Tactical Batman

[Lord Magneto]

Damn man this looks great.

So for the details in the foam what dremel bit did you use? I'm very interested in trying my hand at something like this. Very very cool. It's minimalistic compared to some other bat suits I've seen and I really dig it.

Can't wait to see more updates.

 

[Whit]

Damn man this looks great.

So for the details in the foam what dremel bit did you use? I'm very interested in trying my hand at something like this. Very very cool. It's minimalistic compared to some other bat suits I've seen and I really dig it.

Can't wait to see more updates.

For the smaller grooves, I used a spherical metal bit on my dremmel and followed my drawn out lines. You have to be extremely careful doing it this way, as the cutting head wants to dig in easily.

I can take a picture of the bit itself and send it to you or post it in this thread, if it would help.

 

[Lord Magneto]

For the smaller grooves, I used a spherical metal bit on my dremmel and followed my drawn out lines. You have to be extremely careful doing it this way, as the cutting head wants to dig in easily.

I can take a picture of the bit itself and send it to you or post it in this thread, if it would help.

That would be great. I think I know which one you are talking about though.

 

[Whit]

That would be great. I think I know which one you are talking about though.

Here are two images of the bit I used. Not sure what the name of it is, but hopefully you can either match it up to what you have or buy one that looks like this one.

Let me know if you need any other information.


Dremmel Bit_1 by J_Whit, on Flickr


Dremmel Bit_2 by J_Whit, on Flickr

 

[rambos mom]

The belt/holster came in black. I haven't decided on that yet. You bring up an interesting point, though. Might need something to break up all that black. I could keep the belt and holster black but do a bat symbol buckle in gold/bronze. Maybe silver or lighter gray?

Might have to work up some concepts and see how they look. Thanks for comments.

i like where this project is going. i'd keep the belt black or dark gray with silver or light gray highlights. don't use gold or bronze.

 

[martcpl705]

Are you going to use a tactical helmet with a closed face like as in a cowl? Are you putting ears on the thing? Excited to see your updates

 

[Whit]

Are you going to use a tactical helmet with a closed face like as in a cowl? Are you putting ears on the thing? Excited to see your updates

I was going to originally use a tactical helmet, but I was trying to stay close to, if not under $100. At this point, I am not going to keep my budget that tight, but I do plan on trying to limit myself with funds.

That said, I am making my cowl more like a helmet and it will have ears. In have already made the base of the helmet with paper mâché mesh material using a hard hat as a mold. I am going to use the same material to create the mask portion of the helmet and them secure the two peices together.

From there, I will try and work out the rest of the helmet, including the ears. Trying to decide how to do the ears. I want to make this fairly easy to get on and off. Not sure what I will use to strengthen the cowl. Maybe fiberglass, but I have never worked with it and again, I want to try and use what I have and limit my budget. I still don't have a cape or pants or shirt, so I am going to have to get creative.

 

[martcpl705]

You can always go to your local army navy surplus store and look for some black tactical gear. As an ex-cop don't look at police gear as most of this stuff is over priced especially 5.11 brand. Walmart and academy sports also carry cheap tactical boots for around $30. For a cheap easy design for the helmet you could try a basic black bicycle helmet, kinda like the delta operators on Blackhawk down. You could also use mirrored or tinted goggles as this would help with the easy on off. You could paper mache the ears on the helmet then coat them with resin, then sand and paint. For the hard knuckle tactical gloves, I found and bought a pair of moto cross gloves on ebay for $10 with free shipping and they look like cop/military gloves. Hope you don't mind me asking putting my two cents in, as an ex-cop batman is a lot of our hero as he fights crime with no super powers. Can't wait to see where this goes

 

[rambos mom]

You can always go to your local army navy surplus store and look for some black tactical gear. As an ex-cop don't look at police gear as most of this stuff is over priced especially 5.11 brand. Walmart and academy sports also carry cheap tactical boots for around $30. For a cheap easy design for the helmet you could try a basic black bicycle helmet, kinda like the delta operators on Blackhawk down. You could also use mirrored or tinted goggles as this would help with the easy on off. You could paper mache the ears on the helmet then coat them with resin, then sand and paint. For the hard knuckle tactical gloves, I found and bought a pair of moto cross gloves on ebay for $10 with free shipping and they look like cop/military gloves. Hope you don't mind me asking putting my two cents in, as an ex-cop batman is a lot of our hero as he fights crime with no super powers. Can't wait to see where this goes

the goggles are a great suggestion. maybe you can integrate the nose and some of the other cowl details (frown/forehead) into the goggles. there are some captain america designs you could use for inspiration.

as for materials, the paper mache and resin coating should work. paper tape and sculpt epoxy could also be good light weight and rigid options. whatever material you end up using should be easy to sand and paint. and obviously make sure it doesn't fall off the original helmet.

and for your shirt and pants maybe get something like this from your local army navy surplus. there may even be a similar thermal shirt at target for cheap?

will there be any smoke bombs or batarangs hanging from the vest or shoulder straps? or will all those wonderful toys be on the utility belt? i picture tactical batman having both a utility belt and harness.

good luck!

