Pimp My Batmobile!

Archive for the ‘Batcopter’ Category

Not the new 1:50 Mattel Batcopter prototype.

Well, we don’t always like to talk about stuff that’s still so far out in development that it may not happen. If it doesn’t have a distributor’s sku number attached to it,  I prefer to wait until it does, (or wait until it gets abandoned, and then dangle the development info like sweet & salty chocolate cherry tears…)

But I digress. So many people have been emailing me about the possible upcoming Hot Wheels Batcopter that I thought we’d talk about it a bit. AND since they (Mattel) *borrowed* a custom Batcopter photo from a fellow customizer, I have no issue messing with their wrath, as it were. The little Batcopter in the cluster photo is a custom 1:94 scale (roughly 1:64 or Matchbox/HO car size) Here’s how we get the scale by the way – the real Batcopter (Bell 47) is 31′ 7 long. That converted down to the 4″ scale of this little diecast is roughly 1:94 scale. But it fits in well with the 1:64 scale Corgi or Hot Wheels vehicles. And we used foreground forced perspective to make it look right with the other 1:50 vehicles in the photo. But likely the real Hot wheels version will be bigger and out of scale with these vehicles.

Hot Wheels-borrowed this custom Batcopter model shot.

So – first lets get the factual info out of the way, because it’s really minimal right now. Yes, the HW Batcopter is “confirmed” as going into production in 2012. And it will be part of the 1:50 line. That doesn’t mean it will be 1:50 scale. Only that it will be on that general card size. Like the Batcycle which was closer to 1:35 scale, it just needs to be part of that same blister-card set of vehicles for Hot Wheels to call it 1:50 scale. Remember folks, they’re a TOY company. Not a scale-model company. They don’t care about you. Only about your cash.

Also not the new Hot Wheels Batcopter.

That said, they did such a nice job with the Batcycle and Batboat that I’m personally stoked about it. Polar Lights has also hinted that they are not ruling out a Batcopter model kit in the near future. But all of that plus about $4.50 will get you a cup of iced Chai at Starbucks. It’s all wishful thinking until we get wind of a Sku.

Meanwhile, in the “wouldn’t it be great” category, we hope they get the wings right. There are two schools of thought on the wings. However, only one of them is correct. You can always tell a good Batcopter custom from a bad one based on the shape of the wings. The Batcopter wings were NOT rounded outward toward the fore edges like a cartoon Halloween bat. They may look like they curve go that way in some shots, but most shots in the movie were from the side or 3/4 and yes – in those angles it creates an optical illusion as though the wings were curved inward away from the cockpit toward the aft tail section. But they were not. Some modelers pattern the wings after what they assume they are seeing. (Witness the photo. No offense to Cesare, but this is totally incorrect.)

The wrong way to shape Batcopter wings. (sorry Cesare)

Few shots exist looking down on the copter from directly above, but enough evidence has been collected over the years by those in the know that reveal that the flattened shape of the wings actually form a swoop-out, like a stylized, drapy “V” from the cockpit.

Here’s a custom mego-sized copter from above that was not designed for scale accuracy, but which shows the wings close to their correct shape.

Custom Mego sized 1966 TV Batcopter

One of the best shots indicating the wing shape is a vintage photo that shows a planned Batcopter model kit from a well-known model company. The accompanying drawings and mock-ups show researched measurements and dimensions. The challenge after getting the right shape is to then curve them upward correctly, so they take on the correct parabolic effect. What was achieved with struts in real life is a bit of a challenge to get right (and symmetrical) in a scale model.

Flattened 1966 TV Batcopter wing pattern.

Lets hope that Hot Wheels does as good a job on their 1966 TV Batcopter research as they did on the Batcycle and the Batboat. (not that they were perfect, but they were certainly better than expected) We’ll let you know when we have any release data.

Plans for a (un-produced) TV Batcopter model kit.

