| The Batmobiles of the Golden Age! -
Posted on 01-02-2008 22:17 |
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deane
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I like comicbooks. I like to build cars. You can see where this is going.
A few years ago, I decided I would build models of the key Batmobiles from the various eras of comicdom. Originally, I mapped out 2 cars from each of the Golden, Atomic, Silver, and Bronze Age eras. With a pile of plastic kits and Spencer's website on speed-dial, I hunkered down and started at the beginning (part of the madness is that I go in order).
My first choice was to build the very first car to ever be named a "Batmobile", most likely designed by Bob Kane and Bill Finger:
I followed that up with the definitive Golden Age look from the early Forties, designed by Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson:
I thought I was done. I started gearing up for the Batmobiles of the Atomic Age. Everyone knows that the Forties Batmobiles maintained subtle variants of the car I just built, until Dick Sprang's re-design in 1950, right? I was free of the Golden Age, right?
Wrong. Enter BATMAN ARCHIVES vol 7.
Collecting the DETECTIVE COMICS from 1949, vol 7 has some great stories, including the first two appearances of The Riddler and some beautiful Joker artwork by the legendary Dick Sprang. And that's how it found me. For all of 5 issues in mid 1949, Dick Sprang designed another Batmobile.
The first glimpse of change came with a funky Bathead symbol on the big fin, along with a new bumper that went in front of the Bat shield in front.
By the end of the Golden Age, the red pinstripe was replaced by a blue tone-on-tone look.
Gone are the separate fenders for each wheel, now replaced by a larger overall body type.
Other pictures indicated that the front wheels are open, while the rear wheels remain enclosed in fender skirts.
Bat-Mite help me, but I was hooked. I would now build three cars per era.
Spencer, being the kind of guy that he is, helped the situation by providing a great car reference, the 1952 Hudson Hornet-
-and a link to a model shop in North Carolina that had the only resin.
Isn't that called enabling?
The very nice man on the phone promised me a resin body and nothing else (actually, it also showed up with clear plastic windows, bumpers, and a dash). He had no idea what to use for the chassis.
Thankfully, the parts box is a vast one and the Lindberg 1953 Ford Crestline Victoria is mostly there, minus the whitewall tires (now seen in The Sandman's Roadster). The Crestline chassis has additional molding to support the front bumper apparatus. It comes off in under 10 seconds.
I'm really slow in building these cars and I've discovered the slow-down hits with the fabrication. When it's a matter of pulling together the stuff in the box, it goes together pretty fast.
Before breaking out the grinder and the sheet styrene, I've gone through and tried to test fit all the '53 pieces into the Hornet. So far, I've only had to cut out the corners of the firewall. Shamelessly, I called Lindberg and they're sending new tires next week.
Finished chassis and engine block pix tomorrow.
Hurry, Robin, we haven't a moment to loose!
Deane |
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| RE: The Batmobiles of the Golden Age! -
Posted on 01-02-2008 22:30 |
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Chris
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First.. Welcome!
Second.. WOW.. those rock! I can't wait to see the next one!
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| RE: The Batmobiles of the Golden Age! -
Posted on 01-02-2008 22:59 |
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deane
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Thanks! I've known about this place for a while, but could never quite get my Safari to handle it. I've got some of the bugs worked out and thought this model build was the perfect excuse to get online.
The next week's worth of stuff is probably the most boring to look it ("they're tires, man?" ), but critically important to making sure it all fits right. Foundation kinda stuff.
Then starts the cutting. And sculpting. And crying.
Same bondo time. Same bondo channel.
Edited by deane on 01-02-2008 23:01 |
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| RE: The Batmobiles of the Golden Age! -
Posted on 01-02-2008 23:22 |
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Tartan Jack
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Nice concept.
I am (VERY slowly right now) working on several "real" and "fake" (non-canon Batmobile models) ones.
I am mostly using die-casts, but some are resins kits.
One Resin car is an Alfa Romeo BAT 5.
Sum Nox!
Edited by Tartan Jack on 01-02-2008 23:22 |
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| RE: The Batmobiles of the Golden Age! -
Posted on 01-02-2008 23:25 |
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deane
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Thank you.
Those are great cars- I saw them in a Northern California museum. 5 was a good choice.
Metal is the one frontier I'm not going into all that much. Brave man!
Edited by deane on 01-02-2008 23:26 |
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| RE: The Batmobiles of the Golden Age! -
Posted on 01-02-2008 23:37 |
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Tartan Jack
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Oh yeah, mine are 1/43 or so.
I mix them with the Corgi cars.
Sum Nox!
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| RE: The Batmobiles of the Golden Age! -
Posted on 01-02-2008 23:38 |
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deane
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The Corgi's from the last few years were the best thing to happen to Batmobile-dom.
Evah. |
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| RE: The Batmobiles of the Golden Age! -
Posted on 01-02-2008 23:40 |
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Chris
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deane wrote:
Thanks! I've known about this place for a while, but could never quite get my Safari to handle it. I've got some of the bugs worked out and thought this model build was the perfect excuse to get online.
I've never tested the site on Safari.. I have Firefox and of course IE.. those two are the most popular.. but I'm glad it's working!
