My son wished to dress up as something different this Halloween. The problem is the costume he wanted couldn't be bought at a store as it doesn't exist. He wanted to be The Arkham Knight from the Batman video game of the same title. I had built his Hiro Hamada costume last year so we went the same route this year....with some extras.

Step 1: Helmet Build

Helmet build was first..and easiest part of the build. I had gotten the Pepakura File and started building the shape of the helmet. I used 6mm foam this year as the 1/2 inch foam we used last year was a bit too bulky for him and I wanted this to be lighter this year. I went to Michaels for the 6mm foam but at the time they only had white ...so I thought I would do a test helmet and then try it in white. I will say I actually like the test helmet more than I liked my finished. looks almost like a stormtrooper and my son uses it to play nerf war with his friends. I then got some black foam and made a final version with it. The black helmet I smoothed out more with dremel tool. White helmet is a glue mess but like I said he likes to play with it.. The eye sockets on the pepakura file were too far apart and too narrow so he couldn't see. I decided to cut them closer and wider with my x-acto knife. I also tested putting the plastic lenses in the white helmet so that it look more finished.

Step 2: Armor

I didn't take a lot of pictures of building this. This turned out more complex but I needed a way to make it fit so I did a modified sandwich board but then I wrapped the sides so that they connect in the back and then attached the shoulder straps together and the sides and straps meet up in the back at one point with Velcro.

Step 3: Arm and Legs Armor Parts.

The arms and leg covers were just three parts I glued together sides and tops and cut some accent parts. I painted some buckles silver and gave them a really nice brushed look. I also strapped and Velcro the shoulder pads so that they would all be together.

Step 4: Helmet

The helmet is painted a metallic blue 3 coats with sponge brushes. I did the first template of the side accents and didn't like it to plain. I did the accents over in black and cut the shapes up individually and it seem to work better. I then when back and added and additional strip to the top of the piece that goes under eyes as there seemed to be to much empty space. The lights I wasn't going to do because of time but I found a huge shortcut. Artskills makes led posterboard lights in multicolor and also has battery back and on/off switch. I cut off all the blue LEDs and splice/soldered them together and lined them inside the helmet and they turned out pretty well.

Step 5: Finished Product

The front camo piece I did with thin sheet of foam. I used modge podge ( actually forgot I used modge podge on everything to seal it for paint...3 coats on everything..makes the foam almost like plastic once it dries.) Custom painted the camo with sponge brush and paper stensils and some free hand. Bought some custom nerf holsters for his guns and then put it all together. All in all a stressful build but final results are awesome. Monday we go out for trick or treating. One side note... the LED don't project out so I am adding a external light so he can see when he is in the dark.