Batman V Superman Props

[Mr Mold Maker]

Hello folks. I am a big fan of Batfleck and all his gadgets, and probably the most iconic is his Grapnel gun. I’ve coveted this prop for a long time, and finally have enough experience in Zbrush that I felt ready to tackle it.

Here is the model. 100% done in Zbrush, minus the screws which were from McMaster Carr’s library as placeholders for the real hardware. My main reference was the recent Julian’s Live Auction photos which have since been removed unfortunately.



Now on to the finished prop. This was resin printed on my Saturn 2. I base coated it out in Alumaluster with blue tint on some parts. The grip is also printed and painted. Some light weathering and then it was ready to be displayed. The darts were also modeled in Zbrush and are removable, though I need to adjust the fit a little I think to prevent paint rub. If I ever did this project again I’d make two dart holders, one empty and one with permanent darts, that switch out via magnets.





Hope you dig it. This was a personal project and I am *not* selling STLs or copies of this. Please do not ask. Thanks. I am not sure how I will display this yet, if anyone has ideas please feel free to let me know.

As for the future of this thread, I also modeled and printed the Kryptonite Grenade, and have finished an armored Mech helmet. I will share write ups and photos of both sometime soon.

 

[13doctorwho]

Really beautiful work!!

 

[Mr Mold Maker]

The Mech Helmet

This is another piece I’ve wanted for a long time. The real helmet was sculpted by hand in clay, so it is a little asymmetric, as well as absolutely covered in tool marks. These were features that absolutely needed to be represented in it for me.

The base helmet was sculpted by an incredibly skilled modeler named Mathew Matangi. He used a variety of reference to make something we believe is the most accurate Mech helmet sculpt to date. From there, I went to work texturing the helmet with all of the dings, dents, scratches, and tool marks seen on the original.




Once the sculpture was finished, it was resin printed on an industrial machine. I had to develop some new techniques to remove all the print lines without erasing all the carefully sculpted textures and details. Then we could move on to paint.

The lens frames and cowl mouth liner were simple, airbrushed with Vallejo Tire Black. The main helmet was a little more involved. Having had the privilege to see and handle the real helmet, I learned a few things that are hard to tell from screen shots alone. The main one is the helmets metallic base is VERY green. Most replicas I see go for a dark steel or gun metal look, which is not correct. I started with a custom mixed green gunmetal, and then layered over top with acrylics. Browns and greys for weathering, and some golden tones for highlights. I don’t know how to post video here but if you want to see it in motion, my Instagram Instagram.com/JackRupert133 has a 360 video.



The finishing touches were frosted lenses and electronics. To get the electronics out of the way, I just used “Cosplay lights” that you can buy cheaply on eBay.

The lenses are more interesting. I 3D printed some negative bucks and vacuum formed into them to get a nice soft look. I think I used .040 PETG or something similar. I matted them down as seen in reference with high grit sanding and a matte clear coat. This is accurate to the real display helmet, but does not offer visibility.



Thanks for looking folks. I’ll share the Kryptonite Grenade next.

 

[13doctorwho]

That helmet is awesome!! Great work!

 

[Mr Mold Maker]

That helmet is awesome!! Great work!

I appreciate it very much. I don’t know what has got me on this most recent Batman kick but I’ve been enjoying it very much. I may even redo my Knightmare Bat display in 2024. Thanks for checking the thread out!

 

[MaxPower89]

This is fantastic!!! Man, I’d love to get my hands on one of those.

I don’t know if you’ve seen this but it’s the version from The Flash. Might be able to replicate the sticker.

 

[Mr Mold Maker]

This is fantastic!!! Man, I’d love to get my hands on one of those.

I don’t know if you’ve seen this but it’s the version from The Flash. Might be able to replicate the sticker.

That’s very interesting, thank you for sharing! I referenced the auction photos I mentioned in the first post. It has a kind of greenish tint to it with no text, but the sticker does look good. I don’t know how to make the sticker but I’ll look into it.

Here is the photo below I used for reference. I did skip certain things like the silver scratches in the blue parts to idealize mine a little.

 

[eethan]

Amazing job on the grappling gun!

 

[Mr Mold Maker]

I said I’d get to the Kryptonite Grenade next, but I never got around to snapping pics. Here is something else I’m working on instead. I don’t know when I’ll have the free time or cash to print it, but I’d love to do it Lifesize eventually.

The cowl.

I know there are a few scan based cowls out there which will of course be much more accurate, but I’m in this for the fun. It’s just a personal project so I’m happy to sacrifice accuracy for something I’ve done myself. This is my take on the DOJ cowl, sculpted in Zbrush.



I added some photos without texture to show the forms better, but when I print it it will have the leather texture.

 

[cloninaround]

These are insane. Thanks for sharing the paint techniques, so cool to see it go from model to finished. I also really dig the green tones on the armored helmet, really gives it that extra hints of life and a little Kryptonite-like edge.

 

[stopmo]

I can't believe that grip is painted and not real wood. You are massively talented.

