Newbie, need direction

Flux

Hello all,

I'm wanting to produce a 1/5 scale mold of the Tumbler from the Dark Knight for vacuum forming. Reason for producing a mold of just the body is so I can tweak the design to suit the frame it will be mounted to (end result will be a Tumbler inspired design). I have thought of using a Pepakura file and scale that in the Pepakura program to 1/5 (or near to that depending on what the width ends up) but I'm unable to find a Pepakura file I can use. I have come across a 3D file in google sketchup format that I can export as .kmz file so the Pepakura program can load it but after that I'm not sure what to do (tweaking the unfolded file). I don't need all of the finer details pistons/wings etc, just the bulk of the body.

Can anyone out there help me out?

AbsoluteSciFi

Well if you have the general body shape already... (Most people work from several photos only) Then making the form should be a matter of building, carving, sanding, MAKING the original form for making a pull... am I missing something?

autoprops713

You could create a pattern but it would need to be separated into sections so you could pull vac form parts. There are a lot of undercuts on the basic tumbler body. I suppose you can do a roof and separate side panels but it would be a ton of work. Trust me, I've been down this road.

If you create a Pepakura file can't you just resin it and finish it off like the Iron man helmet guys are doing? Maybe skip the whole vac forming part.

Or...why not just buy a Tyco RC tumbler toy off ebay? They are about 1/6 scale but you'd have a great start for your build. The body is abs also which you can easily cut-up, glue, etc.

What is your final model going to do? Is it just a stationary display? RC?

Landstalker

Vac forming could be the way forward.