"They Live" DIY Mask Making - Part 2!

When I left off last time we'd just sculpted the facial features from Crayola Model Magic, and unfortunately the stuff cracked horribly as it dried. So maybe don't follow our advice on using that and maybe stick with good old-fashioned papier-mâché. Anyway - onwards!

Step 4: Painting!
I made use of what I had at home for this, three small bottles of red, black and white pearlized fabric paint which worked out really well. The paint dries into a latex-like finish and was very slightly sparkly which made the muscle tissue look gruesomely wet.

Once the muscle tissue was dry I used diluted paint to add shadows and highlights to the blue clay. This is a subtle touch but I think it really brought the who mask to life. I also painted over the chin section in light gray to make it look more bone like, and because I'm a perfectionist, painted over the teeth to make them look a little more three dimensional and irregular.

Step 5: The Eyes!
For the eyes I cut cut two ping-pong balls in half across their equators then cut asterisk shapes out using small sharp scissors. Incidentally, the inside of ping-pong balss smells like Vick's Vaporub which I find slightly disturbing. Again using what we had, A painted the eye balls with metallic radiator paint (thrifty!)

The eyes were then glued in place using a glue gun and the ribbons that came with the masks replaced with elastic. I also added padding to the inside of my mask, strips of batting, to cushion the bridge of my nose some.

Step 6: Wear in Public and Freak People Out.

We also made a few small props, a magazine and money printed with choice phrases from the movie. Someone somewhere on the train screamed. Mission accomplished.