Now this model is based on the iconic look of the animated series’ Batman, but with a realistic twist on it because I wanted to try my hand at translating its distinctive silhouette and proportions into a realistic art-style.
One of the first challenges I ran into was coming up with a bodysuit design that looked credible while still keeping the wide, angular shoulders and chest area of the BTAS design. I was originally considering a more classic muscle-suit design as its often interpreted as such, but that approach really doesn’t work with the shapes that are given in the original design, so I went for stylised armour plating again.
I’ve tried to keep the bodysuit design rather simple and streamlined though, as it’d feel wrong to make it overly complex when considering the simplicity and rather clean look of the BTAS-art style. One of the more tricky parts was to preserve the angular shoulder with different animations and poses, as I had to experiment quite a bit with the models skin weights to get it just right without looking weird or causing issues.
Aside from that I am also particularly proud on how the cowl turned out, as I managed to preserve a lot of the iconic shape from various while getting some more realistic proportions. This is especially noticeable on the ears, as I’ve tried to keep that flowing shape that almost aligns with his forehead when looking at it from the side, while they also look as if they’re perfectly straight from the front or from the back.
Last but not least, I’ve given the gliding cape of this suit a more unique design, since I wanted to experiment a bit with different cape shapes again, and I’d say this turned out quite well and adds to the iconography that I’ve tried to replicate with this model.