Black - Military Style Army Commando Crew Neck Sweater (Acrylic) - Army Navy Store

 

[martcpl705]

@rambo, adding a nose piece to the goggles is a great concept. Also a tactical batman in my opinion would have extra pouches for supplies in addition to a utility belt. But since batman doesn't use real guns a tactical leg holster for a grapple gun would be cool. In the army we carried out gas mask on your leg in a huge pouch.

 

[Whit]

@rambo & martcpl

You both have some great suggestions. I did a little bit of work on the helmet tonight. I put an Iron Man ski mask on my face and wrapped some plastic wrap over that. I then put on my paper mâché helmet and started putting more mâché on over my nose and face. It's drying as I type.

Will take pics when it's dry and post. I do plan on having some batarangs and other stuff, but haven't figured that out yet.

I do have a belt rig with two leg straps...one with three small pouches and the other is a holster. I had to rip the seam on the holster to allow my gun to fit. I still need to add material to it, to close up the holster.

I thought about getting some black paracord and fitting that somewhere on the belt or over my shoulder. I may not have enough time to really get into the detail stuff, but I want some stuff hanging off me. Also wanted to get some large zip ties and attach them to the belt, in place of hand cuffs. Maybe a caribiner or two as well as a small black mag light.

 

[martcpl705]

Whit this all sounds great, don't mean to sound like a broken record but I check this thread multiple times to look for updates!

 

[Whit]

Whit this all sounds great, don't mean to sound like a broken record but I check this thread multiple times to look for updates!

Thank you very much. I hope to not disappoint, then. I'm very grateful for all the comments, support and suggestions.

It all keeps me motivated. Will post a couple of pics of the cowl in progress later on today, when I have a chance to take a couple of pics.

It doesn't look like much at the moment, but it's progress.

 

[kalel83]

Small Update.

I have modified the body armor base and have cut out the Bat and two of the cladding pieces. I will need to cut down the Bat slightly to fit the new shape of the vest. I may use a dremmel to add chamfers to the edges of each cladding piece to give it some more depth.

The rest of the front and the back will have cladding as well. I will eventually glue everything down and join the front and back together by the shoulders. I will attach side release buckle clips on the sides to hold the entire vest together.

Any suggestions on how to clean up rougher edges? Sanding? Dremmel? I'm trying to keep my blades sharp, but I still need to clean up some of the edges.


Body Armor by J_Whit, on Flickr

as the name of this product where you attacked the symbol of batman :confused

 

[Whit]

@ kalel83. I'm not quite sure what you are asking, but I think you want to know what I will use to glue everything together, correct?

I will be using hot glue to attach the front and back at the shoulders. I'll be using contact cement to glue the cladding pieces onto the base vet pieces.

I hope that helps.

 

[kalel83]

no I wanted to know where they attack, the basis of that material? sorry but I am Italian and I do not speak English, in the picture you can see the material without the symbol of Batman, what is it?

 

[martcpl705]

Whit, didn't read a response to your rough edges question. But from my reading of other foam builds, I have read some people sanding the foam with a dremmel or even using a heat gun on the edges as it will shrink it down a bit. But too much heat and you'll melt right through it. I've also seen soldering guns used to melt/sculpt edges and details

 

[martcpl705]

By the way is the symbol you used your own? I like it, closest I've seen to it is a begins bat in a way

 

[Whit]

no I wanted to know where they attack, the basis of that material? sorry but I am Italian and I do not speak English, in the picture you can see the material without the symbol of Batman, what is it?

I understand now. The material for both the bat symbol and the vest are the same. They are foam anti fatigue mats from a local tool supply shop called Harbor Freight. One side has a pattern and the other side is smooth. The bat symbol is cut out of the same material, just flipped over.

The mats are about 12.7mm thick and are very lightweight and flexible. You can cut them easily with a sharp razor blade, but they dull the blades fast.

Does that make sense? Let me know if you need any other information or if you have other questions.

 

[kalel83]

I understand now. The material for both the bat symbol and the vest are the same. They are foam anti fatigue mats from a local tool supply shop called Harbor Freight. One side has a pattern and the other side is smooth. The bat symbol is cut out of the same material, just flipped over.

The mats are about 12.7mm thick and are very lightweight and flexible. You can cut them easily with a sharp razor blade, but they dull the blades fast.

Does that make sense? Let me know if you need any other information or if you have other questions.

thanks!