For years I’ve been searching for a suitable 1:25 scale Bell 47G helicopter model or toy to modify into a Batcopter that would go with the car and boat models in the scale I favor.
The classic Revell M*A*S*H helicopter kit that everyone (including me) uses to convert into the Batcopter is 1:35 scale – way too small. I have modeled the Batcopter in 1:8 (Mego Scale), 1:35 (near aurora batmobilel scale), 1:64 (Matchbox, Corgi Jr., Hot Wheels scale), and 1:48 (roughly 1:43 Corgi scale) based on various kits that have been offered over the years. But I could never locate a suitable 1:25 scale starter. It wouldn’t be impossible to model from scratch but – it would be a lot more work than a conversion.

I had pretty much decided to order one of the wooden Bell 47G models that many of these aircraft model makers sell on eBay and the web. They seemed like the right size. They’re usually about $85 – $100 but they are all wooden including the cockpit so I would have to vacuform a clear cockpit from their existing shape and I wasn’t sure how it would hold up to the process. I’ve seen vacuforming destroy a hard resin buck before and I didn’t want to spend that money and then still not have a usable copter model.

RC Bell 47G in approximately 1:25 Scale

Then I found a newer RC Bell copter that several Hong Kong vendors were selling on eBay. Called The Twister by Imex, it is a cheaper RC style helicopter. It sells for between $95 and $128 but I got a sale deal on mine and paid $90 to a US vendor. My big concern was the scale. Toys aren’t known for their accuracy in advertising lengths. The real Bell 47G fuselage is 374 inches long which would equate to 14.96 inches in 1:25 scale. This one was listed as being 16″ long so that was too close to not take a chance on. Plus it had a clear cockpit so we’d be further along already.

I was very pleased with the copter when I got it. It is almost perfectly in scale for the project. The motorworks will come out easily. And the customization is all very doable and minimal: Make some motor parts like exhaust pipes, Remove and replace the fuel tanks, add a tailfin, cut out the doors, model an interior, rework the landing struts and add a step, add the batwings and a paintjob and voila – Batcopter.

Here it is nose to nose with a Revell 1:35 conversion to illustrate size difference.

Imex copter nose to nose with 1:35 Revell Batcopter conversion

Closer up nose to nose.

Editor’s Note: Recently I was talking on another forum about my ongoing 1:25 Batcave diorama project and the person had not seen or heard of it before. I realized that the original blog articles had crashed when I took down the Scooter’s Custom Works website. (That website will be back up soon, by the way.) Even though that website content is gone, I found access in to the original Batcave blog articles and so I’m reposting them here, chronologically at PMB! Hopefully this will kick me into gear and my son Alex and I will get back on finishing the diorama up soon. The following post is from August, 2005.

For years, I had mused about creating a full-on, Batcave diorama in my favorite scale – 1:25. It seemed like  a great idea to house some of the many models I had created and also for a fun, large-scale project all  its own. I had been inspired by my friend Mike Stutelberg, whose own Batcave diorama is nothing short of breathtaking. It always seemed like a huge project and so years later, I still had not started it. Then, in 2004 a few things happened to kick-start my gumption. 1. My (then) 4 year old son had acquired a model railroading video that he watched over and over again, as 4 year olds do. And I watched it with him and soaked up some great fabrication tips. 2. Over the Christmas break, I noticed an eBay auction offering a custom 1:25 Atomic Pile model.

I thought it looked great and was amazed to see the Atomic Pile modeled in 1:25 scale and actually ON eBay for sale! I won the auction and when the model arrived I was amazed by the build-quality: Welded metal struts, cast resin panels, multi-media textures – it was very well done. I then realized that here was my answer. This was how the diorama model could get built – by supplementing our own work with pieces by other craftsmen. It would still be a huge, time-consuming folly, but it just might work!

I decided that I wanted to get an Atomic Pile model that was NOT anchored to a smaller cave setting like this one was, so I contacted the builder, Jim Graham and asked him to make me another one.

The new Atomic Pile would be freestanding and able to be utilized in my larger planned cave diorama. Now, how to house it, and what it would actually entail were the next questions I had to tackle.

Luckily, having a 4-year old telling you that anything, no matter how ambitious, is just what has to happen – is all you need to shame you into taking any project on.

And so, a Batcave – That’s it. It’s an omen. We shall model – a Batcave!