Make It - Harley Quinn Bat From Suicide Squad

I've been anxiously waiting for Suicide Squad to come out, and have been watching all the trailers to get all pumped up. While watching the trailers I was really drawn to Harley Quinn's bat (that might just be the shrapnel from my love of Margot Robbie) I started looking to see who was making a decent replicate and couldn't find anything that was even remotely acceptable. Once I realized that I had everything needed to make my own, it was a no brainer!

If you want to skip building your own bat from scratch, skip to step 2

The build video covers all the steps and is worth a watch if you plan on building your own!

Step 1: Turn a Baseball Bat

I started with some straight grain maple that was roughly 1" thick. I cut three identical boards and glued them together with wood glue. After drying overnight, I put it between centers and began to shape the bat. This was the most time consuming part. I set my depths with a parting tool before removing the waste with a roughing gouge. I finished it of with an array of carbide tipped cutting tools made by Rockler.The entire bat was sanded smooth with 400 grit sandpaper before moving onto the next step.

Step 2: Painting

I used my CNC router to cut out my letter stencils, you could just as easily get a sign shop to cut the letters out or free hand them. I have the letter template as well as the script for the next step available here. <-- Click Here

I applied the tape to the bat and sealed the tape to prevent the paint from bleeding with spray lacquer. It dries very quickly and guarantees crisp paint lines.

3 light coats of Rustoleum Apple Red and then dirtied up the edges with some thinned out black model paint. The same technique was used for the diamond detail in the center using Apple Red, Brilliant Blue, Colonial Red and Gloss Black. Once the paint was dry, I coated the entire bat with satin spray lacquer to seal it up before starting the next step.

Step 3: Get Your Sharpie and Get Crazy!

This step almost requires you to channel your inner psychopath. Using the script available here, write on the bat using Black, Red and Blue Sharpies. The effect is more important than the words themselves so don't worry about this step too much, just have fun with it! After this step was complete, I sealed the entire bat once again; this time using semi gloss spray lacquer.

Step 4: ​Finishing Touches!

Home stretch! Apply the white hockey tape to the handle and the build is complete. You now get to decide what kind of prop you're building. I choose to keep my bat pristine like it would have been the day Harley Quinn got it, but you could just as easily bang it around, scuff it, dirty up the tape and make it look like it's seen some action.

Hope you enjoyed this instructable, If you have any questions I urge you to watch the build video, check out the article on my website and leave a comment below.

Links for all the supplies I used can be found in the Video Description

Here is the video one more time just in case you still haven't watched it.