1980 Batman #330 Batmobile

       
 
 
Batmobile from Batman #330
Batman #330 Batmobile interior Batman #330 Batmobile rear

 
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When the Danbury Mint was refused licensing for the TV series Batmobile, they went with a comic-inspired car instead. Unlike Johnny Lightning's Batmobile, though, Danbury did not base their design on the late-1960s comic books. For a while, I simply considered this car as a "transition Batmobile" and stuck it in the chronology between the '66 and '68 cars.

But then I noticed that it had more than a passing resemblance to the Batmobile featured on the cover of Batman #330. It had the same headlight shroud shape, large fins, and comic-style canopies. Even the bat-hub wheels were pretty close. The only things I needed to add were the door bats, which were made using a craft punch on thin vinyl.

It also required one other modification before I was happy with it: the Batman and Robin figures were glued in the car. Not that the figures were bad, I just prefer my Batmobiles unmanned. The figures were pretty easy to remove, but they left a lot of glue residue on the seats. Being made of vinyl, the seats proved somewhat difficult to clean off. I ended up removing what I could with a hobby knife, then cleaning up any damage with Squadron putty. A shot of "Make It Suede" followed by Krylon primer gray provided the appropriate gray cloth look.

 

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