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This particular Batman sculpt, by Brian Dugas, does a great job of capturing Frank Miller's larger-than-life Dark Knight. It's the biggest of the three busts I did, at something around 1/3 scale. Bats has this great hulking presence, with his jaw jutting out and his barrel chest straining the fabric of his costume. It's a terrific sculpt, almost overwhelming in its simplicity.

This Batman bust is from the later issues of the classic Batman: The Dark Knight Returns mini-series. In issues 3 and 4, Frank Miller and colorist Lynn Varley gave Bats a mostly gray costume, down to (in some panels) a dark gray cape and a dark gray Bat emblem on his chest. I tried to mirror this color scheme as much as possible, using Anita's Grey Flannel for the tights and Slate for the cape and cowl. I used the same Slate for the Bat-emblem, but over a black base. This makes the chest emblem appear a tad darker than the cape and cowl -- not quite black, but a deeper gray. Brucie's face was Delta Creamcoat Medium Flesh, drybrushed with a dash of Dusty Mauve.

I don't have much else to say about this one, other than this is one of the final castings of this particular bust, offered specially to members of the Hero's Emporium Web site. Charlie Dunton at CD Productions gave club members a bit of a price break, with the explanation that the molds were breaking up and the quality was starting to go. Personally, I didn't encounter any major problems -- nothing that a little puttying and sanding couldn't take care of, anyway. It was a fairly easy bust to prep and paint, and it's definitely one of the more impressive pieces in my collection.

If you want to see how another modeler painted this bust, check out the airbrushed version by fellow modeler Philippe Ohresser at the Gremlins in the Garage site.