JacobP
New Member
Put simply, I wanted to make a Batman suit. I wanted it to be possiblyfor MCM or maybe for show in my room however I wanted to be able to wear it.
Now as I'm not planning this as something to sell or for it to be 'inspected' as such, I decide to make a Nolan inspiredcostume.That way, no one can criticise it for not being entirely screen accurate. My favourite suit is the Dark Knight Rises one. So I would be mainly basing it around this.
Cowlno.1
The headpiece of a costume is usually the hardest part so I decided to start with it. I firstly used a pepakura file found on the RPF. What I didn't account for was that the pep was for letter size paper and Ihad accidentally enlarged it to A4. So my mask was too big. Then I decided that I could turn it into a display piece, so I used Polyfiller to make it rigid. Now this was not a good idea. So I abandoned that idea pretty quickly after attempting to get rid of the polyfiller. So this half-polyfillered, too big, mess of a Batman cowl lay on my desk for a few weeks, unused for anything.
Hands,Forearms and Gauntlets
I was very lucky to find these gloves at a car boot which I only payed £5 for. Leather with carbon fibre knuckle and finger guards
Next I wanted to make the forearms. I used some black faux leather material that I bought for £5 a metre. I made the template from card. I sandwiched a piece of card between the leather material and some other hexagonally textured material (75 pence per metre).Leaving suitable velcro and glue tabs. The forearms have easy velcro tabs which are simple to use, especially when you have the gloves on.
Next I had to make the spikes. This took a bit of thought. In the end Iused some old football shin pads that already had a cool design,which I had lying around the house. I made the spikes out of MDF soaked in PVA. I screwed them to the shin pad after drilling holes in both. Two rows of three looked coolest in my opinion. I had to do a lot of experimenting with hole size and screws to avoid splitting the MDF. I sprayed it all black and it turned out pretty well.
CowlNo.2
I decided to have another go at the cowl. I watched many videos on youtube which gave me some good ideas. I bought plaster, modroc andoil based and air drying clay, planing to sculpt the design then makea plaster cast. This proved a lot more difficult to get my head round than expected and I realised that in order to get the right outcome, the amounts of plaster, modroc and clay that I really needed were more than I had, I would need a lot more money. So I decided to pepanother mask at the proper size. Here it is.
The mouth was a little large (hence why I am holding it) and also I thinkthe eyes seem a bit 'droopy' rather than 'frowny' also it is a littlewide around the sides of the head. I can sort this all out later on though.
The plan for this mask is that it will be the master. I will paint theinside with resin and then bondo the outside, then sand and shapeetc. then make the mold. I don't really know exactly what I should doto get to the stage where I can make a rubber/ latex cast. This is where I need a lot of help if anyone has any advice. And please bear in mind that I have not got a huge budget.
P.S.sorry about the sideways photos
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I ordered my bondo yesterday so hopefully it should be here by Monday and then I can get to work on it
