Ichigo's Hollow Mask

[Nil Desperandum]

Any fellow Bleach fans on the 405th?

Ichigo's Hollow Mask is one of the many things on my to-do list; And since my Daft Punk Helmet project is on hold, this will take it's place as my cosplay piece at Anime Boston 2011. Assuming I can still go this year, money is getting kinda tight.

Anyways! My project;
I don't remember where I found it, but I stumbled upon a very basic .obj file that I decided would suit my needs. I unfolded it, and you can find it here. (alternative download link)
So far i've given the pepped piece 3 coats of resin, and allowed it to cure in my poor man's hotbox(an airtight cardboard box next to my coal stove).

I figured that slush casting rondo would be overkill for a simple mask, and too heavy to wear practically. So I picked up some cheap fiberglass matting, and gave that a shot. It was alot... messier than I would have thought. Those fibers get everywhere, and they itch like hell. I put in 3 layers of glass, and that's curing as I type; Pictures tomorrow.

Once I cut away the excess fibers I plan to put on very thin coats of bondo, sanding as I go, so I get the minimum weight for the desired smoothness. I will make the teeth out of an airdrying clay I found at Michael's, and somehow fix them to the mask.

 

[Jabenbetz]

Yo, bleach fan right here =D
Thats looking good man, very clean. And 3 layers? that things going to be a beast!
seriously, hard enough to take on a hollow! im looking forward to seeing how this turns out =D

 

[sildeo]

you should proberly be wearing rubber gloves, i use dishwasher style ones that come half way my forearms to make sure i dont get fiberglass one me, its really bad for your skin as well as being really bad for you in general, lkooks great though keep it up

 

[Coroidan]

I got the impression his pics were after having let things cure. Do you still need gloves when it's dry?

Also, I haven't watched Bleach at all, but that's a pretty cool looking mask.

 

[sildeo]

only when your sanding once its gone off, as apanel beater i remember when i was a first year sand out old fiberglass rust repairs and then by the end of the day my skin was ichy as F***
and i had a huge rash, i was then informed to wear full sleaves and gloves next time as well as the standard P.P.E. required as its really bad for your skin as well hope that helps.

 

[shotputter4]

I absolutely love bleach. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

 

[mitch81292]

Hurry up and cure fiberglass! lol. This looks ossem so far

 

[Spitfire22V]

I'm not familiar with this mask, but it looks good so far. I'd recommend fiberglass cloth over fiberglass matte, I feel it's a little more manageable. Good luck!

 

[Rodimus]

great mask ,big fan are you doing the new hollow paint scheme or the old rips along the side.Also i couldnt download it link not letting me DL it

 

[anthony lennon]

how did u get it because the link you have put on here is not letting me down load it

 

[Nil Desperandum]

Thanks all!

I do wear gloves, but only wrist length latex ones. That and a short sleeve shirt made my arms very unhappy at me!

I was looking for fiberglass cloth, but I couldn't find any at my local stores, just this chopped stuff. Definitely will keep an eye out for the cloth next time.

Anyways; My mask looked like a mess when I took it out of the box, there were a ton of excess fibers around the edges, and some resin pooled into the middle of the mask. Not a huge deal. But as I was cutting away the loose fibers I noticed that I have an air bubble, and two layers didn't adhere to the mask in one medium sized spot. I'm cleaning up those right now, and they hopefully won't be too much of a pain to fix. I'll post some photos once I get it all cleaned up.

For the people who can't get the download link working, try this one.

 

[Cirkob5477]

Dude.
Your pepping be awesome! -said in Borat voice-

The file on megaupload won't download for me, and the other one either D:
My computer may just suck, I'll try later xP

 

[seaninja]

Just downloaded the file. Can't wait to see this thing finished 100%. Huge Bleach fan BTW .

 

[Jabenbetz]

What was said before, i dont think you still need gloves once its dry, other wise it'd be very unsafe to make helmets and armour out of.
But as for fibre glass cloth, maybe try checking in the local surf shop (so long as they shape their noards and dont just order them).
I get my resin from a surf shop (my dad is friends with both the original and the current owner) and they sell it for $10 a pint so long as
you provide a container. Plus, he gives me all the fibre glass cloth i could ever need because there is always plenty of off cuts which build up everywhere. Anyway, its worth a shot...

 

[spartan 087]

Looks good looking forward to the finish product since I am a huge fan of Bleach

 

[Nil Desperandum]

Unfortunately there aren't any surf shops in my area, i'd have to drive down the Cape to find one of those.

I meant to put these up last night. You can clearly see the pooled resin, and the seperated layers.

Since then, I have cleaned up the mask quite a bit more. But aside from removing the loose layers, i've done nothing to the fiberglass. I've also put on 2 thin coats of bondo, and am currently sanding them done to be nice and smooth.

The mask itself is incredibly strong!! I vastly underestimated fiberglass!

 

[tsau mia]

Fiberglass is pretty tough. I used only one layer for my helmet, and it's survived multiple drops, as well as one throw (I was frustrated at the visor part).

This looks pretty good. You did a really nice job with the pep, and the fiberglass looks pretty clean too.

 

[snypernight]

im an ok bleach fan (more of a nabari no ou guy) but may favorite character is neliel in adult form anyway love it and if you need a real or wooden bankai sword or a real zanbacto the 52 in blade one!!! go to trueswords.com to find them they are under swords then anime and movies or something like that

 

[DesertFare]

Ichigo here

 

[snypernight]

nice what are they.......besides awsome!!!!