Mangoloo Cosplays

Kodama Mask Tutorial

Added 2018-10-07 04:49:33 +0000 UTC

Looking to make a quick costume for Halloween? Why not a spooky tree spirit from Princess Mononoke .... the KODAMA! I'll walk you through an easy tutorial on how to make your own mask to start your cosplay <3

Materials Used:

8mm Foam
Foam Clay
x2 white fairy lights
Moss roll
Some kind of wood veneer (I tore a wood veneer of a metal trashcan that JoAnn's sells HERE)
Modge Podge
Black acrylic paint
***If the wood veneer you have isn't white....... then you would need white paint. If you have an airbrush then I HIGHLY recommend airbrushing it on. If not then an acrylic paint would work too... just careful about layers.
Hot glue gun + sticks
Electrical tape
Aluminum foil
Hair comb

*before cutting your mask out... figure out what style head you like. The really cool thing about Kodama is that they are so unique. Each other has a different head shape which really helps distinguish them! The head style I choose is more similar to the Kodama thats on the bottom left of the page (the one facing the viewer directly). Feel free to use any head you like!

STEP 1:

So you figured out what you want the head to look like and drew it on paper. Now trace it on foam and cut it out! *don't forget to cut the holes for the mouth and eyes*

While you are at it.... Trace the pattern out on the wood veneer (if you bought the trashcan I had.. make sure you carefully peel the veneer off first).

BEFORE YOU CUT... Foam pattern will be to exact measurements. The wood veneer you want to cut slightly larger than the pattern... see photo.

STEP 2:

*Note that my Kodama mask is made to be more so a prop/piece that goes on the side of my head. I cannot actually see out of it! If you are looking to make a mask that you want to actually see out of... instead of using foam clay.. consider backing the foam with a sheer black fabric.

If you want to make it similar to mine...

Get your foam clay out! You are essentially going to mold little bowl shapes and blend them into the foam mask. That way you make kinda like an eye socket and a open mouth..

Is the foam clay drying too quick?

Rehydrate it with a little bit of water!

While you wait for the foam clay to dry......... STEP 3:

Prepare the wooden mask. If your mask is like mine... it came as a grayish brown instead of white. Kodama have white masks. Personally I wanted to try to replicate a birch bark. So time to paint!

I highly recommend AIRBRUSHING a few coats of white on. If you don't have an airbrush.. you can paint it with acrylic just be VERY careful of how many layers. The idea is to start with light layers. With mine I didn't want it to look caked with paint and I wanted some of the original darker colors to show through... therefore I lightly airbrushed a few coats onto the wood then called it good.

STEP 4:

Hot glue moss to your mask! Get creative with it!

*also totally doesn't have to be real mask... they do sell fake ones like the one I linked in materials.*

STEP 5:

Back to the foam mask.. You will notice that foam clay kinda gets gray when it dries. So as extra as this sounds... we are going to paint the black foam clay.... black. Use acrylic paint to paint the foam. Wait for it to dry then seal it with modge podge.

STEP 6:

WAIT FOR IT TO DRY! I know you are excited to be a Kodama.. but omg fam... go get a cookie and a cup of tea or something...

*nah I totally feel you... I hate waiting for things to dry too...

STEP 7:

Now for electronics. I used 2 fairy lights to make the mask lit.

ON THE FRONT OF THE FOAM MASK.... With your first fairy light you are going to wrap it around each eye individually then the mouth. So split up the LEDs as evenly as you can.

When wrapping the wire... be careful that when you have the wood mask on the foam... that you don't actually see the wire. Careful/hidden wrapped fairy lights.

Use electrical tape to help keep it together!

Once you have the first fairy lights wrapped... take your other one and do a bit more LEDs around the eyes and mouth one more time but leave enough so that you can wrap the LEDs around the edge of the mask. Use electrical tape to tape the wire to the edge and keep it in place on the foam.

STEP 8:

Now what to do with the wires? Bring it around to the back of the foam mask.

I cut a little slit off the foam to make room for the wire then I taped it in place. See photo.

STEP 9:

Attach the coin cell battery packs to the back of the foam mask. I wanted mine to be easy to remove so I can change the batteries when at the convention. I simply taped the battery packs to the back of the foam mask with electrical tape.

While you are at it... hot glue in the toothed hair comb to the back of the mask. Make sure the teeth are facing downward so it holds to your hair or wig.

STEP 10:

Hot glue aluminum foil around the edge of the interior of the wooden mask. Don't forget to go around the eyes and the mask. It's kinda like a lining around where the LEDs will be.

Why do this? - the foil will reflect the light so that your mask looks brighter than it really is!

STEP 11:

It is time. Pick at least 3 spots on the mask to hot glue the wood to the foam.

The reason why I don't glue the entire thing is because I want the LEDs to shine through the mask. I wan the light to leak out. So I only choose a few spots to glue the foam to wood..

AND DONE!

NOW GO TRY ON YOUR AWESOME KODAMA MASK!

I also love seeing people's work! Please share photos with me <3 I would love to see what you come up with. Also I do plan on doing a big Princess Mononoke group Saturday of Katsucon 2019. Everyone is welcome to join.