Photo Study #35: Well, that SUCKED...

I had been looking closely at a number of Asian masks that are made in China, and I finally decided to pull the trigger when a buddy of mine posted a picture of himself wearing one.

Not bad, at all. I thought. But it took a bit of work to even place an order. That should have been my first clue. First off, the seller generally only uses WeChat. My buddy was able to give me an email that was used for paypal, and I finally got a conversation going with the vendor. We discussed what I wanted, what the price would be and the approximate timeframe for delivery.

It arrived exactly on time, well packed in a carton within a carton, with a foamy-type headform and a wig!

I was impressed. The hairpunching was beautiful (I had asked for eyebrows, a stache and a goatee). The paintjob was well done too. It was well matted, with a few very faint veins and a decent texture.

Then reality struck.

First off, the mask is very, very thin. We're talking half the thickness of a CFX or Studio135 mask. 

Fitment was horrible. The mask core must have been made for a larger head/neck (or was never reduced) because even with foam padding, it did not fit properly. Eyes were terrible; the edge of the eyeholes are not tapered, and combined with the poor cut, sort of hung loosely on the face with a sizable gap on the lower lid area. I felt like I was an extra on William Shatner's 1975 cheesy horror flick, "The Devil's Rain"

Lip fitment was non-existent. I think the combination of the oversized core and the very thin material contributed greatly to the poor fit. Neck wrinkling was present with or without a foam insert around the neck. Bib was very small.

Flashing (how the seams are smoothed and polished) was probably a 7/10. The head portions were better than the neck. But not by much.

Ears did not fit well and had a very obvious, completely circular hole. The hole was not well placed, either.

I figured that sunglasses would help. NOT. Gradients definitely did not help in hiding the poor eyehole fit, but again, if you're getting an Asian mask, you want to see the eyes!

Reinforcement of the hair punching on the inside was mediocre. I'm assuming that the eyebrows were dip-punched, but there was no visible hair on the inside of the mask. The mask was reinforced around the mouth with stretch-mesh, but it looked like it was just laid on. It was raised and there was no silicone seal over it.

This is definitely going to get sold. And I know now where NOT to purchase masks again.