Dark Knight Movie Masters | Custom Fabic Cape Tutorial

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Fabric Cape Tutorial | Dark Knight Movie Masters

I have been asked several times over the years to provide a tutorial on how I do my "Pull Through" fabric capes for DCU and Dark Knight figures… I don't think the description of the process has ever really made it absolutely clear so I think this in depth visual guide should do nicely. I may be blowing my cover a little bit in doing this but last night I sat down to make one and I had my phone handy so I figured "What the hell... Let's do this."

For an added feature with a wired fabric cape, click the video above!!

Fabric:

First I start with prepping my fabric. You can use about any kind of fabric to do these but I find the thinner weightier polyesters work best. The thicker the fabric the more likely it will have a bulky appearance. This is a nice stretchy material and when handled with care it can look quite nice.

For symmetry I take the selected cloth and fold it in half for sizing and cutting.

For dramatic presence I make the cape 1.5 body lengths wide and just over an inch taller than the figure. It will draw up a little after final placement so you'll want that extra length. I use a Fiskars rotary cutter to make swooping circular cuts for the scallops then I terminate the top in an arch just so there are no straight lines. within 30 seconds you have your cape produced.

Figure Prep:
To make way for the fabric cape to attach I take a dremmel with the small threaded cylinder to grind out my entry points into the points where the original cape ends. Right there at the clavicle/collar bone. I aim my bit at the center of the shoulder blades right in the mid back. This dodges any articulation points on the inside. You can broaden this hole in the back for more working space if you like. Once you've completed this step you should be able to see clean through from the collar bone to the back.

I also notch out the back of the neck for better posability of the head (i.e. Batpod Posing/Gliding/General Action Posing) This time I also did the front of the neck after I had taken these pictures. this is done using the same dremmel bit.

Cape Prep:
You will be pulling a lot of fabric through some tiny holes so it is important to reinforce the fabric with some sort of "gasket" if you will to prevent the fabric from ripping. I use a hi bond double sided tape. You could probably find something like it at a fabric store as a hemming tape. You don't need much as you see which is nice.

I make 2 squares and place them symmetrically at a width of the shoulders. That gives you slack to go around the neck (removing the head really makes this easier). I fold the fabric over onto the tape and voila!! your cape has every hem it will ever need. This is a reinforcement as you will use a thin wire to guide the fabric into the body. I use a dental pick to punch a hole through the fabric and tape and loop my wire through the tiny hole.

I take 2 lengths of wire (one for each entry point) and needle it through the hole and then bend it perfectly in half. I then twist the wire as tightly as possible to make for a clean feed through the hole.Once both wires have been fed through I then twist THOSE together making ONE braid of wires.

 I then clip the collected wires and take my needle nose pliers and begin to crimp them into as small a bunch as possible. Being careful not to push any fabric back through the figure's front I bundle the wore and fabric into the exit point in the back. I use a hot glue gun to finalize the bundle by filling only the exposed area with hot glue. this will keep everything in place.

 

You do have the option in this step to use the still hot glue to "pin" the cape to the figure's back. This can help keep the cape from lurching up on the figure and looking weightless. It can also help you define the direction and tightness of the cape over the shoulders. A little Matte Finish in a can and this Dark Knight is a lot less conspicuous and a lot more awesome!!! (Matte Finish used in Picture #1)

So there we have it. A nice FULL low profile cape for our Movie Masters Dark Knight Batman. This trick can be used on any character needing a replacement for those awkward vinyl capes. I think it adds a lot of posability and balance to these figures that just deserve SO much better when it comes to their presentation.  Be sure and check back in the future as I plan to take these capes a few steps further in the future... I'm thinking "Memory Cloth"...

Class II Slave I | Boba Fett Style

So I was strolling through Target this week and just happened to get there on stock day. I look down and there's Jango Fett's Slave I sitting right on the front of the shelf. Just $19.99 but wow the box was tiny!! I knew I had to be dealing with an abbreviated version but wow this box was tiny and light too. I expected at least for this to be the size of the Target Exclusive a few years back but still I didn't know HOW it would fit in this box. Anyway enough about the box… it's small.

Before Blackwash

After BlackWash

So since I'm not a prequel guy I decided to give this hunk'a'plastic a makeover, or a work over since we are aging it about 30 years. The bottom "bell" of the Slave I is one piece along with the shoulders that host the rutters so I took just the bell and sprayed it with a Rustoleum Brown Boots satin finish. It proved a little glossy so I went back over with a matte finish. For the shoulders, bumper and loading dock I mixed up a green and then dirtied it with black and mixed it again. So now I have made this Slave I "NEW" with this alternate paint scheme, it's time to knock a few years into it.

I mixed up a darker gray to match the bit on the tailfin and went to replace a few panels along the top of the body and front. I used my Target Exclusive as a general reference but the panels were split up a little different so there was some liberties taken. For the more weathered panels I took my flat brush in between coats on the solid panels and I just ran it from the seams inward with lifting strokes as drybrush. That left just that slight bit of color creating a weathered metal.

Finishing off I mixed a little light gray to match the original body color and went back to work on the bell again. I used my broad strokes to wear down the very edges of the bell and then drybrushed in my weathering using the same method as I did on the upper body. Start in the seams and brush inward with lifting strokes.

There we are. The Mandalorian Manhunter is ready for duty. That's it really. I just wanted to post this up.

UPDATE: After about a week of admiring this piece I did come back with a blackwash (mostly water) and it really brought some scale to the ship. Gave it a nicely weathered look that it was still surprisingly missing.

• Before Blackwash •

• With Blackwash •

Man of Steel | Leaked Promo Photo Wallpaper

Fan made or not, this artwork is making the rounds.

 

wallpaper... for YOU!!! 

Holy action figures! It’s the first Batman ‘66 toys!

by Rob Bricken

There's only two of them, and they're both just villains, but Mattel's long-awaited action figures based on the campy 1960s Batman TV series have finally appeared, and they're fantastic. These are nigh-perfect likenesses of Burgess Meredith as the Penguin and Frank Gorshin as the Riddler; presumably equally fantastic figures of Adam West as Batman, Burt Ward as Robin and Julie Newmar as Catwoman can't be too far behind.
But the real test of quality will be when Mattel makes Cesar Romero as the Joker. Will they remember to sculpt his mustache, which he famously refused to shave even while covering his face with white make-up? If these two figures are any indication, the Joker's upper lip should be in good hands. But of course I won't ignore the execution of the lego quality cape on our full quality sculpted hero… When we say EXECUTION… we don't mean stand it up and shoot it dead… Come on, Mattel… if you need tips on economical cape construction… please just ask.

 

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