"Gen 3" Launch FAQ
With the launch of our new “Gen 3” Mask range, we feel that people might have a lot of questions, so we put together this FAQ to try and answer the questions we expect people might have. Hopefully this provides the answers people are looking for and paints a good picture of what we are trying to achieve in the future!
FAQ
What is “Gen 3”?
“Gen 3” is a new framework for our masks going forward, with features like removable hair and interchangeable irises built in from the start, as well as lots of room to expand for different accessories or styles in the future.
Why are we changing?
We found that the older “Gen 2” masks were too restricting and prevented us from working on lots of fun projects and have also caused the projects that we did accept to take longer than we would have liked. We hope that “Gen 3” will give us lots of flexibility to make lots of changes and allow us to work on a wider range of projects.
I had a character planned for one of the Gen 2 styles, will it still work with the new masks?
Yes, the new “Gen 3” masks have all of the same options as the older “Gen 2” masks that they are replacing, if you have already planned what options you would pick for a character, you should find that all of them options still exist but there will be some new options that you might want to consider.
What will the quality be like?
We hope that the quality of these new masks will be higher than our older masks. We designed these masks with quality in mind from the start, for example the removable irises are much harder to misalign, while it was fairly easy for the irises in the older “Gen 2” masks to be glued in the wrong position or orientation.
I have heard they are 3D printed, will it break on me?
In short, no. Whilst we don’t recommend it, we have dropped them, stood on them and definitely knocked them off a table multiple times by mistake and we are yet to cause any visible damage to a mask. All our masks and accessories will be 3mm thick and are printed in a reinforced resin to ensure that they are strong, so it would take considerable force to cause major damage. We have designed them to ensure there will be no trapped liquid resin, so if for some reason a mask or accessory does break, you won’t have to worry about cleaning up a puddle on your floor.
Why change to 3D printing?
The main reason is safety. We want to stop working directly with fiberglass and resins as it is bad for our health; Emily has been producing masks with these materials for over 10 years now, but with the advancement of technology she wants to stop working with these materials to reduce the chance of any long-term health issues from happening. The new reinforced resin printed masks are instead printed externally by an expert company who takes on a lot of the risks and has their own safety practices in place.
As Gen 3 masks are modular, can I buy the parts separately?
Yes, you can buy additional shells, wigs and eyes as separate products, they are available under the Components section of our website. All separate components retain relevant options from the main mask page and are finished to the same standard as they would be for a finished mask.
Will open mouths be added?
Yes, this is a large reason why we are moving to “Gen 3”, as it will allow us to add open mouths to the website. We initially focused on being able to launch “Gen 3” with all the same options as the “Gen 2” masks, though now that all 3 mask styles are released, adding open mouths to all mask styles is our next focus.
One of the example masks has a highlight in the hair, is this option I can pick?
Currently, no, however we do want to add it in the future. We are still in the process of experimenting with the best way to add highlights to the hair on our masks, so we want to spend some more time refining the process before we make it available as an option.
What options are you planning to add to the mask?
We have a lot of different plans on what to add to the masks themselves from different mouth shapes, lots more ears and also a selection of different eye shapes. We hope that, in the end, the different mask styles will be mostly for the shape of the face, whilst most of the options will be available on each mask style. We do also have plans for more features like alternative eyebrows, a different method for eyelashes and a different type of hair styling to add completely different styles to our masks and what we offer to customers.
What sort of accessories do you think you will make?
Currently we have lots of plans for accessories, ranging from animal ears, horns, hair bands, glasses, ponytails and hair buns. We do have lots of plans for each type of accessory to make it configurable, for example for animal ears there will be different types of animals, styles, materials, colours and sizes, so it may take us a while to add everything that we have planned. Therefore, as we do not expect to be finished designing these accessories any time soon, we instead decided it would be best to add each option when it is ready and expand on it over time.
Will you do solid hair?!?
Yes, though it will still be some time until it is ready. Using the knowledge gained from a solid hair prototype we made using a Semi-Custom (“Gen 1”) mask, we designed our “Gen 3” masks so that solid hair can be added in the future without us having to change the design of the mask shells. Once solid hair has been finished, you should be able to remove the normal hair on a mask and replace it with solid hair, so both existing and future “Gen 3” masks should be compatible with solid hair once it is ready. We will first be working on a new series of core options for “Gen 3” that will expand on the range of features available, after which we will be able to continue developing solid hair.
Why does it take longer than the old masks?
To put it simply, there are 2 reasons; firstly unlike with “Gen 2”, “Gen 3” mask shells do not exist before someone buys the mask, as they are instead made on demand. We also want to ensure that we have enough time to comfortably finish peoples masks without rushing or missing deadlines, so people can have more confidence that they will get their mask on time.
Why does it cost more?
As covered in a previous blog post in more detail, there is a couple of factors as to why it costs more. Firstly, we have had to raise how much we pay ourselves per hour to stay above the legal minimum for the UK. Secondly, we have increased how much we pay into the company from each sale to cover a lot more development, mostly to cover all of the fun stuff we want to make for “Gen 3”. We decided not to change the price of “Gen 2” masks, as it made sense to introduce these extra costs with “Gen 3” masks instead, as their lower production costs help to balance out the extra costs listed above.
Why does the Alice style cost more than the Ami and Anna styles?
We did all we could to keep the price of each shell style the same, however as the Alice shell is noticeably bigger than the other styles, it makes it more difficult to print due to both using a greater volume of material and restricting the number of shells and/or additional items that can be printed at the same time. We tried to cut the cost of printing by splitting the shell into two parts, however the cost of the additional materials and time needed to properly secure the halves together resulted in an almost unchanged final cost. We still plan to look into ways of offering the Alice style without the extra cost, but there is unfortunately no quick solution to this problem.
I have made my own accessory, will it work with the new masks?
All accessories that people have made for “Gen 2” masks should also work on a “Gen 3” mask, for the most part the size and position of the nose and ears should be the same, while the location of the eyes should be very similar. The hair might be slightly larger due to the added place for the removable hair, but we do not expect this to impact many people’s accessories that they may have made themselves.
I already have a backplate, will it fit on a new “Gen 3” mask?
In our testing, a “Gen 2” backplate will fit onto the “Gen 3” mask, but it is not a tight fit. If you already own a backplate you can use it with a new “Gen 3” mask, but if you do not, then we highly recommend you get a new “Gen 3” backplate as it is designed to be a much better fit for the “Gen 3” masks. At this point in time, we have only tested an Ami mask and backplate, we do not know if an Alice or Anna “Gen 2” backplate will fit onto an Alice or Anna "Gen 3" mask.