Some of you may have seen the the Batman Clock I made to go in a Batman themed bedroom, well now the bed is in, there is still a little work to do to pimp the bed but that will have to be another instructable.

So the bed was relatively cheap and easy to build. It was designed to take and existing Ikea mattress. Building the bed was relatively quick, just had to pick a day with decent weather as this was all cut outside. All in I think the bed cost just over £130, but that included a new mattress and bed slats from Ikea which was at least £80.

Materials Required:
Paper Version of your design
MDF x2 18mm MDF Sheets (1220 x 2440)
MDF Sealer
Wooden Battens (I uses 33mm x33mm)
Knock down fittings (http://www.screwfix.com/p/kd-joints-pack-of-10/87601)
Paint, various
Masking Tape

x1 Ikea Child Mattress
x1 Ikea Sultan Luroy Bed Slats (http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/50160208/)

Toos Required:
Pencil
Jigsaw
Router
Tape Measure

Step 1: Choosing and Scaling the Design

As I wanted to try and make the Batmobile similar to the Micheal Ketaing one from the original Batman movie I tracked down some images and made a rough plan on the computer (no clever software just any imaging software will do).

To ensure my design was the right size I drew a grid in my software (each square represented 100mm) and made the picture size represent 1300 x 2500. This was so I could represent a full sheet of MDF (1220 x 2440) as I want to make sure I could get two sides of the bd out of a single sheet. Here I played around with scaling of my preferred design until I was happy with the size.

Next was to print the design onto A4, I would have liked to have printed in bigger but only had access to an A3 printer.

Step 2: Transferring the Design

Transferring the design to the MDF sheet was a bit of a slow task. I started out by drawing out 100mm grids across the whole sheet of MDF as the each square represented the same area as my print. Yes then basically drew the design out in light pencil for each square.

Once I completed transferring the design o the MDF, I then went over the hole thing with a little more pressure with he pencil to blend the lines and give me my final design.

Although I wanted two sides from a single sheet I only transferred one image as once this would be cut out I would use that as a template for the other side.

Step 3: Cutting Out the Bed

Once the design was transferred the next step was to cut it out. I used a jigsaw to cut out the whole thing and then tidied up all the edges with some sandpaper (as my jigsawing is not perfect).

Once the one side was cut and cleaned up I clamped this to the left over MDF sheet and using the router with template bit traced round it to cut out the other side. I had to clean up a couple of bits where the template bit was too big.

I then decided that instead of having just a flat side of the bed that I would use another piece of MDF in order to bring a bit more life to the rear wheel arches. So using the same technique of transferring the design I cut out another piece for the wheel arches.

As the bed was going to be black I want to create a little definition between the bodywork and wheels so decided I would use the router again in order to route a shallow grove around the edge of the tyre. As I don't have a circular cutter for my router I just decided to make a quick on with a piece of scrape hardboard I had lying around (I won't go into how to make one of these, there are probably plenty on Instructables or a quick www search should help you)

Next I took this piece and using my new circular cutter also cut a circular piece out which would mimic the air intake. Here I made a little mistake and made this slightly to big as I didn't actually plan on cutting through the top of the piece. This wasn't a real problem just meant I could need to make sure that this all lined up properly when I fixed the two pieces together.

The last step of cutting was to ensure that all the edges were rounded off, so again using the router, this time with a round over bit I routed each side of the bed, then flipped them over and done the same on the other side.

Step 4: Extras and Supports

Now the sides of the bed were complete, I used some additional MDF in order to make supports for the bed and also a shelf that would be used. Each piece was cut to the width of the mattress I was using and then to the relevant height that would sit just below the mattress. I forgot to make photos of this here but you will see the pieces when we put the bed together.

Step 5: Prep and Painting

Next step was to get everything prepped and painted and as I had quite a few bits this was going to take a while, with drying time all the paintwork took me a couple of days to crack through.

First step was to seal all the MDF as we know this is a very thirty material when it comes to paint, especially the edges. This is why I would recommended sealing each edge at least twice or more if you have the time.

Once everything was sealed I undercoated it all with white undercoat. Now my next issue was going to be adding the nice thin likes to the fins at the back as I have pretty shaky hands and would struggle with this. I thought about getting a nice coach lining brush but realised that would be well out of my comfort zone so decided to go for the easy route and but some thing 3mm masking tape.

So before the masking tape was applied I roughly painted all the bits that I would want grey (I used a tester pot of paint here as needed very little grey paint). Once the paint was dry I run masked over every bit I would want grey on the finished bed.

Next I painted everything black taking care on the windscreen section as try not to get any black on it, which I failed, should probably have covered this whole section with paper but I was being lazy.

Once the sides were painted all the other bits, supports and shelf.

Step 6: Putting It All Together

Now everything was painted it was time to put it all together. I decided to go for knock down fittings for all the connections so it could easily be broken down in the future if we moved or needed to move the bed.

I also used two battens that the slats would rest on in order to make the mattress.

I offered up everything before I fixed anything together to ensure everything fitted and was in the right place, then started adding the knock down fittings ready for final assembly. Once I was happy everything fitted, I moved the bed into its final position and starter putting it all together.

Finally the mattress was added along with nice black bedsheets to complete the look.