Chinese wholesale 24″ rubber glove with cotton linning-smooth finish for Johannesburg

FAQ Content

This tutorial shows how to make a latex Batman mask, cast from a plaster mold. This method can be applied to any mask design. It’s not a perfect process, but it is a good budget option, easy for beginners.

Read FAQ below for answers to the most common questions:

How much does this cost?
Estimated cost is about $10 for the mold, and $5 for each mask cast. It’s best to buy mask-making latex by the gallon, for about $50. A gallon of latex is enough to make several masks with. Buying the latex, plaster, and clay to start mask making can put you back around $60, most of that being the cost of latex. Probably not the cheapest method for making only a single mask (unless you can find only a half-gallon or pint of latex), but great for multiple projects.

Where can I buy latex?
It’s best to buy liquid latex for mask-making on online stores, like eBay, or from other effects product suppliers. These suppliers usually have it in stock:

http://myworld.ebay.com/ecbarista/

http://myworld.ebay.com/fun_fx/

If you can find a local source, that can be cheaper.
MAKE SURE that if you buy latex, it’s specifically latex for mask-making. Other more common “molding ” latex products are not safe on skin.

Where can I get good, cheap clay?
The clay I used was a water-based pottery clay I bought at Hobby Lobby. A 25-pound box for $10 (with a 40% off coupon). That’s a great start, a lot of clay that can last a while. It’s soft and easy to work with for beginners. Or most arts and craft stores should have a 10-pound box of cheap modeling clay for under $10.

Why not just buy the costume mask? It looks better than this one…
It depends on your head. Heh. My nose is a bit large, and so my face looked rather goofy on the costume mask This one fits my head better, doesn’t have a Velcro seam at the back, and better proportioned overall.
However, getting a perfectly smooth finish on a mask like this is very difficult. That would come down to having a very clean mold, which I didn’t have. If you take the time, a homemade mask like this can look better than the costume version.

See how I made a Bane mask and the rest of the Batsuit:

See the video I made with this, along with the rest of the costume, here:

More detailed instructions and material lists:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Latex-Mask-Part-1-Plaster-Head-Mold-and-Clay-Scul/

http://www.instructables.com/id/Latex-Mask-Part-2-Molding-the-Sculpt-and-Casting-/

Time-lapse of mask sculpt:

TOOL DEFINITIONS: DRILL PRESS: A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and flings your beer across the room, denting the freshly-painted part which you had carefully set in the corner where nothing could get to it.

WIRE WHEEL: Cleans paint off bolts and then throws them somewhere under the workbench with the speed of light. Also removes fingerprints and hard-earned calluses from fingers in about the time it takes you to say, ”What the…??”

ELECTRIC HAND DRILL: Normally used for spinning pop rivets in their holes until you die of old age.

SKILL SAW: A portable cutting tool used to make studs too short.

PLIERS: Used to round off bolt heads. Sometimes used in the creation of blood-blisters.

BELT SANDER: An electric sanding tool commonly used to convert minor touch-up jobs into major refinishing jobs.

HACKSAW: One of a family of cutting tools built on the Ouija board principle. It transforms human energy into a crooked, unpredictable motion, and the more you attempt to influence its course, the more dismal your future becomes.

VISE-GRIPS: Generally used after pliers to completely round off bolt heads. If nothing else is available, they can also be used to transfer intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.

WELDING GLOVES: Heavy duty leather gloves used to prolong the conduction of intense welding heat to the palm of your hand.

OXYACETYLENE TORCH: Used almost entirely for lighting various flammable objects in your shop on fire. Also handy for igniting the grease inside the wheel hub you want the bearing race out of.

TABLE SAW: A large stationary power tool commonly used to launch wood projectiles for testing wall integrity.

HYDRAULIC FLOOR JACK: Used for lowering an automobile to the ground after you have installed your new brake shoes, trapping the jack handle firmly under the bumper.

EIGHT-FOOT LONG YELLOW PINE 2X4: Used for levering an automobile upward off of a trapped hydraulic jack handle.

E-Z OUT BOLT AND STUD EXTRACTOR: A tool ten times harder than any known drill bit that snaps neatly off in bolt holes thereby ending any possible future use.

BAND SAW: A large stationary power saw primarily used by most shops to cut good aluminum sheet into smaller pieces that more easily fit into the trash can after you cut on the inside of the line instead of the outside edge.

TWO-TON ENGINE HOIST: A tool for testing the maximum tensile strength of everything you forgot to disconnect.

CRAFTSMAN 1/2 x 24-INCH SCREWDRIVER: A very large pry bar that inexplicably has an accurately machined screwdriver tip on the end opposite the handle. This was a time before pry bars.

AVIATION METAL SNIPS: See hacksaw.

PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER: Normally used to stab the vacuum seals under lids and for opening old-style paper-and-tin oil cans and splashing oil on your shirt; but can also be used, as the name implies, to strip out Phillips screw heads.

STRAIGHT SCREWDRIVER: A tool for opening paint cans Sometimes used to convert common slotted screws into non-removable screws.

PRY BAR: A tool used to crumple the metal surrounding that clip or bracket you needed to remove in order to replace a 50 cent part.

HOSE CUTTER: A tool used to make hoses too short.

HAMMER: Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer nowadays is used as a kind of divining rod to locate the most expensive parts adjacent the object we are trying to hit. Also to open the end of a finger or thumb (blowout) thereby causing a lot of blood cleanup on walls, floors, etc.

MECHANIC’S KNIFE: Used to open and slice through the contents of cardboard cartons delivered to your front d oor; works particularly well on contents such as seats, vinyl records, liquids in plastic bottles, collector magazines, refund checks, and rubber or plastic parts. Especially useful for slicing work clothes, but only while wearing them.

DAMMIT TOOL: Any handy tool that you grab and throw across the garage while yelling ”DAMMIT” at the top of your lungs. It is also, most often, the next tool that you will need.