Begins Closet - overhead lighting

[gregday]

Working on installing the overhead lighting today. It's far from complete, but I just couldn't resist a test. This sets the mood perfectly and I really cannot wait to get the new cowl up.

And yeah, I want to eventually make it so the light fades on when the doors open.

Oh yeah I realize I'm missing one Batarang on the right side. I need one more magnet to build that final mount.

 

[Nightwing1977]

How the heck some of you guys make the costume & closet so good like the movie?? I wish I have one. If only I could pay someone to make one for me. I doubt I can afford or even know how to created the costume. Even if I follow the instructions. Some people don't have the talent for that, especially moi.

 

[gregday]

Did a few test pics with the Utility Belt to see how it shines, and it looks just fantastic too.

And I've been snapping tons of photos of it last night and today to try to capture just the right angle and lighting. There are so many shadows and shapes here!

 

[gregday]

Tweaked the lighting a bit more...

 

[TheShadow]

dusty

 

[gregday]

dusty

It's actually not dusty at all. The urethane suit is not a pure black (nothing really is), and with the light bulbs shining right down above it, it looks quite chalky grey, but in person it's a very slick looking dark black. Sometimes almost wet looking. The lighting makes all the difference, but, no, there's no dust. One of the reasons for building the batsuit closet was to keep dust off the goods and for that it works quite well

BTW, last night I wired up a pressure switch to the power running to the overhead lights and installed it in the door hinge. So now when you open the doors, the lights fade on, and when you close them, they fade off, all automatically. No button pushing required

 

[Bat-Mite]

Have you ever put the costume on, or is it strictly for decorative purposes?

 

[gregday]

Have you ever put the costume on, or is it strictly for decorative purposes?

Mostly decorative

But I can't resist occasionally slipping on the gloves and gauntlets and practicing swordplay though.

 

[Fledermaus]

That's f#cking awesome.

 

[gregday]

A few action shots...

 

[SalaciousVC]

A few action shots...

u should make a fan film :/

 

[Cobblepot]

Looks great!

 

[gregday]

Well, the new cowl and undersuit are in the works. But this weekend I threw together a simple cape. It's not electrostatically flocked parachute silk like the real thing, but it's very light, a bit soft, and very, very dark. Instead of cutting it into sectioned panels and sewing them together, I took a piece about 6 feet long and about 9 feet wide and folded it in half, then cut out the entire bat wing shape from a single piece of cloth. Today, I punched in some brass rings so I could hang the cape up.

I'll try to get pictures later of the entire bat shaped wingspan, but first I want to sew up the hem.

 

[Cobblepot]

That's a great looking cape.

 

[Nightwing1977]

 

[Eternalzero]

Working on installing the overhead lighting today. It's far from complete, but I just couldn't resist a test. This sets the mood perfectly and I really cannot wait to get the new cowl up.

And yeah, I want to eventually make it so the light fades on when the doors open.

Oh yeah I realize I'm missing one Batarang on the right side. I need one more magnet to build that final mount.

looks like crap, burn it.

Actually send it to me so I can burn it for you.

 

[gregday]

Still trying to find the right neck cut length for the cape. Hopefully tonight the hem will be all stitched up.

And here's a few photos of how the cape looks with the suit and the bolt-on cape clips. The cape clips are SLIGHTLY smaller than screen accurate, but replacements are on the way.

In the last 2 photos, the clips are screwed onto the cape's rings, but are just laying against the suit. The correct way to do this is to punch 2 holes in the upper chest and insert the backs of the clip rods into, so that the cape literally screws directly onto the suit. But I just don't know if I can bring myself to punch holes in this gorgeous torso piece.

 

[Nightwing1977]

Geez, I would kill anyone to get money to buy those suit or at least steal the suit itself. t:

 

[gregday]

Working on the undersuit right now, but it occurred to me I've never checked out how the armor looks with full length arms. So I used some ghetto method to attach the gauntlets to the ends of the torso upper arms, and it's still a tiny bit short for a normal person but looks almost right. I have to say it works out great, and I just can't wait to get the undersuit in place.

 

[gregday]

If you were to sell chest pieces like that, how much would you charge?

Looks cool.

I didn't sculpt this one, but the artist who did charged me close to $400 for it.

If I were to sell mine, I'd have to ask for much more than that Unlike a lot of latex suit pieces out there, this is a durable urethane that will last much longer.

 

[gregday]

Bob Dullam sculpted it.

 

[gregday]

I had 2 jobs tonight. First, wash the inside of the torso with soap & water, then alcohol, and then fill it the cavities with 10x expanding Smooth-On FoamIT expanding foam. That went surprisingly well. The foam expanded inside the chest and torso area and filled it out nicely. Now the reverse side is a bit more even and ready for the undersuit attachment. But more importantly, the suit isn't as "soft" when you push against it. It has quite a bit more resistance and is closer to feeling like "armor."

Job 2 was to drench the exterior in Armor All and give it a nice polish. It's really hard to tell from this picture alone, except on the shoulders. But the suit now has a nice shine. It looks smooth and clean, but not wet or oily.

Bonus shot - my friend wearing the new cape. Got the hem all sewn up and I really like the single cloth approach. No unsightly seams or lines running down it. And true to the Begins style, it's much longer on the ends than in the center. Still smaller than screen accurate, but seriously they used over a dozen differently sized capes in Begins depending on the scene.

 

[悪魔天]

Great job!

 

[gregday]

I'd never really put the belt up with the torso before, since I don't have the leg armor, an undersuit, or a mannequin form. But I rigged up something long enough to get some pictures and I think it works pretty well.

The belt is a BA bronze one. It's nice, but I wish it curved a bit better.

 

[Bnightwing]

Is all that real like i mean i s the belt not plastic or the batarangs arent plastic if so where did you get them? and do you have the replica grappling guns?