Kingface FX - the "Hans" Mask Review

KingfaceFX Masks (Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kingface_fx/ or ebay seller Milan Toy Company, Ltd. - https://www.ebay.com/str/oogxxdrealisticsilicone) is another Asian mask maker that attracted my attention. They do not have a direct website (at least as I can find out), so it took a bit of digging on my part and some convos with another masker to find out where I could order.

"Hans" mask

"Arthur" mask

"Ricky" mask

Communications

I DM'ed the ebay seller and asked about purchasing a "Hans" mask - I received responses in a very timely manner - either a few hours or a day - and asked to purchase a "plain vanilla" version. By default, Kingface punches in eyebrows. A "Hans" was available, so I received an ebay link to make the sale. 

Fulfillment

Because I purchased on ebay, the tracking was much better than my experience with UTDisguise. I purchased the mask on October 5 and it was delivered on October 18. Tracking was done thru OrangeConnex and 17Track. Estimated delivery was to be October 22, so getting it 4 days in advance was a pleasant surprise.

Packaging

The mask arrived in a SMALL box. I was a bit concerned that the mask was stuffed into the box to reduce shipping costs, but again, I was pleasantly surprised to find the mask packed with airbags to keep it's shape, wrapped in a foamy plastic sheet and placed into a ziploc bag. Because the mask has a very short bib, Kingface can safely pack the mask in smaller package. A fully haired mask would/should probably warrant a larger box.

Okay - onto the mask itself!!!

Mask - Overall

First off the mask is thinner than I expected. The mask is approximately the same thickness as a Smitizen mask and much thinner than the UTDisguise Shadow Drone mask. The mask is also thinner than a standard CFX or Immortal realistic-type mask, but thicker than a CreaFX mask. Because of the thinness of the mask, I would recommend gentle placement and removal to prevent any tears, pulls or stretching.

HOWEVER, where the Smitizen mask requires a good deal of padding to make it passably wearable, the KingFace mask is a great fit. Fit on the head is perfect, as well as around the mouth, across the nose bridge and over the ears. The neck is a tad loose (I have about a 15" neck), but using my handy-dandy 1/4" foam rubber neck spacer made it a great fit.

The ears are VERY well sculpted and fit comfortably over the wearer's ears. The ear holes are a little too circular and regular and could be more realistic.

There is an adjustable metal nosepiece in the mask as well. 

Mask - Paintjob

Excellent. There are minor imperfections which only accentuate the reality of the mask, as well as some very faint veining which adds to the quality of the paintjob.

Mask - Hairing

While I went with the "standard" amount of hairing - just eyebrows - the punching job was excellent. The eyebrows were well-shaped, full and worked perfectly with the "Hans" overall look. Interior sealing is a bit rough and messy, but effective - if you have had work done by either Jerry Almond or AMS Hair Punching, you can immediately see the difference.

Mask - Eye fitment

I have to say I am really pleasantly surprised at the quality of the sculpt. Whereas many US/Canadian vendors tend to have a thicker mask and thin the silicone around the eye area, the Kingface thickness is the same throughout, but the fit is subtle, excellent and comfortable. For those of you with very deep-set eyes, you may need a little bit of foam padding in the back of the mask to push your face forward, but the majority of folks will find that there is no distiguishable transition from the mask to your eyes. On the Silva Scale, I would rate this a strong 9.

Mask - Mouth fitment

Again, very pleasantly surprised at the precision of the sculpt. The lips do curl inward and fit around your own lips, but it's not a tight fit. Speaking with the mask is not as perfect as a Studio135 mask, but still very good. With other masks (e.g. Chiseled, GQ) the mouth fitment was so amazingly good you could actually SMILE in it and have it reflected in the mask. I give this a 8 on the Silva Scale.

