Batman Hybrid Suit

[Goodnight29]

Hello!

I haven't made a post since May 2016 and want to get back involved with the community. I've made a few costumes out of foam but about a year ago I challenged myself and completed an Arkham Knight Batman suit out of EVA foam. This was more detailed than anything I had attempted before. I now want to push myself a little further and try something a little more difficult. This one won't be as complex as the AK suit, but the techniques used are a little more difficult in my opinion.

I found a template from XiengProd on Etsy that I really like. He calls it an Arkeaton Batsuit. It's a hybrid of the Arkham Knight Batsuit from the Arkham Knight game and of the Michael Keaton version Batsuit.

I started out by making the ab piece as this is the part using a technique I've never done before. Essentially you draw out the pattern on the foam, cut halfway through the foam along those lines, and then heat and shape it into the form needed.

I started out making quick test piece of the ab piece. I ripped it in 2 places from applying too much pressure.


The actual piece was a slightly thicker and heavier EVA foam. It is smooth on both sides so it was fairly simple to get the shape. I didn't take pictures, but I went back and put hot glue into the cuts. This helps to further accentuate the abs.



This isn't something I need for a con so I will be working on it slowly over time. I will update as I make more progress!

 

[George]

Awesome job,G.
I must say: I tried the Xieng-method,but the foam wouldn't even budge,let alone take shape the way it did for you.
Can I ask you whether you used the hottest setting on your heat gun,and how thick is the foam you heated up?
I used 6mm foam with the first setting on my heat gun,but without result.When I heat up my templates for too long,they shrink and I mess up the design.It's driving me nuts.
Thanks in advance for your view on this.

 

[Goodnight29]

Awesome job,G.
I must say: I tried the Xieng-method,but the foam wouldn't even budge,let alone take shape the way it did for you.
Can I ask you whether you used the hottest setting on your heat gun,and how thick is the foam you heated up?
I used 6mm foam with the first setting on my heat gun,but without result.When I heat up my templates for too long,they shrink and I mess up the design.It's driving me nuts.
Thanks in advance for your view on this.

Thank you for the compliment George! I'd be happy to try and help.

The heatgun I have is a Wagner and is very basic. It has two settings, low and high. It doesn't say on the gun and I don't have the original packaging as I got it back in 2014, but I believe the low gets to 750-degree F and the high gets to 1000-degree F. I started at the high setting on one ab, shaped it, went back and heated again, shaped it, and repeated that process a few times. Very slowly working it into the shape I wanted. After 2 or 3 times of doing that I went to the low setting and shaped it up a bit more another 2 or 3 times. When I moved on to a new ab I tried my best to not heat up the previous ones that I had done.

As for the foam, did you use foam that was plain on both sides? Or did you have one that has a pattern on the back? If it has a pattern it won't work very well.The foam I used is a 6mm. The foam I got was described as being specifically for cosplay: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DCGMXQZ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Here is part of the description:
Many EVA foams out there claim to be “high density” when in fact most of them are low to average densities at around 30 kg/m3 (2 lb/ft3). Our ultra high density EVA foam comes in at over 85 kg/m3 (5.3 lb/ft3), which results in a much better Cosplay designing experience:

• Closed-Cell, Ultra High Density at 85 kg/m3 (5.3 lb/ft3) = 1. Heat shaping is easier and the foam will hold shape much better 2. Sanding the foam is smoother 3. Cutting and Dremeling is more precise.

I'm still deciding if the price was worth it, but I will say that this foam is holding shape much better than other foam I have used. So maybe because it is a high density it is holding it's shape better. The foam did shrink a bit (as it will) but I didn't have any major shrinking. I put a lot of heat to it and it didn't shrink to a terrible degree. Again, maybe this high density foam is better?

Also, here is a pic of the back of the abs. As I said, adding hot glue in the cuts will accentuate the abs more.


I hope I have been of help! Please let me know if this answered your questions or if you have anymore. I love sharing techniques with people!

 

[Mad Monkey]

If you live in the states buy from tntcosplaysupply.com
The heat gun slowly works great and pushing it over some kinda. Form works the best. Even a softball. I made my own mandrel using a dollar store laddle and dowel.

 

[Goodnight29]

Friends of mine use tntcosplay a lot! They're definitely a great place to go to. I've used foam from them before (friends gave me some) and I do like them!

I've never worked with this "Ultra High Density Foam" (density of 85 kg/m3) from Amazon until this piece, but it does seem to hold it's shape better than even the tntcosplay high density foam. I'm no expert in foam densities by any means. But of everything I've tried this foam holds the shape better than any others I've tried. After having both set for a few hours as well the final piece still has a distinct shape whereas the tntcosplay foam has deflated a bit. Could be that I got better with the technique, could be the foam, could be both.

