'The MAD-DOCTOR' strikes yet AGAIN!! Customizing & building even MORE toy 'Bat-rides'!

 

Whether it's customizing another toy-vehicle into one, OR-- building and collecting models / replicas of one of it's various versions....the 'ol Loydster DEFINITELY just KEEPS 'Bat-rides-on-the BRAIN'!! So... why is the 'cartoon-version-of me' thinking about the '66 version of the Caped Crusader's wheels so deeply? Just keep reading & scrolling downward, you'll FIND OUT!!

As I've no doubt talked about before, here on the bloggy-woggy-thingy-thang, I've had to keep MOST of my toys, doo-dads and gee-gaws in deep-cold-storage, for a WHILE now! Right at this moment--- that's approaching 3 YEARS! BUT-- that doesn't mean I don't occasionally stumble across something that just GRABS me! Some (usually 'Bat-guy'-related) item, that I just DIG so much, I end up latching onto anyway! Even though I know that it'll have to be 'stashed-into-storage' shortly after I get my little paws on it! (The 'living space' here at the 'ol 'cracker-box' is already pretty TIGHT!)

Speaking of stuff  I've snagged, tinkered-on, AND already had to stash-away: ---starting just before Christmas-- and going on into late last month, I've tinkered-around with the following 3 projects--- of COURSE they're BATMOBILES! I would / could go all into how much my LOVE for that vehicle has DOMINATED my brain for a good CHUNK of my life! If you've been following me here for any length of time though---- well, you ALREADY know that!

SO--- without any further 'rattling on', let's just have a look-see at the latest 'Loydster-toy-Bat-ride-customizing-and-MAD-SCIENTIST-experiments'!----

Just before Christmas, I stumbled across this 'action-figure-scale' Batmobile at a thrift store-- for a 'whopping' dollar-and-a-half! (The above pic is a 'company image' from a web-site! Mine was a bit more beat-up / played-with by a kid!) It's a bit 'cartoony', and a little 'tank-like'! But-- it still has a VERY cool, almost 'steam-punk' vibe to it! (check out ALL those exposed rivets!) 

Of course, I saw LOTS of 'customizing potential' in it, so--- out came the screw-driver, (you HAVE to take these things apart, to customize them RIGHT you know!) clear-sheet-plastic and paint!

This particular version of the 'Gotham Crime-Buster's' ride, (put out by 'Spinmaster' a year or two back, I believe) came with a kinda neat 'transforming' feature! The hood-sides, 'cannon-thingy', and front-fenders all popped-up and out-- whenever you closed the canopy over the driver's seat.
My ideas for customizing this toy, of course, would do away with ALL of that! Mainly because I wanted this to be JUST the Batmobile, not a 'transformers' vehicle! I can understand why a little kid would think that would be NEAT-O though!

Finally, after thrashing on it-- for a bit over a day-and-a-half or so--- that's a fairly QUICK turn-around for me on this kind of thing!--- HERE are some images of the finished-up, custom-painted (dark metallic bronze-- VERY cool!) 'semi-tank'-Batmobile! I'm pretty proud of how it turned out!---

Next up, the project that relates to the cartoon up at the top of this here post! During my time-off from work, between 'C-day' and New Years (a MUCH-needed break from the 'ol work-place, trust me!!) I finally managed to snag--- through the WONDER of E-bay auctions-- some items that I'd been DROOLING over for well OVER a year-and-a-half! The action figures (from the 'Mcfarlane toys' line) of the '66 TV Batman & Robin, AND of course--- the Batmobile! 

They were sold / shipped to me 'loose' / out of the packaging, which saved me some SERIOUS cash! ( I snatched-up ALL 3, for a little more than what the Batmobile alone would've normally cost.) Thankfully though, they were ALL in GREAT shape!

This is more-or-less what they looked like when they arrived! (Again, I'm utilizing a 'company pic' to illustrate here! Mine actually came wrapped-up in bubble-wrap, in a plain old cardboard box.)----

While I was initially VERY excited to FINALLY get this LONG-awaited treasure, after placing the figures into the car, (not-to-mention checking-out the Batmobile itself somewhat CLOSER!) I saw some --- let's just say---PROBLEMS!----

The Adam West and Burt Ward-versions of the 'Dynamic Duo', seated in their famous ride! Notice anything.... uh, WEIRD???

