TDKR - Obsidiank 2012 Batman Eva Foam Build

Hi everyone. I’m very excited to finally be able to start one of these threads. I’ve been doing research for the last few weeks but it feels like forever and now I’m ready to actually start my build. I’ve absorbed the best tips from lots of threads and I’m hoping to incorporate them into one definitive post. Hopefully, everyone can benefit in the spirit of sharing that is the RPF. Ok so let’s get started.

Cost Breakdown: I’m starting with cost because at the end of the day I think money drives a lot of foam builds. Here’s what I’ve found out

UD Replica Full Suit, Cowl, Cape, Belt - $2000
Hell’s Kitchen Full Replica Suit – 2x to 4x cost of UD Suit but totally worth it
Budget Foam Build - $50 - $600 depending on how you skimp.
Rubies Store bought - $50 - $400 - blah!!

I’m going with the foam build and here’s everything I’ve bought assuming you have nothing:

TDK Cowl – Coolfunkcurly - $230 shipped
6mm EVA Foam – Best Step Anti-Fatigue Mats - $25.00
Walmart - Hot Glue Gun with 50 glue sticks - $17.00
Walmart - Wagner Heat Gun - $22.00
Joann's - Craft Foam – $1.50/sheet @ 10 sheets $15.00
Walmart - Exacto Knife with 20 blades - $5.00
Mesh Fabric – Poly Mesh $30.00
Walmart Basic Morph Suit - $20
Amazon - Gotham 100 Boots - $65
Amazon - Plastic Belt - $15.00
Amazon - Carbon Fiber Vinyl Wrap - $5.00
Batnissmo - Cape - $100
Amazon Carbon Fiber Motocycle Gloves Mesh Gloves - $28
Pyramex White Bump Cap - $12.00


So in total I am spending almost $600 on this build but I started with nothing and this is my first build ever. So clearly that’s actually a lot of money but I’m also paying a premium on a few items like my under suit, cowl, and cape. Anyways, your mileage will vary.

First, a shout out to the threads that have help me build my master plan:

Sonjou's thread that has all the templates I used
Alex's all foamies speed build with video
jacksadventure foam and leather build
darranged's replica suit build with pictures galore
Familyman's tutorial on how to shape shoulder bells using helmets

I will add more as I go.

The BUILD

First, I printed out the templates. Once all the templates were printed out, I made a paper suit to make sure it fits me and it does. I'm 5' 10'', 210lbs, medium build. I plan to lose 15lbs before I actually get into this suit.



Chest Piece. Check this thread to understand how to use the “valley/mountain” technique to build curves. I scored the back and then used hot glue to fold.





Chest Piece with the bat thrown in. Still need to do the border and carbon fiber the pec



I decided to replicate how the HC suit comes as one-piece body armor and so my template is cut to reflect the same.

Here’s where I’m at so far. Here's the foam plan. 6mm eva for the body, chest, back, and shoulder bells. 2mm craft foam doubled up to form a thin border and thickness so 4mm thickness for all legs, abs. Combo of 6mm eva and craft to make gauntlets.



Ok, so working on the shoulder bells is a pain but found a great tutorial on it from familyman. I've added that to my links. Took me a while to find a helmet that would work but a quick image search found that the helmet familyman uses are actually called bump caps and can be found on amazon for $6 a piece. Good deal.





and here's me in my cowl that I received from Coolfunkcurly



I can only work on this Mon-Wed so this will be my only update this week. More to come next week. Lots more to come as I plan to build all the pieces, plastic dip everything, carbon fiber wrap all relevant piece, sew a mesh suit, and then finally put it all together. I plan to have this finished out in time for halloween.

Thanks to all the amazing peoples on this board for all their insights.

Really, really nice.

Great job on the chest! :thumbsup

looking great!

Ill be watching this for some great tips on how to get certain folds done.. Love the fact you posted where to get all the stuff so anyone can get a suit made for 600!. Just a suggestion that might make it a little more rugged. Try using plastidip in a spray formula on your finished pieces to give them a layer of coating that is a black, slightly rubberized film that will make it look less foam and more like a urethane piece.

Nice work on the chest! I was racking my brain on how to do the chest and just couldn't figure it out so I did my own thing.

great work !

Looks absolutely killer so far! Subscribed!

Subscribing to this as well. Deciding between Bane and Bats for Halloween, and this is pushing me in the Bats direction if the build looks solid and for that price!

cant wait to see more dude!

It amazes me what people can do with foam. Love the chest so far

Any updates on this. Looke epic!

hey folks. Sorry for the lack of updates. I took a few weeks off and went traveling and then spent a good week failing to make the shoulder bells the way I like them..and then basically crashed out. I am back though with great news.

Shoulder bells are back on track!




I gotta trim it and do details but obviously it's the right shape now.

main post updated with details

oh, here's the cowl that came in already too.

Really interesting, the chest is looking great

lookin' stellar so far bro. keep buildin', keep postin'!

Very cool so far. Thanks for adding all of the links in one place. I'm a complete novice when it comes to foam and am really thinking about heading in that direction.

Looking forward to seeing your progress.

Hey everyone. Can't believe it's October already. Just a few short weeks left and I am way far behind. I'm kind of a perfectionist so between the chest not coming out the way I wanted and the shoulders I've just been putting things off. Anyways, decided to tackle the chest again. I will call his chest piece mark II and I think I hit it on the nail. My two main concerns was how to get the lower chest piece to curve out instead of just lie flat. I ended making a brand new template for myself because the one from soujou was a tad too small. I'm including it so you guys can use it if you want.

So the basic idea is one base piece using the template. On top of the I add a second layer which is just the lower chest that I have curved using the bump cap technique.

With that taken care of my next challenge was the underguard piece. It's supposed to be one single piece and I made a new template for this too. That template I still have to scan.

Anyways, here's the original



and here's the mark II. I'm really happy with it. What do you think?



Anyways, its 12am so I'm gonna hit the sack. But I will pick up the pace in the next few weeks. Stay tune.

Much improved bro! loads better!

Thanks, really happy with this version. Just plastidipped it and it looks pretty awesome.



Here is the new template I used for the chest.