Making a Microphone Prop

I've been working on making seven headsets as props for the upcoming film After The Fall by Randolph Scott. After futzing around with different approaches to fabricating a microphone, none of which were working, I stepped back and took a different approach.

I looked for a simple turning of the right size, in this case a rook chess piece, and paired it with a brass concho.

With a little plasticene I stuck them together, molded them in silicone rubber and cast it in urethane resin. After laser engraving some texture onto the top, voilà, I had my finished mic, shown on the right.

After The Fall: Seven Gas Masks Complete

The seven gas masks and respirators that I've been making for the indy film After The Fall are now all finished, as pictured below.

I changed the canisters on Packrat's mask to reflect his workplace, the sewer. Each canister consists of a bronze filter within a protective cage.

How To Age a Pressure Gauge

Below is a close up of the pressure gauge which resides on the end of the hose on Packrat's mask, from the upcoming movie After The Fall. Below I have listed the three steps I used to transform a brand new shiny gauge to the grungy one shown.

1. Sand the nickel coating off of the edges of the copper ring that surrounds the glass.
2. Cover the entire gauge liberally with a brown wood stain, wiping off most of it.
3. Spritz a little yellow brown aniline dye onto the glass cover.

What Is This? The Answer.

Can you identify the yellow and brown material I'm using in this respirator?
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The Answer:

Thanks to everyone who participated. It was kind of a trick question. The name of my blog is Leather and Resin Projects, so of course, this material is one of those. It is in fact leather.

This is one of the masks that I'm making for the film After The Fall, and this section is supposed to be a herringbone twill fabric. I decided the simplest way to accomplish that was to paint the leather parts yellow, and laser engrave the twill pattern (which turns the leather brown). I was pleased with how much it does look like fabric—thus my post and question—to see how easy it was to identify.

After The Fall: Eye Trim

Here is a close up view of the eyepiece trim being stitched on. As you can see after the holes are all punched the trim piece of leather is folded over the raw edge of the eye opening. This gives it a nice finished look.

After The Fall: Packrat's Mask Begun

The mask worn by the character Packrat in the movie After The Fall is based on my Pachydermos gas mask.

Above are the three major pattern pieces: The surround, the face and the trunk.

Here are all of the leather parts, after I've stitched together the three parts shown above. The other pieces are straps, trim and buckle attachments.

Here is a side view of what I have at this point. The trunk piece is unusual in that it is folded back upon itself several times, to simulate the trunk of an elephant.

Here is an inside peek, showing the folded leather and all the hand stitching. Once I have antiqued the parts brown it will look a whole lot better.

Upcoming Steampunk Indy Film

I just landed my first film gig. I've been commissioned to make five custom leather and resin gas masks for an indy film company Cyber-Scan Films. Due to be filmed next year, After The Fall is a post apocalyptic cyber-punk sci-fi action thriller, written and directed by Randolph Scott. Needless to say I'm very much looking forward to working on this and putting my leather steampunk craziness to good use!