Tweeterhead’s Secret Bat-Weapon: Chuck Williams

Posted By Dan Greenfield on Aug 22, 2014 | 0 comments

The smart guys at the maquette maker picked one of the world’s pre-eminent Batman ’66 experts to help craft their Adam West Batman figure.

Been a fun couple days here at the 13th Dimension BATMAN’S HOT-LINE Secret HQ: We’ve been having a Tweeterhead Batstravaganza with all sorts of cool info:

— We told you that Burt Ward’s Robin will be the next in the line. That story included an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Batman maquette.

— Plus, we gave you the news that Chad Colebank’s California-based company is starting a line-up of Bat-maquettes that will stretch back to the Golden Age: BATMAN CLASSICS (with Penguin first to waddle onto shelves).

Courtesy Tweeterhead, of course.

Now, as promised, here is Chuck Williams, best known around the Internet for creating insanely detailed Batman ’66 props. Colebank and crew wisely called in Chuck to help get their Adam West maquette just right.

So I asked Chuck about his involvement and here’s what he had to say:

A stunning Chuck creation.

Chuck Williams: Chad knew I was a sculptor and Bat-Fan that has been replicating the costumes with the help of my wife, Lynne Williams, a costume fabricator and patternmaker.

Ever since the original airing of the show, I have been intrigued by the costumes and their construction.

We had the opportunity to examine and document an original set of Batman and Robin costumes from the show. (You can read more about that here.) This opportunity led us to create replica costume parts for fans around the world, including Adam West himself!

The Dynamic Duo

Chad contacted us to lock down the details of the costume that the hardcore fans would be looking for.

One of the key elements to the overall look was getting Adam’s build and proportions right without becoming caricatured. Trevor Grove did a beautiful job!

This costume is all about proportion. The distances from the cowl skirt to the emblem. The emblem to the belt. The length of the gloves and the height of the boots. All these things are important to getting the best look for the classic Adam West Batman.

The costume details of the curved zippers in the boots, the various glove fin sizes and the pull across the shoulders on the cape where it is folded back and snapped together are details found in this sculpture.

I’m thrilled with how Trevor captured the cape and cowl. The shape of the cowl is tricky but he really got it. Seeing the seams that lend so much to the design of the Adam West Batman cowl, all perfectly represented really makes me happy.

Color is also very important and David Fisher did a beautiful job. We supplied the Pantone colors that we got from examining the original costumes. The two different yellows for the emblem and the belt are the type of thing that I hope diehard fans will recognize and appreciate.

David Fisher getting it just right.