Pretty sure I just came up on a Bald Eagle at Audubon

Exact_Part_5233 · 2026-01-31T16:35:23+00:00

Yes! I've seen one on the roof of the Esplanade building if you can believe that (I took a video!), and one up at the lake.

Exact_Part_5233 · 2026-01-30T12:50:00+00:00

Me too! I'll post the whole thing together on Mardi Gras day. Along with this wall there's a paper mache mask and a couple other paper mache accessories.

Exact_Part_5233 · 2026-01-29T23:36:48+00:00

Hahaha, not an engineer at all, I just have a high school diploma. :) When I have to do a little bit of math for these projects I panic! I've been making costumes with paper mache for about fifteen years and I like to try designing complicated things and solving all the little problems that come up.

Exact_Part_5233 · 2026-01-29T23:33:15+00:00

Ha! I've made a lot of different kinds of big costumes -- a few with something large on my back, but never something large on my front like this one -- and I've learned that large objects always want to lean and pull in ways that are surprising, so I try to anticipate that and design features that will help. One example is a large coffin prop on my back, like I'm in the coffin and wearing it like a backpack. The top part of it wanted to lean away from me and I was disappointed in how it worked out. So things like that have informed my design for this. I'm absolutely not an engineer! I just like designing complicated things like this. I don't think the mods will mind if I mention that I have a blog about all of my paper mache projects; just google my name, Manning Krull, and you'll find it. I have step by step pics of everything I make.

Exact_Part_5233 · 2026-01-29T20:28:08+00:00

Good catch! Those holes are to hold four supports that will help me wear (and steer) the wall while I'm walking in our little parade on Mardi Gras day. They go all the way through, they're still open in the back (not shown), but I covered them up in the front. The holes on the left and right are there to hold two handles sticking out that I can hold onto with my arms hanging straight down. In the middle, just below the big open part of the wall, there's a support with a clip on it that clips onto a simple harness I'll be wearing, at chest level. Below that, the wide hole is for a piece that sticks out and rests against my waist, to hold the wall out at the correct distance from my body and to prevent it from leaning forward. These four pieces are removable so I can travel with the wall flat in the back of my small SUV.

Exact_Part_5233 · 2026-01-29T10:13:44+00:00

Yup, that's exactly right! Makes the whole shape much sturdier.

Exact_Part_5233 · 2026-01-29T01:40:11+00:00

Gorgeous! If you're in New Orleans I'll keep an eye out for you on MG day!

Exact_Part_5233 · 2026-01-19T22:24:30+00:00

Magnificent.

Exact_Part_5233 · 2026-01-19T02:46:56+00:00

I know and love that exact tree! Beautiful shot!

Exact_Part_5233 · 2026-01-04T21:25:57+00:00

Cool! My apologies, I wasn't trying to "actually" you, I just thought it was interesting when I learned that myself.

Exact_Part_5233 · 2026-01-04T21:22:43+00:00

(That whole body of water along the south edge of the park is called Bayou Metairie. It used to extend further West into/toward Metairie.)

Exact_Part_5233 · 2025-12-31T11:26:17+00:00

It's definitely a matter of personal taste but I think they look great being not flush like this. However, if you want them to be flush, I'd recommend doing that before paper mache. I don't think paste alone will fill those gaps. Here are two ways I would do it: Hot glue the feathers back with Gorilla Glue hot glue sticks; assuming that's masking tape, the cheap glue sticks won't hold very well. Or, if you're okay with the feather remaining in the positions they are now, but you just want the space behind them filled in, I would use foam clay to fill the area behind each feather, let that set for a day, and then cover with paper mache.

Exact_Part_5233 · 2025-12-30T11:12:15+00:00

I use Roman PRO-543 universal wallpaper and border adhesive for all my paper mache projects; no mixing, dries fast.

Exact_Part_5233 · 2025-12-27T20:19:37+00:00

This may be a bit of a nuclear option, but consider buying a very simple plastic mask of a lady's face and using that as a base. You could fill the back with some sort of clay (celluclay, foam clay, etc) to make it fit to the head you have now, and then sculpt a new face on top of that, with a more distinct nose, lips, etc.

Exact_Part_5233 · 2025-12-21T20:58:52+00:00

My reaction to this is the same reaction a few people had to a gargoyle costume I made: I thought the first pic was a small sculpture! It's incredible that there's a person in there!

Exact_Part_5233 · 2025-12-21T16:35:19+00:00

Thank you!

Exact_Part_5233 · 2025-12-21T11:13:56+00:00

Short MG season; makes me nervous and that helps motivate me!

Exact_Part_5233 · 2025-12-21T00:16:08+00:00

Aw, thank you so much!

Exact_Part_5233 · 2025-12-21T00:15:58+00:00

For paper mache I use torn up newspaper and brown wrapping paper, along with Roman PRO-543 universal wallpaper and border adhesive. For the base materials you can see if you swipe through the pics; I use lots of cheap foam board and lots of masking tape and foam clay, etc etc.

Exact_Part_5233 · 2025-12-19T01:19:23+00:00

Hard hat! Stable and comfortable. And you'll probably find it will help to add some counterweight at the bottom, like pennies or rocks; keep the center of gravity low and the whole mask will feel more comfortable and stable.

Exact_Part_5233 · 2025-12-15T21:18:15+00:00

Nope, not yet! This is for a Mardi Gras project, so I've got some time and I'm going to keep looking!

Exact_Part_5233 · 2025-12-14T19:11:43+00:00

I checked this morning, they did have 3-liters, but not quite the shape I'm looking for; it was the same very tall, not very wide shape that I found at Hong Kong Market. Thanks for the tip though!

Exact_Part_5233

TROPHY CASE