autoprops713
Sr Member
I promised Art I would share more with this community than I kinda have in the last…eek, 11 years. So, ok here’s one I just wrapped up for a client.
Some history first. I worked in Hot Wheels at Mattel when they first got the Batman license. In addition to the 1/18 1989 Batmobile that I worked on I also had my hands in many things Batmobile related back then. When Batman Begins started production we had the opportunity to do the Tumbler in a whole range of scales. If you’re into that car you know we did 1/64, 1/18, etc. Just before I left, Tyco (RC division of Mattel) was developing a 1/6 scale RC Tumbler. Remember, this was years before Hot Toys came out with theirs. Because of box size issues and costs the proportions had to change a lot even though we had full computer files of the actual Tumbler. Sorry to the collectors out there…I tried to make every Batmobile as real as possible when I worked there. Even the “toys”. J
Flash forward a few years and a couple good friends got me one of the Tyco 1/6 Tumbler test models that sat around in the Mattel warehouse. It was about 50% production and 50% still prototype. The thing sat in a box for another who knows how many years. I received a call this spring asking if there was anyway to convert this car into a camo Tumbler that would be in The Dark Knight Rises. I signed up when people started posting filming pics from Pittsburgh. Plus I was always curious to see what a large scale Tumbler would look like in 1/6 scale. I don’t know if anyone tried this with the Hot Toys model.
For the modelers/accurizzers out there, here is a list of the mods…IF you start with a stock Tyco Tumbler.
-cut off front canopy and completely rebuild
-cut out all windows and replace with black plex
-remove front axle and attach front wheels horizontal control arms and outer axle hubs
-replace yellowy LEDs with white high intensity LEDs
-modify top of back engine area
-add blue LEDs…1 white for forward motion
-lower body on chassis by dropping center steer wheel
-modify wing struts and bring them lower to body
-whole bunch of other stuff I can’t even remember!!
Then paint match by examining dozens of pics on FLICKR. Ps….best site for reference sometimes. J
I had a good friend of mine take some pics in our garage the other day. We are going to gather up some fall leaves next week, crunch them up, and run the car again.
If things go forward as planned….you’ll find one of these later next year on the shelves. Yes, 1/6 scale! Can’t tell you what company though…yet. Enjoy the pictures, I thought they came out great even though it’s a bit still chunky!
Some history first. I worked in Hot Wheels at Mattel when they first got the Batman license. In addition to the 1/18 1989 Batmobile that I worked on I also had my hands in many things Batmobile related back then. When Batman Begins started production we had the opportunity to do the Tumbler in a whole range of scales. If you’re into that car you know we did 1/64, 1/18, etc. Just before I left, Tyco (RC division of Mattel) was developing a 1/6 scale RC Tumbler. Remember, this was years before Hot Toys came out with theirs. Because of box size issues and costs the proportions had to change a lot even though we had full computer files of the actual Tumbler. Sorry to the collectors out there…I tried to make every Batmobile as real as possible when I worked there. Even the “toys”. J
Flash forward a few years and a couple good friends got me one of the Tyco 1/6 Tumbler test models that sat around in the Mattel warehouse. It was about 50% production and 50% still prototype. The thing sat in a box for another who knows how many years. I received a call this spring asking if there was anyway to convert this car into a camo Tumbler that would be in The Dark Knight Rises. I signed up when people started posting filming pics from Pittsburgh. Plus I was always curious to see what a large scale Tumbler would look like in 1/6 scale. I don’t know if anyone tried this with the Hot Toys model.
For the modelers/accurizzers out there, here is a list of the mods…IF you start with a stock Tyco Tumbler.
-cut off front canopy and completely rebuild
-cut out all windows and replace with black plex
-remove front axle and attach front wheels horizontal control arms and outer axle hubs
-replace yellowy LEDs with white high intensity LEDs
-modify top of back engine area
-add blue LEDs…1 white for forward motion
-lower body on chassis by dropping center steer wheel
-modify wing struts and bring them lower to body
-whole bunch of other stuff I can’t even remember!!
Then paint match by examining dozens of pics on FLICKR. Ps….best site for reference sometimes. J
I had a good friend of mine take some pics in our garage the other day. We are going to gather up some fall leaves next week, crunch them up, and run the car again.
If things go forward as planned….you’ll find one of these later next year on the shelves. Yes, 1/6 scale! Can’t tell you what company though…yet. Enjoy the pictures, I thought they came out great even though it’s a bit still chunky!
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