Batman 1989 Vault weapons display

[gregday]

Thanks nick that is super helpful!

So a couple of things about the Bat vault…

It doesn’t really make any sense then that the hand wheel is over the vertical bar as opposed to being beside it. Even if you have the vertical bar split so the wheel turns both of them… they’d be turning in opposite directions.

I suspect the right side overlay panel and center hinges are intended to look like that half of the door is covered in this secondary hinge mechanism that would let the door swing out more freely. This is probably because vault doors are so thick, they often need that extra degree of mobility to seat fully into the vault opening.

But then it would make no sense to have those horizontal lock bars go over the hinge panel.

So I see how the Bat vault takes some cues from real vault designs, but ultimately isn’t made to be a practical prop.

 

[gregday]

Yikes.

I've been looking around the usual sources for getting a plastic or resin version of the center hinge cylinder printed, and the going rate appears to be around $900 each. That's insane. So we made up a version of the model that's hollow, and it didn't change the price that much.

So just on a lark, I checked out getting it CNC'd in aluminum, and it's actually only $600 each. Still high, but the main problem is that solid aluminum cylinders would be around 16 lbs each, and that's an unacceptable amount of extra weight to add to the door. So now I'm checking out the possibility of using this model to get them cut in wood. Or if you think you can print them for a more reasonable cost, PM me.

The holder blocks behind the hinge as well as the 5-bolt mounting plates are already in production and I should have those in a couple of weeks.

 

[pengbuzz]

Yikes.

I've been looking around the usual sources for getting a plastic or resin version of the center hinge cylinder printed, and the going rate appears to be around $900 each. That's insane. So we made up a version of the model that's hollow, and it didn't change the price that much.

So just on a lark, I checked out getting it CNC'd in aluminum, and it's actually only $600 each. Still high, but the main problem is that solid aluminum cylinders would be around 16 lbs each, and that's an unacceptable amount of extra weight to add to the door. So now I'm checking out the possibility of using this model to get them cut in wood. Or if you think you can print them for a more reasonable cost, PM me.

The holder blocks behind the hinge as well as the 5-bolt mounting plates are already in production and I should have those in a couple of weeks.

Stupid idea: make them out of heavy cardboard tube. That would save on weight.

 

[13doctorwho]

Machine them out of Delrin, or another plastic. That will weigh less even solid. Machine shops love to machine plastic, it is so easy to work with.

 

[Raine24]

The main tube has a diameter in the neighborhood of 7", so shouldn't attaching machined/printed caps onto a stock tube be an option? The bracing is another story, but I'd imagine the housing is the more difficult portion.

 

[13doctorwho]

Raine24. Exactly, I was just sketching up this concept! This is by far the easiest, lightest and cheapest way to do it.

 

[13doctorwho]

 

[gregday]

I just noticed a detail that the schematic line drawings (and all the 1/6 scale versions I've seen) got wrong. The 5-bolt mounting plates next to the center hinge pin cylinders aren't vertically symmetrical. That is, they aren't both turned inward toward the center. They are both oriented at the bottom of their respective hinges. It doesn't really make sense, because if you were building this to be functional, you probably would want them more centered for a more balanced hold. But for accuracy, they are both mounted at the bottom.

Additionally, there appears to be some more mounting bolts on the right side of the bottom hinge, inside that curved cutout.

 

[Raine24]

Don't know if you have them, but there are better quality versions of that tour photo:

Note that the bottom cylinder appears to be tilted on its X-axis, don't know if that's design or damage, but it's certainly not plumb.

And the clearest side view of it in the background:

I rendered out an orthographic front shot of my WIP model in case it may be of any use to you. It's only a placeholder right now and I'm working off the same reference as anyone else, but maybe I caught something helpful.

Ignore the rounded inside corners of the upper cylinder's bolted mounting plate, it's an artifact of how I was blocking out the shapes. The crooked bolt placement is intentional, though, the ones on the prop were wacky AF.

 

[gregday]

Those are all tremendously helpful. Thank you!

 

[Raine24]

Forgot this one. Definitely not helpful to this particular project, but seeing all that plywood they made look like a big, beefy, indestructible metal vault is kind of inspirational.

 

[gregday]

Interesting seeing that the bottom right bolt on the 6-plate is broken off too. Looks like it was possibly some kind of plastic?

 

[gregday]

Don't know if you have them, but there are better quality versions of that tour photo:

Note that the bottom cylinder appears to be tilted on its X-axis, don't know if that's design or damage, but it's certainly not plumb.

And the clearest side view of it in the background:

I rendered out an orthographic front shot of my WIP model in case it may be of any use to you. It's only a placeholder right now and I'm working off the same reference as anyone else, but maybe I caught something helpful.

Ignore the rounded inside corners of the upper cylinder's bolted mounting plate, it's an artifact of how I was blocking out the shapes. The crooked bolt placement is intentional, though, the ones on the prop were wacky AF.

This is really wonderful!

Based on this screen grab, I think the hinge plates are rounded only on the outside, and straight against the hinge “cradle.”

Awesome that you even included the wonky bolt placement in your model.

 

[Raine24]

You're totally right, the rounded inside corners on the top plate was a build artifact that I haven't gotten around to fixing yet, sorry. I'll re-examine the bolts when I get the model closer to finished, but I think I've got the odd spacing pretty close.

I initially thought that the white mark where the bolt was attached was a hole holding the remains of a plug that attached the missing piece however the shape is so off-kilter that I'm leaning toward it being a dollop of epoxy or something. Fingers crossed that we'll get better references someday, or that someone saved some of the Batcave pieces from a dumpster and shows them off.

 

[gregday]

Do you have an estimate on what the original height and width of the vault / door were?

I know I made mine undersized on purpose, but I’m not sure by how much. Mine is 55.25” x 26”.

 

[Raine24]

I did the math but need to track down the drive it's on. The crew worked entirely in imperial and not metric, despite being a UK production, so if you're hitting on feet and inches on your own estimates you're not seeing things. Anyway, I want to say the vault's total height was in the area of 7 feet? I'll post later when I find the drive

 

[gregday]

I switched my cross bars to 0.75” down from 1.0” and it’s much more correctly proportioned. And I threw some paint on some of the paper mock-ups and I can already see the end point. Those will all be tweaked before final design. And those nuts are definitely getting swapped out for 5/8” ones.

 

[Raine24]

It's been said but I just have to repeat it: this is a seriously cool way to display these props. The vault has such a large footprint, but the door is what has all the appeal if you're not going to be displaying a full suit. I aspire to that kind of effectiveness.

 

[gregday]

Thanks. And really, this is going to sit with the weapons side facing out. The wheel side is really a “Eh, might as well” detail of my original intent.

 

[gregday]

Think I’ve got the dimensions for the gearbox cylinders down. Now just to get these modeled and fabricated.

My wheel is still going to look large at 10”, where 9.2” is really what’s needed here. But I can live with that.