I never learned why Grandpa had model glue and paint at his house, because he didn't have any models. However, from that point on I enjoyed building models. As I grew up, models fell to the wayside. For one, I didn't have any room for them. And then there was life and kids to deal with, etc, and I just never found the time to pick it back up, even though I missed it a lot.
Fast forward 35 or so years and I'm divorced, own my own home and the kids are no longer babies. So a couple years ago for Christmas my girlfriend gifted me the Batman V Superman Batmobile model kit by Mobius Models. I had told her at some point how I wanted to start working on models again and she knew I really liked the BvS Batmobile, so it was serendipitous.
It took me over two years to finish that model. Mainly because I wanted to do a good job. It was a gift, so I wanted it to be perfect. So I spent a long time learning about all the things I remembered being difficult when I was a kid. Painting, for example. I went down various rabbit holes, but slowly but surely, I finished the model. In a way, I was scared of it. I was scared of doing a bad job.
That model is in no way perfect, but it's damn good and I am very proud of it. I have completed three models in the last few months, the first being the Batman V Superman Batmobile, and the second being the Batman Forever Batmobile. I approach each project as an opportunity to learn and I enjoy what each kit teaches me.
This one, is the third.
The model can be had on Amazon or any major hobby site like Burbank's House of Hobbies, Hobbytown or MegaHobby from anywhere between $35 to $42 USD.
(Brookhurst Hobbies has it for $35.99)
The kit itself features figures (that you assemble and paint) of Catwoman and The Penguin, the guise being that this is a replica of the episode where Penguin and Catwoman steal the Batmobile. Well, actually I'm not sure if Catwoman was involved. I never really paid much attention to the old 60's Batman. I understand that it's supposed to be a corny parody but I was born just slightly too late for it.
I digress, because this is the "Bad Guy Getaway Edition" the kit comes with a few extra parts from the regular edition. As mentioned there are the figures of Penguin and Catwoman, but there are also the Penguin's umbrella that he lays across the hood and the one he uses to provide himself shade. Other items are the Bat "Ram" that you can install optionally (I didn't) and also decals for the Penguin, who replaces the Bat Symbol on the door with a Penguin symbol in the episode.
There's more than that as well. The kit includes a couple extra decals (more on that later) but it also includes decals and parts that don't go to this car. In fact, there are a lot of parts from the Snap-Together version of this car that comes with a pre-painted body. And, as such a lot of the parts... snap together. Which is fine, except this is not a snap kit.
In fact, the kit feels like it's three kits in one: The snap kit, the regular kit, and this getaway kit. I imagine the only real difference is if it comes with the Penguin and Catwoman figures.
Well, as Batman would say, To the Batmobile... build. I guess.
The build started normal enough, I premiered the body and parts with grey Styrenez acrylic primer, the stuff goes on very well. I sprayed it though my Patriot 105 with a .7mm needle, which is large but Styrenez is pretty thick stuff, at 30 PSI. I probably used a drop or two of flow improver from Vallejo, I tend to with Acrylic paints (unless it's Createx) just to help.
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| Holy Styrenez, Batman! |
After the primer dried, I sanded the body using 4000 or so grit sandpaper, but honestly I probably didn't need to as the Styrenez is super smooth and is kind of known for being idiot proof.
Once that was done, I painted the body with Createx Wicked Color's "Jet Black", which is awesome. It's a deeper black and flat black. This was the first time I had used the Createx 4021 Reducer, which is a newer reducer for Createx and includes some flow improving agents and also some UVLS qualities. This is the new recommended reducer for all Createx paints, including the clear coats and it seems to work very well. Acrylic paint tends to dry out quickly as it's water based (which is why Tamiya "Acrylics" are still Lacquer based, same with GSI Creos).
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| Holy Wicked Colors, Batman! |
Once the paint was dry, I finished assembling the bumpers, etc and started the decals.
Which, as they say, is where things took a turn.
For reference, if you're not aware, this kit and all of its various forms are kind of notorious for having difficult decals. The problem arises in that the decals are old and very long and narrow. The iconic red/orange pin stripping on the body are done via decal, so you're dealing with long decals that curve around fenders which is in itself kind of a difficult thing to do. A lot of people will buy the snap together kit solely for the pre-painted body just to avoid having to deal with them. Unfortunately, I enjoy self inflicted pain.
On top of that, I made a couple of pivotal errors here as well.
First, I should have sprayed down a clear coat on the body before I started the decals. The reason why I should have done that is two fold: one, a clear coat would seal in the paint and protect it from the solvents I had to use to apply the decals. These are water slide decals... and acrylic paint is water based. Which means you can wash it off with water... you see where this is going? I certainly should have.
But I didn't.
