Picking up where I left off…
I am overly pleased with how the paint job on this turned out. I used a few different acrylic paints, a can of white primer, and a can of rustoleum matte clear coat. I had at least four different grays, from very light to very dark. I know my darkest gray was “wrought iron”. I had also mixed a couple of them together to add more variance. I don’t remember the brand of acrylics off hand, nor the names of the individual paints. I’m sure if someone is that curious, I could dig them out.
I first sprayed this with a coat white primer, then brushed on a coat of my lightest gray acrylic. From there, I used a set of 3 different sponges to apply my next few coats. I covered the raised areas with my lighter colors, then went back and stippled in some dark gray. For all the low sections I primarily stuck to my dark grays, then stippled in some light color.
After I was satisfied with the basic color, I mixed up a black wash. Basically, its just a watered down black. I used a small brush to lay some of the black into the chin indents, around the nose, into the forehead details, and around the ring surrounding the eyes, then wiped up the excess. This leaves some traces of the black in place, while still allowing the color to show through, helping to define the edges.
I then used straight black to fill in the mouth slit and inside the eyes. After that, I spayed metallic silver into a cup, and used it to dry brush some of my edges to give it a little bit of wear. Finally, the whole thing was sprayed with a matte clear coat. It really helped unify all the colors, and give it just a little bit of shine, and really give it that metal feeling.
Lastly, the strapping. I cut some 1-1/4” strips of some scrap brown pleather I had on hand. I ran one of the straps around the back of the head, and one over the top. I just bent two sets of buckles out of an old coat hanger. So it is adjustable, though its not terribly comfortable.
I also made a stand for the thing. I picked up a cheap foam mannequin head at a store, and painted it black. I cut, routed, and stained a wood mount from some scrap. Its actually in two pieces. There’s the bottom, which can be seen, and has 45*s on the corners and is routed all the way around, and a smaller disk on top, which is also routed. I just ran a dowel up through the foam.
And there we have it, Nahkriin. Now the mask sits on top of a shelf, overlooking my room.
That, as always, got a lot longer than I meant it to be. But I just can’t help myself.
Thanks for looking! If anyone wants more specific detail, please ask!