 Generally speaking-- the figures are great (for 6 inch figures, the likenesses of the two actors are pretty dead-on!), and the 'likeness' of the Batmobile itself, is pretty faithful to the real car! It suffered from some fairly serious issues though! Thankfully, NONE of them were anything that a 'mad-scientist-type' like myself couldn't resolve! I recognized 4 pretty GLARING 'defects' in it altogether! In NO particular order then, let's look at those factory GOOF-UPS!-----

I  checked-out a few 'toy-review' videos (on YouTube, natch!), where pretty much ALL the reviewers INSISTED that the figures were 'out-of-scale' with the car! I don't feel THAT is where the problem is! While the scale MAY be 'off' a VERY slight amount (5 - 10 percent, at most!), the ACTUAL problem is--- how HIGH the figures are sitting inside the car! More on this problem--and my solution--- below!

OTHER issues were----

Once AGAIN-- out came the trusty screw-driver, paints--AND-- a JUST purchased 'rotary-tool'! (THAT is a 'generic'-type-term for a Dremel, folks!) I took the following steps to get this baby ready to CUSTOMIZE into a more RIGHT-ON & RIGHTEOUS '66 Bat-ride!---

There was a couple of REALLY good reasons for 'blowing apart' this Batmobile!-- 1. It was pretty much the ONLY way to be able to get at the 'bottom-half' of the interior bucket-- where all the modifications needed to happen! 2. It also made doing the painting on the interior items (not to mention being able to paint the trim on those front & rear 'bubble' windows!) WAY more simple!

THIS is where that rotary tool came in VERY handy! After cutting-out the 'seat-bottoms' (unseen, when the figures are in the car!) and a small section in front of where the figure's legs fit into the car--(unseen, under the dash-board!) this would place them nearly 2 INCHES lower into the interior!

1. The LAST, but VERY important detail, to take care of in this 'customizing-process'! The Batman figure's left hand was a 'clenched' fist! This of course had to be 'opened-up', (utilizing the rotary tool, with a drill-attachment! VERY handy --once AGAIN!) 2. so he would have the correct 'Adam-West-BOTH-hands-gripping-the-steering-wheel'-pose that would be JUST RIGHT!

After a couple of days worth of thrashing-- (again, that's BLISTERING speed, compared to my usual pace with this kind of stuff!), here's the results of my 'customizing / mad-scientist'-session!----

The MOST difficult 'body-opening-line' to get onto the car!--- the HOOD-OPENING!

I'm VERY grateful to sites like '1966 Batmobile' (a site devoted to the TV show car, of COURSE!), as well as the 'Jazzinc Dioramas' site! (They had a BEAUTIFUL, super-accurate 1/6 scale replica of the car for sale-- for a VERY brief time! WELL out of my price-range, of COURSE!)-- BOTH have numerous images up of not ONLY the car's exterior, but NICE shots of the interior as well!

This helped me figure out --not only interior colors and paint-placement, BUT-- exactly WHERE all the hood, trunk, and door 'lines' SHOULD be on the car's body! With some CAREFUL placement of masking-tape, an X-acto knife, and LOTS of patience--- ALL of the 'body lines' are now where they SHOULD be!

One more note on the customizing of the toy-'66 Bat-ride. If you happen to be an ULTRA-geek-a-zoid about the 'accuracy' of replicas / models / toys based on THIS particular car--- and, yes--- there's folks out there even more HARD-CORE about their fandom of it that even ME!!---- Then, you'll notice a few things that either I left unchanged (the 'dull finish' look on the wheels for example!), OR-- that I strayed a bit from copying the original 'exactly', here and there! (Like: the 'gun-metal' gray paint I used, on the front & rear 'grill / mesh' areas of the car.)

My response to that is--- I kind of imagine this Batmobile to be a 'season 4' version of the car! In other words, if the show had went for a 4th season--- (there were only 3 in the original show!) this might've been what a slightly 'spruced-up'-for-another-season' version could've looked like! 

