Batman Arkham Knight Cape

[antonisk1]

So, as the title suggests, this is a discussion for the batman cape from the arkham knight game. I want you to share your capes, heroes, and if you can post a tip or two about making capes, for beginners like me. Also, a question of mine, how do you make creases on the cape like batman's?

Notice: If there's anything about this post, tell me, since this is my first time posting here. Thanks.

 

[pastadude]

Hey Antonisk,

Welcome to the forum! Let's jump right in to it:

There are a LOT of ways to make Batman capes. A lot a lot. They range from inexpensive and easy to insanely complex and expensive... it all just depends on how "accurate" you want to be. The nice thing about Arkham Knight is that it's a video game, so it's open to interpretation as to what material you want to use. I'd suggest a pleather, since it'll be more cost-effective and will give you the dark shadowy look that so many Batman costumers prefer. If budget isn't a constraint, then textured latex is how they did it in almost all the movies, although the Christian Bale Batman went with a darker crushed velvet look - which was great at absorbing light, and was a lighter material, so it was more 'flowy,' although to me it always looked furry. (and I was a Batman at the Six Flags Batman Begins stunt show for 3 years, so I was near those things every day).

Then there's the matter of patterns. There should be a few different patterns readily available online for free - I'll see if I can pull up any of my old ones. The trick with the Arkham suits is that most of them had a yolk - a heavier neck draping, or the part that's in front of his shoulders when he's standing still. If I remember right though, Arkham Knight DIDN'T have that, and it actually just hung off the shoulders to the back... so all the better! One thing that is different about the Arkham Knight cape though is that the back panels were split in to two sections - the uppers and the lowers. Which really should just be layering panels to your liking, but maybe I'm wrong? In hindsight, I wish I had taken better photos when they had the Arkham Knight art exhibit down at SDCC, but these are the photos that best showcase what I'm talking about:


You can see that the panels that split the back are highlighted with white paint in the earlier images, with a completely different piece on the upper back. Since the cape mostly drapes behind, you really shouldn't need to worry about "wingspan" too much, unless you plan on doing some elaborate poses.

As with all things, I'd pattern it out on paper one piece at a time, and once the paper looks to be about the right size, I'd transfer it to a cheap fabric like muslin to just quickly whip things up. If everything's looking good, then it's time to pick your final material and hop to sewing!

I hope any of this has helped, but I'm sure a lot of others around here will be able to help you out too, and hopefully you'll get your cape licked in no time!

-M

 

[antonisk1]

Hey Antonisk,

Welcome to the forum! Let's jump right in to it:

There are a LOT of ways to make Batman capes. A lot a lot. They range from inexpensive and easy to insanely complex and expensive... it all just depends on how "accurate" you want to be. The nice thing about Arkham Knight is that it's a video game, so it's open to interpretation as to what material you want to use. I'd suggest a pleather, since it'll be more cost-effective and will give you the dark shadowy look that so many Batman costumers prefer. If budget isn't a constraint, then textured latex is how they did it in almost all the movies, although the Christian Bale Batman went with a darker crushed velvet look - which was great at absorbing light, and was a lighter material, so it was more 'flowy,' although to me it always looked furry. (and I was a Batman at the Six Flags Batman Begins stunt show for 3 years, so I was near those things every day).

Then there's the matter of patterns. There should be a few different patterns readily available online for free - I'll see if I can pull up any of my old ones. The trick with the Arkham suits is that most of them had a yolk - a heavier neck draping, or the part that's in front of his shoulders when he's standing still. If I remember right though, Arkham Knight DIDN'T have that, and it actually just hung off the shoulders to the back... so all the better! One thing that is different about the Arkham Knight cape though is that the back panels were split in to two sections - the uppers and the lowers. Which really should just be layering panels to your liking, but maybe I'm wrong? In hindsight, I wish I had taken better photos when they had the Arkham Knight art exhibit down at SDCC, but these are the photos that best showcase what I'm talking about:
View attachment 986674 View attachment 986675 View attachment 986676 View attachment 986677

You can see that the panels that split the back are highlighted with white paint in the earlier images, with a completely different piece on the upper back. Since the cape mostly drapes behind, you really shouldn't need to worry about "wingspan" too much, unless you plan on doing some elaborate poses.

As with all things, I'd pattern it out on paper one piece at a time, and once the paper looks to be about the right size, I'd transfer it to a cheap fabric like muslin to just quickly whip things up. If everything's looking good, then it's time to pick your final material and hop to sewing!

I hope any of this has helped, but I'm sure a lot of others around here will be able to help you out too, and hopefully you'll get your cape licked in no time!

-M

Hey PastaDude! So, i have made a small pattern already for the cape( ill upload it asap) and i will most likely use pleather for the cape, with some paints to give it a weathered look. For those photos you took, i have found some more in rocksteady's arkham knight page which can give everyone a better look at the suits. I have found a couple pepakura files for the neck and shoulders pieces, and i think i will most likely stack foam on top of each other for the layered look. I'll post progress as soon as i have anything new, but until then, thanks for your help!

 

[RavenArt]

The Arkham Knight is one of the most complex capes of all the Batman capes. I have only come across one vendor that sells them and they are on Etsy.. Most people end up making their own. There are 3 different "layers" to the pattern on the back of the cape. Mine turned out to be 24 individual sections that I sewed together to get the right look. I attached a photo of one of the action figures for reference.