Mask III eyebrows

Peter requested moving eyebrows for the mask. I sanded off the original ones and repainted the area to match the mask. I took a dowel of the same dimensions and shaped them the same as the original eyebrows, I used a dremel grinder to put the hair patern on them just as the originals had.

Mask II

After adding the eyes, I had to get the mouth to go up and down. It was cut in an uneven wedge which made it impossible to slide up and down evenly. I had to slot the side of the beard, sand down the wedge and insert a strip of bass wood
on each side of the jaw. The slot had to be wide because the mouth was so uneven. It was the only way to make it work.

I then put two cross members across the back of the neck in order to attach a head stick.

The mask I

The first thing I did was grind out the holes for his eyes with a round rasp. I then filled in the slits that were below the painted eyes. They were put there for the wearer to see through. I used a pair of Braylu 1.5" eyes and ran a brass tube into each of them. then a rod through the tube. I made a flat shelf within the eye hole for the eye to sit in. I put slots above and below the eye for the rod to sit in and filled them with magic sculpt.

The Mask

I was contacted by Peter Hefty, a well known ventriloquist who has opened for such acts as Neil Young, Jay Leno, Sinbad and Jerry Lewis. He has many comedic awards under his belt and has been entertaining since the '70's.

He had a Tiki mask that he wanted me to animate for him. It had a mouth that was cut out in a wedge (not symmetrically unfortunately) and it kind of slid up and down. He wanted me to put it on a head post and give it self centering eyes. raising eyebrows and a moving mouth all controlled by the head stick. I will show you the various stages of animating it.

The first is a picture of the mask before I did any work. Here is a promotional photo of Peter and gang. The mask we are talking about is the one in his hand. It is hand carved solid wood with a wedged mouth cut out.