Mask - Neck

Because of the thinness of the mask, there is little to no actual definition of a muscular neck. It would be nice to see a thicker neck with some intrinsic musculature. I think this would also add to the realism of the mask. There is also the issue of some neck wrinkling when twisting back and forth. This can be lessened by using a foam rubber spacer under the mask (which I forgot to put on when I took the pics)

Mask - Bib

Really none to speak of - there is a short, semi-circular bib in back and in front, long enough to put into a t-shirt, polo or dress shirt (and leave the collar button open). Again, because of the thinness of the mask, there is no detail to the bib.

Overall

Kingface FX does produce an excellent line of realistic masks that are a definite competitor to the US/Canadian vendors, with some tradeoffs for a lower price - being mask thinness, lack of muscular detail and short bib length. They do provide a comprehensive hair punching service, but I don't know their pricing structure. They do not have a super-extensive realistic line (as does Realflesh or CFX), but their catalog is well-planned. Given their hairing abilities, I would say that this also adds more variety as the "look" could be changed substantially by different hairing options and colors.

 

I've also done a movement video of the mask:

The Replacements - Just ForFun(.com)

A while back, I had purchased a mask from Kink Engineering. This was a pull-on micro-perforation hood. One day, I put it on and it just completely fell apart - seams popped and I was left with a black latex mess.

This particular mask had no mouth opening, and I was able to get an exact replacement from Latex101. 

But I've been eyeing the stuff that keeps popping up in my Facebook feed from ForFun in Thailand, so I decided to give them a try and go for a microperf hood with an open mouth.

The site is very easy to use, and I placed my order. When I received my mask, I was extremely pleased with the fit and finish of the mask, the packaging and the comfort level. The latex was top quality and was expertly cut and glued.

What didn't make me happy was the fulfillment process.

First off, it took a LONG time to get the mask - end to end, it was about 4 weeks. From other folks ordering from Asia, this was a relative blink of an eye - it often takes MONTHS to get something.

Then there was the shipping. ForFun used DHL, and somehow, the address as correctly entered on their website got completely garbled on the DHL label. Here I was, receiving the tracking info and waiting patiently for the deliver when I get a delivery exception - I had to go to the DHL site and change the address to the correct format and wait another day or so for it to show up.

I would definitely order from ForFun again, but I would double- and triple-check on the format of the address. And definitely be patient.

UT Disguise - The Shadow Drone Mask Review

For those of you that have some interest in purchasing a mask from a non-US/Canada/Europe vendor, I decided to try out UT Disguise (https://www.utdisguisemastermask.com/). I have previously purchased several silicone torsos from Smitizen with good results (mask, not so good), and a latex mask from ForFun in Thailand, so I wanted to try out this vendor as well. 

I was not quite ready to order a truly realistic mask from them, so I decided on the Shadow Drone mask. This mask has realistic features, short neck and no bib, and a shiny, solid black color. Price was $211.

Ordering

Purchase process was straightforward. UT does not accept Paypal, so I had to use a credit card. The transaction was processed, and I received an email confirmation very shortly.

The Shopify software that manages the order does seem to have a few glitches (or may be how UT manages it). The status message for at least a week was "Order Received" and I emailed UT to get an update. No response. I waited for another few days and emailed again. This time I got a response that my mask had been made and was being shipped out that day. I would receive tracking information in 3-4 days.

Four days pass ... no tracking number. I again email them, and this time, I do receive a timely response and an additional email with tracking information. The package was shipped from China on September 19th, and was delivered on October 2 - 14 days.

Order was placed on September 6, so the total end-to-end time was 27 days.

Packaging

The product was well packed, with multiple layers of protection. The mask itself was placed in a ziplock bag with little air pillows inside of the mask to maintain its shape. 

The Product

For some reason, I had the impression that the mask was going to be latex - perhaps because of the price. I was happily wrong - the mask is a high quality silicone with a mirror black finish - the same you would find on a latex mask with a shining compound or lube rubbed into it. Edges are neat and sharply finished, interior is perfectly smooth. I ordered the mask with integral lenses - no sharp or rough edges around them on the interior or exterior.

