Now that may not seem like a big deal, but the original 2003 Batboat kit only included a scaled up version of the Aurura decals, which while being fun and nostalgic – were actually very inaccurate. For some reason the oval bat signal emblem that goes on the fin was too small, cartoony and much darker than it should have been, making it hard to see on the model. Additionally, the hull flames were incorrect and Aurora never included anything to help the builder get the white parts of the hull or fins detailed.

Round 2 has changed that with this model. The decal set includes most of the original 1967/2003 art but adds corrected fin bats, white fin scallops, and much nicer flames, with or without the white hull sections. Plus, a few extras like a brand new oval base nameplate option that is pretty cool. R2 has again added pinstriping, like they did with their 1/32 Batmobile release which seems impractical as a wetslide option – but I applaud their efforts and for including the option.

I’ve always thought that one of the genius moves that R2 made was to scale up the original Batboat kit from 1/32 to 1/25 . This is particularly noteworthy this year, as they get their 1/25 Batmobile ready for production. If you’ve never built that 2003 PL Batboat kit you’ve got in your to-be-built model stack in the closet, or if you never picked it up the first time – this model is worth the $19 for these decal upgrades alone! Now, who’s got a good, retro 1/25 scale trailer?

(Thanks again to Tim from TPM for the decal scan)

Our goal is to mix elements of the 1966 TV Batcave with some of our favorite comics stuff and some of our own inventions as well. So -

The TV Batboat is super cool but never lived in the Batcave on TV. They had to drive to the marina to get to it. That seems unlikely and awkward to us. Just slightly less goofy than having the Batmobile actually trailer it. (a la the Corgi gift pack) I always loved the idea that the cave housed EVERYTHING. So we are borrowing from the comics the idea of an underground Grotto that is a tributary to Gotham harbor. Our back-story is that perhaps Batman expanded an already existing grotto to his needs.

In the diorama – I wanted this far enough away from the center TV Atomic Pile area so we are placing it to the far right. And since that’s our cave exit, we needed a bridge for the Batmobile. And a grotto or cave lake for the Batboat that could actually handle real depth.

We started by creating a light but rigid base for the lake out of slices of pink insulating styrofoam (home depot) and used Project Glue for Foam to put them together.

Then we needed to seal it up to be able to actually support our “water.” We used these great products to seal up the seams and then provide some underwater lake effects.

We decided that the Batcave grotto would be a typical East Coast limestone based cave lake and so most of the ballast (rocks) got the grey/green mossy treatment that we see around PA a lot. It was a challenge to remember and plan for all this to be sealed underwater. We also decided that perhaps the Atomic Pile would need a cooling system so there are intake and outake pipes in the lake walls. Made from trimmed pieces of silver cable hiding hoses and then weathered and decals added.

Grotto/Lake bottom with coolant pipes and drainpipe

We built the bridge after a design that Alexander drew. I liked it because it was a little Burton-esque yet not unrealistic. We made it out of balsa, painted it silver with hammered aluminum for the texture and then weathered it and added the big rivet bolts and the non-skid surface. We dropped it into place and then foam-puttied around the struts.

We planned to fill the lake bed with clear railroad water effect resin. I wanted the Batboat to be immersed realistically in “water” but I also did not want to permanently embed my Jim Apitz-made batboat model in clear resin. So we decided to grab a spare Polar Lights Batboat hull, and mount it in the lake bottom, seal it with plastic wrap for easier removal later, then pour the resin in around it. The theory was that when we had the right water level and it had hardened – we just pop out the spare hull and put the Batboat model in its place. Well it was a great idea that we didn’t think through completely. More on that later.

Alex draws up some plans for the chem lab tables.

Exploring the garage options.

Finished chem-lab table.

We decided to build the diorama in this large 6ft long glass store display case. We found this case fairly affordably from a local used store fixtures supply warehouse in Pittsburgh. It came with existing lighting but we mounted new mini fluorescent lights to the interior ceiling. We are testing out a floor-plan and getting a working base floor out of pink building Styrofoam in there to make markings.

The tricky parts of this (other than, you know – actually creating all the little bits) is working within the space contained by this display case and working front to back until we get ready to turn everything around later. We wanted a platform base to give elevation for a grotto for the batboat, and to hopefully house electrical parts.

We tried to drop in a full-length base platform but I realized it would be better with two smaller ones so we can have flexibility and maneuvering room. Here we are laying out the new floorplan and test-fitting the underflooring. You can see our markings for where the grotto will be.

Marking the Batcave floor.

Laying out some goodies for a test fit.

More gadgets placement.

Editor’s Note: The following post has been migrated over from our now defunct Batcave Blog and dates originally from June 8, 2006:

I met Roman Schelling from Germany through the Custom Batman forum where he was showcasing a beautiful Wayne Manor he had modeled for a film. I approached him about possibly modeling some pieces for our Batcave diorama and he was enthusiastic and very graciously offered his help. He made these pieces by hand using balsa wood, cardboard, and Sculpy polymer clay. When they arrived, we were very excited. The plan is to modify a few of them and add to them. Believe it or not, though he made a TON of pieces, we still don’t have all the familiar Batcave props. What a great head start though! Thanks Roman!

