanding, bondo, and spot putty.

I applied the same method to the eye lines; however, I didn't lock them down until I made the eyes to place beneath them. Well to make the eyes I took a piece of Ren Foam (essential a really really dense foam, almost like a hardwood) and turned the master copy of the eye. I then glued the piece down, coated it with Re-Bound 25 to make a mold, waited, peeled away the mold poured some plastic into the afformentioned mold two times, and Voila! identical eyes. There was more blending at this point but you know what that entails.

Step 5: Final Details

For the final details I used styrene sheeting or in other words a "for sale" sign. I printed out the details from the model, glued them to the plastic, cut them out with scissors, and glued them down to the mask. Of course this was followed by more blending. As an added bonus texture I mixed up a super small batch of Smooth Cast that I then dabbed onto random places. As the plastic cured I pressed a bristle brush into it to give it some body and make it like a limey texture. This was the final step before I started molding.

Step 6: Molding

Now came the biggest challenge for the project how to go about molding this. I came to the conclusion that I would layer the crud out of it with Re-Bound (especially on the horns), followed by a layer of open weave fabric (the same that I used during the molding of the Amon mask), next came the mother mold layer which I used fiberglass. To get the master out of the mold I made slits in the horns that allowed me to simply pull the mask out.

Step 7: Casting

To get a casting I slosh casted Smooth on 65D into the mold generating several layers that resulted in the finished part. I simply held the horn flaps together as I casted each horn individually.

Step 8: Painting

The final step was painting it. I accomplished this by applying a base coat of Rustoleum Gloss Grape, followed by hand painting with acrylics. Once all the colors were applied I coated the entire mask with a clear coat lacquer to prevent the acrylic from running when would apply the antiquing/grime layer. Once the antiquing/grime layer was applied using just a really watered down black acrylic I did a final clear coat lacquer. I wrapped it up with a little wax over that just for added longevity.