by Steve McKinnon

The Batmobile and portions of the Batcave had been destroyed. The Riddler and Two-Face had discovered Batman’s secret identity of billionaire Bruce Wayne, and had invaded Wayne Manor and Batman’s hidden crime lab beneath the mansion. Although they dealt the Dark Knight and his new partner, Robin, a severe blow, both villains were eventually defeated.

The Batmobile was another story.

The Riddler’s bomb had detonated within it’s cockpit, and only the special alloys that constituted the Batmobile’s frame had held the explosion within, instead of outward, which could have leveled more of the Batcave.

Batman and Robin then began the task of rebuilding the super car, using the majority of the forward frame, and sections of the rear, overlaid by one of Bruce Wayne’s own sports cars from his large collection. He selected a Dodge Viper for the project, and when the task was completed, the Dark Knight Detective had the Batmobile – Mark VII to cruise the streets of Gotham City in, and continue his sworn duty to seek justice for the citizens of his city.

There have been four Batmobiles seen in the live action tv series and three movies, and as this was my third creation, I considered it the Mark VII, and it turned out to be the most complicated to build. My project was to merge a real-life sports car with that of one of the movie-era Batmobiles, so I decided on a Dodge Viper, and the car from ‘Batman Forever’, both from Revell and at 1:25 scale.

I retained the majority of the Viper from the windshield to the rear, and from the Batmobile I kept the front section to the edge of its windshield, more or less following the the instructions to build each, but it was far from a smooth fit. Portions of the Viper’s interior engine assembly had to be shaved or cut off, while the bottom of the Batmobile was extended nearly 2 inches to insert into a cutaway of the bottom of the Viper.

In the movie, the Batmobile's side engine grills had a blueish hue to it, so I thinned out pale blue paint, and lightly brushed it on the chrome parts to retain the look, but not erase the chrome shine. I didn't like where the headlights were supposed to go, or the lightbulb shape of them, so I placed the Viper's headlights under the front wheel struts, placing the right light on the left side and the left one on the right side to give the car a 'mean' look.

The Viper section required two slits to be cut over the rear wheel, where I inserted a pair of Bat-wings, and then I carved out a hole where the license should be to install the chrome turbo boost exhaust. Fortunately, the Viper allowed enough room for the slightly different tires from the Batmobile kit, which I installed and then added Bat-emblems to. Lastly, I added three spare model parts to the bottom of the car, to simulate secret compartments for weaponry that Batman could engage when being pursued by super villains.

The end result is a long, dragster-like Batmobile measuring just under 10 inches.

Image: Left side

Image: Front view

Image: Rear

Image: Underneath

Image: Top view