Make Your Own Deadmau5 Head

The famous deadmau5 icon has evolved over the years. This tutorial explains how to make a deadmau5 head like the red one worn with a business suit. The illustrations for the steps are a bit funky and are not to scale, but they convey the necessary information. Measurements are indicated by red lines and numbers in the diagrams, and all measurements are in inches. If you have any suggestions for improving any of these steps, please share them. (The part where you fit the felt over the mau5 head is especially tricky, so I’d love to know if anyone has good strategies for that step.)

Step 1: Materials

For the list of materials, I included the brand and source of certain materials in brackets wherever I could. Materials are not listed in the order you need them.

32 oz. all-purpose glue (you may need more, but this is a good amount to start with) [Elmer’s, JoAnn]
1 can spray adhesive [Elmer’s Multi-Purpose 4oz, Kmart]
2 medium-sized plastic bowls (one with an airtight lid)
1 inflatable beach ball (14” diameter) [Kmart]
1 hard hat [Lowe's]
three 22”x28” sheets of foam board
2 packages of epoxy glue [E-B Weld], OR 1 can of epoxy paint
1¾ yards of 72” felt (whichever color you want the mau5 head to be) [JoAnn]
6”x18” piece of wire mesh
18”x18” piece of sheer white fabric
two 4½-inch tap lights [Goodwill]
several sheets of newspaper
2-3 metal coat hangers
several fist-sized chunks of very stiff Styrofoam
masking tape
string (any color)
scissors
craft knife or razor blade (USE VERY CAREFULLY)
utility knife
wire cutters
hand drill
plastic dinner knife, OR a cheap 1” wide paint brush (depending on whether you chose epoxy glue or epoxy paint)
screwdriver that fits the screws in the tap lights
high-temperature hot glue gun
dozens of hot glue sticks
needle
thread (any color)
sewing pins
permanent marker
tape measure
ruler
protractor
optional: spray paint for inside surface of mau5 head, electrical tape to make crosses over eyes, LEDs or electroluminescent (EL) wire to add spectacular lighting

Comments

[Lziggy]

This is my sons Deadmau 5 costume I maded for him.

[TofuCube12]

Excellent job, thanks for sharing! I bet he loves it!

[chansta]

I have a fairly large head and I had trouble finding one that was 14" so I used a 16" here it is after 9 layers. One question, is there a substitute for epoxy like some special paper mâché strengthener that's more readily available or not so expensive that I could use instead? I'm kinda poor at the moment.

I'm a bit of a nerd so I'm going to wire up some led's that surround the ears and depending on the surrounding music level they will act like a equaliser higher up the ear for louder music and more further down for lower volumes. Can't wait to get to the fun part :p

http://i.imgur.com/rG3i4.jpg

[TofuCube12]

I have a larger skull, too, and the 14" ball worked well for me, but the 16" should be a close match. I see you're off to a great start! As for a strengthening alternative to epoxy, I don't know of any to recommend, but you may find something if you go to a hardware store and ask one of the employees for advice. I like your idea of creating an equalizer effect!

[Lziggy]

Why do you paper. Mache the ears to the head first isn't that harder to put the material on afterwards? I am in the middle of doing this project for my son. Also how do you put the eyes in to stay in place.

Thanks,
Lziggy





Reply

[TofuCube12]

I didn't think about waiting to attach the ears after covering the head with fabric, but that may be a good idea to try.

For the eyes:
When you take apart the lights, the plastic dome pieces should have a narrow ridge that goes all the way around the dome's circumference. This ridge will allow you to glue the eye into place from the inside of the head since the ridge extends beyond the width of the eye socket.

What I did was:

1. set the piece on a table with the dome facing up
2. apply hot glue along the ridge
3. quickly set the dome piece against the inside of the mau5 head's eye socket
4. hold the dome piece firmly in place until the glue cools.

Remember to do this in Step 10, after you have covered the head with fabric.

[Lziggy]

Great thanks I will post a picture when I finish. I am having trouble finding the lights for the eyes. And I hope I find them before Halloween. LOL
I love the way you did you head very cool. where did you get the led lights to make it look like tron and are they battery operated.

[TofuCube12]

I found my eye lights at Goodwill, but you might find them at Walmart or Kmart if you have one of those stores near you.

The green lights are actually EL wire from www.thatscoolwire.com
I bought two pre-assembled kits (battery packs included). The kits are available in lengths of 3 to 9 feet. Here's the webpage:
http://www.thatscoolwire.com/store/item.asp?Category=185&SubCategoryID=155&GroupID=&SKU=WY%2DPPL%2DN3

[ReDFoxx_14]

how many layers do you need???

[Lziggy]

9 layers

[TofuCube12]

Do you mean complete layers of newspaper? Nine layers, as it says at the end of the paragraph.

