Building a 1966 BATMOBILE for 8 inch MEGO Batman

[captact]

Are there any updated pics of this car?????

[chalwa]

Anticipation is killing me...

[harvestcrusader]

love the 66 batmobile.....

[Boy_Wonder_1978]

WOW!!! A real labour of love. I'd like to see more.

[ClaudeAtlas]

So sorry. I won't let it happen again.

you know we're itching for some updated photos here! (hint, hint)

[Orlock]

So awesome. My hat's off to you sir.

[palitoy]

I'm sorry I missed seeing this, those that did were amazed.

[noelani72]

I wanted to bump this awesome thread...
After meeting Roberto at MM and seeing this creation in person - wow....no, WOW!
The attention to detail is incredible...and the vision of execution is something I can appreciate deeply as a fellow builder.
I am going to everything I can to help...the Mego world needs this ;-)

[Boywonder0]

^^^Great news!^^^

[darklord1967]

That sounds cool but you really need to get your priorities straight:-)

So sorry. I won't let it happen again.

[EMCE Hammer]

That sounds cool but you really need to get your priorities straight:-)

[darklord1967]

I don't think this project will come to fruition... The member hasn't had activity sinc Dec of 2013

It will. And sorry I've been missing in action. For the last couple of years, I've been busy producing a stage production with my drama students about Bob Kane, Bill Finger and Jerry Robinson's creation of the Batman mythology. It's called FATHERS OF THE DARK KNIGHT and it features all the Batman characters.

Just can't seem to get away from that guy with the cape and cowl...

[darklord1967]

Trust me - printing it would not be worth it.
For one, it would have to be done in pieces since 99% of available/affordable printers don't have a build plate big enough.
Two, if you could print it - figure about 50hours (just for the main body shell) and cross your fingers it goes alright.
Three, material. It would be expensive.
Four. It would still need painted because you'd see some marks left behind from the layers or head. Course, if you had a $250,000 ObJet printer....I'm moving to your neighborhood lol.

A scanner and printer will run you approx $5000.

I have given something like this some considerable thought.
If it were me - I'd have Legend of Link slice the huge model into clever pieces.
Pieces that utilize the printer build plate to the max, all the while following natural body lines of the car.
Print each piece and glue together.
Perform some body work to finish it off, hide seams, fill in some undercuts and make a permanent buck that could be vacuum formed in black ABS.

Industrial sized vacuum formers are out there, few hundred bucks to a little over a grand for a decent one for home use. You can build your own if you're good with wood and use your oven to heat the stuff if you're that kind of person.

From there, it's all down hill.
Being able to reproduce will be quick, cost effective and the end result will be very nice.
Then you could 3d design and print some axles, get some heavy gauge wire, print some wheels, print a cockpit....put it all together. bam.

Once you get it done, you might want a box for it...that's a whole nuther monster.

Finally, once the car is done, someone will want to buy it (cuz, yea, you wanna sell it to recoup design and material overhead) and when you tell them $300 - they disappear. $200 might be an alright price range for something OOAK like this...but I dunno. I was just telling someone the other day - if 3d scanning and 3d printing was so easy, everyone would be doing it. I fully encourage more to get into it so they can get in on the floor level, get their hands dirty and see this really cool tool that compliments traditional methods of clay and fingers.
Give a few more years and hopefully it will be and we'll have a digital library here where someone can come in, download 3d files for a body, a head..download a pattern for a costume...download a backer card or box...walla. Weekend custom.

The box? Nah, that's the LEAST of my worries. I've got access to a professional custom corrugated cardboard box maker, and I already designed the graphics for the custom Batmobile's box (seen on page 12 of this thread, I believe).

No, my major stumbling block has been what you outlined above: The cost. The technology for 3D printing simply has not caught up to to intended scale / quality of this project yet. And also as you pointed out, I am having trouble locating a 3D print bed large enough to accommodate length of the car's main body.

3D Printing everything else is not an issue at all. It's that car car body. It is simply far too long. I have completely disassembled the Hot Wheels 1:18 Batmobile and the main body separates into two halves (top and bottom, separated along the car's red body line). It is a FAR more logical configuration for the assembly of the Batmobile than the Revel Futura kit. But the problem remains: the two halves of the Hot Wheels version represent the FULL body from front to back, which translates into a final model that (at least for now) is too expensive to be 3D printed.

But rest assured this project is NOT dead. My custom Mego Batman WILL drive a correctly scaled Batmobile... whether I eventually make it myself or whether Mattel produces one for their Retro Heroes.

[durgos]

You the man, Chad!

Dan

[ZombieJimC]

I hope this gets completed. A true labor of love.