Pimp My Batmobile! » pimp my batmobile

Lets talk Batcopter.

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 04:38:14 +0000

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.

Round 2 Deluxe 1966 1:25 Batmobile Kit Has Arrived!

admin — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 23:31:10 +0000

This is it folks, the one we’ve all been waiting for. Featuring an over-sized, full artwork box front and all the details we were promised. No excuses now. Time for us to get to work. If you want one now, and don’t feel like waiting on your local shop or searching high and low for them – at least one eBay seller has them available (and in stock) right now. Happy hunting folks.

PMB! Interview: Round 2′s Jamie Hood (Part 1)

admin — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 01:52:58 +0000

As both the snap and the glue versions of their new 1:25 1966 Batmobile model kits are now out in the world, and the Deluxe version is just around the corner, I asked Jamie Hood from Round 2 Models some questions about working for a model kit company, the project, his involvement and what’s in store for the 1966 Batman license.

Round 2's Jamie Hood

PMB: Jamie, what is your job title at Round 2?
JH: Art Director & Brand Manager

PMB: When did you join the company?
JH: I joined R2 in the winter of 2006. We had bought the Forever Fun line of seasonal posable toys and I was the brand manager for those “pop culture” lines. [ed. note: The Forever Fun line makes the Rankin/Bass and Peanuts toys] We picked up slots and models the next year and I moved into managing the sci-fi, fantasy & character lines.

PMB: What did you do before joining R2?
JH: I worked as a graphic designer in the RV industry.

PMB: Is there a typical experience or educational track someone needs to take to work in the plastic models or toy industry?
JH: We’re a small company of 30 employees. Right now we have 11 designers working on multiple product lines. We look for intelligence and adaptability as much as design talent. What’s between the ears can be more important than a portfolio. As far as education, you need to know how to use the Adobe suite [Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator et al.] Luck & timing and play a big part.

PMB: So let’s talk Batmobile. Bat-fans, collectors and modelers have been begging for a real, licensed, accurate 1966 Batmobile kit for decades. How did it come about for Round2?
JH: One day at a meeting, [Polar Lights' owner & founder] Tom Lowe said to us, “The ’66 Batmobile license is available. Should we pursue it?” And we had to really consider it. We had just entered the recession, and capital was harder to free up. And at that time, it would have been our biggest guarantee license. [Ed. A "guarantee" is how much of a payment goes back to the licensor. It's based on production numbers, not profits or revenues, so if the company sells less than their projections, the licensor still gets their guaranteed fees. A new license can be a huge risk for any company. For a small, fledgling business like Round 2, it can have serious repercussions if it doesn't pay off.]

PMB: Obviously you guys made decision to go with it. How did you take to the project?
JH: I grew up with the show. I love the car.

PMB: What were the biggest challenges with the project?
JH: The hardest part was getting the parts in the box to look like the car. We were working with tool & model makers in China – people who had never seen the car or an episode of the show. The Batmobile is not part of their cultural history like it is here. Add to that we would go through a project manager who spoke perfect English, but he would then take our instructions and have to interpret them to different people all the time. There were lots of mockups and revisions. During the mock-up revisions there were 500 – 1000 corrections made. Those all take time. Once you enter a licensing contract, it’s a race to get product to market.

PMB: When you started the Batmobile project, how familiar were you with what had come before, the many resin unlicensed Batmobile garage kits that have been released over the years? Had you ever built or owned or had any experience with any of them?
JH: I was aware of them and some were sent to me to take a look at as I developed the kit. Honestly, I wasn’t terribly impressed by anything I saw. Despite the amount of effort put into them, they didn’t seem very accurate to my eye. I couldn’t really find much in them to latch onto.

PMB: When the announcement came out that R2 was going to do something more than just reissue a larger version of the old Aurora Batmobile again – the expectation level in the ‘bat-community’ rose pretty quickly. And with all the mistakes made and apathy that Mattel had shown as far as listening to fans about their 1:18 diecast metal car – many of us were skeptical that we’d ever see a plastic kit with the attention to detail the car deserved. What we got, with no exaggeration, was the most accurate Batmobile scale model ever made. How did you research the car and what was that process like? It’s been written and assumed that you got access to and used Mattel’s [Hot Wheels] digital scans of the full-sized car. But having seen the model, I find that unlikely.
JH: We did not use the Mattel scans. And we didn’t scan and resize the 1:18 Hot Wheels model. The model-toolers were given loads of photos, measurements, models and information to work from. I thought I could visually correct anything using photo-references. But the details of the Batmobile are so organic that it was difficult to communicate. We had a lot of help from Eric Seltzer [1966batmobile.com] He and his associates had actual measurements and tons of photos of the original car. Any questions we asked were answered with good responses.

