Army of Two Paintball Mask

Ever wanted to be Salem or Rios in real life? I know I have! And now you can when you wear your very own Army of Two Paintball mask. In this project you have a choice of just making it a prop, or you can go the extra mile and make it a paintball mask.

This was a pretty labor intensive build and I suggest if you haven't had any experience with fiberglass and car body filler, then you should probably get some practice with them first.


Shopping List:
Card stock
Glue (super glue or tacky glue)
Fiberglass resin
Fiberglass cloth (or fiberglass mat)
Bondo body filler
Spot putty
Cheap paintbrushes
Spray paint
Primer
Craft foam
Sunglass lenses
Elastic


Tools:
Dremel
Electric sander
Scissors
Computer
Printer
Putty knife

Step 1: Pepakura

So it all begins with a computer program called pepakura. It takes a 3-D model and turns it into a bunch of pieces that you print off and then cut out and glue together. You can download pepakura at http://www.tamasoft.co.jp/pepakura-en/ and I suggest that you get pepakura designer not pepakura viewer. If you get viewer you won't be able to size the file to fit you, so get designer.

After you've downloaded the designer you'll need to find an army of two mask file. Just search "army of two pepakura file" on google and I'm sure you'll find it. Once you have the file downloaded play around with the features for a while to know what they do. After you understand everything well you'll need to size the mask to fit you.

Okay, so you have the file sized correctly, now it's time to start the real work. Click print and grab a cup of coffee. I like cutting out one piece at a time so I don't get them mixed up and don't know where they come from, but you can do it however you like.

REMEMBER: ------- line equals mountain fold
_._._._._ line equals valley fold

When you have some pieces cut out, look at the diagram on your computer and fit the pieces together, like a puzzle, and glue them. For you glue I suggest something that dries fast, probably super glue. Then you begin the long, repetitive task of cutting, folding, and gluing for a few hours.

Step 2: Fiberglass

This stage is crucial whether you want the mask to be a prop, or for paintball. In this stage we're applying fiberglass.

WARNING!! Fiberglass resin gives off toxic fumes, wear a respirator during this process.

Okay, to begin cut your fiberglass cloth into strips until you have enough, and it'll take more if you want it to be a paintball mask. After you have the strips cut, mix up a batch of fiberglass resin. To mis fiberglass resin, take a throw away container and pour about one ounce of resin in it, and 10 drops of hardener, then mix thoroughly. Once the resin is ready, apply a thin coat to the inside of the mask by brushing it on with a cheap disposable brush, then take the fiberglass strips and lay them on top of the wet fiberglass, and then cover the strips of fiberglass with more resin. It will look like the fiberglass in kind of melting into the resin.

Continue this process until the entire inside is covered in fiberglass, and thick enough for your liking.

Step 3: Bondo and Sanding

This is a fairly simple step, but probably the most labor intensive part of the whole project. You begin by taking about a golf ball sized amount of bondo and put a pea sized amount of cream hardener and mix it in.

A special technique for mixing the bondo, the bondo, which is a gray color, and the hardener is red. To mix them don't just stir, that will cause air bubbles, you have to fold the hardener in until you get a nice uniform color, and it will turn out to be a salmon color.

After you have it mixed up you need to take it and spread it on the mask. Remember you don't have a whole lot of time to apply the bondo otherwise it will dry before you can put it all on, so try to work quickly.

After about 20 minutes the bondo is dry it's time to begin my least favorite part of the entire project, sanding. Well this part doesn't need much explaining, just sand until everything is nice and smooth.

WARNING! Bondo gives off toxic fumes, wear your respirator.

Step 4: Adding Foam

This is just to add comfort, because quite honestly fiberglass doesn't feel very good. So I just cut some pieces of cheap craft foam (I think it's a dollar at hobby lobby) and glued them in place, simple as that. If you feel the need to, you can add even more foam, or some other cloth because you probably wouldn't enjoy having fiberglass so close to your face.

Step 5: More Resin and Spot Putty

If you don't want to make it a paintball mask you can skip this step. I was looking at my mask after I was done with sanding it and I realized it needed some more strength so I decided to add some fiberglass resin on the outside of the mask.

Just like before, mix up some resin and use a disposable brush to apply it to the outside of the mask, I used 4 coats. After all the resin is all dry there will be some runs. So dust off the old electric sander and get to work, after you're done sanding there will probably still be a few divots. To fix this issue take your bottle of spot putty and cover the entire mask in a thin layer.

After the spot putty is dry do a light sanding, spot putty sands quite easily, so this won't be too difficult. Now it's off to priming and painting!

Step 6: Prime

Another easy step, but crucial to make the end product to look great. I used an automobile primer which isn't necessary but I think it makes the paint look better than if you just use regular primer.

After the primer dries, time for more sanding. The last picture there is what it looks like after you've sanded the primer, spot putty, and fiberglass resin.

Step 7: Test

A good idea before ever wearing your mask is to have a test fire to make sure it doesn't break. It took me 3 tries before my mask was actually strong enough to withstand the blow from a paintball.

If a ball breaks the mask just fix the holes/cracks with fiberglass, bondo, and resin on top of that.

Step 8: Lenses

This is super important! Get strong lenses that will not break when you shoot them, go out and test them to make sure they will not break.

After testing the lenses, you'll need to get them to the shape you need, I used a dremel with a cutting wheel to cut them down to shape. After you have the lenses to the correct shape, glue them to the inside of the mask.

