How To Make A Plague Doctor

Mask....from foam.
You will need:
• Pattern: at the end of this PDF. When you print it, measure against the print guides to know the
scale is correct. ** When printing, make sure scale is set to ACTUAL SIZE**
• Ballpoint Pen
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Cutting Surface: Somewhere to cut where you won’t be destroying anything.
• 2 mm EVA craft foam
• Very Sharp Knife: If it is not really sharp you will have a terrible time when you are cutting the
foam. I use a surgical scalpel.
• Hot Glue Gun: I use the low melt glue guns, and the smaller the tip, the less likely that you will get
too much glue and have it squeeze out all over the place.
• Superglue: Used for glueing the rivets on.
• Paint: The best is artists acrylic paint, but I have also used ordinary house paint as well. I used
Liquitex Basics “mars Black” , and Grumbacher Academy “Burnt Umber”
• Rubber Gloves: Used for applying the metallic paste.
• Glueing Surface: A surface that the hot glue won’t stick to- I absolutely love using a silicone baking
sheet. You can use wax paper, but the glue will still stick a bit to it and be very frustrating.

• Leather Punch (optional): I used 12mm, 6mm and 2mm punches

• Metallic Wax Paste: In the past I have used Rub N’ Buff, but in this project I used DecoArt
Metallic Lustre “Silver Spark” and “Champagne Ice” (affiliate link), and I actually prefer the
DecoArt, but either will work fine.
• Line Trimmer Wire : The plastic line used in the machines you use to cut off your weeds
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• Thick Needle: Used for making the holes to accept the line trimmer line

• Old Sunglasses: Make sure the lenses are large enough to fit pattern piece #21 on.

• Jewellers Saw (optional): This works great for cutting the lenses you can find one here

If you are looking for a place to source Rub N’ Buff metallic wax paste, the best deal I found was here
http://www.allartsupplies.com, I bought about 5 tubes from them and was happy with their service.
The DecoArt Metallic Lustre I bought at Michaels, however, I have since gone back to buy more and they
appear to not stock it anymore.
If you haven’t already, please refer to my video here

** I have links to a lot of the different supplies I use on my projects here**

Step 1: Print the Pattern

Measure your face with a flexible sewing tape, or some string. Measure from your hairline, in front of your
ears and around under your chin and then back up to your hairline. Choose the pattern size you will use- the
sizes are approximate, as there is significant leeway on either side of the sizes. Size small- around 53cm ,
Medium- around 62cm, and Large- around 69cm. You will need to print the pattern pages of this PDF
which correspond to the size you are making. **Make sure the scale is set to actual size in the
settings when you print**. After printing, measure the print guides with a ruler to verify that they are the
correct size. Cut out the pattern just barely leaving the black line visible. The first page of the pattern is parts
used for all 3 sizes. Pages 2-5 are size Medium, pages 6-8 are size Small, and pages 9-14 are size Large.

Step 2: Trace And Cut Your Pattern On the Foam

Place the paper pattern pieces and trace them as many times as indicated onto the foam. Some pieces you
will need to trace more than once, as indicated on the pattern piece. For pieces #1, #2, #3, and #14, flip
them over before tracing the second one. Label the flipped over pieces with the letter “A” so that you
remember which are which. Remember to mark the alignment points on the patterns as you go, as this will
help you position the pieces correctly later. Mark the creases on Pieces #5 and #6. Mark the rivets (small
round dots) by pushing a pen through the paper to make a mark on the foam, and then you can take the
paper away and make the mark directly on the foam. Cut the pieces out with a sharp knife, cutting directly
on the line you traced. I really recommend a scalpel blade for cutting all the swirly bits, it has a nice thin
edge which makes it a little easier to go around the curves.

Step 3: Assemble main mask body

For glueing thin foam sheets edge to edge, I always use a silicone baking sheet so the glue doesn’t stick to it.
When glueing, apply the glue directly to the edge in 2-4cm sections, holding the glued edge together while
pressing it down on the baking sheet. This minimizes blobs of glue on the outside of your seam, and supports
the foam for so that it lines up properly. When your seams are complete, you can come back and use the side
of your glue gun’s tip to remelt the glue on the surface and smooth it out.
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Glue Piece #1 and #1a together down the centre line, starting at the tip and lining up points K, J and I

Glue piece #2 and #2a together down the centre line, starting at the end with point H and working your way
back through points G and F

Glue the “V” cutouts along the edge of the mask together.

Attach the Piece #1’s to the piece #2’s starting in the centre so that the centre line matches up, and then
working your way out to each side, lining up point D.

Glue piece #3 and #3a together down the centre line, starting at the tip and working your way back,
matching up points L, M, and N.

Glue the corner of piece #3 into the corner where pieces#1 and #2 meet, lining up points C and E. Only
glue to the end of the side with E marked on it, and then repeat this process, glueing Piece #3a to pieces #1a
and #2a.