[Lziggy]

Why do you paper. Mache the ears to the head first isn't that harder to put the material on afterwards? I am in the middle of doing this project for my son. Also how do you put the eyes in to stay in place.

Thanks,
Lziggy

[supermau5]

Cool i amm going to start making a head for my sisters friend so she can give it to her as a bd present!!

[TofuCube12]

Awesome! More power to ya!

[deadmau5man101]

im gonna start making my maul head this week and ure the first 1 i found

[TofuCube12]

Great! I hope it is helpful. Good luck!

[deadmau5man101]

Thanks i'll be needing it. MAU5 FOREVER!!!!

[Cri5alfa_21]

So with the way u made it, do your eyes light up? It doesn't sound like hey do but I'm thinking if I glue them in without dissassembling them they could still work...any thoughts?

[TofuCube12]

My mau5's eyes don't light up, but yeah, I have a friend who made a mau5 head following my instructions, and she just hot-glued the fully intact lights inside the eye holes. As long as you're careful to glue them securely, they should stay in place just fine and allow you to have light-up eyes!

An additional thing that my friend did was to have her dad replace the bulbs in the lights with colored Christmas light bulbs that he soldered in. Just a thought if you happened to want colored eyes. :)

[sethro34]

How much does all of the materials cost in all?

[TofuCube12]

Read the comments at the bottom of this page.

[sethro34]

How did we get the head? I feel that you skipped a ton of steps.

[TofuCube12]

Do you mean the main sphere that becomes the mau5 head? The way to make that is described in Step 2.

[hlsiao]

How much does the head weigh after you finish the paper mache?

[TofuCube12]

Hmm, that's a good question. I don't have a scale to weigh it, but my finished mau5 head feels to be around 4 pounds. Sorry I don't have a more accurate answer. Hope this helps, though.

[dodo1095]

Do you have to let it dry after every/ an certain amount of layers or can you do it all at once?

[TofuCube12]

I let it dry overnight after each layer. Another instructables user said he used a hairdryer to speed up the drying process.

[xxwerdxx]

I'm ordering my EL wire and I need an inverter. Idk what this is and which kind to get. What'd you do?

[TofuCube12]

I'm in the same boat as you in that I don't know much about inverters, either. I bought a pre-assembled EL wire kit that came with a battery pack already set up with the wire. There was just a clip that connected a wire from the battery pack to the EL wire. The kits aren't cheap, but they saved me the headache of trying to make an EL wire setup myself. Here's the link to the kit I ordered (available in lengths of 3-9 feet):

http://www.thatscoolwire.com/store/item.asp?Category=185&SubCategoryID=155&GroupID=&SKU=WY%2DPPL%2DN3

[Uberwolfman]

So for the eyes I am using styroform balls that are the same measurements as the tap lights. (Parents did not wanna waste 10 bucks on two of them) is there any problem in that if I cut them in half and use paint to make the surface look more smoother? Also what kind of inverter did you order? I am also wanna use battery power.

[TofuCube12]

I think painting the styrofoam will work okay. The styrofoam may absorb some of the paint, so you may end up applying a few coats of paint to make the surface smooth.

As for the inverter, I don't know what kind it is because it just came with the pre-assembled EL wire kit. There was just a clip that connected a wire from the battery pack to the EL wire. It was really easy to set up; I just had to clip those wires together and install batteries in the pack. The kits aren't cheap, but they saved me the headache of trying to make an EL wire setup myself. Here's the link to the kit I ordered (available in lengths of 3-9 feet):

http://www.thatscoolwire.com/store/item.asp?Category=185&SubCategoryID=155&GroupID=&SKU=WY%2DPPL%2DN3

[nbiaggini]

Hi, im from latinamerica and I would like to know, those measures are inches or cm?
Sorry the bad english haha (:

[TofuCube12]

The measurements are in inches. :)

[amcgrath1]

this is really cool almost done with mine btw you look really cute with the deadmau5 costume

[TofuCube12]

Cool, you should share a picture of your mau5 head when you finish it! And thanks for the compliment; the Tron deadmau5 costume has been a big hit so far at sci-fi/gaming/animé conventions. In the future I may make a rhinestone-covered mau5 head...

[Danying]

Do you put the lip prices on the top and bottom? Or just bottom?

[TofuCube12]

You put the lip pieces into both the top and the bottom of the mouth.

[The3rdPunch]

How much does this cost without lighting? Reply ASAP

[TofuCube12]

I don't have an exact estimate, but it should cost around 75-100 dollars, if you already have the necessary tools.

[The3rdPunch]

Ok thanks.

My only other question is about how long does it take to make?
Do you know if it can be done before halloween?