Puff the Magic Dragon
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Hi-di-o fellow instructables users!
The other week I made a dragon mask that used dry ice to spit smoke for class, and (per the usual) I had for hours to do it! Now some of you may say "It took you four whole hours to make that?" Let me be the first to tell you this isn't as easy as it seems, and honestly if I hadn't had a lovely partner (*see girl Modeling dragon mask) then I doubt this would have went so well.
This head is made of a healthy mixture of materials including:
Wire mesh
an old bed sheet
Newspaper Comics (RIP my collection)
Oven Bake Clay
Glue
Flour
Water
Wire coat hangers
Masking tape
paint
Tools used included
heat gun (or the hairdryer on steroids) optional
hot glue gun
pliers
wire cutters
a clean and a dirty pair of hands ( this can be one pair of hands, but will take much longer)
Metal Head
Because both my partner and I had our hands full during this process we didn't actually take any pictures of how to do it, however here is a link to Dan the Monster Man's youtube channel which shows you how to do it.
We found our mesh at hobby lobby, but it's sold at any craft store. Some tips while doing this is be very careful. This stuff is pokey and can cut you, so try folding any sharp edges outward before putting it on your head. Also it needs to be comfortable enough that you can wear it without pinching but at the same time tight enough not to fall off.
Cloth Mache
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For this step, you need to cut a piece of an old bed sheet. Make sure it is larger than the head when draped over; you can cut away what you don't want. Soak this cloth in Elmer's glue (I bought the almost eight ounce bottle and poured it in a bowl) After making sure it is evenly wet drape
Paper Mache Time
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After this you can make the jaws and main horns by shaping wire. To do the horns make a triangle and fill the negative space with newspaper taped onto it. For the jaws make an open ended square and feel free to add a little character. Likewise fill in the negative space. Cover these shapes in paper mache.
Next try and pull out the wires and excess paper. (If you continue to watch part 2-6 of the gourmet paper mache videos you can actually see these things happen.) With the top jaw you want a cavity that can hold dry ice.
Once dry tape jaws and horns on with masking tape. Also cut out where you want your eye holes. Hopefully you have positioned it where they will be right above the nose.
Cloth Mache the Sequel
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Painting and Ice
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The Problems and a Few Suggestions
Things I would have improved are the dry ice effect. If I had had time I would have added red lights to the mouth to illuminate the lights, I would have had a tube from the mouth to the ice so that she could blow on it, and I would have cut out nose holes so it was easikr to breath.
I'm probably going to make another one of these in my own time and add these things.