Batmobile Tumbler - Moebius Models 1:25

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Batmobile Tumbler

Moebius Models 1:25

Before commencing this review I have to confess that I am of a generation many of whom still think of the Batmobile as a customised Lincoln Futura. My interest in the first round of updated Batman movies from Tim Burton was far more focussed on Michelle Pfeiffer’s catsuit than it was on the various vehicles involved, it was all just a bit too gothic for my tastes. Joel Schumacher’s hideously camp interpretation then managed to put me off the franchise completely, so I had until very recently ignored the latest round of films from Christopher Nolan.....That, as it turns out, was a bit of a mistake!

So, while I cannot even pretend to be an ardent Batman fan, I really do like model kits, especially kits of armoured vehicles, which it seems is precisely what the current incarnation of the Batmobile is at its core. The new Batmobile (the vehicle is never called by that name in the films, but apparently it was referred to as such in the scripts) makes its first appearance in Batman Begins (2005), as the Tumbler, a slightly wacky prototype AEV designed to leap over linear obstacles at a single bound.....Which is as good an excuse as any to fit a flame nozzle at the back IMHO, a nice homage to the Lincoln of my youth.

With the exception of this little touch, the current incarnation of the Batmobile owes just about nothing to the various rather glamorous designs that have come before it, this latest version appears to have been influenced much more by the F-117 than any previous Batmobile, or indeed car. It’s a brutal re-imagining very much in keeping with the darker nature of the Nolan movies, apparently the design brief was summed up as ‘A Lamborghini crossed with a tank’.....I reckon they pulled it off rather well!

In The Dark Knight (2008) the vehicle almost plays a cameo role, putting in a couple of very dramatic appearances, before ultimately meeting its demise at the hands of an RPG armed Joker, spawning the Batpod motorcycle in the process. An up-gunned version of the original military design puts in another appearance in The Dark Knight Rises (2012) this time in the hands of the bad guys.....All in all it’s a very cool vehicle, a silly idea for an AEV, but just the thing for cruising around the streets of Gotham raising hell.

It’s also just the sort of thing that’s begging to be made available as a kit.....Enter Moebius Models!

The Kit

The first thing to strike me about the Moebius kit once I’d rescued it from a veritable sea of packing peanuts, wasn’t the actually rather striking graphics, it was the sheer density of the thing. With my AFV kits I’ve become quite used to finding a few small sprues rattling around within the oversized packaging.....There’s absolutely none of that here!

The compact tray and lid box is quite literally crammed with sprues, it actually bulges slightly when it’s full and the sheer amount of ‘stuff’ that comes out of it is very impressive, to me at least.....Within, we find a sixteen page colour instruction booklet, one bag containing six vinyl type tyres and a sturdy metal axle for the rear wheels, a second with a single transparent plastic sprue and six more bags that hold the main parts of the kit on fourteen sprues of black plastic. Moebius may have taken a step too far in the direction of authenticity with these mouldings, as the black plastic definitely seems to display some ‘Stealth’ characteristics, especially when you are trying to focus a camera on it!

The instruction booklet is very comprehensive, offering detailed construction information as both easy to follow text and rather elegant drawings. Construction is broken down into ten numbered sections, each with several steps identified by letter. Section 1 details the assembly of the cockpit, with Step 1A being the assembly of the seats, progressing logically through to Step 1G the final assembly of all the cockpit components.

Detail in the cockpit looks pretty good right out of the box, but I suspect hardcore modellers may feel the need to add a little more. I was somewhat surprised and a little disappointed not to find decals for the various instruments and displays, while the painting guide offers some generic advice, decals would look much better. I was also just a little sad not to find The Dark Knight himself in figure form. It appears that the model was intended to have a figure, as only one set of seatbelts is included for the passenger seat.....I strongly suspect the various after-market companies will fill these gaps quite promptly, if they haven’t done so already, but it would have been nice to have had the option to put Batman at the wheel OOTB.