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| RE: The Batmobiles of the Golden Age! -
Posted on 01-02-2008 23:43 |
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BornAgainBatman
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Beautiful work!
ultraconvoy.com
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| RE: Another Bat Mechanic... -
Posted on 01-02-2008 23:52 |
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inzo
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    *
*  
The chicks love your cars...
The Red Batmobile looks like you
yanked it out from the comic book...
Another great discovery on this site...
Keep them coming...
Edited by inzo on 01-02-2008 23:57 |
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| RE: The Batmobiles of the Golden Age! -
Posted on 02-02-2008 08:25 |
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spencer1984
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Hey, Deane - welcome to the site! And you can be sure there are quite a few of us who will be happy to see "just the tires." 
I'm really looking forward to seeing how the Hudson turns out, I may have to get one of those myself.
The complete history of the Batmobile: BatmobileHistory.com
Scale models of Batmobiles & more: spencer1984.com |
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| RE: The Batmobiles of the Golden Age! -
Posted on 02-02-2008 09:45 |
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Tartan Jack
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deane wrote:
By the end of the Golden Age, the red pinstripe was replaced by a blue tone-on-tone look.
Gone are the separate fenders for each wheel, now replaced by a larger overall body type.
Other pictures indicated that the front wheels are open, while the rear wheels remain enclosed in fender skirts.
Deane
What is up with the smoke coming from ALL FOUR wheels?
Is Batman toasting the tires drifting?
Sum Nox!
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| RE: The Batmobiles of the Golden Age! -
Posted on 05-02-2008 20:50 |
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deane
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In good news, the tires arrived and I was able to hand-paint the white walls without incident! The chassis in now officially completed:
The bad news is that the chassis and interior of the '53 don't (and quite frankly, shouldn't) fit into the Hudson Hornet. This required the careful test fitting of both pieces up into the body. A LOT of grinding/melting than occurred. As you can see, all the white up in the engine compartment and firewall indicates where the fit was bad:
The hood doesn't open in the Hudson, so I didn't go nuts in detailing the car. I tore out the radiator and radiator wall to make the fit work. They won't be missed by the time I'm done.
The Hudson came with a resin dash, which is being detailed tonight. It shouldn't be a problem to wedge into the interior.
So- the 53 Ford is now ready to transition over to the Hudson. The easy part of the build is just about over, once we set in the dash.
YOUR opinions about the fabrication of the fastback are very much appreciated. Dan Thompson posted his ideas on his website:
http://ourworlds....40p6.html
I'm leery of his method for the edges. I do recognize the likelihood of cutting out a quarter slice of the rear window area.
Deane |
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| RE: The Batmobiles of the Golden Age! -
Posted on 05-02-2008 21:58 |
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spencer1984
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Looking great so far! What color did you use for the block? Looks like a perfect vintage color.
Personally, I'd recommend against following Dan's method for exactly the reason you mention: the edges. It's nearly impossible to get a smooth curve out of round stock like that, and you will almost always end up with flat spots. I'd try to graft something in place that takes care of the verticals and edges as much as possible. The fastback roof from AMT's 1940 Ford might do the trick; you'd just have to add a spacer down the middle to get it out to the wide edges of the Hudson's roof.
The complete history of the Batmobile: BatmobileHistory.com
Scale models of Batmobiles & more: spencer1984.com |
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| RE: The Batmobiles of the Golden Age! -
Posted on 05-02-2008 22:52 |
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deane
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An idea:
A '40 Ford:
The origin of the fastback conversion for our Hudson Batmobile:
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| RE: The Batmobiles of the Golden Age! -
Posted on 05-02-2008 23:53 |
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Tartan Jack
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Looking GREAT!
Also, thanks for the link to Dan Thompson's new site. My old link has been dead and I hadn't found where he moved it to (thought it had just died).
http://ourworlds....m/batman/
Sum Nox!
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| RE: The Batmobiles of the Golden Age! -
Posted on 06-02-2008 15:41 |
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real-dark-knight
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Haha - very well put!
deane wrote:
The Corgi's from the last few years were the best thing to happen to Batmobile-dom.
Evah.
I really couldnt agree more!
You'll see from my own avatar I'm kinda fond of a nice Batmobile (and over the months I've been thru most of the Batmobile ones).
I can't remember what I was going on about now, but only the other day I was chatting about the Batman/Dark Knight/Worlds Finest Archives - it's brilliant just to look through them all to see the various cars...
Welcome to BYTB.......
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| RE: The Batmobiles of the Golden Age! -
Posted on 09-02-2008 21:32 |
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deane
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At the hobby store today, there were these big CORGI Batmobile boxes. They are now re-issuing some of the Batmobiles, Two-Face, Killer Moth, etc. cars to include painted metal figures based on the sculpted artwork underneath the cars. A shame, really, because I already have them all. |
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| RE: The Batmobiles of the Golden Age! -
Posted on 14-02-2008 23:05 |
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deane
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Lots of grinding, puttying, and sanding on this Valentine's Day. I should have some new bodywork pix this weekend.
A question for you: Should the Golden Age Batmobile have whitewalls? I'm talking about the car in my second picture.
Thanks!
Deane
Edited by deane on 14-02-2008 23:07 |
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| RE: Can't wait anymore... -
Posted on 15-02-2008 17:20 |
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inzo
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hurry up...
Hurry up!!!
We need a new fix for this month!!!
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