04.03.26
I started this project last year to have something to wear at Midwest Fur Fest. I’ve never made a mask before, but I saw a Jurassic World Rebirth T-Rex Rage N Roar Mask and picked it up for $35 because it has awesome digital eyes and I’ve seen some cool dino mask projects before.
I already had a mask that I modified from a latex dragon skull mask and wore to the St. Louis Naked Bike Ride that was the base for this design. I trimmed down some of the little horns is had and used gaffers tape and a thin layer of foam to give it better shape. “RRANYF Dino Mask Moving Jaw Decor - Tyrannosaurus Rex” $30 Amazon, latex (says PLA but lies)
I started by dissecting the latex mask a bit, removed the jaw. Then I liberated the digital eyes from the dino mask and cut the speaker off to mute it.
The holes in the roof of the mask were used to hold the Samsung Gear 360 camera in the old version of this mask.
Next I began to test fit the merging of these 2 masking into one..thing. I used a drimmel to remove material from the dino mask so it fit inside and supported the latex mask in the right areas.
The white mark is cut from vinyl sticker on a Cricut and was inspired by the eye markings from the Synx species.
The lower jaw needed reinforcement, so I started building structure to hold the parts togeather.
These plastic clips were used to hold the dino mask in the packaging, and I repurposed them into mounts for the jaw strengthening structure. Romex wire worked to lock them in place.
I used Gorilla Clear Grip, Romex wire, tin foil, and gaffers tape to build a jaw reinforcement structure.
Next I decided to trim the bottom lip on the dino mask a bit to show the teeth better. This was a point where the character design followed the build process because the decision to keep the inner row of teeth effectively gave the mask a double jaw, a bit like a moray eel.
Around this point I decided to ditch the gaffers tape and foam layer so I could mold the shape more effectively. This also helped with the jaw structure and relocating the digital eyes.
This foam clay is awesome! $20 on Amazon, if I was smart I would have gotten it in black..more on that later.
The digital eyes got moved to where the old viewports on the dino mask were, so I ended up with very small viewport tunnels that extend forward.
Very small ports, I ended up having to scan back and forth a lot to see while I was walking, but that played into the velociraptor vibe of this mask.
To be able to move the eyes I had to lengthen the wires between the left and right eye, then I used clay foam and glue to mount them.
I used plastic door screen to cover the view ports and digital eyes. Painting was a tedious process, after I had the sculpting mostly where I wanted it I covered the eyes, horns, and teeth with gaffers tape and began layering black Krylon Fusion spray paint.
After the first layer of paint I went back in with little bits of clay to fill in low spots, then sandpaper to knock down high spots, then more paint. I did like 4 passes of this.
Here is the final result! I had a ton of fun with this project and overall it only cost me a bit more than $100 in materials. The suit I used is just a Mothman Costume with some bits trimmed off.
I hope this documentation is useful to someone!
