Deathstroke the Terminator: One of the most badass and awesome character ever right?

With time Deathstroke's mask and armour have changed and evolved in more and more mechanical manner. But it was the Teen Titans Animated Show which introduced him to me. That grim voice, master manipulator with one eye and cool moves were awesome to watch.

So when I thought of making a Deathstroke mask, I decided to keep it a bit old-school.

I am not an expert and thus I always try to find the easiest way not to mess things up. I hope you will enjoy this as much as I did.

This helmet contains no Bondo, no Fiber Glass, no Spray Painting; just papery and gluey stuffs!

My native language is not English so I apologize in advance for any mistakes.

Step 1: Supplies

Planning: Now-a-days, DIY helmet = pepakura mostly. But as I am a noob in the field of pepakura, I searched and searched and finally chose an easy Spider-man (yes you read that right) face mask template. The reason behind choosing Spider-man's mask is that it has almost no extra features like Batman's pointy ears or Daft Punk's Side covers. So Spider-man's mask acts as a blank slate to make as wish. Also, it does not have much complication of various folds. The template is given at the end of this step.

Here are the things needed:

Pepakura template
Scissors
Masking tape or magic tape
PVA glue or any water soluble glue
Pencil, Eraser, Fine marker
Old notebook covers or soft cardboards (hard won't do)
Lots of news paper or tissue paper
Sand paper
Acrylic or Poster colour (Spray painting is also possible)
Velcro strap

Spidey face mask.pdf
Download

Step 2: Layout From the Template

Print out the template on A4 sheets and cut them out. Now take some covers of old notebooks or soft cardboards and trace the pattern over them with makers or sketch-pens (the sharper the better). While cutting the templates from the covers: cut inside the lines such that after cutting, no lines of the marker should remain on it.

As the template given provides only one side of the mask, flip the cut outs and repeat again to get the other side.

Step 3: Joining the Layouts

Follow the 1st picture of this step and attach the layout by just bending them. No folds, just plain bending. This is the highlight of the Spider-man mask layout. It doesn't have any variation of folds. So bend and attach them with masking tape or magic tape. After attaching every two pieces together, place it over face and check how it is coming. When all are joined it will looks like the pictures at the end.

Step 4: Modifying the Eyes

Spider-man's mask has large expressive eyes but Deathstroke's mask has only one. So to transform the Spidey mask to a Deatstroke's mask we have to modify and change the eyes.

Right Eye: Carefully place the mask sideway over some extra cover paper and trace the eye-gap with pencil. Remove the mask and draw another slightly bigger line around the traced one. Cut along the bigger line, place it over the eye and fix it with masking tape.

Left Eye: Trace the same way again but this time draw an eye pattern. Then cut the eye hole in it before fixing. (Optional: if you stick more than one layer of paper for the right eye it will give a 3D effect after paper meshing.)

Step 5: Paper Mesh

Tear lots of news paper or tissue paper. Tear them with hands, do not cut with scissors. The rough edges formed by tearing hold much better than clean cuts. As the mask is quiet big, try to make long stripes.

Now mix PVA or craft glue with water in the ratio 1:1. spread the solution over the mask and start pasting the pieces of paper. Keep doing until all the mask is covered and leave it to dry. This may take time but it must be completely dry before moving on to next step.

Step 6: Repeat

Keep pasting papers until the mask is firm enough for your need. I did total 3 coats of paper pasting but you can do more if you want. I think 3 or 4 is enough. But make the last coat with plain white paper/tissue. This will give you a much better idea about the state of the mask and an empty canvas to work on next.

Step 7: Sanding

Now to get a smoother texture, take a piece of sand paper and start rubbing. Rub it in small, fast strokes but never apply much pressure. Because if you apply too much pressure it might start to peel off the paper mesh. When individual areas are smooth enough, merge them with long strokes.

Once you start sanding, the mask may start looking ugly, ragged and dirty showing every ups and downs but believe me, it won't matter. Keep sanding until you get an even and smooth surface. Check with your fingers but not with your eyes.

Step 8: Base Coating (Optional)

Before moving on to colours, coat the whole mask with a solution of glue and water in the ratio 3:1.

This step is completely optional. Although this gives the mask a smooth and clean texture after all the sanding and also adds a nice gloss, it is not compulsory. But do not coat it with glue directly because colouring over too much gloss might become problematic.

This step is preferable for spray painting.

Step 9: Colouring

To get even colouring, first paint it white as primer and let it dry. If the white colouring still shows anything from underneath, coat again.

When the primer feels even after 1 or 2 coats, get a pencil and mark the eye and the midsection. Although you may need to do this later again, it gives a much better idea of what to do. There are many eye designs of Deathstroke's mask so go for the one you like most.

(Safer method:

Left side: When all the markings are done, start with the lighter colour which in this case is orange.

Right Side: Now mark the midsection again (this time use pencil as little as possible) and add masking tapes along the line covering the orange side. Now paint black along the taped portion first and then move on to the rest. If you have a really steady hand then masking won't be necessary.When the paint dries completely, peel off the tapes but be very careful so that the colour beneath the tapes are not disturbed.)

If you add a very few drops of PVA glue to the colours before applying, the colours get a very nice glossy look when dries.

Check for any gaps or mistakes and colour them if required.