"paint mask"

[LonnieFisher]

Does anybody know how to make a paint mask? Has anybody ever used one? I want to make a few but can't find any info on how to do it. I've seen one video of one being used, but using it's the easy part. I want to know how to make them. Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks.

[Iron Mego]

From what I understand of them they are made from a thin sheet of metal, usually coppper, with a thin handle of some sort to hold it up to the item being painted. I guess the easiest thing to get would be the thin aluminum used for siding/roofing, cut it out and hammer to your needs. That probably isn't a lot of help, but unless you know a smithee it might be your only option.

[LonnieFisher]

I can't picture being able to hammer some aluminum to the shape of a Mego face!! I was thinking more about resin paint masks. I just don't know how to get the details cut out. Anybody else have any ideas?

[CrimsonGhost]

Vacuformed plastic would be ideal, but without vacuform equipment, I don't know how you would do it. If you had a resin head, you might be able to press heated plastic sheet onto it and make a mask that way.

[Tothiro]

Vacuformed plastic would be ideal, but without vacuform equipment, I don't know how you would do it. If you had a resin head, you might be able to press heated plastic sheet onto it and make a mask that way.

^Cosigned. Vacuforming is pretty much the only clean way.
There's also a product at craft stores (or there was as of a few years ago) called Friendly Plastic, which was basically a heat-in-water low temp molding plastic. They sold it both in granule and in sheets, or strips, and though ideally you'd want it thinner, the size they sold it in might be thin enough to make a reasonable mask by running under very hot water and then laying over the item. You'd want to use a mold release or something because as memory serves it wants to bond with just about anything while hot.

Also following Ghosts suggestion, you could try some thin acetate sheet (also craft/hobby store) and a hair-dryer - just getting the plastic soft enough to be pressed into form with a metal rounded tool, like a knitting needle or a metal sculpting tool or the like.

[LonnieFisher]

How would I get the detail holes in the paint mask? It would have to be clear so I could see the details through the stuff.

[CrimsonGhost]

Without knowing what you want to use it for specifically, I would sketch what I wanted to paint on the mask and cut it out with an exacto blade.

[LonnieFisher]

I want to be able to paint Mego heads(eyes,eyebrows,hair,mustache,beard,lips,make-up) to be identical. Exactly the same every time. Production style. Hand painting is too slow and each is unique. I want to be able to paint them like Mego did when the figures were manufactured. I also want to repaint existing figures all the same.

[ddgaff1132]

Hey Lonnie.
There are some paint on masking materials for airbrushing. Frisket makes a liquid mask that you paint on. If you create a copy of the area ya wanna paint in masking tape, apply it to the face and apply liquid masking around it. You remove the tape and spray. After you airbrush. You remove the Frisket with an eraser. Also cheap liquid masking be done with thinned rubber cement. The important issue is choosing a paint that isn't affected by the liquid masking material.

[CrimsonGhost]

You could absolutely do it, but it might be more of a hassle than its worth. I don't really see a way to make a universal mask, I think each mask would have to be unique to the head. Also, each head would need a couple of masks to make the different shapes and colors when they overlap. So for example, there would be an eye white mask and a pupil/eyeliner mask to make eyes.
There was a company that made eye slide decals like the kind that used to be in model car kits. That might help, just as another idea.

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

For a reusable mask, vaccumforming would probably be your best bet. You'd have to cut the holes out afterwards, which would be a huge pain. Airbrush frisket and screen isn't reusable. Overall; unless you wanted a hundred figures that were exactly the same, it probably isn't worth the time and difficulty making a mask. If you're casting parts of your own you might be able to get a similar effect with some cheats. Sculpt the original with more pronounced features that'll need painting; so, clearly defined eyebrows, moustaces, hairline, etc. Then you use those points as guides when painting.

Don C.

[Tothiro]

Also if you want a last ditch option for a part mask that mimics the vacuformed method without a vacuformer, there's a way. It's a major pain, but it is an option.

Essentially you'd want to set up a secondary silicone mold which just had whatever portion you're painting exposed to mold (think a solid clay flange around a face if you're masking for eye detail or similar) and then make your silicone mold A. Take the A mold and very liberally apply mold release to it, so you can pour a second positive in silicone from it instead of resin (you're making a reverse mold of the mold - you with me?) Call that mold B.
Mold B will be a silicone positive copy of your sculpt with a flat plane around it (for handling purposes) - you can then take some resin and either brush it on or do a very thin slush coat of it across your mold B, which will give you a negative sculpt-friendly resin coating that should fit very snugly against your resin copies...
Obviously you'd want to make it thick enough to hold up to multiple uses, but no so thick that it makes it hard to cut or tool. You also want it thin so that paint doesn't pool around the edges of the mask cuts and leave it sloppy when you pull the mask away.
Then you just have to dremel or x-acto out your cut sections (helps to have very small sanding sticks or micro sanding rope/strip to finish the edge work).

I'd say 100 or so would be the minimum paint output count for this to make sense setting up.
You'd have to adjust the method and do all steps in mirror image to make a wrap around mask for something like a hairline, which doubles the annoying factor but can also be done.