For over 80 years, Batman has remained a pop culture icon due to his compelling story and character. As a hero without powers, he combines his wealth, martial arts skills, and detective sensibilities to combat Gotham’s most formidable villains. What also distinguishes him from other superheroes is the impressive list of gadgets he has at his disposal. Whether it’s the latest comic, video game, or movie, these enduring aspects of the Dark Knight continue to resonate with fans.
In this article, we’ve found some of the most impressive 3D printed projects across different eras of Batman, from past to present. If there’s something you want to re-create but aren’t able to print yourself, consider Craftcloud. With competitive rates and a huge material selection, your next design can become a reality!
Without further ado, let’s explore some cool projects below!
Caped Crusader Bust
This Batman bust, named The Caped Crusader, was sculpted by digital artist and 3D printing enthusiast, Eastman. A bust is a sculpture that generally shows the subject’s head and upper torso. Equivalent to a 3D portrait, busts are meant to capture fine details, especially the subject’s facial expression. For The Caped Crusader, Eastman portrays a younger Batman with a stoic face. Since 2017, they’ve provided free, 3D printable busts of popular comic book and movie characters.
- Who designed it: Eastman
- Cost: Free
- Where to find it: MyMiniFactory
- How it was printed: Printed hollow with supports, any material and 3D printing method (e.g. FDM, SLA, etc.) is suitable
- Which movie/game/comic this appears in: General Batman franchise
Batarang Props
The Batarang is one of Batman’s most iconic throwing weapons, essentially a combined shuriken and boomerang with a bat silhouette. Because of its compact size and popularity, its design has changed alongside every Batman variant.
Most Batarangs are also easy to print due to their flat surface, eliminating the need for support structures. Here, we’ve listed several free, printable variations of the Batarang. As a finished product, these prints make both great cosplay props and display pieces (though we don’t recommend throwing them).
- Who designed it: Oneshotblu; ReProps; Cyphn; ThaTTUGuy; japhillips87; Harchy33
- Cost: Free
- Where to find it: Thingiverse
- How it was printed: Most models were printed with PLA on a standard FDM printer, then primed and painted
- Which movie/game/comic this appears in: Batman vs. Superman; The Batman (2022); Batman: Arkham Series; The Dark Knight Rises; Batman Beyond
Wearable Cowl
Next to the Bat Signal, Batman’s cowl is his most recognizable silhouette. Despite being easy to spot for us, it also keeps Bruce Wayne’s identity hidden in the Gotham universe. This 3D printed cowl is based on the one seen in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy. Worn by actor Christian Bale, this cowl is particularly expressive because of its prominent brow and other organic facial features.
When 3D printing a cowl or helmet, scaling the model to fit your head is a must. This can be done by modifying the dimensions of the model either in your slicing software or a 3D modeling software, such as Blender. Both software options are also capable of splitting the model into pieces if there’s limited space on your print bed. The pieces can then be bonded with glue or plastic welding before priming and painting.
- Who designed it: TheCreatorx3D
- Cost: Free
- Where to find it: MyMiniFactory
- How it was printed: Printed in four parts with an FDM printer, then sanded, bonded, primed, and painted
- Which movie/game/comic this appears in: The Dark Knight Trilogy
Bat-Board Electric Skateboard
YouTuber James Bruton is a maker with a background in toy design. As part of his Batman cosplay project, he imagined what the Caped Crusader would use if he had a skateboard. What resulted was the Bat-Board – an electric skateboard inspired by the Bat Tumbler from The Dark Knight Trilogy. Although the only printed parts were the wheels and tires, it’s a great example of 3D printing functional parts in an electro-mechanical project.
- Who designed it: James Bruton
- Cost: Not specified
- Where to find it: YouTube
- How it was printed: Wheels and shims were printed in PLA and the tires in TPU
- Which movie/game/comic this appears in: The Dark Knight Trilogy
Hellbat Helmet
The Hellbat suit is one of the more distinctive and unique Batsuits. Seen primarily in the comics and once in the Harley Quinn TV series, the armor was designed by Batman to defend himself against more powerful villains. With this design consideration in mind, the Hellbat is one of Batman’s strongest forms.
YouTuber Frankly Built is mostly known for 3D printing Iron Man suits, but he made an exception for the Hellbat helmet. In his video tutorial, he chose to print the helmet as one piece with supports around the perimeter. For post-processing, he applies a total of 2 coats of paint, the first in plain black and the second in glossy black coating. Lastly, he attached a red, flexible clear plastic to the eye holes as a visor lens. A step further for visual accuracy would be the addition of red LEDs around the perimeter of the visor lens.