As an extra measure for comfort I added some craft foam around the edges of the lenses just because it was much more comfortable that way.

Step 9: Paint

If you google search army of two mask, you will find 100s of different paint schemes. Choose one that you really like, and can actually do. I went with a simple camo look just because I love camo, and it is for paintball after all.

IMPORTANT!! If you are using spray paint, work in a well ventilated area, breathing in the fumes is not a good thing to do.

Step 10: The Strap

For the strap you will need to take the dremel and make three cuts, one on the top and two on the sides. For the side to side strap I used a piece of elastic and stitched it to where it fit me perfectly. The other strap was from an old back pack, and I sewed it onto the elastic band just for extra support on my head.

Step 11: Show Off

Go out and show off your awesome Army Of Two mask! Wear it for cosplay or go paintball with it, trust me, people will love it!

I was extremely happy with the finished product, it turned out much better than I ever thought it would, and if you pur in the time and hard work I'm sure you'll be surprised at what you can do. Until next time.

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Comments

[TheBroSquad]

This is a great instructable. Awesome job on the pepakura and bondo. It makes me sad though that so many people complain about the safety of this awesome (and safe) project. It is people like you, nwalt31, that make this site, and the world, so much fun, NOT the people who complain about the safety of other peoples projects. Great job!

[Loaf Of Bread]

Hey I like the instructable, but can you add the pdf for the mask please.

[Loaf Of Bread]

Hey nwalt31 this is 101creative and to be honest I think your paintball mask is really cool and I also think this is very safe out on the field, so don't listen to what other say because this is amazing and SAFE.

[specialsteve101]

this is a nice idea for cosplay or Halloween but this is a horrible thing to actually use on the field. you are asking for a trip to the emergency room. any field that actually allows you to use this "mask" should be shut down because they obviously do not care about personal safety. there is a reason actual paintball masks are made, and we don't use shop goggles or sunglasses. the lenses in paintball masks are made to withstand over 400 fps. also by adding more layers of fiberglass and bondo after it breaks is not proper repair of the material. all you are doing is creating another weak spot for it to break and potentially injure yourself.

im sorry for this being mean but i do not want my sport to have another eye related injury because some kid thought it would be cool to make his own mask. so please, leave the paintball mask construction to the actual companies who use the right materials to make them.

[nwalt31]

just for your information, I have worn this mask multiple times, been shot in the lenses multiple times, and have been to the emergency room zero times. I am very experienced in what I do and I do it well. this mask is not factory quality, yes, but it does withstand paintballs shot at it from 5 feet away with the velocity cranked up to 400 fps. I am thankful for the constructive criticism, but if you really don't know what my mask is like, please do not ridicule my construction. and by the way they are not "sunglasses" like you think, they are shatter resistant shooting glasses that I shot from point blank with my tippmann 98 and not a single defect was found in them.

[Temo Vryce]

I would never ever want to play on a paintball field that would even think about allowing anyone to use something like this on a field. It's just asking for a trip to the hospital. If you tested your mask with tournament grade paint, it's going to break on the the mask very easily. If you tried using field grade paint that's been sitting in your gear bag from last season and then set your velocity to +300 fps you might be able to see real world results.

Telling someone that they can build this with "sunglasses" and then go use it on a paintball field is unacceptable. Read this ( http://www.a5og.net/how-to/F1776.pdf ) document and tell me that you're mask would actually pass ASTM standards.

Now for Cosplay use, it's awesome and a nice piece, but it has no place on a paintball field.

[nwalt31]

I am flattered about your concern, but I have worn this while paintballing, and I have been shot while wearing it, and there were no problems. thank you very much

[JM1999]

Yay! It got featured!

[nwalt31]

i know! thank you so much for the advice!

[JM1999]

You're welcome!

[GAM3D1FF1CULTY]

Just a quick comment... Looks great for Halloween but if you use this in a game you WILL get hurt since it's made of plaster and foam and the lenses are "glued in on plaster.... Not a good combo for an eye shot glue brakes, lens goes into eye bad day. So ya use this for Halloween instead.

[nwalt31]

I have gone and test fired at it from about 5 feet and it held up extremely well, but I am still not sure whether or not if I will use it, mostly because I don't want something that looks so awesome to be shot at lol

[mrandle]

You could always modify an existing paintball mask. Like a mask wearing a mask lol. Might restrict vision a bit though.

[judiquer]

be very careful. sunglasses lenses are not strong enough to stop a paintball close range. paintball goggles (approved ones) are made to withstand the impact of a .68 caliber paintball at close range at speeds upwards of 400 fps (feet per second). Most paintballs are set at the 250-300 fps range, but that's still too much for something like sunglasses lenses. Even shop safety glasses are not good enough. We used to demonstrate to new players buy shooting a brand new pair of safety glasses from a few feet away.. effectively shattering them - as a way of demonstrating why it's important to wear the proper protective equipment. rememebr: you only have two eyes! protect them.

[nwalt31]

at first I was worried about this, but the lenses came from a pair of 3M shooting glasses, and I tested them at point blank shooting at them no less than 10 times, and they held up without a crack.

[dstaudy]

How do you not suffocate in that thing? It seems like it would be extremely hot and stuffy without any venting

[Danger is my middle name]

Wow, awesome job! It looks so cool!