Lego Man Head Mask

Have you ever wanted to make a group costume that was easy to manufacture while being good looking? What about if it also uses materials that are easy to find at your local stationary store?

Well, look no more! For a school party, our lab (my Design Lab) decided to go with a Lego theme. As the newest member of the team I was assigned the task of manufacturing the costumes.

We had 7 lab members and little time, so I created a way to manufacture one-size-fits-all masks in a very short time with materials we had lying around.

These masks use a cardboard frame wrapped in yellow papers, and they also have translucent eye-holes, so you don't have to worry about bumping into things. They are very light but also very sturdy and impact resistant - perfect for a party!

Materials

• Cardboard - about 4.5mm thick cardboard (910x610mm)
• Yellow paper - you can use any thickness but try not to make it too thick
• Translucent plastic film - a dark color works fine, we used dark blue and green
• Small hot glue gun and glue sticks
• Scissors
• Utility knife
• Ruler
• White glue
• A4 paper
• Cutting mat
• Tape

Step 1: Frame

• Use the pdf file and laser cut the parts for the frame.
• If you do not have a laser cutter, you can also copy the designs on to the cardboard and cut it with an utility knife.
• Follow the video below to assemble the mask.
• Use hot glue for the joints as the frame will hold better and it will be stronger.

Update 2017/10/06

For those of you who do not own a laser cutter and want to cut the frame manually, I divided the pieces of the pattern into smaller ones. Now the whole frame fits into A4 (210x297mm) sized sheets so that it can be printed with most printers and be transferred onto cardboard for cutting with a utility knife.

The new pattern is color-coded so that it can be easy to distinguish which pieces belong to the same part of the frame.

Step 2: Getting the Paper Pieces

• Draw the 6 pieces on the yellow paper.
• It helps to get a little sticky note with the measurements on hand. I made one you can print.
• You can then use your utility knife and your rulers to cut the pieces.
• It would help you to label each part so you can assemble the mask without confusion.

Step 3: Attaching the TOP and BOTTOM Pieces

[Please refer to the images starting from this part]

• Start by attaching one of the ends of the TOP piece to the frame.
• Continue by attaching the initial band along the frame. Before you start wrapping, glue the inferior part of the TOP piece onto the frame until you get something looks like a crown. It would help you to wrap the bands later.
• Wrap the rest of the bands by putting a bit of hot glue on the corners of each band. (This is why a small hot glue gun is preferable).
• Do the same for the BOTTOM piece.

Step 4: Attaching the BUMP Piece

• Perform similar steps as the FRONT and BOTTOM pieces. But instead of adding the hot glue on the corner, you should add it to the middle of each band.
• When you are done wrapping the BUMP piece it will look as there is a hole at the top. To cover the hole, we have the CAP piece. The CAP piece is optional. (I personally don't like how the hole looks like, that's why I added it.)
• If you do choose to include the CAP piece, measure where your CAP piece will go before you actually glue it.

Step 5: Finishing

• Attach the NECK band as shown in the pictures.
• Find your favorite Lego man expression, alter it to fit the template and print it. The friend who will be wearing this mask asked for a neutral expression.
• Cut the paper outlines and draw the expression on to the FACE piece. Then cut the outlines on the yellow paper. In this way, if you wish, you can use the same expression for other masks using only one template.
• Measure the dimensions of the translucent paper and cut it to cover the holes. Paste the translucent paper using white glue. I would recommend to not use the hot glue as it will melt the translucent paper. You can also use tape instead.
• Once you are done, it is time for attaching the FACE piece onto the frame. Try to make it so that there is no frame part covering the eye holes. Then start by attaching the end of the band and continue with the rest of the piece.

You are ready!!! Now you have your own Lego Man Head Mask.

Step 6: Variations and Final Thoughts

As you can see from the pictures, we made 7 masks in total.

Each of us had a different expression.

Another interesting thing about the masks is that they stack onto each other. During the party dinner, we hanged the masks on a nearby tree. It was used as a photo shoot place.

If you have any questions about the mask, visit our lab page: My Design Lab or visit our facebook page: My Design Lab Facebook Page

- by Maria Reyes from My Design Lab