Hey, the producers of the show actually DID take the real car back to George Barris' shop for 'freshening-up' a number of times-- including between seasons, back in the day! So this kind of  'what if...?' thinking isn't TOO far-fetched!

This last (only for NOW!) project, was brought about through a gift I received at Christmas time! Though I didn't get around to tinkering on it, 'til just in the last week or two! 

My son, Wade-- himself a pretty SERIOUS fan of the 'Gotham Guardian'--- gave me THIS!-- (Hint: it's my 2nd-favorite version of  'a certain car'--- of ALL TIME!)-- for a SURPRISE gift! And what a VERY cool gift it is INDEED!---

BUT--- before I go into all of my GUSHING about THAT little 'gift-project', let's pause for a moment, to give a healthy SHOUT-OUT to somebody ELSE who ALSO gave the 'ol Loydster a couple of VERY NIFTY 'Bat-guy'-related gifts for Christmas!!----

I would be a total BOOB of a dad indeed, if I didn't mention a couple of  WAY-COOL-NIFTY-RIFFIC gifts my daughter, Shelby-- also surprised me with at Christmas!----

When I was opening THIS gift up, Shelby told me--'Dad, this was the PERFECT gift for you, because it's SO NERDY!' The remote is about an inch long, the TV, maybe 4 inches wide! you can view different scenes from the classic show with the 'channel' buttons on the remote! VERY neat-o!

This second 'Bat-gift', is even MORE special-- because it's something Shelby thought-up and created herself! (With the help of a 'Cricut printer' she was experimenting with!) It now PROUDLY holds pens & pencils on my little computer-desk, here at the 'cracker-box'!
She also, utilizing the above-mentioned printer-- created a 'History of Batman' T-shirt for me! Alas, I didn't think to snap off any pics of it for this post! (Maybe in a near-future post, perhaps!) Thanks SO much, daughter-o-mine! Love you to the moon and back! Even when you're NOT giving me NIFTY 'Bat-related' stuff!

          NOW--- back to that 'nearly-TOO-COOL-for-words' Lego '89 Bat-ride!-----                                

The car (complete with the 'machine guns' that pop-up out of the front fenders!---and-- a SPINNING flame out in the back!) and the mini-figures -- one a 'Lego-Michael-Keaton' Bats figure (of COURSE!) took maybe a grand total of 3 1/2 hours or so to put together! FUN to build, and-- one day-- (SOON, I hope!) a nice item to set up in a PRIME spot in the collection of toy / scale-model Bat-rides!

'Lego-Keaton-bats' and 'Lego-Nicholson-Joker' posing with one VERY COOL Lego-'89-Batmobile! Like I said--- THIS one deserves a place of HONOR in the 'Loydster-Bat-collection'!

                                                    

All the projects above, have helped the 'ol Loydster keep that MUCH-needed circuit open-- that keeps him in contact with his 'inner-9-YEAR-OLD'! Every time I finish tinkering on some kind of 'toy-Bat-ride' customizing / model-building--- I'm taken back in time! I'm in my parent's living room, on a late weekday afternoon...it's 1973 or '74... and I'm watching THIS opening scene, ALL over again!----

STILL one of the ABSOLUTE BEST 'episode-kick-offs' / opening segments--- in ALL of television! 'Nuff said!!!!  See you NEXT time, gang!

Fond memories of one of my 'other moms'!

 

Mrs. Barbara--- OR-- as I always knew her-- 'Dolly', some time in the late 80s. She was one of several special 'mom-type' figures in the Loydster's life!

As sometimes happens here at the 'ol bloggy-thingy-thang, I'm taking a detour off of the geeky-nerd-related subject matter for a bit. This time, just to share some thoughts on someone who-- for a good CHUNK of my life--- was a pretty important person. In fact, almost like another mom!

Mrs. Barbara, who... well into my (so called!) adult life, I ALWAYS knew as 'Dolly'--- actually passed away back on October 20th. Though I'd known for a while that she'd been having a rough time with numerous physical ailments and problems, her passing STILL caught me a bit by surprise! I suppose that's why it's taken me all the way 'til now--- a couple months-plus after-the-fact-- to get around to doing a post, just honoring her memory!