PMB: When the pictures came out of the mockups, the Batmobile “community” barraged the forums with a boatload of corrections, opinions, and demands. And then the snap kit was released and certain things had gotten fixed and some others – did not. And while most modelers and collectors were ecstatic to just have the model, there was an inevitable backlash of criticism about some of the details. What’s your response to the nitpicking?
JH: As long as I can do something about it – the input is good. I saw about 80% of what was being said and tried to do something about most of it. The other 20%… Well, I had to pick the things that were: A) Most important to the look of the car. B) Easiest to modify by most modelers. So – while things like the batphone pedestal aren’t perfect – many modelers can modify that themselves, so we let it go. But it’s really hard to address issues with clear plastic. So we revised the rear canopies. We kept pushing back the release date, because I kept asking for revisions. We were under a lot of pressure to get it done. At one point in the process I lost track of the engine revisions. It doesn’t look anything like the one I sent. The carb looks nothing like the original. The beacon was revised multiple times and they just couldn’t get it right. Looking back, I should have taken apart the mock-up more. A resin mock-up is very fragile and I didn’t want to handle it too much. There were so many things wrong with the test shot – the rocket tubes were mounted facing backwards. There were several “Oh Crap” moments where we had been looking at something for a while and just realized it was wrong. At some point we had to call it and just get the model out.

Stay bat-tuned for Part Two of Pimp My Batmobile’s interview with Round 2′s Jamie Hood for more insider scoop about the 1:25 1966 TV Batmobile models project, including working with Alex Ross, the upcoming deluxe kit version, future plans for other bat-kits and more in-progress photos.

One of many photo-reference revision notes sent to the toolmakers by Round 2.

Building The Round 2 Snap Batmobile Pt. 2

admin — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 16:55:26 +0000

Okay, the video is only to show some photos of the finished snap-kit and a few WIP shots. Clearly it isn’t the best um – “review” we’ve done. We discovered the “Songify” app for the iPhone and what can I say, I’m easily distracted.

I was putting off this build because I wanted to have my 10 year old son Alex do most of it with me and we’ve been very busy with school starting etc. And I wanted to compare it to the glue kit, which we just got a couple weeks ago. So we carved out some time the other night and I was happy that he was much more interested in doing this model with me than the last couple projects we attempted together. Score one big one for Round 2. It’s not easy creating an easy snap kit that adults will enjoy, or creating an accurate Batmobile kit that a 10 year old can build.Round 2 have done both here.

Let me remove any suspense by saying that I absolutely LOVED building this kit. Way more than I expected to. Yeah, it’s the Batmobile and yeah it’s the first real kit version of it since the aurora, but I really didn’t expect it to affect me this positively.

Before this gets all teary gooey lovey dovey, let me point out a few problems with the kit. And let me underscore that I am not reviewing this kit as its potential as a Batmobile adult kit – but as a snap kit, which is what it is. As a snap kit (marked as ages 10 & up) it is phenomenal. But there are a few issues with it that we should point out:

Instructions. The Instructions contain a few small mistakes. I would have chalked them all up to possible translation issues, but I think they’re more likely just catches that didn’t get caught. To be fair, most of them — like showing the Futura steering wheel center hub as going on the compass, are because of decal issues (see below) and for the most part, my 10 year old son was able to follow them easily. There are a couple angled drawings that could be clearer for a kid. And I’m not sure why they’d bother to have you install the rear taillights only to cover them up by solid plastic grilles. (The deluxe kit will have photo-etched metal grills) But these are minor issues.
Decals. The decals are one of the weak links of the kit. Some of the designs are too small to be read. Some are about 20% out of scale. I would be more lenient about these, but I am holding the beautiful wet-slide decals that we had made for the 1:18th Hot Wheels car and they’re much better than the ones included in this kit. The two-part designs that seem to be the Futura and the Edsel wheel centers are both too big. The bazillion placards are too hard to read, and many of the small designs are out of register with the white layer that sits underneath the top art. Some of them should have had white under but didn’t. The assortment is great, but the quality isn’t up to modern decal standards. For example, the Barris emblems are so small, and don’t have enough white behind them that when you install them, they just blend into the car too much. Also, they are not easy to get off the backing sheet. They are tough for a kid to work with.
Parts & etching. 98% of the parts work great and look great. A few notable exceptions are the smaller details like the homing button, rollbar side indicators, start buttons, the rear antenna, and as mentioned – the beacon. For some reason, there’s no Batram lever for the dash in this kit. (maybe because they didn’t include the Batram itself?)
Quality. It IS a snap kit, but there are still a couple issues with the QC on this one. 1 – there are a couple tiny chunks of plastic actually missing from the tops of my doors (see the images in the video) and there is a bad glue/paint bubbled up spot on the passenger side of the kit right at the top fin pinstripe. Not big deals, but they wouldn’t be acceptable if this were a “good” glue kit pro-build and would have to be dealt with.
Fit. Only a few things don’t fit together perfectly. The Batphone cord is maddening and doesn’t work the way they wanted it to. A few things, like the steering wheel, bat-beam, headlights etc. needed gluing. But for the most part, it works amazingly well as a snap-only kit.

