Tales from the Darkside Butch Mask Restoration
Restoring Tom Savini’s classic “Butch” Mask Prop from Tales from the Dark Side!
Tom Savini’s special makeup effects books in the 80’s made him the “first makeup teacher” of so many young artists at the time (our company founder, Tom, was no exception!). We’ve been fortunate enough to work preserving some of Savini’s famous creations, including the amazing “Fluffy” the crate beast from Creepshow and Lizzie from Tales from the Darkside! This next piece, Butch, is also from Tales from the Darkside. The Tom Savini-made mask was featured in the 1985 episode “Halloween Candy” and we were excited at the opportunity to preserve more of Savini’s work.
The mask arrived in a brittle state, which is expected for foam latex of this age. That said, like many of these projects, once the elements are conserved and moved back into their original positions, there is often less missing material than one may expect at the start. Ricky Vitus was our lead restoration artist, another nice full-circle moment, as Vitus attended the Savini School to learn makeup FX prior to his time at our studio. With the pieces in place, all parts were sealed and patching began.
Any loose elements were supported and gaps bridged to help keep away future cracking. Several small horns were rubuilt and any skin that was fabricated was textured to match the original Savini sculpture. With repairs completed those patches were seamlessly blended with careful paint work. That work was strictly limited to the areas we repaired. This is called “in painting” and it helps us maintain as much of the original paint and material from this screen-used prop as possible.
Custom glass eyes were added to give the look of performer with the classic monster contacts from 1985!
Have an original movie or television prop in need of restoration or a unique display? Email or call today and let’s discuss your project!
