11 Indie Artists Creating Screen Accurate Jason Voorhees Masks!
Joshua Macmillan
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One of the biggest trends for fans of any genre right now seems to be cosplaying at various events. Whether it is going to a film premier, attending one of the many horror conventions, or even the horror fans version of Christmas- Halloween; it is no doubt that one of the biggest costumes to fill is that of Jason Voorhees from the Friday The 13th franchise! A lot of people unfortunately just throw a torn up set of clothing on and a cheap Wal-Mart hockey mask and call it good though. I figure it is time to showcase some spectacular work from horror fans who have made it more than just a hobby to re-create screen accurate hockey masks that are more than just a Halloween costume, these are even display pieces for when that convention, or Halloween party is done!
Ryan Brasier (Cursed Camp Studios)
Ryan Brasier is the artist behind the company Cursed Camp Studios, specializing in Friday The 13th replica masks since 2012. Ryan has been a Friday fan for the last 25 years but his interest was renewed in the franchise when he came across a Freddy VS Jason mask produced by NECA in a Toys-R’-Us in 2010. After doing some research he started to discover the online horror community, which led him to start buying mask blanks and painting them in early 2011. Ryan sold his first mask in December of that year and was shortly after invited to join some Friday forums on Facebook and that is where things really began to take off for him. After receiving advice from fellow hockey mask artists Darren Laken and Crash Cunningham, Ryan began sculpting and molding his own blanks for his own paint ups! In 2015 he opened up his online store and currently works full-time from home producing spectacular hockey masks!
You can find Ryan here:
https://cursedcampstudios-store.com/
https://www.facebook.com/CursedCampStudios/
https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/1026970927/
Here is some of his work:
Tim Shultz (Cryptkeeper9 Productions)
Tim Shultz is the owner and operator of Cryptkeeper9 Productions out of Carlisle PA. He has been a horror fanatic since he was eight years old and his grandmother took him to see Friday The 13th Part 2. He started out buying the cheap masks from Kmart back in the day and just re-working them. Tim went to commercial art in Vo-Tech for three years, but was told by his instructors that he would never be able to do what he truly wanted to do which was horror related stuff in that field. So after graduating he didn’t do anything for years within the arts, but around 2007 he got a crash course from his uncle on how to work with fiberglass so he started making masks out of fiberglass for about four years but had allergic reactions to the epoxy. So, he started buying blanks from JDF Studios and painting them up to be screen accurate. Over the years he has vended several horror conventions and has been able to meet every actor to don the iconic hockey mask with the exception of Tom Morga from Friday The 13th Part 5: A New Beginning. This is Tim’s favorite hobby and has no intention of stopping! One of his Jason Lives masks has been featured in Inked Magazine and several have been used in fan films.
You can find Tim here:
http://www.hockeyhorrormask.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Cryptkeeper9-Productions-123087801074488/
Here is some of his work:
Ed Hiles Jr.
Ed Hiles Jr has been painting hockey masks now for the last two years, it started out as a Halloween costume project and he had bought a cheap hockey mask off of eBay and put his own touches on it. In his opinion looking back on it, it was really horrible but the second one he did for a friend was done on the same mask after stripping all the paint off and re-painting it in the likeness of Jason Takes Manhattan. His friend took it to Monster Mania and had it signed by Kane Hodder which gave him the boost he needed. Ed reached out to a couple of mask makers for tips and he was absolutely blown away by their generosity, a couple of these guys who helped him were Richard Gray Pennington and Alan Clague. Any questions he had, he could go to them and they would help him out! Now, he is comfortable with the work that he does and he returns the favor for anyone looking to get into doing this which is just a fantastic thing to do! He works a very busy full-time job and has a lovely wife and two kids so this is a side hobby for him but he truly loves doing this and wishes that he could spend more time doing it! Now, Ed does the masks in two different ways- one way is on China blanks that make the masks more affordable for those who may not have the available funds to spend more than $100 on a mask. The other masks that he does are on JDF Blanks which are incredible accurate movie quality masks that are more durable.
