PAINTING BATMOBILE

I was fortunate to get to inspect the actual prop just 18 days after the 1st films release. This was the "hero" prop with full interior- not a fiberglass knock off seen in car shows. The actual color is deep black- it was polished to an incredible shine- must have 10 coats at least. For the film it was dirtyed-down, but the actual paint job was immaculate. The actual car was built from a stretched firebird chassis. Surplus Jet parts were used for the interior. It was on hydralics and was raised to drive to location- then lowered to just above the ground. A gas "Balloon burner" provides the flame.

Thanks JUSTIMAGINE. I appreciate the details you gave. I will have to make sure I get the heavy polish look. Thanks again.

Justimagine, ya gotta get your details right if your gonna post like this in the future

fist of all,the Batmobiles for the films both of em were made of fiberglass inc;luding the "hero's" and were not built on stretched firebird chassis ,perhaps the second one was but the first ones were two stretched imapalas, and fiberglass for the touring cars as well,even came out of the WB molds.so therey were basically accurate as the screen used ones.
second,if you saw a Batmobile that was polished to a high shine,then you saw batmobile 2 not 1... the first one wasn't even Black it was a dark satin gray silvery finish at least in special lighting..i broad daylight it was simply Dupont laquer non-sandable primer gray,a blueish greenish tinge to this color. Ironically,this color was also used on another dark looking movie miniature...the "hero" miniature,Firefox
If you read your own post...you will notice that you are litrerally describing "Batman returns" Bat car 2 which also wasn't black but a very dark green witha hint of black added then a pearlescent clear applied to give it the gaseous look, then polished to a very high lusture..Bat car 2 also had windshield wipers and a different interior...I have high res photos of both cars,used em for ref to do the detail drawings used for the new 1/18th scale Kreaton 1 film Batmobile just released by Mattel,Hotwheels division.
it was helcopter parts actually used(toggle switches and buttons ,as well as sound panels. Again, i have extreme close ups of these too,so i'm curious as to what jet parts you refer to...this is of course for the first car....the second car was fitted with standard VDO guages for the most part. ya got the hot air balloon burner thing pretty close as,basically that what it was..hope this helps set things straight a bit...if ya got any more questions as to the origin of my knowledge of these cars,feel free to email me questions...

Best
William

Am I assuming right then the Batmobiles 1 & 2 (not the '60s version) did not have any chrome showing as the kit calls for? I have watched the movies over and over again and I personally can't see any chrome showing.

very little mostly brushed aluminum,ther is a lower pipe on the side detail that is crome though dirty, the rest is steel and brushed aluminaum,the wheels are powder coated a dark gold almost bronze color get the new 1/18th scale Batmobile great ref
William

I did my Batmobile in Tamiya Semi-gloss black, sprayed it with Dullcote, and it looks great. I kept most of the chrome as chrome, however; otherwise there's just too much black.

Well- I can only say what I was told about the batmobile I saw. We were working a booth at the Colorado State Fair only about 18 days after the first film came out. The car was rented by a radio station in Denver as a promotion and they kept it locked up at night in a sem-tractor trailer right across from our booth. Each morning that baby was driven out of the rig and under a tent, where it "settled" down for the day. I was told by the men there it was a stretched firebird and was the hero car. It certainly
was better finished than the ones I've seen elsewhere. ANYWAY- I related the facts as I got-em. I did take photos- but the tent was white with bright yellow stripes and these are perfectly reflected in the finish.
I appreciate being set straight on the facts and will paint my next Batmobile accordingly.

I'm not sure about the colors, [besides black looks better anyway on the BM in my opinion] but I do have the movie magazine which came out with the first Keaton movie and it said that the BM was indeed a stretched Chevy Impala [but it never stated what year] with a V-8 engine. It also said that the "jet intake" was from a Harrier Jet [though this part is concealed on an the actual Harrier jet]. I beleive it said that molds were then made from the intake for the the other car[s]. It also stated where the gauges and the exhaust port cam from but I don't recall that. Not saying that anyone is wrong I just know what i read in the "official magazine" and we all of course know that these are not always correct. Anyways I am certain of what it said about the impala, the V-8, and the Harrier Jet "intake fan". Tha mage also had design info on all the other "bat gagets" and how the props were designed and how they worked with interviews with the prop designer [who's name I can't recall].

I think I will go with a gloss black with the side intakes being either a steel or aluminum and the wheels either chrome or a bronze/gold look. I have two of these so may be the second one I'll add working lights to everything.