Imagineered 1930's Batmobile wip

[farmboy]

Hey everyone.  I've been thinking about something like this for a while, finally got up the urge to get it done.  It's my version of a 1930's era Batmobile, mostly imagineered, but based on a rough cartoon drawing and a Corgi toy


It won't look like this and most certainly won't be red but will follow some basic design cues and, hopefully, end up looking like something that harkens of the 30's.  Walking a thin line as Batman as a comic character published in '39.
Here's the donor:



I plan to move the rear fenders forward, add fender skirts, move the cab back, lengthen the nose, give the front fenders more 'swoop' and a few other embellishments.  Hope it works out.  We'll see.  Back soon.

[41chevy]

It will be a really interesting project! Post progress pics please. Paul

[farmboy]

    Here's the startup. Note at this juncture some of the cuts were already done, but it'll be easy to see. The first pic is how the standard body looks. This is after I had done some work but it's all there.  I removed a 15mm (25mm = 1 inch) section from the door seam to just in front of the molded on fender trim.  The cab on this model is a separate piece so it made life easier.  You see a small rectangular gap at the top of the cut out.  That is a piece trimmed from the 'key' that held the cab in it's original position, enough removed to allow the cab to be slid back to where I wanted it.



    The cab is now allowed to go back as far as the top of the rumble seat cut-out.  Also, the cab had a thick piece o' trim around it's base.  It's been removed to make the pending bodywork easier.  The next step will be to cut across the running boards and extend the front fenders, moving everything a good piece forward.  The frame will also be stretched to match, and the firewall will be cut from the front of the cab to find a new home further up front.  It's a wip so that could change.




Comments and observations always welcome.

[chromecop]

WOW, gonna follow this with great interest!

[41chevy]

I like it!

[farmboy]

    I gave it some thought...and after various mockups decided to leave the kinder gentler version I was thinking of and go aggressive with a tilted down canopy.  It will lower the rest of the forward body height to just a bit above the fender line.  The overall total extension will be approximately 40mm (25mm = 1inch).  I used some stiff card to stand up to handling over the next couple of days so I can further visualize the rest of it to see if it's practical.



Comments and observations welcome.

[farmboy]

Time to stretch. Here's the car (it's not a mobile yet) up to last post:



Here's the frame stretch.  I you look in the center part of the frame in the first pic below you'll see the small plastic rectangle filler piece.  Filler frame rails are coming.





And this is the body stretch.  After some thought and before cutting, the nearly 2 inches of added body length struck me as over the top so I reduced it down to 1 1/4".  The width of the front piece will narrow as it goes forward, merging in to the hood living at the front. Shorter than 1 1/4" made the merge angle too sharp.  Now, to my eye, it doesn't look too long or overly cartoonish, and the cant of the cab doesn't look too intense either. 




That's it for now.  As always, comments and observations welcome.

[41chevy]

The 1 1/4 looks closer to the red one. Nicer proportions IMO than the extra 3/4" would have had. Paul

[stevielewis]

Looks great with the 1 1/4" stretch.

[farmboy]

Bodybuilding.

    Transferred the carboard templates over to styrene to begin building.  These are staticly (is that a word?) holding in place except for the top part of the cab.  The green tape is helping to wedge and snug the side pieces against the rear door jamb.  I'll be channeling the front part of the kit to fit on to the body once everything gets glued up, followed by the 3 piece hood and grille.  Notice how closely the top edge sits on the lower piece at the rear making for nice cleanup hopefully. The rumble seat will disappear too.







    The interior should be ok as it will mount as a unit on the frame floor. It will then simply insert from underneath.  The kit also has interior door panels that should be easy to adjust and install.

Comments and observations welcome.

[Paul B. Canney]

Jan 5, 2021 14:58:26 GMT -6 farmboy said:

Bodybuilding.

    Transferred the carboard templates over to styrene to begin building.  These are staticly (is that a word?) holding in place except for the top part of the cab.  The green tape is helping to wedge and snug the side pieces against the rear door jamb.  I'll be channeling the front part of the kit to fit on to the body once everything gets glued up, followed by the 3 piece hood and grille.  Notice how closely the top edge sits on the lower piece at the rear making for nice cleanup hopefully. The rumble seat will disappear too.

