Moebius 1966 Batman

[DRHarris61]

Began work about a week ago on the Moebius Batman kit based on the '66-'69 TV series. Growing up in the '60s and early '70s, watching the series on re-runs afterschool was a must. Campy? You bet, but hey I was a kid! So glad they finally fixed the legalities and are releasing it on DVD/Blu ray.

Anyway, about the kit. It's molded in a light blue. Guess it's meant to simulate the tunic color of the original costume. The fit is very good, with only a couple of trouble spots. On my kit, the right arm piece sits slightly higher than the top edge of the shoulder where it fits to the torso. It could be sanded down, but it will be hidden by the cape anyway so unless it affects how the cape seats on the shoulders and neck, I won't bother with it. Aside from that, everything else fits very well. Minimal seam work, mostly leveling the edges where the pieces come together.

The face piece is molded to resemble series star Adam West, and they did a very good job. It's a separate piece, and another for the front of the cowl fits over top, so you don't have to paint the eyes through the cowl openings. I will use Archer's Human Eyeball decals for the iris/pupils, since I don't trust myself to paint them accurately.

That's about all I have to this point. I have all the parts primed, and the extremities, head and torso are all glued together and sanded and seam work is done. Just waiting on the paint that I will use for the tunic and leggings to arrive. That would be Floquil PollyScale New Gravel Gray, which I saw Lou Dalmaso on You Tube use on his and it looks spot on to the color I see on the DVD. Since Testors discontinued the brand, I had to get it off of EBay.

 

[Quaralane]

Looks like you're off to a good start on this

 

[DRHarris61]

Oops, sorry about the missing photos in the opening post. Was moving stuff around in Photobucket and didn't realize I was deleting the photo-link. Don't suppose there is a way to re-inset the photos?

Onward with the progress. I got some paint on the tunic, arms and leggings today. I'm happry with the way the Floquil New Gravel Gray turned out. It gives just the right tint of blue to the overall gray color. It's only slightly darker than the primer, but the torso picture shows the difference the best, I think. Have a couple of fixes to attend to, like a faint seam that wasn't apparent before I painted on the rear calf of the left (bent) leg, and a spot that is a bit thin on the paint on the same leg, but after I get those done I will move on to the gloss black base coat for the cape, cowl, boots, gloves, pants, and Batarang.

All akimbo

 

[DRHarris61]

Oops, sorry about the missing photos in the opening post. Was moving stuff around in Photobucket and didn't realize I was deleting the photo-link. Don't suppose there is a way to re-inset the photos?

Never mind, I fixed it.

 

[DRHarris61]

Had a few paint lifting issues, and a airbrush issue, and I've been focusing most of my attention on a 1/537 AMT Reliant that I've started, so not much done in the past few weeks, but I did a bit of work last night. Using Aztec Dummy's mask, I masked off the chest emblem and painted first several thin mist coats of white, then followed up with several thin mist coats of yellow. I can't remove the masks to see if there was any paint bleed, because I have to come back and apply a second mask for the bat logo on the emblem. Hopefully the mask did it's job. We shall see. I also painted the belt pieces yellow, but neglected to paint them white first, so I may come back and do a white coat and follow up with more yellow. Or I might strip the yellow off and start from scratch there. Might be better so I don't have too thick a layer of paints on them. Also forgot about the pouches for the belts. What can I say, I had a couple of senior moments.

I also glued the ears in place, but after I touched up the primer I set the head piece down and it rolled and picked up debris in the still wet primer. Have to do some sanding and re-priming now, but it's just an annoyance more than anything. I did get the logo stand painted a couple weeks ago, also using Aztec Dummy's masks. Think it turned out pretty good. Will post more when I have something of interest.

 

[DRHarris61]

Did quite a bit on the Batman yesterday, with somewhat mixed results.

Started with the masking using Aztec Dummy's masks. Taped off everything not being painted, then sprayed MM Gloss Black on the trunks, gloves, boots, neck cowl, and touched up the cape a bit. Followed this up with Citadel Nagaroth Night-fancy term for purple. And finished up with Tamiya Metallic Blue. I was hoping for a darker iridescent blue with a hinting of the purple, but the blue came out lighter than I thought it would. Hence the mixed result. Because I like the iridescent quality of the blue, and there is a light hint of purple when the light hits at the right angle, I think I'm going to leave it as is. It's not a match to the DVD box photo I have, but it still looks pretty good. I know purists will probably scream bloody murder, but life will go on. Thanks for looking in.

 

[Quaralane]

Looks just fine to me

 

[DRHarris61]

Thanks Quaralane!

I decided I like it the way it is, in spite of it not matching the colors on the DVD. To that end, I've proceeded forward today with more work

I painted the ears and cowl 'sideburns' the accent gloss black and the front cowl piece, too. But I was touching up the metallic blue on the cape and failed to notice the front piece in the line of fire, so I will have to repaint that.

