The original Desert Camouflage version of the Batmobile from the film Batman Begins.
About this creation
 After creating my original black Batmobile Tumbler I was stumped for ideas for a new creation. While I thought about it I figured I'd be lazy and just make a different colour one. In film Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne discovers the tumbler in the basement of Wayne Enterprises, designed for the military and never used it is painted in a desert camouflage paint scheme. He repaints it black and repurposes it as the new Batmobile.
 After a quick search I discovered Lego didn't manufacture all the pieces I needed to create it in either Tan or Brown. That put me off making it for a while but I soon learned that Lego pieces could be coloured using vinyl dye, usual only used for car interiors. I bought a can and did some tests on some old blocks and it worked almost perfectly on any colour without the underlying colour being visible. The only downside was the fact that the colour would chip off on the studs when pieces were connected, but I was only putting my creation together once, so the studs would never be seen.
 I ordered all the parts I'd need in white except for a few pieces which I couldn't get in white so I had to settle for the next lightest available colour. I assembled it in white to make sure I had all the pieces, disassembled it and then sprayed them all tan for the base coat.
 Once it was dry (it's touch dry in 10 minutes, but takes 72 hours to cure properly) I used tape to mask the areas I wanted brown, one piece at a time. It took about a day to paint the brown, doing 2 to 3 pieces at a time, a coat every 10 minutes or so. I tried to paint the pattern layout as close as I could to the film reference, but a few spots I had to change as it was very difficult to get the tape to stick around the studs and paint would seep in under the tape. It came out a bit rough around the edges of the brown pattern, and a few nights later I touched it up here and there. It's still a bit dodgy in some areas upon close inspection, but after my fixes I think it holds up fairly well.
The actual design is pretty much identical to my original black Tumbler. I made some internal changes to both models to improve the strength of the little flaps that stick out in front of the back tires, but apart from that it was only colour changes. The camouflage version has a black interior rather than a dark grey one and it chrome silver grills on the back along with a few different printed pieces inside and out.
 The end result I'm reasonably happy with, I may go back and try and touch up some of the paint here and there, but it's much better than it was and every time I try and fix it I risk making it worse. The brown is darker than it appears in the film, but it was the only brown vinyl dye I could find unfortunately. While I am happy with it, I would probably never do it again, I think I'm just too impatient to take my time to paint it properly and the final result suffered from it.
  
Now on CUUSOO!
Help it reach 10000 votes
and become a real LEGO set!
Comments
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I like it |
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April 4, 2013 |
I saw this on CUUSOO before it was cool. |
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I like it |
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April 4, 2013 |
Your toughest critic is almost always yourself, so don't tear yourself down. You did great! |
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I like it |
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April 4, 2013 |
Excellent! Very deserving of MOTD!! |
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I like it |
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April 4, 2013 |
Nice work, gratz on MOTD! |
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I like it |
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April 4, 2013 |
Quite impressive! I admire your immense patience...I certainly could not have done that! Congratulations on getting the MOTD. Will support on CUUSOO. -LB Jr. |
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I like it |
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April 4, 2013 |
Awesome! congrats on motd! it deserves it, one of the best (if not the best) Tumblers i've seen! |
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I like it |
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April 4, 2013 |
"We will need it."
Lots of DNR stuff lately, but this stands out. |
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I like it |
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April 4, 2013 |
Dude, That is amazing! Well done! |
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I like it |
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April 4, 2013 |
You know, even the snow varient looks cool. This is probably one of those times I don't mind a creation not being Purist. The detail and accuarays is fantastic. |
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April 4, 2013 |
Wow! |
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I like it |
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April 4, 2013 |
Nice MOTD! |
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I like it |
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April 4, 2013 |
Very nice! Good luck with Cuusoo, and congrats on MOTD! |
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I like it |
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May 20, 2012 |
Very cool, I always wondered how you got tan and brown camo bricks since I first saw it on Cuusoo. |
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I like it |
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February 22, 2012 |
This looks perfect! I hope it gets it's 10,000 votes on Cuusoo. :) |
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I like it |
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January 7, 2012 |
Oh. My. Gosh. |
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I like it |
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March 14, 2010 |
Who produced the vinyl dye (spray?) you have used?
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I like it |
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August 4, 2009 |
i like it! now batman can go in the desert to!!!!! by the way please look at this moc!!!! its not mine but its fully epic!!!!!
http://www.mocpages.com/moc.php/140822 |
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I like it |
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April 26, 2009 |
"I gotta get me one of those..." :)
were did you get the vinyl polish thing from???
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January 18, 2009 |
We're frequently told by our LEGO peers that painting non-minifig parts is somehow "cheating," but the skill and effort that went into this definitely proves otherwise. Well done! |
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I made it |
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January 16, 2009 |
Quoting Legomad 100
go minfig fit inside?
yes, just like the black one a batman minifig will fit inside |
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I like it |
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January 16, 2009 |
Can a lego minfig fit inside? |
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I like it |
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November 4, 2008 |
This is a perfect job. Incredible work! |
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August 24, 2008 |
This is awesome!
The way you put so much effort into the finished product and the way it came out is astounding. |
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I like it |
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July 28, 2008 |
-HTRA- Hey That's Really Awsome |
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I like it |
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July 26, 2008 |
epic, words escape me... |
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I like it |
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July 13, 2008 |
super model ! excellent !
sa c'est une bonne batmobile |
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I like it |
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July 3, 2008 |
EXCELLENT |
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I like it |
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June 1, 2008 |
this is very cool. I tried to do it, but i had a hard time trying to get my guys to fit. I don't thinkk yours can fit the two people, like in the movie. can it? |
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I like it |
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Gert-Jan Hallink April 11, 2008 |
The camoflage totaly looks great! This is the best minifig scale batmobile I know of! |
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I like it |
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April 11, 2008 |
Wow this is asweme. Really accurate to the movie. I like the idea of using paint to get the camo. I like to paint legos too, but I paint halo mini figs instead of models. You can take a look at them if you want. |
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April 11, 2008 |
that is awsome. the camo is perfect |
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I like it |
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April 11, 2008 |
While I am generally against colouring pieces, yours is really high quality- I wouldn't let colour get in the way of an awesome moc like this. |
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I like it |
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April 11, 2008 |
This is just to damn cool! Excellent painting/dyeing job, looks fantastic. This definitely deserves MOC of the day. |
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April 11, 2008 |
the color is very good and the design ofcourse |
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April 11, 2008 |
its very good and i like the paint you used i also like it that u painted it quite accuratly and there are no realy visable mistakes also where did you get the paint from since i have been lookin for paint for ages that will work on lego. |
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April 11, 2008 |
Does it come in black?LOL I rated the black one too these are great mocs it looks just like the real thing. by the way I have the same color problems when building on lego digi designer.
awsome job please rate and review my mocs |
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April 11, 2008 |
Oh My GOD! this is SOO GREAT!! so nice!!! ur talented man!! its so nice! good job! keep up the good work!!! |
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I like it |
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April 11, 2008 |
wow! this is amazing! great job in design and personal painting! |
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I like it |
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April 11, 2008 |
It's really good~~I like this one more than black one. |
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I like it |
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April 11, 2008 |
Great job men, very great job |
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I like it |
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April 11, 2008 |
HOLY....wow thats REALLY COOL! |
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I like it |
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April 11, 2008 |
Dude that's fantastic. The time and effort you've put into this is amazing. Chipping of the paint in some areas, although not visible to me, could be wear and tear from field testing? Hmmm, vinyl dye you say...? |
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