You can find Ed here:
https://www.instagram.com/edhilesjr/
https://www.facebook.com/ed.j.hiles
Here is some of his work:
Justin “Auz” Williams
Justin “Auz” Williams has been creating some of the best screen accurate hockey masks that you can find since 2009. At this time the remake/reboot to Friday The 13th had just come out and Justin had never made a mask or prop or anything like that before so he was looking on eBay for a hockey mask when he found two guys who were selling them. Justin decided that he wanted to attempt to make his own so he bought the remake mask that NECA had released and he did a re-cast on that. At the time, he didn’t know anything about re-casting and found Frightstuff and started using those blanks. Justin does phenomenal work and if you are in the market for a highly detailed collectors piece, I cannot recommend Justin’s work enough!
You can find Justin here:
https://www.facebook.com/propreplicauz
Here is some of his work:
Richard Gray Pennington (Elite Replica Productions)
Originally Elite Stone Replicas, Richard Gray Pennington rebranded as Elite Replica Productions and has been actively creating awesome screen accurate replicas ever since October of 2013. He has been a fan of horror since the young age of three and before he was creating, he was a collector. Richard bought a few NECA masks and then he ordered a remake mask from an artist but the paint job wasn’t that great. It has been “painted” with a sharpie so Richard decided that he would learn to paint them for himself. He finished his first mask and posted it, causing people to start asking him to make masks for them and his business boomed. Richard is now one of the most highly sought after artists. Richard also creates custom figures as well, he has a great line of Critters replicas that are just absolutely fantastic, the figures and other items that he produces range from the 1:6 scale to full-sized replicas.
You can find Richard here:
https://www.facebook.com/elitereplicaproductions
https://www.instagram.com/elite_replica_productions/
Here is some of his work:
David Robertson (DJR Designs)
David Robertson is a die-hard horror fanatic who has been creating fantastic replicas for a little over a year now with DJR Designs! David grew up in a small town called Cresskill in New Jersey where his major area of study was art! Always finding special effects very interesting, he started creating his own effects around the 1980’s with the basic Halloween makeup that anyone can purchase at your local store. The very first hockey mask that David ever converted was done with a cheap plastic mask that he had picked up from a CVS Pharmacy in the early 1990’s, and the first “real” hockey mask that he had purchased as a collector’s item was from the Cropsey Maniac from Gates of Hell Studios and it was a screen accurate Jason Takes Manhattan mask. At that time he never thought that he would get into mask making as a business but over a number of years he saw a lot of people doing it and he thought to himself that he could actually do this. The last mask that he had actually purchased before doing them on his own was from Ryan Braiser at Cursed Camp Studios and it was this purchase that solidified the idea of creating his own! He went online and studied a lot of video tutorials and other how- to tutorials, and then went and picked up all of his supplies from local stores and those that he couldn’t get there he ordered from eBay. He is looking forward to expanding his business and offering more products soon!
You can find David here:
https://www.facebook.com/DJR-Designs-411417702387186/
Here is some of his work:
Crash Cunningham (Crash Creations)
Crash Creations is run by Crash Cunningham out of North Carolina. Crash started in the hobby in 2006 and in 2009 was building his own molds titled Project82 by using the same methods that were used to make the original hockey masks from Friday The 13th Part 3. Crash offers some of the best looking replicas that you can find. Crash is known through-out the world of Friday The 13th, and horror in general due to also contributing original artwork and graphics for a whole slew of great things that you might already own and not even know it starting in 2008 by being the cover artist for Halloween: Nightdance from Devils Due Publishing, 2009’s The Stepfather Chronicles (special graphics), The Fear Is Real: Reinvestigating the Haunting in Connecticut (graphics), The Crystal Lake Massacres Revisited (original artwork and graphics), Friday The 13th Parts 4-8 Deluxe Edition DVDs (original artwork and graphics), 2010’s Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy (original artwork and graphics), 2011’s Scream: The Inside Story (original artwork and graphics), More Brains! A return to the Living Dead (original artwork and graphics), 2013’s Crystal Lake Memories (box art, original artwork, and graphics), 2014’s Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy book (original artwork and graphics). If you are looking for a great addition to your collection, then Crash may be the one you want to seek out!
