Arkham City Grapple Gun Build Videos

Just this evening, I created a playlist on my youtube channel that contains ALL of the videos I've made documenting the build up of my Arkham City Grapple Gun. I didn't realize that I had over two hours of content! Here's a link to the playlist:

Arkham City Grapple Gun Build Playlist

Here's the first video, if you'd prefer to jump right in.

Arkham City Grapple Gun - First One Done

A bit of a happy-dance is going on right now over here in Irvine over the completion of my first Grapple Gun. I would say overall it turned out OK. The fit and finish of this piece is not quite where I would like it to be, but seeing as how it needs to be delivered to the set today for filming, I figured it would be ok.

That's right.

I said "delivered to the set today for filming." In a very interesting twist of fate, this piece is going to be used in an independent film. I can't really say anything else right now, as it's pretty hush-hush, but I will keep you posted as more information becomes available.



You'll notice of course that the gun is painted with Krylon semi-flat black, which is NOT representative of the color scheme seen in the game. I know that. However, the director of the film asked for one in all black, so I delivered.



The real upside of this 'quick' build is that I learned a lot about how the whole thing fits together, and I will be applying that knowledge to the other two that I am building right now.

Batman Stuff Progress

I'm taking full advantage of the beautiful SoCal weather today, and got some painting done. Nothing makes paint dry better than some direct sunlight on a warm day.

Here's a couple misc batarangs I'm working on, along with the side disks to the Arkham City grapple gun.



A few more side disks to the grapple gun, just after some primer.

General Progress Update Thread

I posted a new Grapple Gun video tonight:



I realized today that documenting a project via episodic youtube is a VERY time consuming effort. I am many months into this build, and I have to believe that one of the reasons it is taking so long is because of the overhead involved in filming and editing the vids. Still, they are their own reward, so I'm not complaining. The purpose of the build isn't really to get a grapple gun, but is instead to make a set of videos that will forever more be used as reference for my fellow prop builders.

I have finished cleaning up the new batarang master, and I am quite happy with it:


Please recall that this began life as a casting taken from an ICONS Ice-Rang from the movie Batman & Robin. It didn't really take all that much work, but the work took place among numerous other in-flight projects. I would like to get this under rubber tomorrow.

Mermaid tail master pattern continues. I'm roughly half way done gluing down all of the styrene. It's just very meticulous and boring work. I try to do the scales in sets of ten strips. That's about all my patience can handle before I have to switch gears and do something else.

Zero progress on Han in Carbo.

I've started a new project too. Vic Mignogna / JediVic has asked me to build a Star Trek Tri-Viewer, as seen in the conference room of the original NCC-1701 Enterprise. This will be used in his upcoming series "Star Trek Continues." I'm very excited to be able to contribute something to this production, which promises to be the finest fan made Trek show to date. I've done some initial research, some preliminary drawings, and have kicked around a few details with some fellow trek enthusiasts on the RPF. I have some dimensions that feel good. I think the next step is to build a mock up.

I'm also making a series of props for a project that I don't think I'm allowed to talk about at this time. So far, it's been a really fun process. I designed a few props using adobe illustrator, while going back and forth with the producer using iphone photos over txt message. It's really amazing how technology allows people to collaborate in ways that would simply not have been possible a few years ago. As it stands, I will be delivering about a dozen or so props to this production, though a few will be duplicates.

So as you can see, there's a lot going on right now.

I'll end with a quick story. The other day, I was having lunch at Dreamworks with a friend. (does that count as a name drop?? If you name a studio? is that a name drop????) He was giving me the tour, and he spotted a co-worker/friend of his a cube or two away. He said he wanted me to meet him, as he was cool. My friend introduced me as "Matt" and the guys response was "Oh! Rise of the MattMobile! I love your blog!!!!"

Mind. Blown.

I tell ya man, it's a funny old world when little ol' Matt Munson is being recognized by people who work at a major Hollywood studio! It was a pretty major day for me, as I assumed the PREVIOUS time someone recognized me from my videos/blog was bound to be the last.

In closing, I really do want to give my honest and sincere thanks to all of the folks who read my blog, watch my videos, give feedback, and tell me that they either enjoy the blog or are learning something from it. It's really VERY gratifying to know that my hard work is appreciated, especially when it is appreciated by people who I respect and admire. So thank you!

Grapple Gun Pins

Just a tiny update on the grapple gun. These are some aluminum pins I cut the other day to hold the different parts of the gun together.

Grapple Gun Milling All Done.

After a very steep R&D curve, I've managed to finish up my home made mill, and the slots needed for the Arkham Grapple gun.



The first one took me about 3 days to make. The other two took about five minutes each. Hooray for process improvement.

Success With Home Made Mill

After a few attempts, and a of trial and error, I'm now getting really spectacular results out of my home made mill. It's sort of single purpose, and will really only cut THESE slots on this piece, but hey, it's a start!

Arkham City Prop Base Finished

I just finished painting this tonight.



I am extremely pleased with how it turned out. I essentially threw every technique I know at it, except for a wash. And I might still do that.

The next video in my Grapple Gun build series will walk through the entire process I used to get it to this point. I'm feeling very proud tonight!

Mold For Arkham City Base

The other day I poured silicone on top of my acrylic master of the base for my Grapple Gun project.



Here is the finished mold, with the flash untrimmed:

Arkham City Prop Base

This is the first pull out of my mold. This will be the base for the Grapple Gun. Next trick will be weathering it and painting it. It should be fun!

Grapple Gun Resin Pours

I've got a few tiny updates to make on the Arkham City Grapple Gun project, but no video for them. Here's a shot of a three resin kits I have put together. I am going to use them to film the build up of the piece.



Here is the assembled laser cut base. This will go into rubber, as soon as my order arrives.

Grapple Gun Status

I took this pictures with my phone, to send to a friend. The reaction I got was so good that I decided to also post it here and on facebook.

You can see the laser cut acrylic base on top, and below is a cobble together of resin parts and masters. I wanted to show the current state, and how close it is to being done.

Arkham City Build Videos Continue!

This is number 12, I believe. Not very heavy on prop building content, but more a treatise on shopping preferences. Watcher beware.

Overall, the build is going really well, and I'm really enjoying this new format of documentation. I don't think it's sustainable, as it is a lot of work. I find it much easier to just take some photos along the way, then post them up to the blog at the end of the night, along with a few self-important sounding ramblings to give them some flavor.

But making the videos is pretty labor intensive. I've gotten my pipeline perfected, and I am definitely cranking them out with great efficiency, but it still takes about one hour per episode from start to finish. Add into that the overhead involved simply in filming the stuff while I'm doing work.

Don't get me wrong, it's very rewarding, and I'm pleased with the results. However, unless there is high demand for another one of these series' in the future, this will probably be a one time gig. Eh, I take that back. Who knows.

Arkham City Grapple Gun Progress Picture

After a couple of days in the garage, a few hundred bucks on tools, a minor injury to my thumb, and seven micro-videos later, this is where my Batman Grapple Gun stands.

Overall, I am very pleased with the progress. What makes me happiest is that I'm using tools to make tools. I find that fascinating. It's the pinnacle of human development!!!

I'm also learning a lot, and am having a lot of fun. I haven't even started the hand grip yet, but I've learned a lot that I can apply to that part.

Stay tuned for more videos, by the way.

Episodes 2 and 3 of Arkham City Grapple Build

Batman: Arkham City Grapple Gun Video Build

I'm doing an experiment with a new build, the grapple gun from Arkham City and Arkham Asylum.