Dolly was one of those special folks, that don't come along very often in life! I've been BLESSED to have a few of them though! The ones I refer to as my 'other moms'! 

Growing up as a 'preacher's kid'... one who moved around quite a bit, who's circle of friends was pretty TINY anyway--- my 'other moms' were a special group of ladies to me! I had a couple of aunts--- my aunt Louise, my aunt Holly in particular-- who were also in that small, but VERY treasured group! 

Then there was Dolly! Much like my own mom, she had a sense of humor that was almost contagious! I can STILL hear that laugh of hers in my memory! In fact, in a LOT of the memories I have of her-- especially those from when I was a wee-little-Loydster and my teens--- are of her laughing, or cutting-up somehow!

She also, especially when I entered my late teens and young adulthood, was somebody I could ALWAYS count on for support and encouragement! Heck, she even let me stay with her and her family for a few weeks, during one of the times that I struggled to get out on my own, before I ended up joining the Air Force! She was one EXTRA-special 'other mom' indeed! 

Just when did this SPECIAL lady enter my life, you ask? Well, she was a dear friend of my parents, going ALL the way back to around 1970! SO-- at the time their friendship was forming....well---here's a pic of ME, around that time-frame!---

So.... you get the idea! our families were around each other for a good CHUNK of my childhood-up-to-young adulthood! In fact, she even sang at my wife and I's wedding! (And MAN-o-MAN! Could that lady BELT-OUT a song! She was also a KILLER piano-player!) 

Back to that sense of humor of hers, for a moment! Sometime in my late teens, before the start of a church service---if my memory's right--- she handed me a little slip of paper. On it, was a written-out 'play-on-words / letters' joke-- that shows just the way her of sense of humor worked!! She called it the 'Hillbilly Duck-Hunters'!---

I wrote this out from memory-- so it may not be EXACTLY as she shared it with me-- but you get the idea of this lady's humor from it, I'm sure!

The OTHER special thing I gained from my long-time relationship with this one-of-a-kind lady, is my (nearly LIFE-LONG) friendship with her sons, Tim and Jeff Arnold! If her and my parents had never crossed paths---- well, I wouldn't have SO many fond memories and things to look back and just laugh out loud about! Like THIS, for example!!---

Tim, Jeff, and OF COURSE-- the Loydster, being SHAMELESSLY GOOFY--circa 1987! The matching 'Mickey-sweat-shirts' were a Christmas-gift from their mom-- Mrs. Dolly!

The bittersweet note to all of this is, sadly--- I'd fell out of touch with Dolly over 30 years ago! I sure wish now, that we'd kept in touch! Another kind-of strange coincidence? When she passed away, she was the SAME age as my own mom, who passed away 6 years ago this November just past!---(72)!

But, that's NOT what I want to dwell on here! I choose to look back on the happiness and the JOY that this lady, this 'other mom' ---brought into my life-- for oh so MANY years! ALL of my thoughts and prayers go out, of course-- to those 'other brothers' I gained through knowing her--  Tim and Jeff! 

God bless the memory of 'Dolly'! Rest well, 'other-mom'-of-mine! You will ALWAYS be loved, your memory ALWAYS treasured!

A little additional note:  Through some of my family, I've learned my old buddy, Tim-- (who I've also not had any contact with in a number of years! You're STILL often in my thoughts though, my friend!) posted a nice slide-show / tribute to his mom on Facebook, back in early December! 

Since my post is a little light on any kind of photos of her (OR of her with my parents and family, for that matter! It took some HEAVY-DUTY effort, just to dig-up the ONE pic I have of her, up at the top of this post!---Sadly, that's what happens when you're out of touch with somebody-- for DECADES!), that would be the place to go visit, if you are on Facebook and want to see--- not ONLY more photos, but-- a nice, sweet, and yes--HEARTFELT tribute to this TRULY special and unique lady! He's the 'Tim Arnold' who lives in Washington State, by the way!