Roman Schelling Created These Gadgets for our Batcave

I always LOVED the 1966 TV Batcave set. Primarily because it was real. You could see it live, two times a week when I was a kid. The comic book Batcave, on the other hand, while cool – was never the same thing twice. It wasn’t real and depended entirely on whatever artist was rendering it that week to be interesting. Consistency was not a watchword.

That said, the comic book Batcave had some pretty cool stuff that they didn’t capture in the TV version: The Giant penny, The Robot Dinosaur, the Villain Trophies, Bat Gyros…the list goes on.

After much consternation about which version we should do, my 4-year old son, Alex gave me the simplest and most obvious (and yes, most challenging) answer: Why not combine them? Take the best elements of the TV Batcave and the best features of the classic comic book Batcave and do a mash-up.  Why not? So we decided to try to blend the best elements of the Batcave over the years. I have no idea how well it’s going to work, if at all. The 1966 TV guys will grumble about the Dinosaur, the comics guys will scoff at the ‘66 labels on all the gear – but hey, it’s our project and this is what we’re gonna do.

My friend Mike Stutelberg, who has designed many bat-models for Horizon, Polar Lights among others, did a large scale Batcave diorama some years ago that featured a lot of the comics version, with not as much of the TV elements as we’re going to go for. But his work inspired me to think BIG. And so we’re going to steal emulate some of his work where we see it fitting into our project. When I say “we”, I am referring to my son and I. I have less and less time these days for selfish, time consuming hobby projects. This is something that we both can work on in whatever passes for spare time, and we both get to exercise design and building ideas. If you get a chance to build something, anything, even something as geeky as this with your kids – I say go for it before they turn into teenagers and have no time for you.

Mike Stutelberg's Custom 1:25 Batcave Model

Mike Stutelberg and his Batcave Model, circa 1998 (thanks to CultTVMan)

Okay, I know I drove speculation and intrigue a bit past the level of “fun” with this. Oh well. It’s my nature. :) The model in these photos (and the ones that showed up in earlier photos) is a 1:25 garage kit that was completely modded with unique details like a machined aluminum dash, a 16-part beacon, rear-mounted camera, custom decals and many other screen-accurate (season 3) details. It was built and finished almost a decade ago and I purchased it after many months of begging,  and at great personal expense, from master-modeler Jim Apitz. (I couldn’t pry his season 01 version away from him) So, NO these are not shots of a new built-up RII Batmobile model kit. To be fair – I DID make the statement that the photos weren’t from any toy company and I did not lie, these photos WERE just taken a  few weeks ago. Yes, I teased. No, I didn’t make any untrue statements or claims.

To answer some other questions, NO it would never have been a Blackstar and NEVER the Lunar models as a base car as both of those were about as inaccurate as you could find. I owned every single 1:25 Batmobile kit that was released back in the day, no matter how briefly, and was a distributor for several of them. There are not many things I consider myself an expert on, but the garage 1:25 Batmobile kits (and conversion kits) of the 80’s and 90’s and 00’s are one of them. I can tell you what each of them was based on (a couple of them, including the Blackstar, were just recast from earlier garage kits, while some were cast from modified Revell Futuras and still others were scratch-built) So no, no true modeler worth his salt chose a Blackstar or a Lunar kit to make a Batmobile back then, and if you did, you eventually upgraded to a better kit. I owned and built all of them, usually for customers. I had the Lunar because it was the first and there were no other options in 1988!

This model however, was started on a version 2.0 Caped Custom (designed by David Creigh under the Phantom name) and then heavily modified to become the thing of beauty you see here. I was lucky enough to purchase it from Jim Apitz in 2004 and I always compare it to other high end Batmobiles and it STILL smokes them all.  In person, it is even better.  There are a couple small areas that I’d have changed. Probably a couple others you might change too. But overall – this is the nicest Batmobile model I’ve ever seen. The dozens of hand-made custom details are all icing on a tasty, tasty cake. I have had the pleasure of working with some great modelers. Jim is the at the top of that list for Batmobiles, simply because this entire model is just all-around breathtaking.  If you ever get to see this in person, you will be flat-out amazed.  I was also lucky enough to buy his Batboat from him, which I’ll feature in a future post. In the past 7  years, Jim has retreated from the Bat-modeling-world. With the new Round II coming out with a much more accurate body, it would be a dream of mine to see what he could do with that kit.

I set these posts up to stir interest and elicit speculation because I believe that if a 90’s era resin garage kit can be made to look this good, then a new, mass-produced 1:25 Batmobile model with the resources we have in 2010 should have the potential to surpass it. And I hope that RII comes close. Clearly, what we builders do with it afterward is up to us. but lets hope for an accuracy level to allow us to do our best without having to fabricate so many parts from scratch as this one has. This is also the first in a series where I will try to spotlight legendary Batmobile customs by master-modelers. Up next is Scott Kappellusch and his “Milwaukee Winner”.

NOTE: Please do NOT remote link or copy these photos to other websites.