WIP - 1966 / Jim Lee inspired Batman Suit (First attempt) & Help needed

Hi All-

I've been around for a while and never posted. A few years back I assembled a Snake Eyes costume when the first movie came out. That costume has been laying around for a bit and I've always wanted a Batman suit.

I've attached a photo of the Snake Eyes costume for reference.

I'm in the process and have attached a few pics with hopes some folks can make some suggestions.



In the Batman attached pic, I am making what I would call an updated 1966 -> Current day suit....as in, what would the classic 1966 suit look like merged with the Jim Lee style statue.

There are a couple of questions I have:

1. I'm thinking of using the Battfleck Bat Logo for the chest. Since the movie is coming out and trying to do an 'updated 1966' seems appropriate to use that logo. Lame? Other suggestions?

In the pic, I've shown 3 options I'm thinking of for the logo. Straight Black, Yellow w/ Black outline, or Black w/ yellow outline. Anyone have any suggestions on which one they like? What might look best?

2. I've taken my Snake Eyes Body Armor (from Xtreme Design FX) and have started painting it grey for the classic Batman look. One problem I'm running into that you can see on the mannequin, is making sure the cowl will stay attached and secured to the body armor.

I'm thinking of some kind of snaps or similar to attach. Anyone have any examples or better suggestions?

3. I'm leaning toward having all the "blue" areas of the suit painted toward the classic Navy Blue. Especially since the cape I have is coming in Navy Blue Satin. Looking for any feedback from anyone on that.

4. One thing I've always disliked about my body armor, as seen in the Snake Eyes pic, is the shoulders lifting off my arms due to the chest/shoulders all being one piece. I know I can cut the shoulders off and strap them to my own arms, just wondering what others have experienced or any suggestions.

Leave them as is? Cut them and attach to my arms?

5. I have some other parts still incoming:

Belt = Classic 1966 replica belt.
Cape = As seen in the Evolution props 1966 pic.

Any other suggestions or help appreciated!

Thanks
Ken

Any suggestions?

I've searched but couldn't find any tutorials or answers to some of the things I asked.

Thanks for any help.

1. I think this is a total preference thing, but I were doing this updated version, I would choose the black with yellow outline.

2. Snaps seem like a good idea. The other thing you could do is put the body armor over the cowl, so we won't see where the cowl ends, but will still allow you free movement of your head. That would be my first impulse.

3. I would keep the gray. It offsets the navy blue parts of the costume (boots, briefs, cape, cowl) very nicely. Too much navy blue might look like the DC Cinematic Universe Superman costume.

4. As long as you don't mind the separation, it seems like a good for the sake of appearance. In terms of attaching them to an undersuit, I would use an elastic band at the bottom, one that is loose enough so as not to mess with the shape. Then I would attach a snap toward the top of the "dome" of the shoulder to keep it secure. That way you can slide the shoulders on over your arms, thanks to the elastic, then snap them in place.

Hope that helps!

Appreciate the feedback greatly! Comments below your responses:

Vox said:

1. I think this is a total preference thing, but I were doing this updated version, I would choose the black with yellow outline.

2. Snaps seem like a good idea. The other thing you could do is put the body armor over the cowl, so we won't see where the cowl ends, but will still allow you free movement of your head. That would be my first impulse.

3. I would keep the gray. It offsets the navy blue parts of the costume (boots, briefs, cape, cowl) very nicely. Too much navy blue might look like the DC Cinematic Universe Superman costume.

4. As long as you don't mind the separation, it seems like a good for the sake of appearance. In terms of attaching them to an undersuit, I would use an elastic band at the bottom, one that is loose enough so as not to mess with the shape. Then I would attach a snap toward the top of the "dome" of the shoulder to keep it secure. That way you can slide the shoulders on over your arms, thanks to the elastic, then snap them in place.

Hope that helps!

Click to expand...

#1, I'm leaning toward the yellow outline. Seems appropriate and most people go with the all black logo, would like mine to be 'not the norm'.

#2, I used that method with the Snake Eyes costume. I may be over thinking this part. I also haven't test fit it on me with the cape going between the cowl and the body armor, so it may just work.

I may have been making an assumption since I've seen the panther/keaton style suits attach the cowl to the chest at the Batman logo. I was assuming this was to keep it secured and in place.


#3, Agreed.

#4, True. I think if I mess with the shoulders by removing them I'll cause other issues that could affect appearance.

