Building a Custom Batman Suit- Cowl Help, first time propping

[shpidorman]

Hey guys! : )

Some people from Reddit directed me here.
I want to make a full cowl. I'm going to base the nose from the arkham series, and try to get the sculpt of the mask pretty close to my eyes. I'm going to start with a plaster mold of my face, and then make a custom cowl that combines some arkham elements with personal ideas.
But I need a lot of help because it's my first time! I have a lot of questions, but my main questions are...

1. What liquid latex works best for casting, and where should I buy it? I know to get it by the gallon, and that I can mix it with paint to make a black cowl.
2. What type of clay for sculpting will hold shape when I start to make the plaster mold of the mask over top, but is generally easy to work with? As in, as a first time sculptor with some art background, what would be the best?
3. How much clay would one need to sculpt a full batman cowl?
4. I read that somewhere that latex shrinks 10%. If I make the cowl, should I make it just a bit thicker, or does this not really happen to that extent. Other sculpts of the dark knight cowls that I've seen don't look like they're really accounting for that in their sculpts, which turn out great.
5. If I cut the eyeholes, should I do them bigger just in case, or try to go right around my eyes because I have made a plaster mold of my face?

After that, does anyone have any big tips for a first timer? Thank you all so much!

 

[shpidorman]

No one wants to share secrets with me : (

 

[jesseadam]

First off, welcome! I too recently joined after lurking for a while. Since no one else has gotten in here yet, I'll answer your questions as best I can:
1. Smooth-On is a good place to buy most casting materials. And yes, you mix-in dye while casting to get the black. Most cowl-makers I know use Urethane Rubber. It's a heavier material than latex, so it holds it's shape better. Also it can take a beating. Latex will suffice for a first time.
2. For clay, usually you need sulphur-free otherwise it'll interfere with your molding materials. I buy this kind from my local art store. I wouldn't say it's easy to work with but I'm not a very talented sculptor.
3. 5 lbs should do the trick. I would buy extra since it's your first time. You can really never have too much clay.
4. For latex, you want to make it a bit thicker, otherwise it'll likely start to tear after a few wears. And yes, latex shrinks. It's not the biggest deal, but it'll save you some facial discomfort to account for slight shrinkage. The cowls you see are likely not latex.
5. For the eyeholes, I'd follow your bone structure. Feel free to sculpt a little bigger. Small eyeholes are uncomfortable, but with big eyeholes there is always black makeup.

Good luck!

 

[Vmpbat97]

Well i would like to welcome to to the forum and sorry that you haven't gotten any response, but fear not for i shall help!

I am actually working on my first cowl as well but instead of using latex i plan on using a urethane rubber with a 40 shore from smooth on, but I' still using mask latex from monster makers to do a test of how it fits.

The clay that I'm using is WED clay its fairly expensive and hard to find to it holds its shape and for me its very easy to work with but oil clay works just as well.

For the full cowl i would say about 10 or 15 pounds of clay just to be on the safe side.

I wouldn't worry too much about the shrinkage what i THINK would be the best thing to do is that after casting you leave it on your plaster copy of yourself and just let it sit for a day or two.

For my cowl the eye holes are pretty big just because i want them to be comfortable and make sure that i still have my peripheral vision so its up to you but if your cutting out the eye holes i would start with small eye holes just so that if you don't like it you can still fix it.

Hope this helps and i would love to see your progress!

 

[coofunkcurly]

Latex is in fact much stronger than urethane rubber.

OP- There are youtube vids for most of what you seek. Brotherhood of the Bat forum has a couple good tutorials as well.

 

[LePaul]

Coo, thanks for that suggestion...I've been meaning to sign up over there

 

[shpidorman]

Wow, you guys are amazing! Thank you so much!

As of last night, I've finished the mold to cast for my plaster head : ) I've also got about 10 lbs of clay! Thanks so much guys! I'll account a bit for the shrinkage in the sculpt, but I'll also leave it on a day or two

Latex and Urethane for Cowls and other items for your Homemade Batman Costume Suit - YouTube I recently found this video about the pros and cons for latex and urethane rubber for bat cowls.

 

[LePaul]

That link, the guy is very interesting to listen to. I learned a lot.
I was looking at is website and didn't see a lot of TDK armor but a lot of stuff prior.
How is his stuff?

 

[shpidorman]

I'm not sure, from what I see he's pretty old-fashioned in preference for batman looks, but the stuff works! It looks great, and he's got a lot of experience under his belt! (no pun intended)

 

[coofunkcurly]

Paul makes very nice stuff. He's been at this since way before it was considered cool. :lol That vid is a little one-sided but there's still a lot of truth in what he says.