 See you NEXT TIME, gang-- with a RETURN to my usual GEEKINESS & shameless NERDOM!

Hoping for ANOTHER most EXCELLENT holiday season for ALL of us!!

                                                               

Hard to believe--- yet ANOTHER year has pretty much ZIPPED on past us once AGAIN!!! Also, this has been ANOTHER year of MANY bumps and unexpected curves on 'life's road' for--- not ONLY the two residents that now call 'Ferrell-Supreme-Crime-Fighting-Headquarters' home--- but I'm SURE a LOT of YOU!!

Despite all of that, I can STILL say I feel TRULY blessed and fortunate! AND--- I'll just bet, that if ALL of you--- the faithful, TEENY-TINY-few that follow this here bloggy-woggy-thing-thang-thingy--- would stop and give it some thought for just a moment.... you'd find you're pretty blessed and fortunate yourselves! Hey, if you're up and able to read all my usual posts of  NERDINESS and GEEK-OUTS every month, that's (nearly!) TWO blessings right there!!!

So---- once AGAIN, here we all are, and once AGAIN, 'ol Loydster wants to wish each and EVERY one of you out there a VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY--------

AND--- (of COURSE!) a BLESSED and WONDERFUL upcoming NEW YEAR, to ALL of you!!!!!

'Bat-Santa' DEFINITELY approves!

Hopes and PRAYERS for a MOST EXCELLENT and AMAZING 2024 gang! See you NEXT YEAR!

Giving an old friend a DESPERATELY needed 'face-lift'!

 

The image that's been put up on the walls of at least 3 different versions of the Loydster's 'hobby-room-hide-out' over the decades! The '89 version of Michael Keaton's Dark Knight! STILL VERY cool, even all these years later! 

If, like me, some of you have had to do the whole 'long-term' storage - thing with stuff--- you'll know what it feels like to find something you've LONG treasured--- busted-up, damaged or in some other kind of mangled-up state! There's that almost 'sick' feeling, when you unwrap or unpack something---- and it's WRECKED!

In the case of the 'Batman '89' image--- a 'cut-out' that I've schlepped from one location to another for WELL over 25 years or so (the moving it around from place to place hasn't helped it much either!!)-- it's condition was pretty close to hopeless!

A few weeks back, I'd been shuffling some stuff in our storage unit around, and--- frankly-- deciding to sort through it and get rid of a sizable amount of it! I unpacked some of the larger 'cut-outs' and character stand-ups, to just check on how this latest stretch of 'long-term' storage was treating them! That's when I discovered exactly what kind of SORRY shape 'ol 'Bats was in!

Even though I'd been careful to nestle the 'cut-out' in-between other stand-ups and larger, more sturdier pieces of cardboard--- he'd somehow STILL managed to sustain some fairly serious damage! Check out the images below, to see just what SAD kind of shape the Caped Crusader was in!----

Previous stretches of time in storage, as well as just being banged-around in various moves over the years, had NOT been very kind to my MUCH-loved image of the Gotham Guardian! This latest stay in storage, REALLY did a number on the ears of his cowl! BOTH were badly cracked, the left one nearly broken completely off!
Also, check out the nearly quarter-inch-sized NAIL-HOLE, close to the top of the cowl! I haven't been very careful with how I've mounted this thing to the wall over the years, obviously!

 I carefully re-packed the other cut-outs and figures, and, with an equal amount of caution, gently placed the 'Keaton-cut-out' into the back of our van. I decided it was time to bring it (at least temporarily) home to our current digs, and at least TRY to do some R and R (restoration and Rehab) on it! 

This thing is almost like an old friend to me, and holds a LOT of sentimental value! (More on that shortly!), so--- the least I could do was ATTEMPT to do SOME sort of 'fix-up' on it! -----

After mulling over exactly what I wanted to do to 'restore' the 'cut-out' for a week or so---  I printed off a small copy of the image I'd snagged off the internet. Then, with some light gray acrylic paint & a toothpick, 'painted-in' the areas where light sources hit the Bat-suit. (along with the required 'Loydster-chicken-scratched notes', of COURSE!)

