Reader reviews of a kit featured on Starship Modeler.

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Your Two Cents: 1960's DC Comics Batmobile

The following are reader's opinions of the 1960's DC Comics Batmobile made by Polar Lights.

Reviewer   Rich Dula
Date Reviewed   Jun 4, 2003
Overall Rating       Well worth getting.
Comments

I purchased the 1960's DC Comics Batmobile after browsing through one of the hobby shops in my area. The kit was reasonable (under $20) and looked like it would be a good addition to my Movie/TV Show Car Collection.

First Impressions

The box was oddly-shaped and seemed to almost explode with parts after the plastic overwrap was removed. Unlike the model pieces shown in the Preview page, the ones in my kit were molded in light gray plastic, which was betten than the black shown in the photos. I already knew that the pieces were in light gray as there is was a neat little window on the back side of the box that let you see inside. The pieces were on separate sprues and looked relatively free of ejector marks or swirls. Surface detail was good on the pieces, right down to the tiny "R" on Robin's chest and the bat symbol on Batman's chest.

Assembly

Aside from some minor opening of holes and flash removal, assembly was refreshingly smooth. The only part of the assembly that was a little tense was snapping the wheels onto the mounting pegs. The pegs are very thin and I held my breath while pushing those big chrome wheels into place. Also, when the bat symbols are glued into place on the wheels, try not to let too much cement go down into the peg holes. Next thing you'll know, your Batmobile will lose a wheel (and the Joker will get away) if you're not careful.

The instructions were clearly printed in both English and French and were, for the most part, easy to understand. The painting instructions were nice to have, and some leeway was allowed in the painting of the interior. As stated in the instructions, different issues of the original comic book showed the interior in three or four different shades. I chose Testors Flat Gray for my interior to accent the character uniforms and the interior details.

As mentioned in other reviews, using black as a finish for the exterior makes it hard to see the hood decal. I ended up using Testors Gloss Dark Blue with a little Gloss Black mixed in to make it more of a midnight blue shade. This offered a good contrast to the red and amber lenses and the decals. I applied two coats of the exterior paint and then sealed the top layer with a coat for Future Acrylic Floor Polish. After decal application I applied one final coat of Future to seal the whole thing. The final step was attaching the windows and the red gumball lamp to the body.

The decals were easy to work with and held together well. The only complaint with respect to the decals concerned the tiny decals for the instrument clusters. Unless you trim these decals very carefully, you will end up with decal film that is of greater diameter than the dial they are supposed to be representing. I used a little drop of decal set inside the dial to coax the decal into place.

Conclusion

I enjoyed the model and have added other Polar Lights kits to my "to build" inventory. The fit and quality of the kit is good and the pieces are easy to work with. The Batmobile is now on one of my shelves next to B.A.'s "A-Team" van, the General Lee, and the Back To The Future Time Machine. Next up: either the Ghostbusters ECTO-1 or the Knight Rider KITT. I highly recommend this kit if you enjoy kits that relive movies and TV shows.


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