'89 Keaton build - wetsuit question

Gatekeeper

Sr Member
I've decided to go the neoprene (yes, hot n' sweaty) route when making my Keaton batsuit. The original '89 suit was made of spandex, but I would like my complete batsuit to have a uniform look in terms of shine - without a Plasti-Dip treatment.

So I've set my eyes on a custom-made triathlon suit in all black, smoothskin neoprene. My question is - would smoothskin cause any problems when it comes to gluing the armor pieces to the suit - will it stick to it like it would to standard neoprene? Would using urethane or latex armor make any difference in terms of adhesion to neoprene?

Your expertise is needed, Batmen of the RPF...
 
Thanks! Good to hear... do you have any advice on neoprene thickness? I'm considering a 4 - 5 mm suit. Could the thickness cause any issues?
 
Thanks again. Will consider opting for thinner material. I'll have to check with manufacturer - shouldn't be a problem though...
 
The '89 Keaton was my first really good costume. I attached the pieces to a neoprene wet suit. BIG MISTAKE..it was like wearing a walking sauna. I would have to pour my gloves out hourly, the rest of my sweat ran into my boots, very squishy. If you have a full set of armor go with a lycra unitard, you will not regret it. As I am sure you know, "if you are uncomfortable, and hot in a costume it isn't much fun." Good air flow make for a happy costumer. Good luck with the batsuit, post some pix.
 
Yeah... not much fun at all. For my first Vader, I wore a pleather suit, which was plain awful. Was sweating immensely already during suit-up. Have a much thicker, 3-part undersuit now... in real leather. Huge improvement. A breeze to wear, actually.
So yeah, encapsulating oneself in plastic and rubber is not the comfiest thing to do, but you know... "for art!";) After all, us costumers are a tough bunch - we wander around in impossible outfits for hours... them fancy actors wore them for a few minutes at a time. Or maybe we're just a weird and OCD-ridden bunch, can't remember right now...

I am having second thoughts on the neoprene now. I just like the look of the smooth skin material so bad... still, for screen-accuracy, lycra might be the thing.

Won't the armor pieces make a thinner material such as lycra sag? I would love to have some structural integrity built into the costume.

Or would a thinner neoprene suit be just as bad as a thick one? I dunno... please enlighten me!
 
I have done the Keaton, and Dark Knight bat suits using a unitard for an under, never had any problems. You could use elastic staps on the chest, and thighs. No one will see your back because of the cape. I did Spawn using a full latex muscle front attached with straps. The cape hid the back, it looked pretty good, Melinda Clarke liked it. She was in the movie. You can purchase unitards made from a shiny material, it looks a lot like latex. If you want to do a full suit then it would support itself, and you could wear a unitard underneath.
You are right, we wear these hot as hell costumes, and walk around conventions for hours sweating our asses off because we like it. Is there something wrong with us? Nah...we love it...it's what we do!!!
 
I used a 'dive skin' when I built my Dark Knight suit. Worked great, was warm but not too bad. I think 4 or 5mm is way too thick. With a dive skin or even a warm water suit you should be able to find something in the 1 to 2.5mm range that wouldn't be so hot while still having a little more support for the armor than a lycra bodysuit.
 
Hey there, been out of the game for a while, would you guys recommend a one piece or two piece... see I bought a few years ago a Snake eyes chest and shoulders armor, it’s plastic though. I’d like to glue it on and avoid the straps look, but I fear it will be too heavy and cause sagging. I’m too young for sagging...
 
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