To glue the “mouth” closed, make a fairly sharp bend in piece #3 and glue the edge of piece #3 to the side
of piece #1, lining it up at a nice 90 degree angle. As you get close to the tip, you don’t need to keep it at that
90 degree angle, and by the time you get right to the tip, the two pieces are pretty much lying flat on top of
each other. If there are any gaps you don’t like in this transition, use some glue to fill in the space.

Step 4: Eye Cups

Glue the ends of piece #13 together. Make sure that you have marked the centre line before you glue it.
Glue the front ring to the cylinder, glueing it to the side that has the arrows pointing to it in the pattern. You
can line up one of the rivet marks with the centre line mark on the cylinder and tack it into place, then align
the opposite rivet mark with the glue seam to get the ring evenly spaced. once it is tacked on, glue the rest of
the ring down.

Attach the eyecups to the mask, lining up the centre and glue lines with the lines on the mask pattern. The
wider part of the eyecup goes to the outside.

Step 5: The Band

First off, make sure the band will be the right size for your head. If you hold the band in place on the side of
the mask and then wrap it around the back of your head until it is about halfway between the back centre of
your head and your ear. Or, in other words, not quite long enough to reach all the way behind your head to
the other side- more like three quarters of the way. Anyways, once you have this measurement, cut one of
your bands to that length I used a band that was 30cm long and that worked great for me. This will be the
band we attach the clasp to.
In order to make the clasp for the band, you need a piece of plastic that’s not too thin, not too thick and not
too stiff. I have found that plastic jar lids seem to work quite well for me.
Trace piece #20 onto the plastic lid, and cut it out with some strong scissors. You will cut two slits so that you
can bend the little piece in the centre up to right angles. This is where you find out if your plastic is too
brittle, so take it slowly and try not to break off that centre tab.

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Place the plastic piece on piece #19 with the tab facing up on the wider section. It should be positioned so
that when you wrap the longer thinner band around itself, the tab sits just behind that band.
Trace the position of the plastic piece and then glue it in place on piece #19.

Take the flat end of the long band you cut earlier (piece#17) and line the flat end of it up with the end of
piece #19. Press piece #17 against the plastic tab to make a mark, and cut a slit there for the tab to come
through.

Glue piece #17 on top of piece #19, sandwiching the plastic piece between them.
Wrap the leftover flap on piece #19 around both bands and around to the back. Glue it into place, making
sure you leave enough of a gap so that you can slide the band for the other side of the mask through the slot.

You may need to trim the plastic tab a little bit so that it is easy enough to slide the other side of the band
through, just don’t cut it too short or the band won’t stay in place.

Now you can glue the other band to the mask and trim it to whatever length you think is appropriate. You
might want to leave some extra length if you think someone with a larger head than you might want to try on
the mask.

Try it on, and mark where the band fits you, then make a series of slots in the band on either side of that
mark. I spaced my slots about 13mm apart.

This is where you could stop if you don’t want a steampunk feel to your plague
doctor mask. If you do, keep going:)

Step 6: Nose Scales

Glue pieces #7 and #8 together, glueing the edge of piece #8 to the flat side of piece#7, making a right
angle. It is the same thing as when we glued Piece #3 to the rest of the nose. You won’t be able to glue right
to the tip of the nose, so stop about a cm before it.
Glue the other side of #7 to the other side of #8, and when you get to the tip, fill in any gaps with extra glue
from your glue gun.

Crease the fold lines on pieces #5 and #6. Use a smooth piece of metal about 1-2mm thick. I use the back of
my scalpel handle(remove the blade) A spoon handle can work well also. Rub you piece of metal along the
crease line, back and forth using firm pressure until the foam has become thin and flexible along that line.
Fold Pieces #5 and #6 along those crease lines and glue the ends together, in doing so, you will create a curve
on the top of the piece.

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Step 7: Side Funnels
Take your two piece #10 and roll them up a bit to give them a half funnel sort of shape.

Glue the edges of piece #10 onto piece #9 one at a time. this can require a bit of patience because it is small
and fiddly.

Step 8: Cover The Seams

I always like to cover as many glue seams as I can in my patterns and this one is no different.
Glue piece #14 and #14a together at the mark X on the pattern.

Glue the combined piece#14 onto the mask, starting at the centre and covering the main glue seams where
pieces #1, #2, and #3 meet.

You can also glue piece #15 along the centre line of pieces #2 and #2a, starting at piece #14. Once glued,
cut off any extra sticking out past the edge.
Glue the two piece #16 on the seams that run from the eye cups to the outside edge of the mask.

Step 9: Bits and Pieces

Put a generous amount of glue inside piece #5, try to keep it away from the back edge as there will be a gap
there when it is assembled and we don’t want to see big globs of glue. Slide it onto the nose of the mask.

Repeat with piece #6, and then piece #7and#8 combined.

Glue piece #12 on to the nose, just behind piece #5.

