Fittings and Progress!

Last week were the first fittings with the Lets All Dance ballet performers in Greenwich for the Nutcracker masks!

On arrival, after checking the fit of the masks performers ran through part of the ballet in them to check the stability and comfort during performance. Thankfully the nutcracker, aside from the nose needing widening and needing to be brought up around the shoulder area for comfort, was quite stable during performance and now just needs finishing.

The Mouse King mask was very stable when in the right position on the head, but the straps were an issue and need replacing with flesh coloured elastic.

The biggest task post fitting was to finish the helmet of the Nutcracker mask. For this I am using the varaform gauze, which is harder to use then the mesh but gives the flat smooth surface that the helmet requires. I have found that the gauze can be fused and manipulated by using a hair drier, which actually makes it much easier to manoeuvre then submerging it. Here is the mask with the alterations done and the helmet on! The next thing to do is to put the top on the helmet, decorate and add the 'teeth' and beard. The decoration will include adding the gold pattern to the front of the helmet, and the gold 'chain' made from gold braid.

The Mouse King, other then the straps being changed for elastic the rest is purely cosmetic. Through researching online it seems the best thing to paint varaform with is acrylic mixed with glue, very much the same as painting plastazote. I now have less then a week left until the final fitting when, hopefully, the masks will be finished and no more alterations will be needed and they can be given over to the company at the end of the fitting.