Arkham-ish armored Robin WIP

[harrisonp]

I’m absolutely terrible at documenting things as I work, but I’ve been free handing this armor for a week or two and now finally it is getting somewhere. I call it “Arkham-ish” because it’s not exactly adapted from any of the specific designs, but more inspired by the armored aesthetic of that universe.


Anyway here’s some pictures

the front is made from 2 layers of foam, the base is the thicker EVA floor mat, and the actual armor plates are 6mm foamies. Did the little dremel head trick to etch the “bolts”. I hand painted it with foam brushes dipped in spray paint to give it more dimension, and then went with the trust old Rub n Buff for the silver parts. Still need to get to work on the Robin symbol, but I’m not 100% sure which version I will be going with. You can see a little of the shoulder pads, but I’ve got a bit more work/refining to do with those before I’m happy with them.

The back is more foam mat, and the black detail panels are just scribed instead of 3D, didn’t feel like the back would be too visible anyway once I’ve got the cape on. The whole vest closes in 2 points at the side with 1in webbing and buckles, with 1.5in for the shoulder straps and buckles.

these are the bicep pads getting Plastidipped, the design is pretty much taken straight from the Arkham Origins Batsuit. Not much to see here, definitely will look nicer once painted, though I’m not sure what colors they will be, along with the shoulder pads.

I went with these shin guards that I see a lot of people using, cut the old elastic bands out and added some more 1in webbing and buckles. I will probably make a small sleeve/bracer to go under these to fill out the forearms more. I’ve plastidipped them for the texture, but they may not stay black, I’m still deciding.

last and least I’m experimenting with mask shapes and eyeballed this from one of those generic cheap face masks. It is a little too big in most of the proportions right now, so I will probably be trimming it down in the near future. Once I’m settled on a shape I plan to cover it with foam and most likely add white mesh eyes because I won’t be going the eyeblack route.


well anyway thanks for looking, hope to have some more of this done in the next few days or so.

 

[RingDeacon]

Very cool. I love the chest and back piece.

 

[harrisonp]

Very cool. I love the chest and back piece.

Thanks! I ended up going for a "vest" style set up after having some bad luck gluing foam to fabric. I really like how easy on and off it is, and I will most likely just wear a plain black compression shirt under it which is nice because I won't have to worry about anything ripping off.

 

[Bigbat23]

Very nice work! I will be watching this one.

 

[Athanasius]

I love this design, it's unique but still instantly recognisable... Awesome.

Well done harrisonp, it looks beautiful and I can't wait to see more!

 

[harrisonp]

So these aren't the best pictures but I wanted to get some more up tonight to show what I did today

Realized I forgot to weather the shoulder pads after taking this picture, but I'm really happy with the color

Arm guards weathered and painted green

The shin guards were done fully today so they missed the original post. Just some thrift store catchers pads

I've got 2 different capes but I'm not happy with either of them because they look like pure clean lycra and don't match the weathered look of the rest, still trying to figure that out.
Anyone have experience plastidipping fabric? I thought I might try that out


I hope to make some leg holsters for the batons/bo staff in the next few days but I've got to come up with a design first.

Thanks for checking this out its been a fun project and I'm excited to keep working on it!

 

[OneGoodScare]

This is SO cool. Very clean and badass looking! You can pretty much change the colors up and make different characters too, which is nice

 

[harrisonp]

This is SO cool. Very clean and badass looking! You can pretty much change the colors up and make different characters too, which is nice

Thanks! That is what I really like about it, nothing too specific to one character but once you dress it up it comes to life! For that reason I'm having some difficulty tackling the Robin logo, I initially thought I would do a layered foamie emblem, but now Im not sure I want something so permanent glued on there. At this point I'm leaning towards just stenciling it on with spray paint in 2D, won't be as fun or weatherable but will leave the armor able to be repainted in the future should I decide to go that way.

I did a quick fitting tonight over some compression gear I had on hand and my only issue with the overall look is that it is very dark/black, so I'm now thinking about possibly going for a yellow/gold belt where I had planned to use black, which would hopefully break up the dark sections and give it more dimension.