 

[George]

Thank you for your response,G.
So using heat alone will already shape the abs,or is the use of an object to assist in creating that curve essential?
And what about heat shrinking templates? Ever had that happen to your work?
Thanks again for your help

 

[Goodnight29]

Thank you for your response,G.
So using heat alone will already shape the abs,or is the use of an object to assist in creating that curve essential?
And what about heat shrinking templates? Ever had that happen to your work?
Thanks again for your help

I have had that happen yes. Actually, the gauntlets I cut out last night and heated up shrunk more than I expected and they're too small now. I used a different foam than what I used on the abs and it shrunk much more than the ab piece did.

After you cut the abs along those lines on the back, first you will need to heat up the front and back of the piece. This will show some of the ab detail. But, not nearly enough, that makes it just barely noticeable. Using an object to shape it is essential. What Xieng used was a mic stand, which I don't have. It is easier to get the shape if you can hold the piece with both hands and then have something in between your legs to push it onto. In Xieng's case it was a mic stand. In my case, the only thing I had was a cookie jar in the shape of a pagoda that has a small rounded top. Whatever works right?

In case you haven't seen it, here is a video of Xieng working on this template.

From about :30 to 2:10 is where he works on the ab piece. What he does is pretty much what I did. I tried to follow his shaping technique the best I could. The only difference is he appears to put more pressure than I did and maybe got the desired effect more quickly. But, I've never done this before and was being cautious. Next time I will get it done more quickly.

 

[Mad Monkey]

An easy one I saw was a softball or some. Kinda hard ball on the desk sitting in/on a roll of tape to keep it still.

 

[Goodnight29]

I feel like a softball would be too big for these abs. I had some small steel balls that I tried this with first. Personally I found that it didn't allow me to push the foam out as much as I needed to for the abs to be as pronounced as I would like.

I think a small rounded tip really allowed me to push the foam out more so I could get the final shape better. Also, because it's a small rounded tip I could focus on certain points instead of an entire section and didn't have to worry about going past the cut into another ab portion. For example, after I got it to the shape I like, I was able to go back and push the foam out right along the edge of the cuts of each ab to further accentuate each one. I couldn't have done that as well with the steel balls I tried out first.

That said, if all you have are hard balls it will work! It just may not be as defined as what Xieng shows.

 

[George]

Well,sum of ambition...he makes it look so easy
His foam,after heating,looks like it's tin foil,that thin.

Is that because of a high temperature setting? I'm scared to use it 'cause it may burn my foam or render it useless in some waysigh

One thing I won't do anymore after seeing this video...dissecting 3d models in smaller strips and then meticulously gluing it all back together.Heat-shaped sheets of foam from now on

 

[Mad Monkey]

Oh yeah! Tape your small stuff together to make bigger sections. Check out herosworkshop on YouTube too. Some good infos.

Evil Ted and punished props are my go to

 

[Goodnight29]

Yeah, I don't know how he gets his foam like that. Haha. It could be a higher temp setting, I don't really know.

One I also like is Kamui Cosplay. I've found her tips on painting to be especially helpful!

 

[Goodnight29]

It's been a little too long since I updated here. Due to some unexpected illness I haven't been able to work on the build too much. I was finally able to make some time this past weekend though!

I made the chest piece and heat formed it to make it more round/less flat and attached it to the ab piece.


I also attached a neck guard to the chest piece. I may or may not keep this depending on how the cowl works with it. For now I really like how it looks.


The back piece I ended up changing. The original barely came halfway down my back and was just very plain. I hated that there was nothing at all to it.


So I got another template, cut it at certain intervals and glued it back together to give it a more armored look. I also lengthened it so that it extends down my entire back. This was more personal taste than anything as this won't be seen too much since I will be wearing a cape.


I hope to have some more time this week to make the pauldrons but I may not get to that until this weekend.

Your thoughts on anything is always appreciated!

 

[13doctorwho]

Looking really good. Keaton is my Batman! I was sixteen when the first Batman movie came out... I like lot's of the Batman portrayals, but Keaton will always be my Batman,

 

[Goodnight29]

Edited below

 

[Goodnight29]

Got my new cowl in a few weeks back from the amazing Reevzfx!

Rather than add white mesh, I wanted to try something different and also bought some white contacts. I thought a different take would be interesting. I'm still not sure how I feel about it though.


*Since these pictures I've also added some foam to the inside so the bottom of the cowl is closer to my chin.

 

[davrosben]

IMHO I Love the contacts! gives it a whole new look, also got to love a Reevz Cowl, they are awesome! great job so far. I cant wait to see how this goes.

 

[George]

My preference goes out to an open mask,but if anything needed to be added in the eyes,I would prefer mesh.
These lenses made it look creepy in my opinion

 

[ABE]

looks amazing, but you can see through the lenses??