Krampus Mask Step-by-Step

A second mask I’ll be sending out on the streets of LA this December.   Thumbnails show construction process.  Note that curved plastic conduit served as base over which hollow goat horns can be easily be positioned in a variety of trial positions (three  variations shown).  Cardboard and hot-glue build up basic shape, strengthened by a coating of mixed resin and  Bondo.  Some epoxy putty details, fine line and texture provided by dremel, a few layers of dry-brushed color, and it’s ready for a mane of custom-sewn hair wefts.

— Krampus  Ridenour

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Kudu Krampus

A particularly large Krampus  topped  with 24″ Kudu horns will wander the streets of LA this December.  A cardboard and fiberglass creation crafted by LA Krampus co-founder Al Ridenour.  Hair and beard to come.  Photos below show the construction process. (Note: drop of blood from X-acto knife mishap on tooth. Blood is now part of Krampus.  It feeds him.)

While alpine goat, sheep, and ram horns are most common and traditional, all manner of  exotic animals have lent their horns to European Krampus festivities including African Ibex and Kudu.

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Kustom-Kulture Krampus

Krampus LA co-founder Al Guerrero’s  has completed a Big-Daddy-Roth-inspired mask so monumental in scale  we need a wider lens for those towering horns and endless tongue. As you might guess, Al is also the designer of our So-Cal inflected Krampus LA logo featured in the banner above.  Our European cousins overseas may have four centuries more experience, but we’ve still got hometown pride!

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What? No Masks?

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Finally an answer for those of you who want a Krampus costume, but just can’t bring yourselves to buy or make the mask! There is, in a certain region of Germany, a style of Krampus  that does not wear a sculpted mask (actually, it goes by a different regional name, but let’s not quibble).  Along with the unusual substitution of fur hoods for maks, they also use atypical bull horns and even deer antlers (vs. the usual goat horns).  So, now you have an excuse to dodge the mask.  Just don’t scrimp on the horns!