Dr. Beulenpest

  Tom’s second plague doctor mask, Dr. Beulenpest, is the original Steam Punk Plague Doctor character, created in 2010, before most people had ever heard the words “plague doctor”.

      “When I was working on my first plague doctor mask, making it as historically accurate as was practical, I kept thinking about how I could design and construct a steampunk version of the mask. Within a week after finishing The Furst plague doctor mask I began construction on Dr. Beulenpest (which means bubonic plague). I narrowed the beak down somewhat and added a cold cast metal tip, along with leather trim. I built two different eyepieces, both of cold cast metal and with acrylic lenses.

I added an additional leather strap and buckle going around the neck to hold the mask tighter to the face, and I hand-stitched a leather surround that runs around the perimeter of the mask, using decorative domed rivets for a stronger look. I also altered the pattern a bit, giving Dr. Beulenpest a sly smile. The leather was dyed violet, then antiqued black over that to give the mask a look of antiquity.”

-Tom Banwell