Updated: February 10, 2022

On September 15, 2004 I received several e-mails from a fan requesting additional info and photos on the late actor Jonathan Harris. He was making a Halloween costume for his son for this year's holiday. He was kind enough to send me an early photo on the costume. As you can see this, fan-made latex mask is an incredible likeness of Mr. Harris. The mask is hand painted and comes with real hair.

Update: Received this e-mail and photos on October 13, 2004.

(*) There are many steps in making a mask.

If anybody wants to learn the art of mask making they should consult a handbook called "Monster Makers Handbook" by Arnold Goldman. I have not included many steps. Since this mask was being sized to fit my ten year old I had to take specific measurements of his head before any sculpting could begin. Next I gathered up some photo references. Here you see the basic shapes in oil based clay on an armature.

The next picture unfortunately is the only picture I took before molding him. The sculpture took me four or five hours off and on to complete. I actually spend more time on most of my sculptures but this was done for a quick fun project.

The next step is making the mold. I first have to make a divider wall that separates the back half from the front. I spent zero time on smoothing the back of the head because I figured it would be covered in hair. When you open the mold you will have a front half and a back half. Here is a picture of the front half. Now you join the front half and back half together and pour liquid latex into the mold to create the mask. This is the rubber pull that needs to be seamed haired and painted. Completed mask and costume yes, that's a watergun (lol). My son wanted a prop!

Eliot Brodsky

(*) Many thanks Eliot for the terrific photos and info here! You get an A+ on this outstanding project. Thanks for sharing your talent with all of us!