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[Tvoivozhd <tvoivozd AT infionline.net>]

This is essentially a rerun of a past post on maskmaking that probably 
didn't make it into the archives.  One of my favorite home businesses 
with great sales potential.  As mentioned before, grandparents can 
always be depended on buying toys or anything the grandchildren ooh and 
aah over at craft shows, flea markets, County and State Fairs etc.  
Something flea market dealers would die for, since none of their 
competitors stock such an item.  I like flea market dealers 
myself---everything is cash, no paper trail.  They pay some taxes to 
pull the wool over the eyes of tax collectors, but it is a token amount, 
like small  retailers in the Bahamas who might pay five or ten percent 
of the  twenty seven percent sales tax that is theoretically exacted by 
the Bahamian Government.

My gut feeling is that the price range of masks should  range from about 
five dollars to as much as one hundred to stay within  grandparents' 
area of comfort.  Horror masks would certainly sell well, but I'd lay 
odds on dinosaurs and dragons being more consistent sellers. At the 
near-one-hundred dollar level, you could provide some cable-control or 
pneumatic articulation of jaws, ears and eyeballs, simulated smoke  from 
dragon nostrils, and from a Taiwan or Mainland China toy component 
supplier, a roar-device.

I would be iclined to enlist the help of a Virginia Tech art class to do 
the initial  sculpture, possibly an engineering class to work on cable 
controls.  Offer a prize or royalty to get their attention.  A professor 
is always looking for a new and unusual class project, so I'd go to the 
professors first.



http://members.ozemail.com.au/~dhell/diy.htm  (making masks---felt over 
clay over clingwrap, and data on eyes.)

http://www.mendels.com/mask.html  (mendel's on maskmaking books, use of 
clay-impregnated gauze etc.)

http://www.library.yale.edu/~lso/drama/mask.html  (maskmaking using buckram)

http://www.dickblick.com/categories/maskmaking/  (maskmaking supplies 
from Dick Blick, longtime great source for art supplies)

http://www.monstermakers.com/  (monstermakers, great website for type of 
masks used in theatrical, video productions)

http://www.inzomne.com/mask/  (maskmaking basics, procedures)

http://me.odysseyofthemind.org/Maskmaking.htm  (armatures, paint, paste, 
glues, use of paper, kraft bags, papier mache, saran wrap over your face 
and hair)

http://www.goblinart.com/about/Professional_paper_mache.html  (short but 
very good advice on making papier mache masks)

http://www.balix.com/travel/guide/chapters/balinese_art/arts_mask.html  
(Balinese motif)

http://bayard.daysofyoreevents.com/ursula-masks.htm  (cheesecloth masks 
and various themes, i.e., Nordic, Greek, Roman, muthical creatures 
etc.---don't forget the leprechauns, banshees ghosties, ghoulies and 
things that go bump in the night)

http://www.fxsupply.com/mask/mask.html  (very good instructions for 
clay, latex masks, and supplies you will need)

http://www.brainsofbaines.com/mask.html  (good instructions for latex 
mask using someone's head as a pattern.  I don't much care for latex in 
contact with the skin, and prefer a mask that uses a universal mount to 
the head---a lot of small balloons would be self-adjusting, or an 
adjustable headband.  The more elaborate the mask, i.s., with 
articulated jaws, various visual and sound effects like a dragon blowing 
smoke, dinosaur roaring, the more money you can charge for it.
Use some discretion in pricing, you want a range within customers 
ability and willingness to pay.)

http://www.dentaldistortions.com/html/Links.html  (scream team horror, 
monster masks, mostly latex)

http://www.1st-in-masks.com/Mask-Resources/latex-monster-masks.html  
(morbid mask people, long list of useful links)

http://www.villageroadshowpuctures.com/halloween/45/how-to-make-latex-halloween-masks-and-props.html  
(another long list of useful links, full-body theatrical props, cuts, 
wounds, bullet holes etc.)

http://www.angelfire.com/nt/ibarman/fursuiting.htm  (great website on 
full-body costumes, foam-carved heads, animatronics, taxidermy supply 
for eyes, noses, fangs.)

http://members.tripod.com/labyrnth/animatronics/need_help.html  (Michael 
Burnette Productions video on making cable-control articulated masks)

http://members.aol.com/c40179/  (the above link on animatronics is 
dead---don't feel bad, here are hundreds of others you must read)

http://www.animatronics.org/  (some animatronic specialists, their 
creations and the computers that controls some of them)

http://www.lifeformations.com/  (lifeformations.com is one of the above, 
Flashplayer 6.0 and Quicktime necessary to have or download to view the 
streaming video here)

http://www.zerocommv2.com/  (If you want to draw your demons before you 
make a pattern of some kind (as opposed to simply sculpting them), I 
suppose Macromedia Freehand or Adobe Illustrator would be useful.  Not 
my schtick, I'd make a wax or clay three-dimensional demon.

http://www.getspfx.com/Plastic%20Eyes.asp (plastic full-orbit eyes for 
your demon mask, brown eyes are cheaper than blue eyes (no comment), and 
I don't who makes bloodshot Gee Gee eyes)  Have to get some ping pong 
balls and paint them.  Put a red LED inside to make them look Gee-Gee 
natural as he staggers from lamp post to lamp post on the way home.  
This is an improvement---he used to crawl home on his hands and knees.

http://www.drakenmasks.com/masks/skullred.html  (I think dragon and 
dinosaur heads would sell better than skulls, but here is a skull with 
an articulated jaw--directly jaw-operated, not by cable mechanism)

http://www.castcraft.com/  (and as always in many home businesses, refer 
to the castcraft catalog for complete construction information and raw 
material sources.)
http://www.castcraft.com/prod1.htm