Why the 'mini-practice-painting'-session? Well---I decided to paint--- or 're-vamp' --- the suit itself in the image, with acrylic paints. Hopefully, I thought, the end-result would be this NEAT-O 'Andy Warhol / Roy Lichtenstein' - looking, almost 'hybrid' image! It would end-up, I hoped-- to be a 'Line-art' / painting / photo, all mixed together, to make it a REALLY- unique-looking piece of 'wall-art'!

I also sketched-out an idea for repairing the busted / cracked ears on the cowl. A simple fix there, really--- a couple of long paint-mixing sticks, glued over the cracks from behind. If this thing gets damaged in the future, it will NOT be the ears of the cowl that get busted!!! See below, to witness just WHAT I did to hide / repair those cracks / breaks on the image itself!

One of the long paint-mixing sticks, used to do the 'repair' on the 'cut-out's ears!

The 'cut-out', in the process of getting it's 'make-over'! Not only was I able to smooth-over (with just regular 'ol wall-repair spackling, no less!) those NASTY breaks / cracks in the ears, but I also managed to cover up the nearly DIME-SIZED hole, where nails and screws had been stuck through it over the years! In the (hopefully NEAR) future, I'll glue a 'picture-frame' hanging bracket on the back, near the top-- for safe, UNDAMAGING hanging / display purposes!
After the spackling set-up over night, I dived in--- with various sized brushes, going over the whole 'suit areas' of the image--- with LOTS of black and different shades of gray acrylics.

After around 3 days of thrashing away at this little 'rehab' project, I finally propped it up against the wall, here at the 'ol 'cracker-box'--- to scope-out my handy-work! 'WHEW'! I'm very glad and VERY much relieved to say..... I think it turned out alright!----

The now RESTORED, and-- yes-- now UNIQUE 'cut out' of  'Keaton-as-Bats'! Hopefully it will be on display SOON, in yet ANOTHER version of the 'Loydster-hobby-room-hide-out'!

As I was saying up above, this 'cut out' has become QUITE a sentimentally-valued item to me! My sister Lisa & her hubby, Brian--- somehow snagged it at a 'Suncoast Motion Picture Company' store--- (remember them??? If so, you're an old GEEZER like ME!) and gave it to me. That was, as I also related above-- well OVER 25 years ago! So, I was VERY happy that this 'restoration' effort turned out SO well! 

It's now back in storage--- THIS time VERY carefully packed in it's OWN 'storage container'! I plan on PROUDLY displaying it on one of the walls of my next (hopefully NEAR-future) 'Secret Sanctum & Crime-Fighting-Headquarters'!

Just a bit MORE evidence of my continued SHAMELESS GEEKY-NESS folks! (As if you REALLY needed any proof of that!) I just recently finished up a couple more 'custom T-shirts', complete with transfers ---that I printed-up right here at the 'Temporary-Ferrell-Supreme-Headquarters', on my handy-dandy printer / scanner!

There's just NOT enough cool merchandise featuring these two GREAT characters around these days! At least not the AFFORDABLE kind, anyway! So--- I simply did some cruising around online, found some NIFTY images and logos, blended them together (utilizing the EVER-so-useful 'Paint' program on my lap-top, as well as 'Word-pad' --for some additional lettering!) then printed the resulting images I cobbled up, onto some 'iron-on transfer' paper!------

The front of this one sports the 'Masked Rider of the plains', while the back quotes the opening narration of the old series! FUN stuff  INDEED! (AND-- yes, 'Fiery' is REALLY spelled like THAT!)

It's a bit hard to tell, with this kind-of-GRAINY  'cell-phone-taken' photo--- but the 'Black Beauty's head-lights, as well as some trim-areas around the image, were dabbed with a bit of GREEN acrylic! This being a GREEN T-shirt (that I'd picked up EXTREMELY cheap, of COURSE!)-- it just practically SCREAMED for this transfer to be created to slap onto it!

That's all for this month's installment of the 'Loydster's tour through his kingdom-of-absolute-NERDOM-without-shame'! See you NEXT time gang! Stay safe, sane and HAPPY!