{"id":1630,"date":"2005-07-03T15:32:56","date_gmt":"2005-07-03T23:32:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fichtenfoo.net\/blog\/?p=1630"},"modified":"2009-02-11T15:34:44","modified_gmt":"2009-02-11T23:34:44","slug":"in-progress-%c2%bb-the-batmobile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fichtenfoo.net\/blog\/in-progress-%c2%bb-the-batmobile\/","title":{"rendered":"In Progress \u00c2\u00bb The Batmobile"},"content":{"rendered":"

06.29.2005 \u00c2\u00bb Concepts
\nand Building<\/p>\n

So my next project is the brand spankin’ new 1\/35
\nscale Bandai EX Batmobile from Batman Begins. I got it in the mail
\non Monday and just had to start on it right away. As a consequence,
\nmy other projects are on hold for a little bit. I’ll be painting
\nit mostly stock and probably weathering it up as well since it’s
\na pseudo-military vehicle. I’ll also be making a custom base and
\nsince the kit didn’t come with a figure, I might convert a 1\/35
\nscale soldier into Bat-Man. Fun!<\/p>\n

Anyway, I got the kit on Monday and started cutting
\nand sanding sprue nubs. Tuesday I went to an amusement part with
\nthe family so did nothing. Today (Wednesday) I finished cutting
\nand sanding, skewered the parts, primed, and am now ready to start
\npainting after 2.5 hours of work. Does this mean that I’m really
\nexcited about this kit? Well, I am, but it actually<\/strong>
\nmeans that this isn’t a very large or partsy kit, has well hidden
\nand\/or easily sanded sprue nubs, minimal flash, and only one problem
\nspot on the whole kit. NO SEAMS! Well, there was potentially one,
\nbut it actually got hidden by the rear wheels so no worries.<\/p>\n

When you open the box, the first thing you notice
\nis a lack of anything, aside from tires, that would resemble a finished
\nBatmobile. This is due to the plated nature of the vehicle where
\nangular armor plates cover and jutt from the entire vehicle. There
\nare 3 sprues of dark blue-gray parts, 6 tires, and one sprue containing
\n2 clear dark smoke colored window parts.<\/p>\n

I began cutting the parts out while following the
\nmostly Japanese, but well illustrated and detailed instructions.
\nMost of the pieces, including the tiniest ones had 3 sprue attachments
\neach. However they were thin attachment points and sanded down easily.
\nOther sprue nubs were well hidden. One particularly happy nub placement
\nwas on the clear parts which required no clean-up work at all. While
\nthe armor parts were virtually flash free, the small detail parts
\nhad a thin raised line in the center of each where the molds met.
\nThis is typical with most injection plastic kits and was actually
\nthinner and easier to deal with than most armor and aircraft kits.
\nA few of the small piston parts in particular were so thin that
\nI accidentily bent one cutting it from the sprue. That’s more of
\na compliment than a complaint as I like to see small realistically
\nscaled parts that are not made larger for the sake of children or
\nbig clumsy fingers like mine.<\/p>\n

As I mentioned before there is only one piece on the
\nentire kit that needed extra clean-up work and that was the large
\nrear spoiler piece. The underside of that had four injector pin
\nmarks. For those I merely added a drop of Mr. Surfacer 500 primer
\n(from the jar)and sanded when dry. The thin primer filled the marks
\nand sanded smooth.<\/p>\n

Anyway, I primed the parts with Tamiya White primer
\nand am waiting for it to cure. Meanwhile, here’s some pics:<\/p>\n

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06.30.2005 \u00c2\u00bb Painting & Base and
\nFigure Construction<\/p>\n

Last night I painted all of the parts for the Batmobile.
\nI went with a silver + gunmetal for the greebles (instead of the
\ngold on the box kit) and a Flat Tamiya black + white + field blue
\nfor the main car color. It’s a really dark charcoal with a very
\nfaint hint of blue. Think cool gray. I went and high-lighted (kind
\nof max-techniqued) some of the armor panels with that same color
\nplus a few drops of white. Subtle but it looks great. Next I need
\nto go and hand paint all of the little details such as pistons,
\nheadlights, etc…<\/p>\n

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Today I started on the base. I want a Bat-Cave road
\nlook to it so I started with a liece of 1\/4 inch plywood and cut
\nout my section of roadway. I need the road flat since the wheels
\nwill not move on pistons or what-not to make all lay flat on the
\nbase. I took scrap strips of that same plywood and made risers to
\nhave the roadway sit up from the base.<\/p>\n

On the underside of the roadway I smathered on Bondo
\nAutomotive putty to make the cave-looking ridges. I used the Bondo
\nsince it hardens in about 10 minutes and it saved me a lot of time.
\nI didn’t use it elsewhere since it’s like working with cake-icing.
\nSince the underside of the road will be barely visible, it was perfect.<\/p>\n

On the top of the road I spread joint compound on
\nto give it a smooth rock look while keeping the roadway flat. For
\nthe rest of the cave I used rocks and celluclay. I stippled the
\nwet celluclay with a cheap plastic brush to give it a nice rock
\ntexture. This is the first time I’ve tried this after seeing it
\nin Amazing Figure Modeler #33 and it worked great! I’ll be using
\nthis a lot in the future. The foil in the pic is so that I can lift
\nthe road from the base later to paint the underside and do the water
\nunder the bridge.<\/p>\n

