Hi everyone! So this video will be quite similar to the RGB LED robot unicorn helmet that I made
recently (that is quite a mouthful to say). I had some extra NeoPixels from that project
that I wanted to rework into another accessory. I was at a local convention earlier in the year
and was absolutely inspired when I saw this mask base by Nicola Cordell. I'll link their website
in the description down below, but they were selling these masks that were made specifically
to customize so I had to buy one! Recently I rhinestoned my Razer Kraken Kitty headphones,
so my idea was to customize this mask to work with the style of these headphones. So it'd
match in both the colors, the rhinestones, and of course the RGB LEDs. So sit back and relax as I go
through how I fit it in the LEDs and customized it to work with this! First things first, I had
to fashion some way to actually wear the mask, so I initially laser cut some attachment pieces
and engraved some little details on top, just as a bonus which I ended up painting and rhinestoning.
It's just a small little detail on top but I love doing these little things where possible.
Afterwards I threaded some elastic through the attachment pieces and sewed them down.
Then some screws were added to the inside of the mask in order to hook the attachments on and off
so it can be removed whenever I want. I didn't actually have pink elastic so this was dyed
with fabric paint. At the same time I laser cut these little discs out of acrylic that were just
a little bit smaller than the discs on the mask itself. And that is because I'm going to fit some
LEDs behind them to shine through. In order to diffuse the light a bit more through the acrylic,
I took apart an old light-up toy which had this special film inside it and glued it directly to
the acrylic with some Mod Podge. After cutting some holes in the mask where the disks would be,
I glued them on with some epoxy glue. I had to be careful with this because the actual epoxy melts
the light diffusing film as I found out. But at least those little details can be
fixed later or at least hidden with the rhinestones. I also decided to add some
more light by drilling holes in the front teeth where some LEDs will be fitted behind them,
so here I'm just marking where they're going to be drilled. Now with the mask all prepped, it's time
to get the electronics working! I'll have more information about the materials, the process,
and some diagrams on my website which is in the description down below. This time I'm using four
NeoPixels themselves. Two of them are the standard single LEDs which were used on the helmet,
and then I've also got these really beautiful NeoPixel Jewels which actually have seven LEDs
on a single board. And the reason for that is I'm going to mount the jewels on the side of
the mask so they shine through the acrylic. The circuit took a little bit to think about because
we're using two different types of NeoPixels, but we managed to get it working by running
two different lines from the controller - from the five volts. So one went to
the first Jewel, and then another one went to the first just single NeoPixel.
After that it was just simply wiring and matching them as per normal. And I also added a resistor
this time, which is definitely an improvement from the last project! The controller itself needed to
be placed at an angle so that the cable for the power could sit over my ear and go down my back,
and that means the controller needed to be placed almost directly over the first Jewel. This took a
little bit of work to put together, but with some extra hands from my brother we got it sorted. Here
you can see the circuit all made and working, I used the same Pride 2015 code for this project
as before because I love it. Now it's time to use some electrical tape to wrap the soldered
ends of the wires together for support, and then it can be directly applied to the mask itself.
I used hot glue for this, nothing fancy, and it can be removed afterwards if needed.
I did my best to place them away from where my breath would be through the mask. I do
wear a fabric mask underneath it but it's always good practice to keep that in mind.
With the LEDs all fitted in, I used some electrical tape to tape over
everything as a form of protective barrier and to keep them in place.
And after that is done, it's finally time to paint! While doing my best to match the
colors to my Razer headphones, I started with a mid-grey color for the nose, teeth,
and smaller details. Then went back in with a soft pink color for the rest of the mask.
After that I used my glitter paste technique to build up some glitter around the nose,
mouth and teeth, as this will be too complex of an
area to rhinestone but I still it to have some sparkly effect to it.
Now here comes the part which is both the most painstaking but also very fulfilling,
which is the rhinestoning! I know using tweezers takes forever but it also means I am very precise
with placement, especially around the smaller areas. It's very easy for you to watch this
all sped up, but I think it was about a solid week of spending every evening rhinestoning.
I just have to keep reminding myself that it will be worth it in the end. First up I go through all
the main areas with the pink rhinestones, then go on afterwards with silver for the finer details.
And that's pretty much the mask all finished! There really wasn't a whole lot involved with
this project, in part to the original beautiful mask base that I was simply building on top of.
But I'm really enjoying making these different projects, figuring out how these LEDs work and
how they can be used in fashion. The rhinestones are absolutely incredible at night, look at all
those sparkles! And the LEDs bounce off them very well. Ah so with all that being done,
I hope you all enjoyed this video, thank you all so much for watching,
I hope you all have a wonderful day and I will see you later bye.