As a bit of advice, anyone that’s planning to do take on the more challenging and adult level glue kit versions should absolutely build this kit first. It will show you many weaknesses or issues and allow you to figure out ways around most of them ahead of your master build. Some really, really nice work was done here and I’ll talk about some of that in my upcoming interview with Jamie Hood from Round 2 Models.

I have to confess that I enjoyed this kit more than I expected to, and I expected to enjoy it quite a bit. In building this model, it brought back memories of sitting on the porch as a kid with my Dad, assembling the AMT Enterprise (and learning to hate airplane glue with a passion.) The whole reason I model today as an adult is because my Dad built models with me. I’ve built models with my son before, but this one was different. Perhaps because of the care that went into making this an easy-assembling, but great looking kit. Perhaps just because it’s the Batmobile. But either way – Kudos to Round 2 for creating an experience instead of just another model kit.

Oh, and I promise I’ll be more specific and critical when I get to the glue kit.

Finally, Final Figures.

admin — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 00:38:53 +0000

Click for slideshow:

[[Show as slideshow]]

Nicest set of 1:18 TV Crimefighter figures I’ve ever seen for the Hot Wheels car. Posable arms, hands. Brass bat-buckle, decal emblems… The works. Truly deluxe.

I can’t mention who made them right now. And we don’t sell them here. But we can tell you where/how to get them. Just subscribe to our list. (HERE) Our September email-blast that only goes out to registered subscribers will offer details on these figures (and other stuff) in about a week. Don’t blink or you’ll miss them.

Meanwhile, look what’s being done for 1:25 figures for the R2 model kit. Here’s a WIP photo below. This model is the best Batmobile kit ever produced and it’s a crime to not have great looking figures in it. Looks like Robin will get to be holding the Batphone and canopy. Cool! Again, we’re not selling these here. Just showing off some custom work.

Glue Kit In The House.

PMB Contributor — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 12:55:39 +0000

Yes the diecasts, the Aurora reissue, the slots, the ornament and the snap kit were all cool & fun. But 45 years after it all started – here’s what we Batmobile modelers have really been waiting for. It all starts now.

1:32 Batmobile Slot Car from Polar Lights

PMB Contributor — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 18:30:49 +0000

Well, these guys are just slamming the Batmobiles out these days. Check out the first reports of 1:32 Batmobile and Black Beauty slot cars.

PL Batmobile Snap Kit Packaging Guest Review

PMB Contributor — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 17:45:38 +0000

Ed. Note: We’re trying something new. I mentioned that PMB! is getting a major overhaul soon. (Don’t worry, you didn’t miss it. You’ll KNOW.) One of the planned changes is that we’ll be hosting features and articles by guest contributors. Our first article on lowering the 1:18 Hot Wheels Batmobile, by Insane Detailing’s Doug Switz was such a hit, that we want to share more info from our esteemed colleagues in the Batmobile community. Here then, is Kevin White of Bats Inc. with a review of the Polar Lights [Round 2] 1966 Batmobile Snap-Kit packaging.

I received my snap kit today, a gift from a friend back home. Not much has been said yet about the packaging of the kit. I will leave the building review to Scooter as he is already well on his way with that, but I thought it might be interesting to let you all know what to expect upon receiving your model.

1. The window box itself is quite nice, featuring the Alex Ross artwork on four sides and photos of the painted and assembled kit on the back along with small advertisement of the other related Bat kits. On the base of the box is a picture of the slot racing set and of course the UPC. A very attractive box, pretty much suitable for display itself.

2. The paper materials inside include the instruction sheet which, while well done and concise seems a little crowded in some spots. The decal sheet is quite decent. Packaged in it’s own baggie it includes duplicates of some of the more important decals like two sets of speedometer decal for the steering wheel. Kudos to Polar Lights for that! Finally there is the requisite survey/newsletter sign up card and a miniature version of their catalog.

3. The body in my example has some fingerprints and oily residue that both wipe off easily. Even with a few specks of dust in the paint it’s still hard not to marvel (sorry D.C.) at the shine of the paint. My body has a slight flaw in the driver’s side wing top in that it isn’t seated all the way down. A few seconds with some liquid cement, applied from the underside and a little pressure should easily resolve this.