And while the paint didn't run (it had cured quite well at this point) I think the un-treated surface of the paint added to my woes. The second reason to spray a clear before applying decals is the clear coat tends to give a very smooth surface for the decal to stick to, you can almost think of it as a medium for the decal.
And this was my major problem - the decals simply did not stick very well to the painted areas at all. Now I'm not 100% sure if it's the decals or my lack of clear coat, and I suspect the truth is somewhere in the middle as it often is, but for whatever reason these decals would not. lie. down.
The result, are decals that are wrinkly, not very smooth and have quite a bit of silvering.
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| Holy wrinkly decals, Batman! It only gets worse from here, Robin. |
And I tried a lot of different things, warm water, micro set and micro sol, copious amounts of micro sol and when that didn't work I tried the Tamiya Mark Fit "Strong". Some decals I ended up putting a little CA glue onto via a tooth pick just to get it to lie down and stick.
A couple of times on the interior decals, I would apply the decal, use the setting solution, not touch it for two days, and the decal would just fall off.
Suffice to say it was a very frustrating experience. At one point I was almost convinced to pull them off, re-apply the primer, paint the whole thing bright red, use tape to mimic the pen stripes and repaint with the jet black.
But I didn't do that either. Ultimately I decided that this is all a grand learning experience, one part "how do I..." and one part creativity outlet mixed in with a good helping of love of cars and making things, so I stuck with it and did the best I could.
It's not about being perfect, it's about doing the best and building a skill. It's about learning from mistakes and trying new things.
The rest of the kit I painted with Createx Flat Black and Wicked Black. So there's three different shades of black on this one. I have a theory that the Batmobiles are not truly black, except for this one. Certainly non of them are glossy, except for this one.
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| Holy multiple colors, Batman! |
Once I felt I had done all I could for the decals, I sprayed three to four coats of Createx UVLS Gloss Clear (4050). Originally I had planned to polish the body as well to really get it to shine, but I was worried that at this point it would just rip off the decals, so I didn't. I think it still turned out very well, and looks quite shiny in person.
The small detailing was done with Vallejo silver and brass, Monument Pro Acryl "Bold Pyrrole Red", Bright Jade, Warm Yellow, Orange Yellow, and "Bold Titanium White" via brush and toothpicks.
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| POW! |
The door panels however I took the time to make and airbrush the Vallejo Silver just because I wanted to. I also masked and airbrushed the trim on the windows, all of which turned out really well and I'm very happy with it.
I wanted to detail the engine, so I painted small color spots on the battery packs, and painted the block itself with Vallejo Blue, while paining the transmission with Vallejo "Steel". The exhaust pipes are also Vallejo Steel, with all these parts painting using the airbrush.
I hand painted the mufflers brass, and the headers, just for contrast.
Finally I used a distributor and wire kit to build in spark plug wires. This part was really fun! I used a pin vise to drill holes into the engine block to glue the wires into it. It could be a little better, but for my first try I'm super happy and excited for it.
The rest of the model went together fairly well, apart from being surprised when finding snap in parts. For example I glued in the back deck like normal, then he door panels and dashboard go in. While test fitting these pieces before gluing, it was surprising when they simply "snapped in". Which is great, I have nothing against snap kits, I just wasn't expecting and might have approached the assembly a little differently had I known. Regardless, it worked out. Some parts, like the steering wheel, were far too fragile to really "push in" like you would with a snap kit, and this was certainly a snap part. So to keep from breaking it, I scraped the attaching part with a hobby knife while also boring out the hole a bit until I could get a snug fit without having to use too much force.
On the final assembly, I painted the headlights Orange Yellow, but then painted the lens covered with Tamiya's "smoke" which is a clear black color that tends to get used for window tinting. My hope was that with good light, you'd be able to see the headlight through them, rather than just an opaque black which is what the kit lends itself to.
Finally, the last step was the put the body onto the chassis, which snapped together. This proved to be very difficult due to ill fitting pieces. While trying to get the two sections to match up, I ended popping off one side of the front bumper, both "grills" popped out due to stressing the body and at one point I even lost a battery from the engine bay.
However, eventually, I maneuvered it just right and it snapped in firmly and stayed. Repairing the issues I caused during this step took no time at all and soon it was finished. I snapped some pictures of it and due to the model's sheer length I had to put it in a display case built for a 1/18 scale car, as the 1/24 case I had was simply too short. (Nothing new, I have had to custom order cases for the BvS and Batman Forever cars.
This kit taught me a lot, but I have to say I'm thankful it's done. The decals still frustrate me, though I do feel good about them in the end. If I ever run across this model for a sale price (not likely) I might give it another shot, just to see how much experience and lessons learned will change the outcome.
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| I saw them, Batman. I looked into IT's Death Lights! |
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