BATMOBILE Model Kit by Polar Lights
IN 1/32 Scale
Below is the box art for the kit, the top picture is the box top, and the other is a poster type insert.
I`ll start with some pictures of the kit
Shown here are the entire contents included in the kit. The glass is very clear all body moldings seem nice. Both Batman & Robin figures are included. As far as I can tell everything is here that a modeler would need to make a nice resemblance.
The decals are water slide, and appear to be decent quality.
The chassis included is nice and flat, and would be a great candidate for slot conversion as is.
However as you can see here the Monogram stocker chassis is pretty much a perfect match for this conversion. With just a little plastic removed from the rear, it drops right in place with the wheel base about as good as you can get.
The interior was glued together using the kit chassis because it had points that held it in place at the correct position to fit the body.
The interior was then set inside the body and side by side with the chassis to see what needed to be trimmed.
As shown here, the 2 ends were removed from the most forward point of the interior, and there was 1/8" removed from the bottom so the chassis don`t make any contact. Also the front of the body (bumper area)was relieved so the chassis will fit nicely.
The interior as it will be positioned when finished.
The ride height as it sits at this time.
The body posts have been added to the rear. Later the front will have 2 posts installed, but for now I want to keep the bumper removable.
Now to the wheels, for these you can see I`ve used the Slot.it 15x8 plastic wheel. These wheels did need the center rib narrowed to accept the NINCO 80504 20X9 classic tire. This was done on the lathe. Shown below from L to R you can see the stages of the wheel. When all 4 were finished I trimmed them with chrome /silver paint.
The wheels as they will be, I chose to paint the center cap bats red on them, rather than use the supplied decal.
Well, I`m not the best at painting figures, but I guess I have to show you the results nevertheless. Not sure as to how close these colors are, but they are as close as I`m going to get. Batman's` cape-mask-shorts-gloves & shoes are actually navy blue but they look black in the pictures. Some reference pictures they looked black, & others looked blue.
On the LEFT, the rear jet exhaust has a red Christmas light built into it. Also the beacon for the top of the roll bar has a red LED built into it. Both of these will be wired together with a 52 ohm resistor then onto the motor lead. This will keep the voltage to the bulbs low enough not to blow with the track voltage up to 13v.
On the right the kit supplied rocket launchers have been replaced with polished aluminum barrels.
Here is the beginnings of the beacon being wired. As you can see I used some solid #24 wire, and stripped it. I then soldered it to the 2 LED leads, then bent & glued them to follow the contour of the roll bar. There were 2 holes drilled in the body just inside where the roll bar will be secured that these wires pass through. The wires will be painted black and shouldn`t be to noticeable.
In the left picture the rear jet light has been completed, & everything is wired together. You can see in the bottom left a quick disconnect I used for removing the body easily. The right picture is the car propped up on track with power. I may add a capacitor to keep the lights going when the power is dropped through deceleration.
Now after all the decals have been applied, and 3 coats of Pledge "with Future shine", the project is finished. Let me say this these decals are very nice but..... make sure before you blot them in place you have them where you want them. They do not re-wet and move easily. I broke 4 different areas on this kit. However all things are fine with me in the end, I think this is a very cool
car !!
