Am trying to make oversized pirate head for halloween costume...any ideas on how to do this??

have a piece of foam about 18"wide and 24"long that I have carved out to look like a pirates face. very crude looking...not sure what to cover it with and how to attach hair to it? was planning on making the pirate hat (that is where my son's head will be) the face will be more or less on his chest area..not sure how to make the rest...ideas! ideas!

Am trying to make oversized pirate head for halloween costume...any ideas on how to do this??

Papier Mache would make the face stiff and hard.

Corpsing techniques would make it look like rotting flesh.

There are other, simpler techniques. If you want to "skin" the foam, try painting it with a thin coat of latex paint. If the texture of the foam is fine with you, then spray paint is a solution: regular spray paint will stiffen the foam, water-based spray paint should allow it to stay flexible. I might even suggest using an airbrush to paint on additional details, such as accenting wrinkles, shadowy eye sockets, or freckles and discoloration.

Hair can be made from a half-cylinder of shaggy faux fur. Use contact cement to glue the vertical edges of the faux fur half-cylinder to the edges of your face in order to complete the cylinder and hide your boy's shoulders, arms, and back. Instead of fur you could glue a half-cylinder of foam and then cover it with many, many, wigs (but that's going to be more expensive and hotter than faux fur).

Or perhaps a stylized wig, using smooth-sided pool noodles, each glued to the next one and finally to the face's edge. Glued vertically they'd be overly large strands of hair, with perhaps a few longer "strands" bound together as a ponytail. Glued horizontally, they'd appear rather like a British judge's powdered wig. Paint them white like a powdered wig perhaps, or brown or black.

I made a cowboy hat for a mascot character once using foam with a wire glued into the brim for stability (contact cement again). Depending on the style of your pirate hat, you may not have to use a stabilizer.

I would only recommend that when using contact cement you apply it outdoors and allow to air dry outside for several days if not longer. It has a very strong smell to which some people are sensitive.

Am trying to make oversized pirate head for halloween costume...any ideas on how to do this??

Go look up paper mache` - did it long time ago in school it came out purty darn good. Have fun

Am trying to make oversized pirate head for halloween costume...any ideas on how to do this??

Paper mache will not give you a good finished look. What you need is a technique haunters refer to as "corpsing."

It's basically the same as paper mache, except instead of newspaper, you use white paper towels, and instead of some kind of weak paste, you use latex outdoor carpet adhesive. You can get it at the hardware store for about $12.00 a gallon. It dries smooth with a rubber latex finish that is waterproof and can be painted with paint, stain, varnish etc.

Go to www.spookyblue.com and check out his section on groundbreaker corpses.