Photo Study #12 - Dumb and Dumber - But Smokingly HOT

On February 14 of this year, a pair of dark skinned robbers made use of Composite Effect's "Mac" mask to disguise themselves as white cops and rob a check cashing store of $200,000. 

This story recently made the New York Post, and from there went viral to several other locations - the Boston Herald, the Washington Times, the Huffington Post, as well as news outlets in Europe and several prominent websites.

I had ordered a Mac with the same characteristics as the "Convict Mac" and decided I should do a "before the robbery" shoot.

We begin, then, with our intrepid criminal-to-be half-naked and about to start his morning jack-off session:

After shooting his load, "Edward" slips on a jock and ponders the actions he is soon to undertake:

The die is cast ... he needs to get dressed and get ready to meet his partner in crime,  Akeem. Edward's guardian angel (who at this point in his celestial life has but a little fringe of white hair left, a permanent twitch and a serious drinking habit) tries a final time to convince him otherwise. You can see that a fleeting pang of conscience occupies Edward's mind - but alas, it does not deter him.

He continues.

Now for his gat ... a dark Beretta 92 with the serial number filed off. He checks the clip of that intimidating piece of black steel, slams it home into the handle and tucks the gun into the small of his back.

A windbreaker completes his outfit; the slightly baggy jacket hides the bulge of the gun as well as his well-muscled body ... and in a case of nerves, he pulls out the gun once more to double-check it.

He stares at his reflection  - the transformation is nothing short of amazing. A handsome, rugged looking white guy stares back at him. Not bad. Not bad at all. he thinks to himself. He aims the gun at the man in the mirror and smiles. The white guy grins back at him. 

"You're gonna do just fine, man..." and he again tucks the gun into the waistband of his pants.

But due to a number of incredibly sloppy screwups, the duo are  caught. 

This incident has been a great source of publicity for the company and has also generated the new, unofficial tagline:

"Masks so good, it's a crime."

The Codex

Well readers ... it's DONE!

I've been working on a codex of all the people that have been populating my stories now for a good three months. So if you want to know about Danny or Xiphon or even who Everett Manoulis is ... now you can!

The link to the codex is directly below the header pic. Simply click on the "People" button to see a who's who. Click on the "Home" button to read the blog.

 

Enjoy!!

Now ... who wants to help me on "Places" and "Things" ???

Photo Study #11 - A Stark Contrast

Plumbers. Electricians. Carpenters. Construction Workers...

Delivery men – particularly, UPS delivery men …

(For your information, this is my UPS delivery guy, Scotty)

There’s just something about blue-collar guys. And I am NOT talking about the ubiquitous stereotype of the fat slob with the butt crack. (My plumber, by the way, is well over six feet tall, built like a porn star with a shaved head and amazing blue-gray eyes – he's neat as a pin on jobs and he’s also one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet!)

The thought of  getting down with a sweaty, (half) naked, muscular stud with a bit of grime on him really does get the pulse racing.

This is the second prototype mask I received from “The Company” and it’s as impressive as the first. Remember, they are going for “average” and "unremarkable." For this one, I asked for a little bit of facial scarring – a hare-lip correction scar similar to Joaquin Phoenix and a chin scar similar to that of Harrison Ford. Plus, the normal head and facial stubbling and eyebrows.

 

This mask is in their “older” age group and as such, is slightly thicker through the chin and neck. When I saw the prototype, my first thought was some type of blue-collar worker and I decided on a home-heating oil guy. Searching the internet, I found a couple of places that customized and sold uniform clothing - they also gave options for some embroidery and name tags. Perfect.

After a bit of pondering, “Sunrise Oil” had a new employee – “George Stark”. And before you ask, no relation to Tony ... or Ned.

I also used my DIY silicone pec and trap enhancers under the mask to give me a little burlier look through the chest.

Like “Deshawn” the fit and finish of this mask is exceptional. The detailing is superb and the scarring I asked for is completely realistic. Fitment of the eyes is even better here than it was for the young black guy.

In order to take “George” out for a spin, I needed to do a little bit of R&D work beforehand. This involved scouting locations of several bars in the neighborhood to see which one would fit him best; I settled on a somewhat older, dingy sports bar.