All the masks are removed and I'm working on getting the belt pieces painted and ready to attach. After that I can start attaching the arms and legs. Because the costume had seams around the arms, I may not address those. Haven't decided yet. For me, the scariest part is yet to come. Painting the face. Shading an airplane or sci-fi ship is one thing, but trying to do a face is another altogether.

 

[Quaralane]

Just take your time, it'll turn out fine.
Rest of this is looking good

 

[DRHarris61]

I've made quite a bit of progress on the Batman in the past week. After doing touch up work from where there was bleed from the masks, I glued the legs on. The next step was to address the belt pieces and pouches. I had previously sprayed yellow over top of the gray primer, but I just didn't like the look, so I dropped them in the purple pond and stripped them down. I then sprayed them with Krylon gloss white paint/primer. Then sprayed Tamiya Lemon Yellow on top. The white helps the yellow to 'pop' much better. Also sprayed the pouches the same. Was not going to paint the molded belt piece on his back, but the cape doesn't fully hide it. This I just brushed on some gloss white and then sprayed the yellow over top. It really is only slightly visible from the side, but at least now it matches. When dry all were glued in place.

Next the arms were glued on. He's now starting to look a crimefighter. I also painted the base, first pre-shading the creases and around the high spots with flat black, then Tamiya Red Brown as the finish coat. Stood him on his base and just placed the cape on just for a preview. Still working on the face. It's painted and I tried to do some shading around the jowls and such, but not sure how much is really effectual. I did pink up the lips a bit, by mixing flat red, white, and then adding flesh so as not to be too pinkish. Hardest is still the eyes. I painted them with white with just a hint of red, and then coated them with Future so the eyeball decals will have a smooth surface to sit on. I'll let that sit for a day or so. And that's about caught up. I still have to decide on the arm seams. Putty or not. Probably going to, just because the seams in the costume were raised, and the seams on the kit are obviously recessed. They won't be addressed all the way around, only where the cape doesn't cover.

 

[Quaralane]

Definitely starting to look the part

 

[DRHarris61]

The Batman is almost done. I decided to address the seams to an extent. Because the costume had seams at the shoulders, I wanted to remain somewhat faithful to that, but I didn't want an obvious gap. So I used the new Perfect Plastic Putty and filled the open gap without eliminating the seam entirely. I probably could have added a bit more on his left shoulder, but I'm content with the way it's turned out. Everyone will probably have their own interpretation of this, and this is mine. After that, I masked off everything to prevent accidental overspray and repainted the shoulder areas where the cape doesn't cover.

Next was the one of the most annoying parts of this build. Applying the eyeball iris/pupil decals. I had I think 12 identical decals of the right color, and I went through about 8 of them getting it almost right. Actually, it is right, as in he is glancing a bit to the right when you look straight at his face. That's OK, as long as he's not cross-eyed or lazy-eyed I'm fine, since he is sort of posed turned that way anyway. After the decals had a chance to dry for a bit I dabbed them with a bit of Future to seal them.

Glued the face piece to the head piece, then the front cowl piece over the face. Glued the cape to the shoulders, and finally, the head to rest of the body. The only thing that is left is to sort out the rope for the Batarang. The supplied 'rope' is a stiff brown length of very thin twine, I guess. It's in scale, but it needs to be white to be canon.
I'm going to take it with me and check a couple of fabric places in town and see if I can find something of similar thickness but in white. Almost done!
Without Batarang

On his stand/rock

With Batarang





I

 

[DRHarris61]

Well he is all done and should be ready to battle the Penguin and Riddler etc.
I found some white bead thread at the local fabric store that worked much better visually and otherwise for the Batrope.

 

[Quaralane]

Turned out really well

 

[DRHarris61]

Thanks for the kind words. I had such fun with this that I'm really anxious to pick up the Catwoman kit now.

 

[Shark]

Looks perfect! When I was a wee lad I had to take a nap every day after watching the show. Once I couldn't fall asleep because he was trapped in a giant clam and I thought there is no way even Batman can get out of this!

 

[DRHarris61]

Thanks Shark.
I used to watch the re-runs in the early '70s after school. It was 'required' watching. Was so excited when we finally got a color TV and I could see all the bright colors of the show.

 

[Go Flight]

Holy stuck styrene Batman. ;D That looks very cool.
I too remember running home from school and getting my homework at least started so I could watch Batman. Good memories.

 

[DRHarris61]

Thanks Kev. I have to give some of the credit for the paint selections to Lou Dalmaso's build where he laid out his paint choices and sequences very nicely. I think this kit is all about the painting, and I'm pleased with the way it came out.