- Who designed it: Frankly Built
- Cost: $15 (No longer available for purchase)
- Where to find it: Etsy
- How it was printed: Printed as a single piece in matte black PLA on an FDM printer, then sanded, primed, and painted with a gloss coating
- Which movie/game/comic this appears in: Batman and Robin Vol 2 #33, Harley Quinn
Batman Ninja Armor
For fans of Batman and anime, Batman Ninja combines the two. The 2018 animated film follows Batman’s unexpected adventure back in time to feudal Japan. Caught in a time displacement machine by one of his enemies, Gorilla Grodd, he finds that his greatest villains have also time-traveled to this period and became feudal lords. While donning his new armor, Batman and his friends must defeat their villains before history is permanently altered.
Fitting with the time period, the Batman Ninja armor contains elements of traditional samurai armor. Nikko Mendoza’s 3D printable model captures many of these details from head to toe. He also created three tutorial videos on how to print and construct the pieces. Using a mixture of flexible and rigid filaments, after a nice coat of paint, this armor will be cosplay-ready for your next comic or anime convention.
- Who designed it: Nikko Industries
- Cost: $125
- Where to find it: Nikko Industries (tutorial videos: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)
- How it was printed: The cowl, gauntlets, and chest plate pieces were printed in TPU and welded together; weapons were printed in PLA
- Which movie/game/comic this appears in: Batman Ninja
Grapple Gun Replica
The Grapple Gun is known for helping Batman traverse buildings and break falls. Other creative use-cases include grabbing nearby objects and people. Although seldom seen in the early comics, it was made popular by Michael Keaton’s 1989 rendition of Batman and subsequently appeared in later films, shows, and video games.
This Grapple Gun replica, designed by Daniel Lilygreen, is based on the one used in the Batman: Arkham video game series. The grappling hook itself can both lock in place and detach, perfect for displaying or cosplay use. For ease of assembly and minimal resources, the gun housing is held together by dowels.
- Who designed it: lilykill
- Cost: Free
- Where to find it: MyMiniFactory
- How it was printed: Printed in four parts with an FDM printer, then primed and painted
- Which movie/game/comic this appears in: Batman: Arkham Asylum
RC Batmobile
Batman’s personal vehicle, the Batmobile, has appeared alongside him from the beginning. Since its initial appearance as a red convertible in 1941, the design of the vehicle has changed dramatically over the decades. Today, it dons a low-profile appearance, while utilizing special gadgets and technologies developed by Bruce Wayne himself.
The OpenRC Project is an open-source initiative that incorporates 3D printing with RC products. Dsk001, a New York City-based 3D modeler, designed and printed a custom Batmobile body for the OpenRC F1 chassis. To print this, parts are recommended to be oriented with the body undersides facing the bed. Although support structures are needed, this orientation will create a clean, outer appearance as the undersides will not be seen in the final assembly. Lastly, a set of M3 screws and nuts are used to fasten the body to the chassis.
Bat Signal Lamp
The easiest way for the Gotham police to summon Batman is by using the Bat-Signal, which is a searchlight pointed to the sky while displaying a bat silhouette. The signal shown is the Batman logo that most of us are familiar with.
This miniature Bat-Signal, designed by Arquit3D, is based on the one seen in The Dark Knight Rises film. In addition to being 3D printable, it can also serve as a functional lamp with LEDs and a transparent plastic sheet to disperse the signal light.
- Who designed it: Arquit3D
- Cost: Free
- Where to find it: Thingiverse
- How it was printed: Printed in 68 parts with an FDM printer, then sanded, glued together, primed, painted, and finally weathered
- Which movie/game/comic this appears in: The Dark Knight Rises
Fully Articulated Batguy
This fully printable and articulated Batguy figure demonstrates the full capabilities of 3D printed toys. With a unique zip tie articulation system, it has at least 32 points of articulation and can also be scaled up to 200%.
For accessories, the figure files include extra hand gestures, batarangs, and wings that are both retractable and detachable. The range of posing options puts the Batguy on par with many high-quality action figure sets while being a cost-effective alternative.
Bonus: Nearly Complete Batsuit
Julian Checkley is an Ireland-based special effects artist with a talent for making costumes and creatures. As a child, his love for Halloween inspired him to make costumes based on his favorite science fiction characters. Today, he runs Order 66 Creatures and Effects, where his work is commissioned by film studios and private collectors.
In 2016, Checkley broke the Guinness World Record for “Most Functional Gadgets in a Cosplay Suit” totaling 23 functional gadgets, all of which fit in the suit. His version of the Batsuit can be seen in the video game, Batman: Arkham Origins, where players get to explore Gotham as a young Batman. 3D printing also played a major role in the making of the suit, as the initial design was printed and then molded and cast in urethane rubber. The record is currently held by Keith Dinsmore, since 2019.
- Who designed it: Julian Checkley
- Cost: ~$9,000 (circa 2016)
- Where to find it: Files not available to recreate
- How it was printed: The mold for the suit was printed with a hard (unspecified) filament
- Which movie/game/comic this appears in: Batman: Arkham Origins
License: The text of "Batman 3D Print: Cosplay, Props, & Other Designs" by All3DP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.