You can find Crash here:
http://www.crashcreations.com/
https://www.facebook.com/CrashCreations/
https://www.instagram.com/crash_creations/
Here is some of his work:
Jeffrey Daniel Flynn (JDF Studios)
Jeffrey Daniel Flynn is the man behind JDF Studios, and a long time fan of the Friday franchise since the young age of six when his family got their first VCR and they rented Friday The 13th: The Final Chapter! Jeffrey got into making these hockey masks back in 2002, it was at that time that he discovered the independent mask and prop making community and was completely blown away by what others were creating! He saw all the different guys that were making the hockey masks and just had to have one, but unfortunately after receiving it he was pretty underwhelmed. After a friend of his looked at the mask and suggested that Jeffrey could make a better one, he thought “why not?” So Jeffrey converted a spare bedroom in his house into a workshop and started producing his own hockey mask replicas. Jeffrey has now been making these for a little over fourteen years at this point. Currently, Jeffrey spend more of his time making blank castings and ready to paint kits for fans to have the ability to make and paint their own masks which was something that wasn’t readily available before JDF Studios came into the market. As a huge Friday fan, I think that it is super dope to be able to pick up a kit that allows you to paint your own mask up!
You can find Jeffrey here:
https://www.facebook.com/JDFStudios
https://www.instagram.com/jdf_studios/
Here is some of his work:
Justin Watson (Camp 13 Creations)
Who’s the man behind the masks? well, one of many would be Justin Watson of Camp 13 Creations! Justin has always had a great love for all things horror and three years ago he decided to use his love of horror and start a small business called Camp 13 Creations. It is here that Justin uses his talents to make an array of horror masks from movies like Friday The 13th, and Halloween. Justin truly loves making masks and would be happy to speak with anyone about how he can help you to start or even complete your mask collection! Justin’s work is great and would make a great addition to anyone’s collection!
You can find Justin here:
https://www.facebook.com/twisteddeadcreations/
Here is some of his work:
James Powers (Crystal Lake Industries)
Crystal Lake Industries is operated by James Powers. James started back in 2008 due to not being able to find a decent Jason mask for Halloween, he bought one from eBay and was disgusted with it. The color, straps, and everything else was wrong prompting his wife to tell him that he should learn how to make his own. Eight years later he is still making masks and even owns molds of two screen used masks. James is definitely one of the heavy weights in this field and is another artist whose work is highly sought after. The detail that James puts into his work is phenomenal and makes it worth the price!
You can find James here:
http://crystallakeindustries.bigcartel.com/
https://www.facebook.com/CrystalLakeIndustries/
https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/720938978/
Here is some of his work:
Darren Laken (Ruste Dowg Productions)
Darren got his start way back in 2004; he had been looking for a decent replica hockey mask for a while in the U.K. but unfortunately he was not able to find one. That being said, Darren imported a mask from the U.S. and after receiving it he knew that he could improve upon the appearance of the mask. Afterwards, he sold that mask on eBay which led him to being contacted to make more masks. Darren found a supplier within the U.S. and went to work, after a few years he was approached by Frightstuff to become one of their featured artists! He was a featured artist until 2010 when he decided that he would much rather sculpt his own molds and make his own masks from the ground up! Darren designed and built a vacuum former and he has been producing great masks ever since! Darren has always been fascinated with the character of Jason Voorhees, and scared of him too! His first encounter with the horror icon was when he was just a young boy and he watched Friday The 13th Part 3 while at a friend’s house when his friends parents were out at work! Jason’s ability to keep coming back from what would normally be fatal injuries terrified Darren and he found it haunting, yet extremely exciting! The hockey mask symbolized all of this in his mind but he never wanted or wished to be Jason, he never lived vicariously through him; instead he related more with Tommy Jarvis as the survivor and Darren admired Tommy’s courage! Darren had always wanted a great hockey mask that to him would be a trophy to hang on the wall and now he spends his time crafting amazing pieces of art!
You can find Darren here:
https://www.facebook.com/darren.laken
http://rustedowgproductions.blogspot.com/
Here is some of his work:
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