post apocalyptic cospaly

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Permalink Reply by saint.357 on December 14, 2013 at 10:28pm

thanks if everything goes right it should look like the pic below. what do you think any notes? i want to work in a hammer and sickle but i just can't think wear. might have to save it for an elbow pad.

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Permalink Reply by saint.357 on December 14, 2013 at 9:57pm

and this is a mock up of what my mask should look like when it's done, made in Photoshop.

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Permalink Reply by saint.357 on December 15, 2013 at 7:21pm

okay so i got the skull pained on and touched up just the way i want, carved the scar over the eye. just need to let the paint dry some more and get a red sharpy so i can do the cross and the infinity symbol. i got the bottoms of the soda can's cut out for the eyes and i was seeing how they looked when i noticed this. so i need you help. do you think the mask would looks better with both eye ring like in the picture above or just one like this, i can't decide which one i like better.

if i do go with the one eye I'll have to find another why to darken the other eye. i want to use pant hose glued to the inside of the soda can rings. but won't be able to do it with out a ring.

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Permalink Reply by Komrad Gas Mask Killer☭ on December 15, 2013 at 7:50pm

You are going to be one hell of a sexy zombie slaying machine!

Keep up the cosplay and being creative.

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Permalink Reply by saint.357 on December 15, 2013 at 9:02pm

thanks GMK, so what do you think one eye ring or two?

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Permalink Reply by saint.357 on December 16, 2013 at 3:59pm

well here they are real pics of my gas mask.

the paint still hasn't dried so i can't add the detail work or darken the eyes just yet. but still pretty intimidating right? should make one hell of a raider with this. any way as a bonus check out this awesome knee pad i made out of an old tire.

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Permalink Reply by KOMRAD RHINO☭ on December 19, 2013 at 6:35pm

what exactly did you use to cut the tire with and what kind of tire did you use?

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Permalink Reply by saint.357 on December 19, 2013 at 6:54pm

well i cheated a little bit its actually little fake tire dog toy i cut up. thats why the tread is dog bones. but it gives the illusion of being a real tire.

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Permalink Reply by saint.357 on December 17, 2013 at 7:56pm

so one the problem i found when i wore my gas mask to a con awhile ago is it gets very hot inside one of these things. pare that with the fact that breathing is restricted and it's just a pain. i quickly gave up using the filter and even with out it and the cap for the drinking tube removed it was still only barely tolerable for maybe yen minuets at a time. so my plan for the costume this time around was to just use a piece of hove going to an empty bag with lots of slits cut in the hose for ventilation. then i stumbled across this while researching.

its a homemade powered respirator with a blower and filter. made from a computer fan and a car air filter. so not only this give me plenty of air but it's also useful as a real filter. not as good as the nbc one  that came with the mask but its very post apocalyptic and would work for dust and stuff. also i figure i could make this in to a personal air con by adding a bag of ice inside. I'm thinking of building it out of an old metal lunchbox. i think that will look cool and maybe a little fallout like. here's a tutorial on how to make this, or at least an overview.

A Word of Caution:

The system described below is for "nuisance" dust only, it will not protect you from anything truly dangerous. The automotive filter used is not "man rated."

The Project:

The solution was a powered respirator with a blower and filter I could wear, perhaps around my waist.  An additional difficulty was my glasses.  When I wore the Pro-Air respirator I found it very difficult to get a pair of goggles to go over my glasses and fit with the respirator on my face.  

So I went looking on eBay and found this "military style tear gas mask" for about $40.  It's very well made with a hard coated face, anti-fog membrane, and comfort mesh headpiece.  I'm told they sell new for over $200.  the seller listed the mask as used and it had the number "019" written on it but the canister seal was in place and there was no evidence it had been worn.

The face seal worked very well too, in fact I think I could have used the mask as is without modification if I did not wear glasses, the temples of my glasses would not fit past the seals.

I located an old pair of my prescription glasses and mounted them inside the mask with a peel-and-stick cable hold down and a clip I formed from piano wire.  The glasses are allowed to slide up and down on the piano wire so they rest comfortably on my nose.

 

The next step was to fabricate the blower case.  I cannibalized an old fanny pack with a broken zipper and cut a box form on the bandsaw from an old street sign that I pulled from the metal recycling dumpster at our town dump.  It was one of those "Slow Children" signs we used to laugh at when we were kids.

I folded the box on a sheet metal brake but goofed up on one side so had to pop-rivet on a piece of aluminum angle.

Then I made an outlet for the blower out of some pieces of scrap brass, this is a 1" sink drain pipe.  Initially, I planned to attach a couple of respirator cartridges so I could use this rig while painting as well as for wood working but the cartridges proved too restrictive and the blower blades stalled to the point where they moved no air through the mask.

The blower is a 12 volt 13 watt squirrel cage blower from a DPT SCSI hard disk array.

I thought about options for a while and hit upon an automotive air filter as a high-efficiency high-flow filter solution.  I measured my box and went off to the auto parts store.  They saw me coming and hid.  This often happens as the first thing they'll ask me is what kind of car I need a part for and I'm almost never buying something to use for it's intended purpose.  This time I got lucky and only had to open 5 boxes before I found one that matched the dimensions of my blower box.

I made a wooden frame to hold the filter as it was too deep to fit in the box and the used GE Silicone II sealant to seal the frame, box and outlet pipe.

Next I needed to connect the mask to the blower.  I found that a 3/4" 45 degree copper street elbow was just the thing.  I needed something to hold it to the mask so I cut apart the tear gas canister and removed the threaded ring. 

Below right is a picture of what you find in a tear gas canister;  a particle filter, some retaining screens, and a charge of activated charcoal.

Here's my mask fitting with an "O" ring to seal to the mask and a brass bushing to fit to the hose.  The hose I used is 1" bilge hose I got at True Value hardware for $1.79 a foot.  Home Depot also sells an accessory vacuum cleaner hose that would have been more flexible but also much more expensive.

A live demonstration:

 

Here's the completed gas mask powered respirator for wood working:

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Permalink Reply by saint.357 on December 18, 2013 at 1:57am

this is the lunchbox I'm going to get to make the filter housing out of. or maybe this great full dead one, i can't decide.

I'm going with the lunchbox for the housing cause its strong, scavenged looking and because it has a lid i can easily open it up and put ice bags in it. so it can function not only as a fan and filter but air conditioning too. i just have to cut out the front of the lid to mount the car air filter. theirs a perfect crease for this already there so should be easy. and maybe i can use the front artwork in another part of my costume. add a seat belt to hang it from my waste and it should look pretty cool.

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Permalink Reply by saint.357 on December 18, 2013 at 8:43pm

things i want to add to my cosplay:

boot covers;

Cool sayings & emblems;

gas mask paladin;

okay maybe not this cosplay. but it's a cool look i really want to use one day. maybe on a jacket.

patchwork clothes;

nothing says apocalypse more then wearing rags made out of other rags.

bad ass weapons;

this double sided saw blade staff is killing it, so gotta make it real.

shotgun holder vambrace;

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Permalink Reply by Jessie W. Garrett III on December 19, 2013 at 10:40am

Here you go, the best way to do it using PVC and velcro...

http://www.wickedzombies.com/forum/topics/pvc-shotgun-side-saddle

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