 

[Mr Mold Maker]

These are insane. Thanks for sharing the paint techniques, so cool to see it go from model to finished. I also really dig the green tones on the armored helmet, really gives it that extra hints of life and a little Kryptonite-like edge.

I can't believe that grip is painted and not real wood. You are massively talented.

Thank you both very much!



Alright, still no Kryptonite Grenade photos. I promise, I’ll get around to it eventually.
For now… the Batman kick continues. This is my take on the beautiful maquette made for the film by Ironhead Studio. Sculpted in Zbrush. I left it a little raw and sculptural because I really like the look. I’m printing it now at around 20 inches tall. I wanted to go for the full 24 inches I had planned, but my printer isn’t big enough without making some ugly cuts. I’m sure I’ll revisit this project in the future when I have a higher quality large format machine.

I didn’t sculpt the cape because I will make that from real leather. I’ll post some finished photos when it’s painted sometime in the coming weeks.

Thanks for looking folks.

 

[Mr Mold Maker]

My cape material won’t be here for a week or two, so here is a teaser of the almost finished paint job, without the cape. I’ll come back and share more photos when the cape is done.

 

[Big_Weld]

Any progress on your Batman props?

I've been looking for a screen accurate Utility Belt Buckle, but have not found one, so decided to have a go at modeling it myself.
I'm also really interested in the Inner Cowl that is shown in the film that Alfred is working on. (Funnel-Ferry Butterbar scene.) I have a file for it, but it is not screen accurate.

I'm learning how to use CAD and other programs because I can't find anything that is close.

 

[Mr Mold Maker]

Any progress on your Batman props?

I haven’t had a chance to get back to many personal Batman projects this year. I did finish the Maquette off with a real leather cape and start modeling the Mech Suit for a maquette of that, but otherwise I’ve not done any further props.

The belt is a cool piece, best of luck with the modeling!

 

[Mr Mold Maker]

I never got around to taking nicer photos of the Kryptonite Grenade, and I’ve since sold one and given the other away so these old pics will just have to work until I get around to making a “final” copy for myself.

Once again modeled in Zbrush. I scaled mine up 10% from the original size, I don’t recall why. I don’t have any photos of the inside but it just raises and lowers with internal rails and magnets. Nothing fancy.

I used Alumaluster for the chrome bits and Tamiya gun metal, I believe slightly custom mixed for the darker main body color. I don’t remember what the bluer metal color was, but it was probably custom mixed automotive paint. The brass on the bottom was Candy2O over Alumaluster. I don’t think this detail is actually on the real ones, I just thought it looked nice.

 

[Big_Weld]

I haven’t had a chance to get back to many personal Batman projects this year. I did finish the Maquette off with a real leather cape and start modeling the Mech Suit for a maquette of that, but otherwise I’ve not done any further props.

The belt is a cool piece, best of luck with the modeling!


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Are you going to do the Armored Concept version also? I've always wanted to see this come to life. I love the final version, but the concept was kinda cool.

 

[Mr Mold Maker]

Are you going to do the Armored Concept version also? I've always wanted to see this come to life. I love the final version, but the concept was kinda cool.

I do intend to do the concept helmet at full scale someday, but probably not the full concept maquette. I plan to do the battle damaged “half face” helmet too. If I remember I’ll try to post pics in this thread, but it may not be for quite a long time.

 

[Mr Mold Maker]

So I went ahead and knocked out a quick sculpt for the Concept Mech helmet, or the Animech as I call it. I need to give a huge shout out to Mathew Matangi who modeled the film Mech replica I posted above. Having his sculpt as reference gave me a huge head start on this one. Much like the film Mech replica I did, I wanted to capture the hand sculpted feel. To that end I made the helmet intentionally asymmetrical, and included plenty of dings, dents, scratches, and rake marks for the hand sculpted feel.

I’ve added some renders in perspective and orthographic, unfortunately it looks like they uploaded a bit out of order. Sorry about that.


I won’t be printing it full size any time soon, but whenever I do I will share it in here.

 

[Big_Weld]

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So I went ahead and knocked out a quick sculpt for the Concept Mech helmet, or the Animech as I call it. I need to give a huge shout out to Mathew Matangi who modeled the film Mech replica I posted above. Having his sculpt as reference gave me a huge head start on this one. Much like the film Mech replica I did, I wanted to capture the hand sculpted feel. To that end I made the helmet intentionally asymmetrical, and included plenty of dings, dents, scratches, and rake marks for the hand sculpted feel.

I’ve added some renders in perspective and orthographic, unfortunately it looks like they uploaded a bit out of order. Sorry about that.


I won’t be printing it full size any time soon, but whenever I do I will share it in here.

This looks EPIC!!! Thank you so much for sharing your work. And sharing the credit of Mathew Matangi's work.
Understand things take time. Love to see when you do finish this.

I'm working on a 1:2 scale display version VEK3D's Armored Cowl. I'll share those when I've finished.