89 Batman cape-which material was used?

[Darth 123]

Hi,

I like to get some more info on the original Batman 89 capes.

Out of which material exactly were they made?

Idon´t think that pure latex was used because the inner surface is rough as can be seen in many pics.

Please help me!


Thanks,

 

[Mike Rush]

The Batman edition of Cinefex had a good explanation of the process.

From memory (I'm at work) Bob Ringwood researched everything including bondage clothing to get ideas. In the end they made a large flat table which was sprayed with black latex and then pre-cut sections of (wool?) fabric were laid on.

I'll post the exact wording tonight, if nobody else has.

 

[xardoz]

The Batman edition of Cinefex had a good explanation of the process.

From memory (I'm at work) Bob Ringwood researched everything including bondage clothing to get ideas. In the end they made a large flat table which was sprayed with black latex and then pre-cut sections of (wool?) fabric were laid on.

I'll post the exact wording tonight, if nobody else has.

IIRC, there was an article in Film Threat magazine back then that said it was rubberized wool, although they didn't get into the technique.

 

[doody]

There were 8 wedges covered with a highly random patterned textured vynl. That is is the trick. If you use a repeatable textured vynil, it ends up looking like a shower curtain. finding a random patterned lot is hard. So then the vynl is pulled taunt over each of the 8 pie shaped boards. then joint together. Then you spray latex rubber in, in thin thin layers. Then you back it with worsted wool. Big problem was getting the rubber to soak into the worsted wool on every inch. worsted wool is a very tight weave shrunk fabric, and expensive. Press hard. very big space is required. That's just the begining of the whole 89 cape thing.

 

[tetsuyacasshern]

I think you can achieve the look of by buying sheet latex laying it flat on a table using liquid latex and embedding a layer of cheesecloth into it then after it dries paint on a layer of black plasti-dip with desired rough brush. But there are a few capes in the movie a stunt cape which is lighter and less textured, a dramatic cape with inserts to put dowels in and spread like wings, and the acting cape that you see the clearest in the movie. The acting cape looks like that really rough latex.

For better advice go to brotherhood of the bat

 

[Mike Rush]

From Cinefex #41:

Ringwood had originally planned to make the headpiece and the cape as one unit, but reconsidered when it became apparent that the headpiece was particularly vulnerable to damage. To avoid having to replace the cape every time the headpiece was replaced - which was often - the two were made separately, then attached each time the suit was put on by gluing a scallopshaped collar at the bottom of the headpiece onto the shoulder section of the cape.

The cape itself - though seemingly the least complicated part of the Batman costume - was actually the most problematic. "The cape was by far the most difficult thing to construct. We tried making a cape of pure rubber - to match the rubberized look of the rest of the costume - but we found that it moved in a very unattractive way, rippling rather than swinging. So then we did a variety of tests with different fabrics, trying to find something that would move in the way we wanted. What we came up with was a venetian wool that is very heavy and luxurious and expensive. To match it to the rest of the costume, we sprayed wet rubber onto glass and then vary carefully laid the woolen fabric down and smoothed it out with rollers. After the rubber set, we would peel the whole thing off the glass and the fabric would be bonded to the back of it. The only problem with it was that we could not sew it together. The cape had been constructed in segments like an orange - each piece going out from the center - but we could not sew those sections together without getting terribly heavy, dutzy-Iooking seams. So we got Paul Barrett Brown, who is a rubber specialist - he makes rubber fetish clothes for the sex market, so he knew an awful lot about rubber - and we put this problem to him. He suggested that we make an enormous table covered in highly polished vinyl. The table was fourteen feet in diameter and, like the cape, was constructed in orangelike segments. We sprayed the rubber on this enormous table and the fabric was cut to fit each segment exactly - without any overlap - so the seams just butted up together. So it was the rubber itself that bonded the cape. We then reinforced the seam areas just slightly with a very fine piece of silk gauze which was laid right into the rubber. That worked beautifully - we were able to construct this enormous cape without any sewing on it at all."

Because of its weight, attaching the cape to the costume required extensive hardware. "Michael wore a body harness underneath the costume," Ringwood explained. "The body harness had two bolts at the shoulders and the cape was literally screwed into those bolts on each side. The hardware was covered by the bat symbol which was bolted onto the chest. So there was a lot of understructure holding the cape in place - if there had not been, the weight of it when he swung around would have tom the entire costume right off of his body."

