First revealed in Christopher Nolan’s iconic The Dark Knight trilogy, making its debut in Batman Begins no less, the Batmobile ‘Tumbler’ holds military-level stealth tech as its inspiration, can break through concrete walls, has bullet-proof bodywork and is one of the finest additions to Bruce Wayne’s Batcave/hidden underground workshop… and now, I get to build a 1:8 scale model!

After kicking off with Issues 1 to 16 (head here for those), we pick up the pace this month with 6 issues in one hit from the Hachette Partworks release, and you can also build your own detailed replica by getting involved and clicking here.

Build your own Batmobile Tumbler will take you through the assembly, alongside sticking and screwing together die-cast parts, plus plastic-moulded ones for the smaller details, and it’ll be a beast when you realise how many features are covered, and you’ll see the progression here.

This might be the early days of a longer-term project, and if you’ve also done one yourself you’ll appreciate that, I hope some thoughts with my build blog help you along the way, and also feel free to ask questions in the comments below!

Issues 17 and 18

As you’ll know from my previous build blogs, and especially if you’re also building along at the same time, many issues are smaller parts to a wider creation. These next 6 issues are no different, and while I think I’d like a bit more to do in the ‘building’ sense sometimes, I have enjoyed the magazines with additional Batman history, and the extra insight that takes us Behind-the-Scenes of The Dark Knight trilogy, especially in the physical engineering that went into creating the Tumbler itself, and eventually the Batpod to.

While Issue 17 tells us of the background and life of Dick Grayson, Issue 18 goes behind that astonishing truck-flip-real-life-stunt on the streets of Chicago, and boy does that moment pay off. It also gives us an insight to the comic in ’63 to ’64, and the incoming change from space adventures, to an eventually deeper, more realistic Batman – that in time will become a huge part of the character.

In terms of the build, it adds a bit more to the previous head-up display, and two tiny joysticks ‘platforms’ which literally connects onto the display, with a mix of screws and snapping together. It’s not really complicated, and you need Issue 18 to get the tiny joysticks as well, although I did like the handles because you need to cut them out. So like you needed glue recently, it’ll help if you’ve got a sharp knife, as the part needs to be cut out before they’re pushed in carefully with your fingertips.

This latter issues also gives us an opportunity to screw the heads-up display actually into the big base unit. This more hands-on moment is a welcome one, it comes complete with a track that means the whole unit – with chair – has a nice movement, making that cockpit feel a little more real. As you’ll see shortly.

Issues 19 and 20

While the magazine with Issue 19 breaks down the stunt-riders for the aforementioned Batpod, and their skills – it also continues the story of ‘change’ in the Batman comic when we hit 1964. At that point, the series became something else entirely – mainly because of Julius ‘Julie’ Schwartz, and we entered a new look for the dynamic duo, which may have kept our heroes alive to this day.

This issue, along with the next four, are quintessentially the creation of the Pilot seat and consists of a variety of pushing components together and a few more screws. Issue 20 then takes us into the base of the pilot seat, which is simple enough to put together, with then eventually connecting it to your previous part – and the shape of a seat begins to emerge!

Issues 21 and 22

Issue 21 magazine offers some insight into The Bat, a remarkable-looking flying machine which may not have been flyable – in the sense that the previous vehicles could function – but is another impressive idea, and definitely gave one hell of a show during the film! For the build, we’re now about toe add the padding onto the pilot seat – because even Batman loves a comfy place to rest those Batcheeks.

With Issue 22 also offering more padding for the seat, these could have worked as one issue – but use the double-sided tape carefully because you only get the one for each section! This setup also means you’ll get to properly screw the pilot chair into the cockpit and while I’d love it to all come together faster, it still looks pretty darn cool once this is all done – see the pics below!

It’s also worth noting that the magazine ‘history of’ section hits 1965 which is a huge year in the world of Batman, because it’s the launch of the live-action series! The glory that is Adam West and Burt Ward, the humour, the Batusi, and creation of a true pop icon. This was all thanks to producer William Dozier, and scriptwriter Lorenzo Semple Jr., who decided to make the TV series accessible for both kids and adults – alongside the adventures with the likes of Cesar Romero, Burgess Meredith, Frank Gorshin (and John Astin), Julie Newmar and Eartha Kitt – to name such a selection of actors, who’d play recognisable characters even today – not forgetting the Batcopter, of course!

And so, here’s the final look at the components all together from issues 17 to 22:

My Batmobile Tumbler Build Blog continues soon…

Fancy starting yours? Head to Hachette Partworks: https://batmobile.hachettepartworks.com