Jun 22, 2015 | By Simon
Although wearing costumes is an activity that is hundreds of years old, it wasn’t until more recently where the act of dressing up as your favorite characters has reached new heights with the popularity of cosplay.
Often done at pop culture conventions and large gatherings, the cosplay subculture consists of individuals who dress up in highly-detailed costumes that represent characters from everything from video games and television shows to movies and anime, among others.
Of course, because of their unique and highly-detailed designs, a lot of these costumes don’t exist as ready-to-wear costumes that can be purchased in the store. More oftent than not, each and every element of a cosplay costume is hand-made by the wearer or somebody hired by the wearer. As both the costs associated with and the barrier to entry for 3D printing have dropped dramatically over the past few years, it has increasingly become a go-to option for many cosplay designers who are looking to create highly-detailed hard parts that can be fabricated on-the-cheap, such as parts needed for various superhero armor or weapons.
More recently, a company called Crimson Coscrafts created one of the more memorable cosplay costumes that we’ve seen in a while … based on a superhero, of course!
Working alongside several partners including Graphix Monster and Armory Props, the company created a fully-3D printed ‘Batman: Arkham Knight’ suit which is worn by Batman in the upcoming Arkham Knight video game which will be released this coming Tuesday, June 23, 2015 by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. For those familiar with the Batman video game franchise, the game is the successor to the popular 2013 Batman video game ‘Batman: Arkham Origins’.
Understandably, the suit was difficult to 3D model considering both the highly-complex details as well as the lack of reference images leading up to the release over the past few months. However, Russell Jeschke of Graphix Monster was able to successfully 3D model and 3D print the design after gathering enough reference material to go by. "Russell has recently got into the world of 3D printing and started off with one of the most accurate Bane replica masks out there. He made this for his brother for a local convention and it went down a storm," Steve Dee of Crimson Coscrafts told us. Russ started off the 3D model for this and Steve finished it off in Zbrush.
"We worked closely together and got as many reference pictures as possible, CONSTANTLY changing the 3D models when new material would be released on the Arkham Knight. Russell eventually hit the print button and started getting the helmet followed by the armour and then the Arkham Knights guns." Steve said.
The suit - like an actual costume worn by modern superheroes - was designed and 3D printed as a series of armored plates that make up a larger assembly for each piece of armor. Not only does this add interest to the design, but it also makes it easier to print on desktop 3D printers.
While the bodysuit is made up of smaller plates, the helmet is made up of larger components. Although it is an impressive design all by itself, perhaps the most impressive feature about the helmet is that the textured visor allows a user to see through it effectively without needing to remove it - just like the real thing!
Once all of the parts had been 3D printed, Russell finished the pieces with assistance from Jeremy Sloan of Armory Props through a sanding and cleaning process.
"Jeremie was kind enough to create a buck for the visor so we could get the visor Vacformed similar in vain to a halo helmet," Steve said, "All pieces have been cast in a number of different Rubbers and Resins to get the best efect for that particular area."
While little other details have been revealed regarding when or where the suit can be seen in public, it's clear that this is one of the most impressive 3D printed cosplay suits to date.
"Overall we are very happy with the end result and look forward to our next project which is another character from the Arkham Knight game and thats the Red Hood :)" Steve said.
Posted in 3D Printing Applications
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Is there anywhere that I could download the files for this armor?
Parker wrote at 2/16/2017 2:01:43 AM:
Is this still available? if so email me please @ pyel1901@mpsedu.org
EDGE wrote at 6/16/2016 7:31:40 PM:
This suit is so awesome. Mask is also OK,.
Charles. Diaz wrote at 4/22/2016 4:52:52 AM:
Are you selling the any or all parts for the Arkham Knight? You can email me a latindad39@yahoo.com
crickett wrote at 4/22/2016 3:43:58 AM:
can you give me the name of someone that can do something like this for me
BenjaminB wrote at 3/2/2016 9:41:05 PM:
Good afternoon. I was actually looking to make this for my son for the upcoming anime convention and was looking to see if I could get the files to 3d print this. This would so make his day if we were able to do this. Please respond to benjamin0053@gmail.com with details. Thank you.
robodog wrote at 9/15/2015 10:23:42 PM:
Looks absolutely awesome. Please let me know if Batman: Arkham Knight suit is available for download or for sale or any other way I might be able to obtain one. robo-dog@cox.net Thanks
RT Alexander wrote at 9/7/2015 5:58:22 AM:
can you email me at mycaock@gmail.com about buying a set of the red hood guns please? im very interested in acquiring a set of these beauties
Jason wrote at 6/27/2015 3:47:28 PM:
If ur selling the helmet or gun how much are they