Batman 89 Cowl Paul "The Batsmith" Wares polyurethane TOO THIN

[DarthMarximus]

Hi,

It's a been a while since I've posted anything Batman related - normally I'm a Vader guy

I've read a lot of posts about trimming and finishing of cowls however I believe I have the opposite problem. I recently acquired an '89 Keaton Cowl directly from Paul "The Batsmith" Wares via eBay. The mold is excellent, as is the fit, as supposedly its lineage comes form a screen used cowl with retooled sections here and there. However I've noticed that the urethane is thin in a few areas - most noticeably:

Under the wearers left eye where the cowl opens to reveal the wearers face. The urethane is very, very thin. The same section found on the right-hand side of the cowl is thick and sits proud of the wearers face (just like every other cowl I've owned) and therefore it is very strong and structurally secure.

This is causing me 2 problems.

1. The left-side of the mask does not sit properly due to the the lack of latex material to help hold its structure and it therefore puckers outwards due to the lack of a latex ridge underneath.

2. I am now terrified to wear it anymore than I already have encase a rip or tear develops.

I hope I am making things clear I have also included pictures to try and explain my point. To me it seems as if an extra section of latex was trimmed off during the finishing process - unfortunately it is from a section that provides structural integrity to the check and facial section.

I have contacted Paul via eBay but not had any response as yet - (according to FB he's having a hell of a time of it) but what do you guys think - am I just being paranoid? And can anyone here recommend a way to thicken up this section of the cowl?

 

[drftfan]

You would need to add urethane to that area but I doubt it will solve the puckering issue. It is a urethane cowl. As long as you are careful you most likely wont rip it. I would try and get it exchanged though.
Urethane cowls are all hand laid up so there will almost always be some differences in the thick and thinness of them. It just is the way it is unfortunately. But that area really does appear too thin which, because of the lack of structure probably will never display or wear correctly.

 

[DarthMarximus]

You would need to add urethane to that area but I doubt it will solve the puckering issue. It is a urethane cowl. As long as you are careful you most likely wont rip it. I would try and get it exchanged though.
Urethane cowls are all hand laid up so there will almost always be some differences in the thick and thinness of them. It just is the way it is unfortunately. But that area really does appear too thin which, because of the lack of structure probably will never display or wear correctly.

Thanks drftfan - thats what I was afraid of - damn. Hope I get a response soon from Paul (I only sent an eBay PM yesterday) so we shall see. I hate being a pain like this especially when its someones time and effort that is being scrutinized - but then again this hobby aint cheap either and I did purchase it with the intent to build a display and ComicCon 89 outfit.

 

[brunop]

I also bought from him most of 89' pieces including cowl.
Still waiting to be shipped after some delays.

I am worried now about how is my cowl going to be

 

[vader45]

I ordered Returns body armor from him in 2015. He missed the dead line so many times I just asked for a refund and sold the rest of the costume. That was all I needed

 

[Mr Mold Maker]

I had one of his cowls on order, knowing full well he was known to miss deadlines.. well, he was getting these cowls out and I saw back to back to back people posting cowls that had issues on Facebook. Bent ears, too thin, uneven... refund please.

 

[dontfeedmyego]

I bought a cowl from him, same issue, very thin, it actually tore in shipping.
he offered a replacement.
5 months of chasing it and i ended up just opening a PayPal claim.
return payment was done via PayPal cheque (who knew it existed?) took nearly 2 months for it to clear.

 

[pastadude]

Not for nothing, but you could always add foam to it, see if that'll help? Or very very carefully add some urethane?