Construction moves on with the tub in Section 2, the front wheels & suspension are assembled in in Sections 3 & 4, with the rear wheels, suspension and transmission taking up Sections 5 & 6.....I’ve learnt to treat Vinyl tyres with some caution in AFV kits, but they seem to be the norm in vehicle kits, so I can only assume Moebius know what they are doing and that ‘Track-Melt’ won’t be an issue here. Sections 7, 8 & 9 primarily comprise adding the transparencies and armour panels to the hull, with Section 10 rounding off construction with a couple more panels and the various ‘aerodynamic’ parts.

Moulding quality looks reasonably good, with no evidence of short-shot parts or overly prominent mould seams and although some flash is present on quite a few of the sprues, none of it should prove more than an inconvenience. The sprue-gates are of a reasonable size even on the finer parts and the ejector pins generally appear to have been sensibly placed so that they should not be visible once each sub-assembly is finished, however there are three that will need removing from each shock-absorber mount (Parts 25 & 26) and the back wall of the cockpit (Part 12) will also need some work. I have only discovered one or two very minor sink-marks, the most prominent example is to be found on the cockpit extension (part 20) but again, it won’t be at all difficult to deal with. I also noticed a minor but irritating mould defect on one of the rear lower panels (Part 32), it’s located on a mesh grille, but it’s not terribly prominent and if you are likely to be bothered by such things I suspect there’s a good chance you will be replacing the plastic mesh anyway.

Other than these small issues, the details look pretty good, they’re definitely a little softer than some of the very newest of the new kits, but are still quite acceptable in my opinion. One or two of the larger parts have some quite finely cast detail appended to them, which might not always survive too well in such a tightly packed box, especially given multiple sprues per bag, although my example appears to have got through unscathed. The clear parts look to be just that, perhaps a little thick compared to an aircraft canopy, but they are supposed to be heavily armoured, so that really isn’t a problem at all.

Two pages of the instructions are dedicated to the painting guide, very simply presented in the form of two labelled full colour photos of an assembled and painted cockpit tub and four more of a completed Batmobile. These provide generic colour references (black being prominent among them) and should be quite sufficient for most casual modellers, those who would want more can easily find stills from the film online.

While the instructions are really very nicely done and might at first glance appear idiot-proof, these things seldom are and courtesy of fellow Britmodellers a couple of of errors and minor construction difficulties have come to light:

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234951690-125-batman-tumbler/?hl=%2Bbatman+%2Btumbler

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234951883-moebius-batman-tumbler/?hl=%2Bbatman+%2Btumbler

It also seems that at least some of these kits may have issues with mould release agent remaining on the parts, the review example doesn’t appear too bad (although I haven’t tried painting it) and a good scrub in soapy water prior to assembly should solve this problem in most instances.

Conclusions

Normally when reviewing a kit I would base my conclusions at least in part on how a particular model compares to the competition, taking into account relative price, quantity and detail of parts, decals and so on.....Of course with a subject like this, such comparison isn’t possible.

So is it good value? Well this is certainly not a cheap kit, but it is the only option I’m aware of in plastic and the price falls well within the typical range for Sci-Fi models of this size & complexity. For your money you get a nicely presented and very full box. The quality of the parts within is by and large quite acceptable for a kit of this scale, although definitely not ‘state of the art’. I personally find the lack of decals and a Batman figure for the cockpit slightly irritating, especially given that it appears that the kit was originally intended to contain a figure. These minor gripes aside, the kit should build into a satisfactory model of the Tumbler OOTB with just a little effort and it will certainly provide an excellent platform for super-detailing if that is your thing.....So it all really depends on just how much you want to own a Tumbler!

Sincere thanks to BM member Will Vale for providing backup photos.

Review sample courtesy of

UK distributors for

[whitestar12chris]

Great review, got one of each of the movie batmobiles, this is one of the most detailed.

There was a previous tumbler model by Bandai at 1/35, great build, but now at least double the price of the Moebius one if your lucky enough to grab one.

Its worth noting that this one fits right in with all the others at 1/25 scale.

All the best Chris