Glue the funnel shaped pieces in the space between piece #12 and piece #14
Punch or cut out 8 12mm discs, and make two stacks of disks alternating between the 12mm discs and the
discs which are pattern piece #22. Glue these two stacks on both sides of the nose, above the funnel piece.

Glue 3 12mm disks on each side of the band where it attaches to the mask.
Glue one 12mm disc about 7mm under the front tip of the funnel piece

Step 10: Rivets

Punch a bunch of small circles from the foam using a leather punch.

Apply super glue to the dots which mark the rivet locations. Do about 5 or 6 at a time. Then pick up the
rivets and place one on each dot of glue. I used the back of a paintbrush and just slightly wetted the end so
that the foam pieces would stick to the handle but would still let go once placed on the glue.

If you don’t have a punch or want to do it a different way, you can always use two part epoxy as I do in most
of my other videos. I just thought I would show a slightly different technique that gives more consistent rivets.

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Step 11: Wires
Use a large pin to poke a hole in the top of the disc stack, and the top of the funnel piece. Cut a piece of line
trimmer wire- I used one 60mm long, though depending on your exact placement, the length could be
different.

Light a candle.

Hold the line with a pair of pliers at the point you want it to bend, and bring it about 1cm above the candle.
Very quickly the wire will become bendable. Gripping far away from the hot part, hold the wire with the
bend in place until it cools. Create two bends on the first wire, both bending in the same direction. Glue this
wire with superglue between the disc stack and the centre of the funnel.

Another hole gets poked near the bottom, widest corner of the funnel piece, to the disc that is glued just
under the point of the funnel. The wire for this section I used was 45mm long, but again yours might be
different. This time bend the ends of the wire at 90 degrees to each other so that it will easily fit into the
holes.
**Always be careful with a live flame, not to burn yourself or accidently melt your foam**

Step 12: Paint it.

I find that the metallic pastes work best if they have a really good layer of paint underneath, so I like to give
my mask 3 coats of acrylic paint before the metallic paste. I used a brown for most of the mask, but
everywhere I wanted it to be silver, I painted it black.

Step 13: Metallic Wax Paste it.

Put on a rubber glove.

Take a little of the metallic paste and spread it on a sheet of cardboard with your finger, trying to get just a
very thin layer on your finger, then apply the paste to the painted surface of the mask in a circular rubbing
motion. It can take some practice to get the look you want, but if it isn’t looking great, you can always paint
black over top of the metallic paste and start again.

If you are finding an area inaccessible with your finger, you can use a paintbrush with stiff bristles and lightly
dab it in the paste, and then onto the spot you need on your mask.
I used DecoArt “Silver Spark” for the front nose pieces, the disc stack, and the riveted strips. I used Deco Art
Metallic Lustre “Champagne Ice” on the swirly cut out bit on the nose, the funnels, the eyecups, the strap
closure, and the rivets on the strap

Step 14: Lenses

Take apart your sunglass lenses. Trace piece#21 onto the lens and cut it out.

It is a bit tricky finding something that will work properly for cutting the lens to the right size. I have found
the best thing for me is a jeweler’s saw. It has very fine blades which are easy to break, so make sure you get a
few dozen. The blade needs to be really tight in the saw frame, so first you clamp it on one side, then with the
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saw frame between your body and a table, push the saw frame towards the table, which compresses it a bit.
While it is compressed, tighten the other side of the blade. When you release the tension the blade should be
tight and make a high pinging sound if you pluck it. You then hold it vertically with the handle on the
bottom, and (if you have the blade inserted in the right direction) it should cut on the downstroke.

You could also probably use a coping saw with a metal cutting blade, but I don’t think scissors will cut it.
If all that is going to be too hard for you, another option would be to find some thin clear or tinted plastic
such as you might find on a binder cover or similar item.
Anyways, once you have it cut, you can glue the lenses into the eyecups from the back with your hot glue.

All Done.
Sweet Plague Doctor goodness. Now go play.

I would like to sincerely thank you for purchasing this pattern, I would love to see what you
create with it. If you would like to email me photos, please send them to:
lostwaxoz@gmail.com

Also I am always looking to improve your experience, so if you have any problems or
suggestions, I would love to hear them as well!

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 Plague Doctor Mask Pg 1 of 14
All Sizes

Cut 2. Approx 30cm long, depending on your head size

17

Cut
Cut
22
cut 8
Bend

20

Glue this section

Cut from thin plastic
12mm discs
Cut with punch or scissors

19
This part wraps around
1 Inch

Line up end of #17 here

5 cm
1 Inch

1 cm Print Guide
 12
Size M Cut 1
11
Cut M
2 Size
Cut 2
Cut 2 Size M

Size M 9 10
21 Size
M

Cut 2 from old Size M

sunglasses

Size M
7
Plague Doctor Mask Pg 2 of 14 8 Cut 1

Size M Cut 1
 Plague Doctor Mask Pg 3 of 14
Size M

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 Plague Doctor Mask Pg 13 of 14
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