Seaming/flashing is not up to my expectations - all of my other silicone masks (even including the Smitizen) had a much finer seam and better flashing. The thought may have been that black-on-black would not be visible and perhaps better care would be taken on a fleshtone realistic mask. I will bring this up to UT.

The Fit

Surprisingly, excellent. With other Asian-sourced masks, I've found that they tend to be larger, rounder (and thinner) and hence, need some fitment assistance like foam padding. This mask was perfect. I was particularly impressed with the lip fitment. As you know, Bryan Silva's Studio135 masks were the gold standard of eye and lip fitment, and the UT mask rates at least a 9/10. The mouth on the Shadow Drone mask is not cut open, but I could tell from how it fit around the lips that it would be very, very good. Since the version of the mask I purchased had integral lenses, I can't comment on the eye fitment, but this will be another item I will bring up to the vendor. The thickness of the mask was equivalent to CFX, Realflesh and Studio135 later masks (GQ/Punishment - thicker than a Studio135 Chiseled).

Overall impressions

Very good. I had a good ordering experience from UT, and apart from the need to keep on top of the order's progress, it was smooth. Product was well-packed, shipped (relatively) quickly and was top quality.

I am planning on wearing this over a latex microperf hood with an open mouth. On the initial test try-on, I needed to shine up the latex mask to give it a bit more lubrication wearing the Shadow mask over it. I found that breathing was a little difficult, but perhaps it just needs to be adjusted more. A different mask with a more defined nose proved easier to breathe with. I'm also going to try this with a full microperf hood without the open mouth.

Here are some pics wearing the mask.

Gear Talk: The Eyes Have It - SUCCESS!

After more than a few false starts, I've finally found another source for dark contact lenses for light eyes!

As a reminder, my requirements for success are:

- outstanding coverage for a light iris
- "functional" vs. "pretty"
- small pupil hole

 

And the winner is ... ttdeye.com

The vendor is based in Hong Kong and time from order to delivery was 15 days.

In addition to the lenses themselves, you get a nice "care package" along with them - lens case, tongs (to remove the lenses from the case) and an applicator (which I don't use). I also got a little hand mirror as well. They do have many brown lenses, so you need to closely look at them to make sure the pupil holes appear to be small. Below are my top picks.

On to the lenses!

The first one is called "New York Brown" - this is a yearly lens (nice bonus!) and definitely provides the coverage, functionality and small pupil hole. I would say that these are a lighter and a more "soft" brown color vs. the "intense" brown of my older lenses. They veer a little towards "pretty" but they definitely work.

 

The next one is called "New York Black." Again, this is a yearly lens and meets all my requirements. This also provides a more "intense" experience and is much darker than the "New York Brown" - this looks great on all my darker-skinned masks and is actually much darker than any of my older brown lenses.

The final one is called "Bohme Hazel." This is also a yearly lens and meets (nearly) all the requirements. The pupil hole on this lens is slightly larger than the "New York" ones. Color-wise, this  falls between the the two "New York" lenses as it is more intense then the "Brown" and a less intense than the "Black." This is still a dark lens and looks good with my  black-guy masks and great with my Latino masks. There is also a little more of a caramel tone to these lenses in the center area.  

A caveat: I have gray-green-blue eyes with a gold-brown "sunburst" around my pupil - in ancient times, this was known as being one of the "Children of Helios", today it's known as (inherited) central heterochromia -- I can get away with a slightly larger pupil hole, but I don't take advantage of it because I generally want to have a single, solid iris color. When I make a recommendation, I'm thinking of the population at large.

Someone with "solid" light eyes (without a darker central halo) is definitely going to show some of their iris color around the inner edge of this lens. So, YMMV.

 

So there you have it! A fast shipping company, good selection of options and nice extras to go with your purchase!