As with the other mask, Mr. Stark passed with flying colors. Perhaps even better since I didn’t wear any glasses this time.

The bartender didn’t notice anything amiss and I received no strange looks from the clientele. I really could have gone for a Danish Red micro-brew, but I settled for a Bud Light in its place; I wanted – no, needed - to blend in. I had the light flickering from a large-screen TV on my face and even that did not shatter the illusion of whom I was pretending to be - to them, I was just another guy having a drink after a long, hard day.

In place of the head stubble, I can see this mask doing well with a full head of hair – brushed straight back - with a receding hairline, or perhaps a bald spot or thinning on top. Or a crew cut. A thick moustache and/or a  heavier “5 o’clock shadow” version of the facial stubble would also make a good “average” impression.

Here are some more pics:

Photo Study #10 - Young and Hung ...

I received an interesting email a few months ago. In it, the author indicated that he was the principal of a new company making silicone masks and due to my reputation – both on the blog and across several websites -  would I be interested in reviewing their new line?

Of course, I’m sure you could guess the answer.

There was, however, a little hitch. An NDA. For those of you not in the know, an NDA is a Non-Disclosure Agreement. Basically, I could show the product off, but I could not discuss details about “The Company” until they were ready to go public. I figured it was a small enough price to pay since they were specializing in hyper-realistic masks.

I was shown their initial two prototypes – a young black man and an older white guy – and I was encouraged to request any special paint jobs, hairing, additions, etc. to satisfy myself with their level of expertise.

The company is focusing on the “average” face right now. By that, I mean a mask that would blend into a crowd and the goal being to have it indistinguishable from a “real” face. So real it would be unremarkable. Their line will expand to different ethnicities as well as age groups. Male and female masks will also be produced.

But back to business … I decided that I wanted to have my young black stud to have razor-cut stubble hair, a thin moustache and a little bit of beard right below the lower lip.

After a few weeks, I received him, and “DeShawn Thomas” was born.

I have a trio of  ethnic masks from SFPX and while they are good, this is a work of art.

First off, the fitment of the mask is excellent and the material is soft, yet clingy and adheres perfectly to the face. I also find that it is quite cool to wear for extended periods.

Detail is amazing. Everything from the whorl of the ears to the arch of the brows to the paintjob itself speaks of meticulous attention to detail. What I like about this mask is the slight imperfections in the “skin” itself that is typical of a real person. Lips are deep and curl around your own and the eyeholes are exceptional. I have very deep-set eyes, so eyeholes are always an issue for me.

In order to test this under real-world situations, I decided to take DeShawn out for a spin. I added some Mehron around my eyes and put my brown CL-Tinters contacts in. Then I went out to a bar (one where wearing a pair of tight leather patrol gloves is not seen as an odd occurrence ... [grin]). I also added  a pair of very lightly tinted glasses.

The result? Exactly what was hoped for. I got quite a number of approving glances, but nothing suspicious. 

Plus a few phone numbers. 

Umm, more than a few...

I've shown "DeShawn" to some other people (two black, one Boricua) - unanimous consensus was that he is extremely handsome, hot-looking and frighteningly realistic, but the interesting thing is that all three had said he looks more blatino than black. In fact, each response included, "If I didn't know it was you and that you were wearing a mask, I'd swear to God that was a real person!"

Bravo for me and for the company!

One buddy said, "What a goddamned handsome fucker!" I even made her boyfriend jealous!

The Puerto Rican said he looked Dominican, and one of the black girls said he looked like a very dark, very handsome Cuban. The black guy said he looked a bit like Robinson Cano, a baseball player (whom I believe is Dominican also).

So it looks like they have a dual-duty mask!

I also posted a number of pictures on Facebook. One commenter (who is also a considerable mask connoisseur)  put it best:

"This is a great face on [Deshawn]... subtle and believable. Tell the ‘top secret’ guys they get multiple thumbs up on this one.... making a younger age group of characters is crucial to the market."

And I recently spoke with "The Company" - they are getting much closer to their grand opening!