 

[OneGoodScare]

Thanks! That is what I really like about it, nothing too specific to one character but once you dress it up it comes to life! For that reason I'm having some difficulty tackling the Robin logo, I initially thought I would do a layered foamie emblem, but now Im not sure I want something so permanent glued on there. At this point I'm leaning towards just stenciling it on with spray paint in 2D, won't be as fun or weatherable but will leave the armor able to be repainted in the future should I decide to go that way.

I did a quick fitting tonight over some compression gear I had on hand and my only issue with the overall look is that it is very dark/black, so I'm now thinking about possibly going for a yellow/gold belt where I had planned to use black, which would hopefully break up the dark sections and give it more dimension.

A weathered yellow belt would give it a nice pop, while still retaining the overall look. As for the logo, maybe you can experiment with magnets? You can hide the magnets somewhere inside the suit so you can just pop the logo on and off

 

[harrisonp]

A weathered yellow belt would give it a nice pop, while still retaining the overall look. As for the logo, maybe you can experiment with magnets? You can hide the magnets somewhere inside the suit so you can just pop the logo on and off

I had thought about magnets a little bit, probably countersink them into the backside of the chest and then get a thin sheet to glue the foamie logo to, might just paint it though out of laziness ha. I've got one of those canvas ammo belts that a lot of people use for Bat builds but I bought some 2" webbing and a buckle the other day to possibly make my own out of foam, can't decide which I like better. I may try plastidipping the canvas belt first and see if I can get a good texture on it.

 

[harrisonp]

Wanted to add a small update, not really happy with the way this mask turned out but I may try to salvage it.

Another idea I am weighing is kind of out of left field but I was thinking some goggles like these and painting the frames black and the lenses white. It might be a little too "tactical" though

 

[Hazmat]

Looking good! Personally, I think those metal mesh goggles would look awesome and fit really well with the rest of what you have.

 

[harrisonp]

Looking good! Personally, I think those metal mesh goggles would look awesome and fit really well with the rest of what you have.

Thanks for the encouraging words, that mask was a train wreck when I was trying to put it together. The hot glue made the plastic mask warp and reform as I tried to hold the foamie on and get it shaped. Then part of it ripped so that's where that seam in the middle came from when I cut half of it away to try again.

Overall not stellar results but I've just seen a tutorial for molding foamies between two plastic Batman masks so I might try that out

Not entirely sure what I even made this all for but I'm happy to be wrapping the bulk of the work up. Moving on to the bo will most likely be my next step once I get the mask sorted.

 

[da wesheb]

Wow. Excellent look. With your permission, I'd like to try and replicate this effect for my Batman build. Was going full fabric but this is fantastic!

 

[harrisonp]

Wow. Excellent look. With your permission, I'd like to try and replicate this effect for my Batman build. Was going full fabric but this is fantastic!

Absolutely! I wouldn't have been able to make any of this without great examples on therpf in the first place. You should also check out Reznor9's Arkham Origins build, his was a big inspiration to me.

 

[da wesheb]

Absolutely! I wouldn't have been able to make any of this without great examples on therpf in the first place. You should also check out Reznor9's Arkham Origins build, his was a big inspiration to me.

I definitely will! This presents new challenges but I believe it will create a much better final product. I can't wait to see yours in full glory.

 

[harrisonp]

Had some more progress with the mask, figure the only way to go is up after the fiasco of putting it together. Added some white wire mesh to help cover the eyes a bit, it isn't completely opaque and my eyes show a tiny bit but I much prefer it to open eyes.

Still not perfect but passable for now

 

[Hazmat]

If you want to hide that seam this stuff work pretty well


You can try putting another layer or two of that mesh if you want the eyes more opaque, just have the mesh at a different angle (90 degrees since you have about 45 degrees)

the mask turned out pretty well especially considering the trouble you had with it.

 

[harrisonp]

If you want to hide that seam this stuff work pretty well
View attachment 480312

You can try putting another layer or two of that mesh if you want the eyes more opaque, just have the mesh at a different angle (90 degrees since you have about 45 degrees)

the mask turned out pretty well especially considering the trouble you had with it.

I may have to give that a try, I'm not sure if I care enough about the seam or not because I might not even stick with this mask . I was thinking that the double mesh might be a good solution, got to see if it obscures it too much .

 

[Reznor9]

Everything is turning out great!
im curious as to your dremel head bolt method. How is it you have the etched bolt look?