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Finally, I’ve been converting a 1\/35 scale soldier
\nto be Batman. I’m using Magic Sculpt (MS)for this part. I separated
\nthe head from the body and added the mask a little at a time. MS
\ndries enough in about 2 hours to have a firm base for adding more
\ndetails. To make the cloak I added a very rough buldges with the
\nMS. When those dried I started adding the head and neck, shoulders,
\nridges and folds. Currently I’m adding the curvy bat-cut of the
\nedge of the cloak. Like I said, I’m adding a little at a time as
\nto not destroy detail I’ve already done. Here’s where I’m at so
\nfar in the pic. I have a lot more cape to add and a lot of clean-up
\nto do but I’m happy with my progress.<\/p>\n

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07.02.2005 \u00c2\u00bb Car Paint and More Figure
\nModification…<\/p>\n

I got the rest of the cape done on Batman and did
\nthe cleanup. As you can see in the pics I did the cape a little
\nat a time. As each section dried, I added more creases and edge
\nto the cape. I then took steel woll and smoothed him out andgot
\nrid of most of my fingerprints. The rest of the clean-up I did with
\nMr. Surfacer 500 from the jar. I dabbed it into the gaps and recesses
\nand instead of sanding it away, I learned that 91% alcohol can be
\nused to smooth it away with a q-tip or paper towel. Worked like
\na dream!<\/p>\n

Once I did the clean-up the last thing I added before
\nthe first test primer was the horns. I don’t wanna accidentily break
\nthem off while sanding so I figured I’d do them last. Didn’t matter
\nanyway though as right after I primed him I broke both of them off.
\nNow I’m waiting for the primer to completely cure so I can putty
\nup the cracks left from gluing them back on. Regardless I’m very
\nhappy with how he looks. I’ll post pics of him fully primed after
\nI do the clean-up of the horns.<\/p>\n

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I also finished the bulk of the painting. I washed
\nin the panel lines with thin black oils then drybrushed with white
\noils. WHITE? well, since I’m drybrushing it doesn’t look white on
\nthe kit. It blends to a lighter version of my base colors. The metal
\nportions are done too. I drybrushed the gunmetal + silver parts
\nwith gold + silver rub-n-buff. the result is a nice tarnished metal
\nlook. I gave the car its a flat coat Maybe I’ll do a little more
\ndrybrushing if needed after building it and adding a little dust
\non the tires and undercarriage.<\/p>\n

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07.03.2005 \u00c2\u00bb Final Update<\/p>\n

I finished the kit the past few days and thought I’d
\nelaborate on the figure and base painting and weathering of the
\nBatmobile.<\/p>\n

Figure: After the figure was cleaned up, I first primed
\nhim with Duplicolor dark gray sandable primer available at Walmart.
\nNext I airbrushed on the same charcoal color as the Batmobile. I
\ntook a bit of that color and added some black and Future Floor Acrylic
\nto make it less opaque. I then sprayed the shadows and folds of
\nthe cape. Next I did the same thing with the base color and Future,
\nbut added white and sprayed where the light would hit on the top
\nof the head and shoulders and the ridges of the cape. For the face
\nI brushed on a mixture of white and burnt sienna oil paint and shaded
\nwith burnt sienna.<\/p>\n

Batmobile: After my painting was done I gave all the
\nparts except the tires and windows a coat of Future Floor Acrylic
\nto seal the paint. I then gave the parts a wash with black oil paint
\nand a drybrush right after with white. The white oils went on thin
\nenough to not be too stark of a contrast and blended with the base
\ncolor. Afterwards a satin coat of Future was applied. The tires
\nwere dusted with Mig Pigment powders (light dust + europe earth)
\nand then wiped so that only the crevases contained grit since most
\nof that dirt would wear off as the car drove in the cave, through
\npuddles and on asphalt.<\/p>\n

The Base: I primed it with Duplicolor dark gray sandable
\nprimer first. When that dried I drbrushed on lighter shades of gray,
\nbrown, and white Americana Acrylics. Finally I drybrushed on some
\nglossy Future Floor Acrylic to give the rocks a moist\/smooth water-worn
\nsheen.<\/p>\n

Check out the final pics in the finished kits section!<\/p>\n

Project Time Sheet:<\/p>\n

Out of curiosity, I want to know just how much time
\nI’ll spend on this project. This part will remain at the bottom
\nof my in-prog page. The times will be rounded to the nearest quarter-hour.<\/p>\n

Estimated Concepts: 1.5 Hours<\/p>\n

Total Cutting\/Sanding: 2.5 Hours<\/p>\n

Total Skewering: .5 Hours<\/p>\n

Total Priming: .25 Hours<\/p>\n

Total Painting: 1.75 Hours<\/p>\n

Total Masking: 0 Hours<\/p>\n

Total Clear Coating: .5 Hours<\/p>\n

Total Weathering: 2.75 Hours<\/p>\n

Total Decaling: 0 Hours<\/p>\n

Total Construction: 1 Hours<\/p>\n

Total Figure Modification: 5 Hours<\/p>\n

Total Figure Painting: 1 Hours<\/p>\n

Total Base Construction: 2 Hours<\/p>\n

Total Base Painting: .75 Hours<\/p>\n

Grand Total 19.5 Hours<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n