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As I did with the Gamera costume, I made the mask using latex mask casting supplies from The Monster Makers, a mask-making and special effects company. I sculpted the mask from oil-based clay. Here’s a bunch of pictures from that process.
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As it progressed, I decided to get really detailed with the scale patterns on the snout and on the neck. I put a lot of detail into this, and I think it really turned out well in the final product. Most of the process of creating a mask is in the initial sculpture.
By the way, the two red squares are where my eyes would be located when I would be wearing the mask. Godzilla’s neck is tall and his forehead is short, whereas I don’t have the same proportions. I think that’s also the way the original actor’s suit was designed in the movies. (Except for the American version of Godzilla, which was CGI, and not generally considered a canonical Godzilla.)
After sculpting the mask, I cast it in Ultracal 30 to create a mold for the latex.
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I then took out the clay and poured the liquid latex in, then let it set for about 30-40 minutes to build the mask up to a nice thickness.
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After casting the latex, I let it dry overnight, then took it out of the two-part mold and painted it. I wanted the painting to reflect the level of detail I put into the sculpture.
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I’m really proud of the mask. It has a nice expressive quality to it.
Next: I rip the stuffing out of OpenOffice's HTML editor... er, I mean:
