Isolation Day 41: Making a Starman Helmet – Part 1

I’ve Got Glue in Places Glue Shouldn’t Be

We decided to make some paper mâché masks today to help keep Abi’s little brother, Ben, occupied for a few hours. I thought I’d share this as we go along, though today’s post is mainly going to be about making the base, as it’s going to take quite a while to dry.

The first step was blowing up a balloon and sketching a rough design on it. I was originally going to try and add a few layers at different depths to create structure, but I realized it would take even longer to dry. So, I’ll hopefully be adding those details when I paint it later.

Next up, it was time to get messy by making the wallpaper paste and ripping up the newspaper. Then came the fun bit: adding all the ripped-up newspaper in opposing layers.

Overall, I don’t think it’s turned out too bad so far. I’m a little worried that the paper mâché won’t be strong enough when I pop the balloon, but only time will tell.

I only ran into two problems while making the mask:

• The balloon would move around due to the weight on one side.
• Whenever the balloon moved in the bowl, it would scrunch up the wet newspaper.

Hopefully, it won’t matter too much, as I’ll be trimming the edges later.

Once it’s all dry, I’ll be adding a few coats of white paint as a base and a bit of grey paint for the shadows. Finally, I’ll be adding all the silver highlights and the plastic visor. For the visor itself, I’m going to be looking for a one-way coating for the acetate so it looks black from the outside, but I can actually wear it and see where I’m going.

What do you think of my mask so far? What arts and crafts projects have you been up to, and what should I try next? Let me know in the comments below.