REALLY appreciate the feedback. I'll keep posting pics as I progress. Hoping to get it done by Halloween this year.

Thanks,
Ken

[Small update]

Instead of painting the logo directly on the chest, I thought I'd try and make my own latex logo to attach to the chest armor.

I had never done a urethane mold and thought it would work well for this idea.

1. Started with a 3D printed Batman vs Superman styled logo.


2. Made a urethane mold of my 3D printed logo.


3. I was originally going to pour/cast a urethane logo until I read about problems with painting urethane. I decided to give latex a try and see how it came out. Not too bad for the first test.


4. After trimming and cutting the logo into the final shape, I took a few coats of black plasti-dip to see how it would look (not secured and attached yet). I also sprayed a couple of test pieces to figure out which blue I want to use. I'm still liking the navy:


Any suggestions on the best way to attach the latex logo to the chest?

Thanks,
Ken

I use the loctite 495 instant adhesive on everything! great job on your suit btw.
.

Quick update:

Over the weekend was playing with trying to make my own gauntlet/glove fins to add to my latex arm armor.

Hoping to get some feedback.

My own notes are:

They are too big in size.
I think I made them look too much like Orca fins.
I think they are a a blend between blocky and fish. I need to commit one way or the other.

*Notes the forearm armor will be painted 3/4 Navy blue to achieve a glove look. This was just a test fitting.

[UPDATED]

I went ahead and redid the fins for my gauntlet/glove.

I also painted the forearm armor 3/4 of the way up in blue to try and achieve the 'glove' look.


I decided to try and make the logo in a larger size. Below are two pics of what I'm deciding on.

Top = made out of latex
Bottom = urethane 30 shore, pigmented black but not yet painted.

[UPDATE]

Taking a stab at completing the gloves. I can't tell which glove I think works best.

Leaning toward #2 but kind of liking #1.

Any feedback appreciated.

Depends. The first one looks more practical in a 'down and dirty' batman kinda way. The second looks a little more customized comic-y classic batman. Which look are you going for?

Awesome build, by the way. Followed!

I think the second one matches the suit far better, Then again, even more so would be to paint some latex gloves to match. You could get a really smooth transition from wrist to glove.

this actually makes me wonder what you are doing for the undersuit, it seems there will be a big gap between the wrist armor and shoulder armor, that could a little funky if not filled in well. I was thinking that maybe some modded elbow pads could look pretty neat-o. Depends what you are goin for I guess.

SimonW said:

this actually makes me wonder what you are doing for the undersuit, it seems there will be a big gap between the wrist armor and shoulder armor, that could a little funky if not filled in well. I was thinking that maybe some modded elbow pads could look pretty neat-o. Depends what you are goin for I guess.

Click to expand...

I have a grey compression undersuit that hides the transition from elbow to shoulder.

I'll try to post a photo this weekend.

Didn't get a chance to take pics of the undersuit. Those will come sometime this week.

I have tried a couple of different applications for the gloves.

Below is a latex gloves version. I like how it's looking. I need to figure out a solution to keep the bunching at the wrist.

Here is an update while I was test fitting some pieces.

The body armor pants are still being working on.

I haven't applied the Batman logo to the chest yet since I am waiting on the cowl. I want to make sure I know where the cowl will hit before permanently putting it on the chest.

That looks sweeeet! Envious, much. Cant wait to see final fitting.

Another Update:

Received my pants and got to work on painting. Thanks to Xtreme Design FX for coming through again. Lance was the one who originally made my chest and arms for my Snake Eyes suit.

So now I have the chest, arms and legs all made by Lance at Xtreme Design FX.

Currently in progress with my Frank Miller style cowl from Rocketeer. I'll post pics of the test fitting once I get everything painted and strapped!

Thanks for looking!

-Ken

I love this costume!! I'm always excited to see a comic version of the batman costume. I see a lot of movie versions... some Arkham versions... but not near enough strait up COMIC versions. Great work!!

Just got done getting the eyes to work correctly....I hope.

Pretty happy with how it's turning out. My plasti dip paint is having a harder time sticking to this urethane in the cowl. Stuck much better to the body armor, but I'm making it work. I just need to be very careful not to stretch it too much when taking it on and off. Any suggestions welcomed.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks for looking.

Here is my first attempt at test fitting. Some minor things to work out but liking the look.