Madhouse Family Reviews: The Fox Press-Out Mask by Wintercroft review

The Fox, designed by Steve Wintercroft, is a fabulous press-out 3d mask. It comes in book form in a cardboard sleeve (which, to be honest, is a bit superfluous, because once you've made the mask, you don't need the book any more - we threw the book and sleeve away, which seemed wasteful).

There are 14 press-out pieces (not counting the wall hanging strips) which have various numbers on the tabs and edges. These show you which bits need to be stuck where as the corresponding numbers match up. In terms of instructions, this is all you get though - I did feel a bit lost to begin with, but I soon got the hang of it.

One side of the press-out pieces is fox-coloured (oranges and browns) and the inside is blue. The instructions do say that you can make it inside out if you want, following the folds in reverse, but I would think a blue fox looks a bit strange !

Here is the official photo, showing what the finished mask should look like. Would we rise to the challenge? It all sounds very simple on paper - the front cover optimistically declares that you'll only need half an hour to make it.

The introduction in the book explains that this is the first mask that the author created - there is also a Skull version available in the same range. It is designed for fancy dress parties and festivals but apparently has also been worn in music videos and fashion shoots.

The first job was pressing out all the pieces.

Then pre-folding everything along the dotted (inwards) and dashed (outwards) lines. I couldn't take any photos of the construction process because I already needed an extra pair of hands for cutting off pieces of sellotape and helping stick things in place. It took me ages to work out where the first bit went (the underside of the nose) but once I'd found and stuck that piece, it did all fall into place rapidly and fairly simply.

We were really impressed with how well it came out and the kids were delighted to have helped out. It probably took us about an hour because we got off to a few false starts but it was reasonably straightforward - kids would need help though, and even grown-ups will need an extra pair of hands.

Juliette and Sophie found it a bit too small for their heads but Pierre was over the moon to see that it fit him perfectly !

It's Fantastic Mr Fox ! In terms of fancy dress, it's fairly flimsy, so I would definitely go back over all the joints with extra sticky tape or maybe even staples. Pierre was jumping around all over the place though and it survived ! It's now been taken upstairs to be displayed on a shelf in Sophie's bedroom.