UV Lit Anglerfish Head-Mask

The theme for my projects this year has been the coral reef. In keeping with that theme I decided that for Halloween, I would create an anglerfish mask because they are suitably scary, but also quite bright and visual for a dark All Hallows Eve.

RANDOM ITEMS - An inflatable beach ball, wooden beads, wooden skewers, a clear plastic Christmas bauble, glitter fabric

GLUES - clear PVA glue, high tack glue, hot glue sticks

TAPE - double sided, carpet tape, duct tape, masking tape

MODELLING MATERIALS - Foam clay

PAINTS - Acrylic lacquer

PAPER & CARD - black tissue paper, recycled cardboard,

TECH - 12 V battery charging pack, mini flexible UV lamp, UV LED strip, inline 12 volt switch, port splitter

TOOLS - craft knives, scissors, glue gun, paintbrush, mini hairdryer plastic pipe cutter

First of all, I wrapped the beachball in cling wrap, and then I covered it in masking tape, as I had several rolls left over from a previous project. After that, I gave it a couple of coats of water activated, gummed, paper tape. I dried it on my dehumidifier and added a cardboard cone to the backend. I gave it a couple, more coats of paper tape and left it to dry overnight.

To create the tail I cut two matching triangles of cardboard. I taped a fan shape of seven skewers to one of the triangles of cardboard and secured them with sticky tape. I glued the second piece of card over the top of the skewers then I scooped away a little of the cardboard between each skewer with a blade. I taped up the edges to create a smoother finish and attached the tail to the back end of the fish with more masking tape. I then created two smaller versions of the tail and attached them to either side of the fish’s body with double sided tape, I also created a dorsal fin in the same way. I covered most of the fin areas with gummed paper tape to strengthen them and tidy them up. I also cut the mouth shape and the hole in the base to fit my head through.

I created two cardboard shelves for the fish’s teeth. I placed them inside the lips about at about an inch down, on the top and bottom. I stuck them in with double sided carpet tape and then reinforced them with duct tape. I will finish decorating the rest of the fish before I fit the teeth.

I decided I would like a textured skin because I wanted my anglerfish to look gnarly and fierce. Firstly, I sourced a bag of wooden beads which I chopped in half with a ratchet type, plastic pipe cutter. I then stuck the beads randomly to the fishes body using high tack glue. Once they had dried on, I laminated scrunched up black tissue paper over the top of them, using clear PVA, mixed with a little water.

l used foam clay to cover the wooden skewers at the tip of all the fins and tail and to reinforce the joints between the fins and the body. I have only recently discovered this amazing material and I intend to use it for a b’zillion other projects! It is incredibly easy to work with and super lightweight.

I let the clay foam dry overnight. In the morning I finished covering everything in crumpled black tissue paper. I dried it on top of my dehumidifier, and gave everything a couple of coats of acrylic lacquer to protect the work that I have done so far and to give it a glossy sheen.

I started the eye with half a translucent, yellow vending machine capsule. I surrounded this with a circle of glittery cloth that I applied with tacky glue. I surrounded the yellow capsule with a ring of black foam clay. I placed half a clear plastic Christmas bauble over the top and glued it on with hot glue. Then I surrounded that with a ring of black foam clay. I haven’t yet found a suitable light for the eyes, but if I do I will install it and post the upgrade.

The UV lighting strip was self adhesive, so I removed the backing and applied it around the shelf behind the fish’s lips. I cut the glue sticks to a point and softened the edges with a small hairdryer. I then cut them to length and glued them to the UV strip. Once all the teeth were in place, I added extra hot glue to keep them all secure. This isn’t a problem as hot glue is UV reactive so it just helps to make the light brighter.

I made a hole in the top of the fishes head to fit the lamp. I secured it on the inside with hot glue and foam clay, and on the outside I covered the lamp base and stem with foam clay also. It is flexible when it dries so this shouldn’t be a problem. I fitted the on/off switch to the base of the fish by cutting a hole and gluing it in place. I secured the interior wiring with duct tape and made a small small cardboard box to contain the battery charger box, which I also secured with hot glue and duct tape

I hope you enjoyed my project. Here are some more photographs of the completed head mask. Her name is Griselda.