DC Comics 1960's Batmobile: WIP

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

I picked this up at the Desert Scale Classic back in April, it's the Polar Lights version of the Batmobile from DC Comics circa 1968. Given the source material, it's a well detailed kit with an engine and detailed interior as well as figures for Batman and Robin. And since I have yet to build a Batman themed model this year, it's next on my list.

 

 Here's the body in basic gray primer, well cast and nicely detailed with no flaws or other issues. This should be a fairly easy prep.

I've also shot a test color on the hood.

 

Why do all the Batmobiles seem to be such huge cars? This one easily dwarfs a Ford Gran Torino that I'm working on- Torinos are not small cars. I guess that subtlety is not a standard feature of the Batmobile.  

 

I've already prepped and painted the hood with my color choice for this build, Tamiya TS-53 Deep Metallic Blue. The build sheet call out gloss black for the body color but in the comic book world almost nothing is ever really black. In comic book illustrations, black is more frequently represented as shades of dark blue with stark glare highlights.

Besides, the illustration on the box lid looks dark blue to my eyes and it just seems right for this one.

 

Again, this kit being based on comic book illustrations there is no real-world reference for the engine. The color call out for the engine is red, blue or orange gloss, I chose orange.

 

That's all for now. As always, thanks for stopping by to have a look and please feel free to post a comment or two.

David G.

Edited June 12, 2022 by David G.
typo

[espo]

Your build seems to be coming along well. You mentioned the size of the body compared to the Torino. One thing to remember about these Batman Cars is that the original was based on a Lincoln Continental chassis that was about as big as it got at that time. The kit manufactures may just be trying to keep things to scale. 

[THarrison351]

I built this along with the fifties variant years ago when it was released with a pre-painted body. Fun, easy kit to build. I liked detail painting all the gizmos in the interior.

[David G.]

20 hours ago, espo said:

Your build seems to be coming along well. You mentioned the size of the body compared to the Torino. One thing to remember about these Batman Cars is that the original was based on a Lincoln Continental chassis that was about as big as it got at that time. The kit manufactures may just be trying to keep things to scale. 

Thank you David. Yeah, Given the appearance and time period I figured that this one was based on the Barris Futura Batmobile. I'm still impressed by the way they engineered this kit from old comic book illustrations. But I guess almost everything that's built starts from a drawing, doesn't it?

9 hours ago, THarrison351 said:

I built this along with the fifties variant years ago when it was released with a pre-painted body. Fun, easy kit to build. I liked detail painting all the gizmos in the interior.

Thanks Tim. I'm keeping an eye out for one of those too, and anything else "of the Bat". I've always been a Bat-Fan, my Mom said as a toddler, I used to run around the house with a bath towel draped around my shoulders singing "Mat-man! Mat-man!  Na-na-na Na-na-na, Mat-man!"

David G.

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

Prep on the body turned out to be rather easy, just a few faint parting lines along the tops of the fenders and along the front clip. Once these were smoothed out, I reprimed and smoothed the primer down a bit then sprayed it with Tamiya TS-53 Deep Metallic Blue. I like the way it came out.

 

As always, thanks for stopping by to have a look. Pease feel free to share your opinion or any tips and recommendations you may have.

David G.

[FLHCAHZ]

Great color choice!

[David G.]

On 6/13/2022 at 4:10 AM, FLHCAHZ said:

Great color choice!

Thank you Chaz, I'm glad to know you like it.

David G.

[bisc63]

Ditto on the color. It has that comic book feel, where deep black is always highlighted with blue. Perfect color of night in Gotham! Can't wait to see it all buttoned up.

[David G.]

13 hours ago, bisc63 said:

Ditto on the color. It has that comic book feel, where deep black is always highlighted with blue. Perfect color of night in Gotham! Can't wait to see it all buttoned up.

Thank you Rusty, I appreciate your comment.

David G.

[espo]

Nice smooth looking paint finish. 

[David G.]

20 hours ago, espo said:

Nice smooth looking paint finish. 

Thanks David, I'm quite happy with the way that this one is going so far.

David G.

[slusher]

Real smooth finish on your body, David!

[David G.]

22 hours ago, slusher said:

Real smooth finish on your body, David!

Thank you Carl.

David G.

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

The chassis platform is mostly completed. I decided to paint the Bat-Spinners gold rather than have them get lost against the rest of the chrome wheels.

 

Here's a shot of the underside, pretty clean and basic. 