4. The chrome tree is a truncated version of what we’ll see in the glue kit. Again, packaged in it’s own baggie there is a tree for the wheels separated from the beacon and rocket tubes by tissue paper to protect them from rubbing each other and wearing through the chrome during shipping and handling. Also in this baggie are the wheel spinners, pre-painted with red and the white outline my example had two perfect spinners and two that for some reason were slightly bent.

5. The next package contains the body skirts, tires and axles with chassis mounting screws. Although one baggie, the metal parts are heat sealed and separated from the tires as are the tires from the skirts. This is to keep the tires or axles from getting against the body skirts and leaving marks. Again, kudos to PL.

6. The bulk of the interior parts and the afterburner (season one) are contained in the next baggie along with those curious J shaped floor boards which are necessary for mounting the dash section.

7. The rest of the interior parts as well as the grilles and parachutes are packaged together in the next baggie and another baggie contains the chassis pan with it’s turbine engine molded in.

8. Last but by no means least comes the clear tree. This contains the canopies, beacon lens, headlight covers and front and rear lights. More tissue is employed here to separate the forward and rear canopies so they don’t rub each other and scratch. Double kudos for that!

While I feel Polar lights could have a better job on the pre-paint – what they did do is nice and goes a long way towards helping the novice builder in assembling a really good looking model. The kit does have some issues like parts that fit too tightly or too loosely. The spinners, rocket tubes, steering wheel, bat-phone and bat-beam all fit too tight and care should be taken to prevent breakage. Most of these items attach with a half-moon style pin and the pin should be sanded down slightly with an emery board rather than try to rout out a half moon mounting hole. As for the rocket tubes, if you don’t want the chrome scraped off, rout the holes in the deck before test fitting. The bat-phone cord does not stay in place and needs a touch of glue.

All in all it’s a very fine kit and should be an enjoyable diversion for the experienced and the uninitiated alike.

“To the Batmobile…let’s go!”

- Kevin White, Bats Inc.

Building The Round 2 Snap Batmobile Pt 1.

admin — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 13:55:15 +0000

So by now the new 1:25 Batmobile model from Polar Lights/Round II has been all over eBay and many places are selling them for between $20 and $30. You can also order them at the manufacturer’s website HERE. As I mentioned earlier in the video first look, this is is an exceptionally well-done kit, especially for a snap version. You can conceivably put this kit together, with or without your kid (I recommend WITH), in an evening. If you want to apply a massive amount of detailing, you can stretch it into a weekend.

I’m not going to go crazy on this one, as I’ll hold that back for the promised, upcoming glue-kit because of the opening trunk and hood aspects of that version. But I will do a middle of the road build/paint with my son and report about the assembly.

As far as the parts and accuracy of the details go – everything here is excellent. With two, fairly important (but not insurmountable) exceptions:

1. The Beacon*

1:25 Bat-Mo-Beacons L-R: Original PL, Aluminum upgrade, Resin upgrade (unassembled)

As far as the beacon goes, it’s fairly crudely detailed and even stripping the chrome won’t make it that much less toy-like. Not as bad as we had anticipated, but not as nice as the rest of the parts for sure. I’ve got access to some amazingly nice and highly detailed beacons in the correct scale designed by our good friend Mit in Australia. I’ve got it in machined aluminum and in resin versions. It’s a 3-piece part that includes the inner red beacon and the top. As you can see, it can totally change the realism level of the model.

2. The Figures*

In an ironic, probably unintentional nod to the original Aurora 1966 Batmobile model kit, The figures are very comic-booky and unrealistic. I think the guys at PL were bummed about how they turned out. But including them will make loads of kid builders ecstatic. They aren’t acceptable for our use and so we’re working on a set of much more realistic figures modified from 2 separate original sculpts by Scott Kapellusch. Here they are in their current state, awaiting some custom arm-poses and fitting to the PL model specs.

1:25 custom figures for the 1966 Batmobile

So we’re going to be putting the snap kit together this weekend and will take shots and hopefully video as we go. Stay tuned for the report here.

(*As we’ve mentioned before, we won’t be selling parts through PMB! anymore. For more information about anything we show or feature here: 1) Subscribe to our mailing list (above in the nav bar) and/or 2) Contact us and we’ll let you know if and when they’ll be available and from who.)

Oh, Snap! The Batmobile!

admin — Thu, 26 May 2011 13:51:10 +0000

The Polar Lights 1966 TV Batmobile 1:25 scale SNAP kit arrived on my desk a little while ago from the folks at Round 2/Polar Lights. Thumbs up all around. Full review shortly. For now, groove on this hastily shot and cobbled video. (NOTE: I mistakenly mention that the slot car set is available from “AutoArt”, it should be “AutoWorld”. Will fix later.)