Halloween Psycho Mask

Inspired by the Borderlands Psycho, this mask turned out to be a way bigger project than I anticipated. It started out as a 3D printing project. I wanted to be able to modify STL files to print a cool Halloween mask. When I looked into printing a high definition skull mask based on Black Mask from the DC universe, the skull STL I was using from Thingiverse had too many polygons. The printers at UT wouldn't be able to print it in a decent quality. That's when I made the decision to pivot to a gas mask STL I found online.

At first, I tried doing one giant vase print. The thin ares had way too little filament and the print looked awful. I attempted to do the print again as a solid block cut into 4 parts. The longest print took 12 hours, 2 of which happened after closing! I printed it outside facing down meaning the supports were on the face of the mask. I removed the supports and sanded the surface down. Next, I used superglue to combine the 4 parts together. I finally had the shape completely done.

Painting was much easier. I put layers of masking tape over the face to give it a peeling, post-apocalyptic feel. I then spray painted the entire mask white. I didn't need to modify the vent because I printed it in black. A cut up belt and strips of spandex were applied to the back of the mask to form straps.

The lighting came in 2 phases. The first step used Electro-luminescent (EL) Wire. I glued a blue strip and red strip to the face of the mask in the pattern of the Borderlands Psycho Mask. The EL Wire had its own power supply. The eye lights were slightly harder. I put little pieces of thick tape below the LEDs so I wouldn't blind myself. These LEDs were soldered to resistors so they wouldn't blow when integrated with a power supply. I made the wires long enough to fit the power supply in my pocket. Voila, it was complete!

I showed it off at a couple of parties and people loved it. I even took it to Hack TX that year. The eyes were extremely bright so they sent someone over to tell me to turn it off.