Ken Davis cowls

[pulpadded]

Compared to Williams' cowls, how different are they?

[AndyFish]

Williams Cowl- 2016 BMW 7 Series -- the best of the rest 2016 Ford Mustang

[westbatman]

You can't compare anything to the Williams cowls, nothing comes close.

Andy

[Scott Sebring]

Ken...oh boy. Hopefully I won't have to lock this thread but here it goes...
Ken Davis took over trying to make cowls after Wally passed his former "business" to him. Ken never got the hang of doing great ears and was constantly re-tweaking the design with almost every cowl so the consistency of either accuracy or quality fluctuated a lot. Actually, his "accuracy" in this case was never where it is today or has been for nearly ten years now. But here are the main points to compare with the Chuck since that's what you asked.

1) The initial shell Ken worked with was the one that Wally had developed and used for his cowls which was fine for years but the shape was very off in the back and had a tendency to go more light bulb shaped depending on how it was covered. Chuck's cowls out of the gate were already light years closer to being spot on in shape and form over any that came before. And quickly, Chuck's shells evolved into what they are today. None better. Ken's subsequent re-designs from his Wally ones never got close to the Chuck shape.

2)The fabrics that Ken used fluctuated in color and quality and none of them ever nailed it. His cowl fabric fitting skills were often quite off around the neck area.

3)His paint jobs for the eyebrows and nose never excited me.

Personal advice to the curious out there:
Honestly, stop looking for cheaper substitutes when it comes to key pieces to one's bat costumes like cowls and utility belts, folks. Unless of course you want a cheaper costume that just looks cheap in the end. I can understand trying to save here and there on building a costume but it starts with that cowl and Chuck certainly offers the most reasonable range from a good starting one that is still heads and bat ears above all other replicas that proceeded and currently out there all the way to a mind boggling museum piece work of art. My original Wally was quite a bit more than Chuck's deluxe cosplay cowl is these days (Chuck didn't make cowls when I first started) and I honestly think one needs to at least start there rather than trying to nickel and dime themselves into a corner of overall dissatisfaction in the end. I have seen this story repeat itself over and over through the years. A guy builds a suit, skimps on the cowl for a marginal price difference and ends up buying a Chuck in the end anyways and tries to sell off their original purchase. When you pay for quality, you cry only once. Kudos to the other cowl makers out there but the eyes don't lie in the end.

[pulpadded]

I appreciate the info. It was advertised as being more accurate, which I didn't find likely.

[Scott Sebring]

I think I found the auction you were talking about.

Yep. Each thing I mentioned previously I see here. The funky ears. The fabric stretched so far that it contracts too much around the neck or wherever the shell isn't there to help it hold its shape. And this one is later when he was no longer using the Wally shell and trying to retool a recasted upon recasted and overtrimmed Hubie shell. The shape of the shell is just plain off by this time.

Having said all that. It was alright and ambitious for the day back when it was made which was probably closer to late 2005 but the craft and accuracy exploded exponentially over the next year.

Regretfully. this doesn't live up to the hyperbole advertised by the seller.

[Ben Bentley]

Scott has absolutely hit the nail on the head.

Having owned a Ken Davis cowl (albeit one using the Wally shell and fabric), I categorically agree with all of the points Scott has taken the time to explain. I even went to the extent of having another cowl maker produce a set of ears that I replaced the original Ken versions with.

To put it into context, here are two shots below, one of me wearing a Ken and another of me wearing a friend's Chuck cowl. Even the untrained eye would tell you which one looks like it came straight off of the set of the show:

[Batman65]

Wow, even my Will cowl looks better than that K.D. cowl! Ben, the suit looks great! Thanks for posting the comparison pics.

[Chuck Williams]

Ken and I talked quite a bit early on and we spurred each other on to find out as much as we could about the batsuits.

It was during this time that I found the "Lastex" brand name for the fabric in my research and that I had a swatch of it in green that I though couldn't be "the " fabric because it was more textured than I thought it should have been but when Wally sent me a swatch, it confirmed it.

I spoke to the manufacturer as they were literally closing up shop for good. Damn you spandex!

I also found the Robin trunk fabric during this time, just before they quit making it in cotton.

I think I may be the Grim Reaper for fabric makers!

At the time I thought Ken's experience with the Wally cowls and costumes gave him a head start but as Lynne and I started making ours I think the fresh perspective helped us "see" the cowl better and go in our own direction.
Also, having Lynne , who is a trained pattern maker and stitcher, gave our work a professional fit and polish that a fan made piece can't compete with.

The pink cowl shown was our first completed cowl we sold and the cowl Scott is wearing in the comparisons below was our first custom dyed blue cowl we ever sold.BTW, that is Ken Davis wearing the "Wally" cowl. I love this photo!

Attached is , I believe, the same Ken Cowl being auctioned next to our current Limited Edition cowl covered in the custom dyed fabric used on the original cowl and the Deluxe Cosplay Cowl in modern stretch satin for comparison. I'll leave the comparing to the viewer.

Thanks for the kind words Guys!!!

Chuck...