Hey, I'm very interested in attaching a cloth/plastic cape to my DC Superheroes Batman (black), but I'm not even a remotely-decent customizer so I'm afraid I'll just end up butchering the figure, and since it's rare I'll probably never get a replacement Anyway, I really like the way you handled this one, so I was wondering if I could email you for some suggestions on how to get the cape on, or perhaps you could explain in this thread? I'm particularly concerned about removing the cowl portion- the head is nothing, but the part where the cape is sculpted just above the chest worries me. Will it be easy to re-attach it after removal? How did you go about cutting off the sculpted cape, etc. Thanks in advance, and keep up the beautiful customs!

You basically want to keep your knife to the bottom of that plastic as your cutting. its really thin in spots and if you slip up you can cut into to the cowl. I finish mne off at a point on the back like the batman begins. once the cowl is removed from the body you are left with a "socket" that I place the cape onto (with a tiny hole cut in it). That way when you pop the cowl back on its like the cape is not even there. The neck peg will stay in that socket so it seems to keep things in place. Let me know if that's clear. I've attempted to do tutorials but FR seems to have something against Macs loading multiple photos in one session so I just gave up.

Thanks for the reply! Your explanation is pretty clear. My only remaining question is what happens after you cut the cowl into the shape you want it- I am assuming that the neck piece is separate from the main body. Is it part of the sculpted cowl/cape? As far as I can see, when I cut front of the cowl just above the bat symbol, I will be able to pull it clean off and expose that socket you are talking about. Is that about right?

Correct. The cowl is a separate piece but it is fastened down with a superglue of some kind. You're using your knife to break up that glue and basically shave it off of the upper torso/neck post. When you come back afterwards to attach the cape you want to apply the glue higher up so that now your connection point is directly under the head/neck area instead of the neck/shoulder area. Definitely post something soon so we can see how it turns out!

Alright, you've made it crystal clear! I will post as soon as I gather up the courage to start cutting up my Batman! Thanks so much for the advice!

Rev, this is an AWESOME re-imagining of The Batman as produced by Mattel's DCUC. Your custom figure is brilliant, beautifully executed, and you should be VERY proud!

I know EXACTLY what you mean about being turned off to all of the ugly "variant" versions of these heroes as action figures (back in the 1990's and early 2000's) while NO standard or traditional versions of these characters were made available.

I believe it was PRECISELY this type of thinking that led to The Batman virtually NEVER wearing a simple, basic, and pure comic book version of his outfit in any of the live action films. Somewhere, some executive felt that it would be too "plain" and "dull", and not sell enough action figures.

The result (in my opinion) was that the toy market was being saturated with "gimmick" Batmen, and not one real decent traditional one.

The result (in my opinion) was theatrical films that emphasized "gimmick" Batmen over a basic pure traditional one. It saddens me that for the most part, movie Batmen have been clumsy, grunting, idiotic versions of the AWESOME, skilled guy from the comics... and all because the filmmakers and writers don't TRUST the character enough to focus on the MAN rather than the gimmicks.

The same is true of toy depictions of this character.

As a batman fan, I was SO turned off to all of this that I joined the 6 inch scale Action Figure "party" VERY late. I am only NOW trying my hand at creating classic TRADITIONAL versions of these characters just as YOU have so brilliantly succeeded in doing with this custom figure.

Just know that there are those of us who understand. Your work is a real inspiration. And I just hope the toy companies are watching...

PS: play with your toys, for pity's sake! Take it from a 43 year old man... they get VERY lonely and neglected being ignored while sitting on some shelf collecting dust.

This got real deep all of the sudden. Well I definitely would like to catch their attention out there I'n El Segundo. My thing from the beginning had been making the simple changes that just made my toys better to ME. you don't have to make 100 crappy versions when you can just go all out and make 1 ultimate product that your collectors will go nuts over. What we grown folks may forget though is that kids are slot easier to tip over and simply put we are not THE market. I think the DCUC will pretty well stay on track though. Additionally though a simple fact is more variations = more unique product. Let the retailers and consumers hedge their bets on what's valuable. The toy company wins everytime. Just look at folks buying the same Ghostbusters figures over and over again to get a unique accessory….

Dude... That cape looks rad, but whats wrong with playing with figs? I'm almost 30 and I still bust out the GI Joes and make the "pi-choo pi-choo" noises.

Pichoo-Pichoo… Either I'm really drunk or that's the Dam#dest cutest thing I've heard from another grown man quite in some time. Well no doubt there's little guilt now in messing with these guys. Since I started messing with customizing in '06, it has always been about that "play value". My first custom was a revision of the Superman Returns line (urk! threw up in my mouth a little) where they made all these variations of Supes with "Super This!" and "Super That!" and never made a "Super" figure. So I waited (not long) until the entire line went on clearance and I bought out every usable figure to assemble the near ultimate Superman Returns figure with Super-articulated WAZOO!!!!. And it was ALL mattel parts, no sculpting, no painting just purely parts they had produced, but NOONE at Mattel saw fit to assemble these parts to make a figure that could have flagshipped the entire line and made all those abominations simply useless afterthoughts (ie. any neon colored batman figure from '90 - 2000). Hence the Revisionist Toymaker was born.

HAHA, right on man! I started customizing roughly the same time that you did because I wanted a particular character that hadn't been made to display with my other favorite figures. I've fallen in love with the hobby ever since and make my favorite figures for either myself or my friends. I love the ideas, concepts and suggestions that go around on this site. some of my favorite customs that I've never posted are my DT re-imagined GI Joe guys that still go pi-choo and other such onomatopoeia's.

Don't feel weird bro, theres a little kid in all of us. Loving the cape!

SUUUUUUWEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!!! -Fitz

very cool @! don't ever feel feel alone that your the only one that plays with toys lets face it customising is kinda playing with it - I'm 32 and I still play with stuff .Cool idea about the cape you should incorporate that into your neil adams style DCUC batman

Cool!! I really like the figure and the cape came out great! Cloth is a pain to work with sometimes but very rewarding.Awesome job! -customapprentice

looks great and you are not a man out of place when something rocks this much, just fun man just fun.

Awesome looking cape addition to Bats, very nice!

Liked the story! Haha. Rad fig man.