Once the prototype was perfected, several capes of varying lengths were produced. "We made thirty-five or forty capes all together. Some of them were about five feet long, reaching from Michael's neck to the ground. others were a bit shorter so that he could get in and out of the batmobile easily. Then, for shots where he is flying up a wire or floating down into a scene, we made capes that were eight to ten feet long, just for the visual effect. We used a a lighter-weight material for those so that the cape would lift and flow nicely in flight. In some instances we even used a parachute material."

 

[Funky]

Holy crap! :eek I never knew the cape was that involved!

 

[PadawanLearner]

to quote Edna, No CAPES!!!

 

[Darth 123]

Hi,

thanks very much for the very helpful input!

I think I´ll do the folloing:

Will buy some worsted wool - Cut it in to eight pieces and cover that with latex.
After some trial and error it´s seams that the best way for me to apply the latex is by roler.

Then I´ll have the 8 pieces sewn together. However I don´t know the exact dimensions of the eight pieces and the semi circles at the bottom.

Can anybody help me with this?

I have taken some pics of my test efforts - what do you think? (I´ll probably need to apply a few more layers of latex to it)










Thanks!

 

[SonOfPumpkinhead]

That looks FANTASTIC! MAKE ME A CAPE!!!

As for the pattern, it depends on your height. There are patterns floating around the BOTB so check there, do a search. They're set up to do the full 8 panel 89-Returns capes but allow you to alter the length to your height. Check 'em out.

 

[Darth 123]

That looks FANTASTIC! MAKE ME A CAPE!!!

As for the pattern, it depends on your height. There are patterns floating around the BOTB so check there, do a search. They're set up to do the full 8 panel 89-Returns capes but allow you to alter the length to your height. Check 'em out.

I´m sorry I don´t know what BOTB is. Can you explain it?

Thanks!

 

[TK-4140]

Schau mal in Deine Emails Joshy da hast Du alle Infso zum BOTB.

Gruß Guido

 

[Darth 123]

Thanks a lot-Guido!

 

[clayslinger]

I was in the "Batshop" during Returns and saw one of the capes being made.
The nice chap making it used an acrylic rolling pin to smooth and bond the fabric into the wet latex.

If memory serves, he said he sprayed one layer, let dry.
Spray another layer, imbed the two inch wide silk reinforcement at the seams.Let dry.
Spray a third layer and bond fabric. Let dry.

The table was huge and covered in a light blue-ish/aqua textured vinyl if I recall correctly.

I held a finished cape with the aluminum attachments from the first film.It weighed a ton!!

Hope this helps,
Chuck...

 

[THStudio]

Keep in mind their process had the mindset of making multiples, it would be a hell of a lot easier on one of projects. Use the concrete garage is a flat service, clean first. Clean up is as simple as pulling mario brothers koopa strands off the floor.

I appreciate all of your explanation of this process, it was new to me.

 

[Darth 123]

Hi,

here is a pic of the cape fastening. clayslinger has mentioned that the plates were aluminium. Does anyone know if there were more than one separated plate?



On the other picture there seem to be two holes for attaching those plates on the chest armor.
Is this so- whats your opinion?



I´ve seen some pics as well where below the mask there is an oval canvas piece attached to the cape plates as well.

How do you think this works?

This is what I made:



Thanks very much for your help!

 

[Alien]

One has to wonder why they didn't make something much more practical. I've read the entire Keaton Batman suit weighed a ton. You'd think they'd have asked themselves, could somebody fight crime in this getup? Don't get me wrong, the end result is very pleasing aesthetically. I just would have thought they'd do something a little more lightweight like the Bale Batman suits.

Then again the Aliens pulse rifle is extremely impractical due to weight and ergonomics, but anybody talking down on it is a blasphemer in my book.

 

[Proximo]

Hi,
I´ve seen some pics as well where below the mask there is an oval canvas piece attached to the cape plates as well.

How do you think this works?

Thanks very much for your help!

My Screen Used Clooney Cowl from B&R have a similiar canvas, The Harness/Chest/Cowl/Cape and Emblem were all bolted together in that area (Not sure wich exact order). That system for the '89 suit started it but they used it on the Returns,Panther and Clooney too.

 

[Darth 123]

My Screen Used Clooney Cowl from B&R have a similiar canvas, The Harness/Chest/Cowl/Cape and Emblem were all bolted together in that area (Not sure wich exact order). That system for the '89 suit started it but they used it on the Returns,Panther and Clooney too.

Is your Clooney Harness canvas latexed too?

Thanks!

 

[nick daring]

Here's some images of the 89 cape being sprayed-

They are from screen caps from this 89 documentary -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rujArU3il8

Nick