View Attachment

View Attachment

View Attachment

    The interior should be ok as it will mount as a unit on the frame floor. It will then simply insert from underneath.  The kit also has interior door panels that should be easy to adjust and install.

Comments and observations welcome.

Statically = an adverb form of 'static'

[farmboy]

    Took some time to start on the templates for the forward stretch. I had previously glued the hood to the cab and then scored it apart from underneath so it left a nice straight edge to work with on both pieces. I'll fill in the 'v' lines left from the original hood to body join.  The template outline -- after much trial and error -- was first penciled on a piece of file folder, then transferred to sheet styrene. I'm still working on them and may re-do them for a better fit, but they are workable as they are.





The grille needs to be cut to size, shouldn't be too big a deal.  There is a rectangular opening that needs needs an insert.  Just an extra detail.   Looks like the side extensions need something too, maybe Duesenberg-style side pipes, smoke cannister launchers, something.  We'll see.  Next up should be adjusting the grile and making the hood.  Could be two piece.. I'll decide as the build progresses.

Comments and observations welcome.

[showrodjohn]

Looking forward to see this one finished looks great so far.

[farmboy]

...a little more done.  This is the body assembly with the front end attached.  It was attached by first gluing plastic supports to the inside edges of the fenders.  This gave the body panels something to attach to and made for an overall stronger build.  You can see the driver's side piece in the photo below.  A couple of other things; This is also a better view of where the hood was cemented to the body shell and scored free.  The missing section in front of the rear fender is for a step plate, and what was the kit supplied running board has been smoothed and repurposed as a fender extension.



I built the piece below to ensure the stretch ends up straight and level.  It was made by taking a length of styrene strip, making a fat curve in it and fitting it inside the hood opening.  It was then cut to length on both ends and a cross piece of rectangular styrene for a friction fit.  The cut outs in it are to clear the inside fender supports.  The front view shows the additional support it gives the whole front end.






and here's how it works.   I did the Sharpie thing to it so shows up better.  It can be adjusted left/right/fore/aft and diagonally within a range of travel to tweak the level and attitude of the hood should it need any.  When satisfied it is cemented in place.  If not required it just quietly lives cemented inside the model as an added brace.  There will be a length of half-round rod to cosmetically merge it into the body.







I haven't decided on a solid or two piece hood, or whether to use the grille supplied or make my own.  Again, it's a wip so we'll see.

Comments and observations welcome.

[farmboy]

    A little work done. Got the hood built and applied to the adjustable frame. It's all been cemented in place.  The bodywork has begun so it's relatively slow going waiting till stuff dries before sanding and filing. I've clogged a few files and ruined a few sheets of sandpaper over the years attacking this stuff before it fully cured. Lesson learned.   
    The more I looked at it the more a long pointy nose didn't work. I shortened it quite roughly and will decide on the direction to take later.  The hood is 1 piece, a slight bow  worked into, and it will have a raised strip running up the middle.  Notice also the rumble seat is history.  I'm not decided on the top of the cab, whether to leave the molded in insert as is, or make a smaller one over the driver's seat as an escape hatch.  Incidentally that's not body fill.  I long ago started using scratch filler (the red stuff in the tube) by itself.  I find it convenient and easily sanded and shaped.  






    Something else in the plan-to agenda is to lengthen the fender openings front and rear so the side car profile sits flat.  The rear will have wheel pants.







A few other mods are on the drawing board but I'll wait and see how the bodywork thus far turns out.

Comments and observations welcome.

[farmboy]

This is kind of the stance I'm looking for. 



I think the wheels came from an amt '49 merc kit.  I had extras in my stash from a friend, as well s from a build I did on an imagineered version of a '40's era Batmobile



This was the amt 49 merc. I never got around to finishing it with bat logos.  I'm happy with it just as a custom build.
I'll see how much bodywork I get done on the '36 and hopefully post in the next couple of days.

Comments and observations welcome.

[Paul B. Canney]

Jan 17, 2021 8:10:03 GMT -6 farmboy said:

This is kind of the stance I'm looking for. 

