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This is the sketch that Aveloc and I finally agreed on, after a fair amount of back and forth....
... and this is the pattern, derived from the sketch and from meausurements of the original helm we'll be retrofitting.
The stainless steel blank, cut out and somewhat sunken to approximate a face shape.
The overall nose/upper lip area has been further sunken, and hit with a torch to normalize the steel.
Things are pushed out a little farther here, to give me enough material to raise.
Which is what happened here. The rough shape of the nose has been worked over a stake, pushing all of the material that's not nose shaped (and/or upper lip shaped) back down into the face.
Having realized that the face in profile looks really silly, I've started to push out the chin after heating and normalizing the area first.
The bridge of the nose has been further refined over a stake, and the lips are roughed out from the back.
 
 
Having roughed out the shape of the eyes and brows, I've now filled the back of the face with lead, and started working the features over with various tools from the front.
This has had a noticeable effect on the definition of the nose and mouth, as well as the overall shape of the face.
The lead's out, and I've done some planishing to start smoothing away the tool marks. I've also worked the bridge of the nose and the area between the eyes over the stake a little more.
I've now pushed the basic shape of the beard out from the back, using some homebrew chisels and a lead block.
Hey! I can see! And breathe!
After some polishing. Yes, Ugo, I kind of like the patinaed look, too, but the customer is always right.
The text to be etched, and the details of the eyebrows and beard, are laid out with enamel paint markers.
... just some further detailing, here.
The mask immediately after coming out of it's ferric chloride bath. The black stuff is a residue left by the chemical reaction between the steel and the solution. I thought it looked cool; hence, the picture.
And, what we're finally left with, after some time with a buffer.