3D Print Alex Terrible Mask Project

I am a huge metal head and I am been eyeing getting a mask that Alex Terrible, from Slaughter to Prevail wheres on stage. My brother owns his own 3D Printing business, Nothern Print3D and made this for me for Christmas. What I wanted to do, and did for this instructable is to prepare the mask to be painted.

Supplies can be found at any home improvement store (or many other places). I picked up the following from Home Depot:

• Carpenter's Wood Filler
• Sand Paper of various Grits (I used 120, 300, and 1000)
• Rust-o-leum Metallic Spray Paint - Gold
• Rust-o-leum Spray Paint - Clear Coat
• Old newspaper (to keep the mess contained and off the table)
• Cardboard box

Due to the size of the mask and the size of the printer, it had to be made in multiple pieces and glued together. I will be using wood filler to fill in the gaps. The mouth piece moves and is held in by 2 pins (1 per side). I removed the pins by simply pushing them out to separate the jaw from the rest of the mask.

I used a knife and then ultimately ended up using my finger to apply the wood filler to the mask. Anywhere there was a place where the mask had to be glued/joined together, I applied wood filler to. The purpose of this is to hide any gaps where the pieces are joined together. I applied wood filler on the mask and then on the jaw piece.

Once applied, I let it dry for a day before moving to the next step. By no means do you need to wait 24 hours before sanding, check your wood filler instructions first. What I used is good after a couple of hours. I waited this long because busy life.

For this step, it takes time and patience, and sometimes repeating the steps multiple times.

I started with 120grit sandpaper then moving to 320grit, and then finally 1000grit sandpaper. It is better to start off with a smaller grit because you can take more of the wood filler off, and then moving up to a higher grit to get a more smoother finish.

The only issue that I ran into during this step, was that I accidently snapped the jaw piece in half (where it joins together from the printing). Some gorilla glue, and more wood filler, I was able to fix the issue.

Once finished, I took a damp paper towel to wipe it all down to get any dust from it before moving to painting.

This part takes time and a good spot to air out.

For this, I used a cardboard box to create a painting station to contain the paint. I did this in my garage. (It is -18 here where I live, so not going outside for this :) ).

Follow the directions on the paint to properly apply it. I shook the can up really well and sprayed from a distance. To ensure that I covered the entire mask and both sides, I set up the mask in the box. Painted and waited until it dried and then changed the position and painted again.

I applied about 3 coats to the whole mask.

Similar to the steps in painting, I did the clear coat in the same spot in the garage. Follow the directions on the can for proper application. I shook the can up and started spraying. Allowing it to dry between position changes to cover the whole mask.

For this, I applied 2 coats of clear coat for the whole mask.

All in all, I am very satisfied with the outcome. By no means is it 100%, I do notice a couple flaws here and there.