I think the wheels came from an amt '49 merc kit.  I had extras in my stash from a friend, as well s from a build I did on an imagineered version of a '40's era Batmobile

This was the amt 49 merc. I never got around to finishing it with bat logos.  I'm happy with it just as a custom build.
I'll see how much bodywork I get done on the '36 and hopefully post in the next couple of days.

Comments and observations welcome.

My observation...

These are the nuckin' futs!

[41chevy]

Excellent!!!

[plastimatic]

I love Batmobiles, and I've collected some of the Corgi set.
Their red 30s version, tho, left me unimpressed. No character.

You, however, have managed to give it some much needed improvement in its lines, and some real style.
Kudos!

[stevielewis]

Both of these are awesome! Looking forward to seeing how you finish this current build.

[farmboy]

    Thanx for the kind words on the build guys.  Just about done the gettin' pretty stage.  A little bit more time on the odd blemish and door seam and it's on to body and hood moldings.  As you can see in the photos, I've gone as far as sanding out the cab top square.  Still haven't decided (but I'm leaning toward) putting in an emergency hatch.  Oh well.  As I said, there are still a few areas that need attention but the big stuff is over.







    If one has to build a vintage |(pre-66) Batmobile...do it around Easter.  Egg-themed things abound!  As you can see below, the small plastic eggs are what you want for shaping your own bat cowling for the front of the mobile.  A buck got me a bagful of hollow plastic eggs.  All it took was a bit of fitting and cutting, I'll add eye slits later and voilà, Batface!  



    Here is a mockup for the nose of the car.  I plan to stand it up straighter and may go thru the effort of adding the raised vertical strip that swoops forward at the bottom for a chain breaker.   It also means the bumper will become bumperettes.  This bat shield will also dictate the shape and build of the vehicle nose.  That's all I have for now.




  Comments and observations welcome.

[41chevy]

Looks wicked!! Like the egg idea too.

[Paul B. Canney]

Deep Dark Red?

[farmboy]

Red. Hmmmm....  I thought about it and have a Moroccan Red that's close to dark oxygen-depleted blood that would do the job, but I think the plan is for a very dark slate blue using Plaid craft paint.  I've airbrushed a few of my builds with these and am quite pleased with the results I've gotten.  Thanks for the suggestion though.

[Paul B. Canney]

Jan 23, 2021 14:53:19 GMT -6 farmboy said:

Red. Hmmmm....  I thought about it and have a Moroccan Red that's close to dark oxygen-depleted blood that would do the job, but I think the plan is for a very dark slate blue using Plaid craft paint.  I've airbrushed a few of my builds with these and am quite pleased with the results I've gotten.  Thanks for the suggestion though.

[farmboy]

There are a couple of other comic book panels out there showing a red 'batmobile'...one crashing thru a wall if I recall correctly. This car will have all the trim/bumpers/wheels blacked out as well.

[farmboy]

This was the "damn the torpedoes" moment. Something was needed in the side expanse so I'm installing Deusie style pipes. I started with making the jig seen here. Using calipers and a protractor I positioned the holes in the jig and trimmed the rectangle so it would set 4 holes in the same relative location on each side of the hood. 



...and here's the mockup.  I do not have the holes driled in the fenders yet so this is just for show.  they will be flat black of course.  No engine in this car.  I gained a flathead!  



I bought a pack of 100 bendy straws 3 or 4 years ago just for the accordion pleats.  Who knew?



Comments and observations welcome.

[stevielewis]

Really cool! I like the use of the bendy straws.

[kabdriver]

This is looking great - real nice craftsmanship being demonstrated. And nice use of those bendy straws!

[farmboy]

A little more done. I concentrated on extending the fender drop front and rear. Took a little bending and grinding but got the styrene extensions to fit. Here's the rear fender after the first sanding



     Here's the result after a primer scratch coat.  Just a bit of refinement and we should be good.  Did a little finish work to where the rumble see was too.  Seams seem to carry thru pretty easily.  Oh, that's 6.50 cdn.




Got a start on the front.  These were a bit more fiddly but got the base done.  





     Still a good amount of things to bring to the vehicle before paint.  I'll post when I have something else to share.  Comments and observations welcome.