Bat cave Atomic Pile

[Dynamic Duo]

Hey STP, as detail oriented as you are on this awesome Atomic Pile, your project should be worthy of a look-see from the Mattel folks....plenty of us rooting for your success.....looks unbelievably beautiful to me! Model makers rock!

[STP Swallowthispill]

Hey STP, as detail oriented as you are on this awesome Atomic Pile, your project should be worthy of a look-see from the Mattel folks....plenty of us rooting for your success.....looks unbelievably beautiful to me! Model makers rock!

What a nice comment I appreciate it!

Charles

[STP Swallowthispill]

Well guys I won't be posting a project update this week as I am stuck with a dilemma and need advice on how to proceed. I have the railing pieces painted but when I try to glue them together the glue takes the paint off. I cannot assemble the catwalks and then paint them as there are just too many places where the paint would bleed onto the main part of the AP. Anyone have any suggestions on how to proceed?

I am not going to rush the railings process until I think it out but I could use advice from you guys.

Charles

[STP Swallowthispill]

Well I have studied the problem through and think I have a solution I will start to work on it next week and hopefully have something to post next weekend.

Charles

[burkestudio]

Charles,

I hope these are the screen shots you were looking for.

-Jeremy

[burkestudio]

Another shot

[burkestudio]

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[STP Swallowthispill]

Charles,

I hope these are the screen shots you were looking for.

-Jeremy

Jeremy these are great I can already see more detail than I could with the old photos I have.
This is making me want to buy the Blu Ray of the series.

Thanks
Charles

[STP Swallowthispill]

Well guys I am working on the railings and found that Krazy glue works better than what I have been using.
Problem is it irritates my eyes nose and mouth!
I have found and ordered "UFO-7 Odorless thin super glue" it is supposed to be formulated for folks that have the same adverse reaction to super glue. I hope it works as I cannot do anymore assembly until it arrives.
It is super expensive so it better work $8.95 for 1oz.
I still will work on cutting pieces and getting the railings ready for assembly I may not post any photos until then.

Thanks for all your support

Charles

[STP Swallowthispill]

After studying the photos Jeremy posted and the Getty archive photos again I came to realize I have a major design flaw in my middle section of the railings below are new pictures of the modifications I made to correct this.

Here is the top catwalk and the second catwalk the flaw is I was thinking each corner has a post when in fact each corner has two posts!
This makes sense seeing that the railings are made up of free standing scaffolding the giveaway is what looks like hand holds are actually where the diagonal braces attach when assembled as a scaffold.





In this photo you can see how the posts are supposed to be and where I filled the hole for the corner post.



I had always wondered why my corner posts did not align with the first post on the outside now they do I did not catch this on the first AP version I am glad I caught it this time it will help with the accuracy of the model.
I must admit I wrestled with myself on this modification I was afraid I would mess the whole thing up but I did not and am happy I did so. Taking my time on this one is really paying off.

Next week my new glue should arrive so I can assemble the railings If I had know about the above modification it would have saved me a lot of 45 degree cuts but oh well what is done is done.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to model the knife switches on the panels?

Charles

[STP Swallowthispill]

Guys I don't have anything to post this week the railings are really giving me a tough time to get right.
Trying a new way looks like it could work so maybe I can get something done next weekend.

Vharles

[STP Swallowthispill]

I think I have the railings figured out I will have pictures to post this weekend.

Charles

[STP Swallowthispill]

Well guys here is the solution to the railing problems I was having.
Here you see I have taken the middle section of railings top and bottom and have divided them into two sections. The wire inserted into the lower section lets me build the railings for the middle section on top and then remove each section for painting.

***NOTE: These first two pictures are before I made the change to two posts on each corner I could not use updated pictures as they came out too blurry.



Here is the posts for the lower section railings in place over the wires.



When I first tried to glue the cross railings onto the posts they would not stay attached with the Bondene glue I was using so I tried super glue which just made a mess. So I decided I needed more surface area for the Bondene glue to work so I notched the posts to accept the cross railings.



As you can see in the above photo the rest of the railings have been assembled I took the photo on the last set of railings. Also you can see I notched the cross railings as well to match up with the posts added the Bondene glue and it worked it is neat and sturdy.





Here are some shots of all four sections for the second catwalk all I have to do now is make the "Hand Holds".
Remove the sections for painting and reassemble them on the lower section catwalk. Then I can make the upper section the same way.



The posts you seen on the bottom catwalk are just temporary they will be replaced with the sections on top.



I have parts coming to make the hand holds with when that arrives I will post more photos of that process.
Until next time enjoy and as always I welcome your comments.

Charles

[Aussie Batfan]

Charles,
As always the piece just looks great. I love the scale of it - the shots of the room puts the size into prespective.
I eagerly await the next instalment!
Take care,
Terry