 

Fitting in the rear axle and shocks is a bit tricky. Rather than a more traditional free-floating method, the axle mounts between these supports on the frame and the spring blocks. The supports seem to hold the axle too far from the chassis to allow good attachment of the leaf springs to the anchor points on the frame. I filed the mounting points on mine down a little and probably could have filed them a bit more.

 

As always, thanks for looking and please feel free to post a comment.

David G.

[espo]

Clean looking chassis. The area between the differential / frame and tail pipe looks a little crowded in the picture. Don't know if it would even fit with what you're trying to accomplish but had a similar issue on a build once and actually ran the exhaust from the muffler straight back so that it was between the "road" and the differential. 

[unclescott58]

On 6/13/2022 at 6:10 AM, FLHCAHZ said:

Great color choice!

Ditto. I too really like the color choice. It looks right for a comic book Batmobile. 

[slusher]

Nice and clean chassis.  Have you cleared the body yet, David?

Edited June 18, 2022 by slusher

[David G.]

18 hours ago, espo said:

Clean looking chassis. The area between the differential / frame and tail pipe looks a little crowded in the picture. Don't know if it would even fit with what you're trying to accomplish but had a similar issue on a build once and actually ran the exhaust from the muffler straight back so that it was between the "road" and the differential. 

Thank you David. It is pretty close in there, there are even indentations cast into the exhaust pipes to allow space for the shocks. Running the exhaust pipes under the axle probably would have worked but it likely would have taken more effort than the way I ended up doing it.

7 hours ago, unclescott58 said:

Ditto. I too really like the color choice. It looks right for a comic book Batmobile. 

Thank you Scott, I'm glad to know I made a good choice.

6 hours ago, slusher said:

Nice and clean chassis.  Have you cleared the body yet, David?

Thanks Carl. I don't think I'm going to clear coat the body, just polish it up. The has some rough spots hood still needs some work, probably some color sanding and another coat.

 

Thanks again,

David G.

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

The next task is fitting the engine into the assembled chassis, it just won't go. That hole is supposed to engage with a pin on the cross member about 5mm to the left. So I trimmed the pin down a little to allow more clearance.

 

 

This pin on top of the transmission is supposed to engage with the hole in the floor pan in a similar manner as the one on the crossmember is supposed to with the oil pan. I also trimmed it a bit too.

 

 

Trimming the pins allowed me to get it a little closer but still not quite there.

 

 

Getting the engine past the interference from the pins revealed another point of interference. The transmission housing and chassis plate are making some significant contact here and on the other side.

 

 

The easy (and probably only) solution is to reduce the size of the transmission housing. Luckily this will never be seen once the model is assembled. 

 

 

And finally! Shaving down the transmission did the trick... mostly. I still had to file a little bit off the lead edge of the chassis plate to accommodate the right-hand cylinder head, but there it is.

Don't you just love when a two minute task becomes a two-and-a-half hour chore?

 

This whole business left the tail of the transmission a bit floppy without any positive support so I drilled out the pin location and added a replacement.

 

That's enough for this post, more later.

Thanks for taking the time to look, comments are always appreciated.

David G.

 

Edited June 21, 2022 by David G.
typo

[David G.]

Hello Everybody!

Here's a quick mockup with the chassis, interior and body mated together. Getting the body over the chassis is a bit of a struggle but I only have to do it one more time. The wheels look a little too small to my eye but not bad. 

I've also started some bodywork on The Dark Knight.

As always, thanks for stopping by.

David G.

Edited June 21, 2022 by David G.
typo

[FLHCAHZ]

The mock up looks great

[David G.]

12 minutes ago, FLHCAHZ said:

The mock up looks great

Thanks Chaz!

David G.

[FLHCAHZ]

Off topic a bit, but I read your thread in the "off Topic" section about music, and the early Black Sabbath really influenced me as a kid.  I still listen to it today, and am thinking of putting together a "Sabbathfest" at my local social club

[David G.]

23 hours ago, FLHCAHZ said:

Off topic a bit, but I read your thread in the "off Topic" section about music, and the early Black Sabbath really influenced me as a kid.  I still listen to it today, and am thinking of putting together a "Sabbathfest" at my local social club

Thanks again Chaz. It's funny how the public perception of their music has changed over the past 40 or 50 years. They've gone from "What in gawdz name are you listening to?!" to "Oh yeah, they're the ones with Ozzy, right?"

Sounds like a great idea, if I still lived in the Youngstown area, I'd plan to stop by.

David G.

Edited June 23, 2022 by David G.

[Dirkpitt289]

I like the work you've been doing on this build. I really dig the color