Super-powered Batmagnet Prop Replica

[rickrickrick]

Hello, all.

I just wanted to share with you my most recent hand-made prop replica. I have always thought this prop was very amusing, and was always a little surprised it only appeared once.

It's the Super-powered Batmagnet from the Bookworm episode "While Gotham City Burns," which is Part Two of that Season One two-parter.

croppedbatmagnet.jpg (76.85 KiB) Viewed 4489 times

It is made quite completely from scratch. I cut the body and magnet out of a piece of 1x10 pine shelving, and the "barrel" is a 7/8" dowel. All the disks are cut from scraps of plywood or mdf that I had lying around. The grip is made from ethafoam insulation rod, the sight is welding rod with a circular key ring glued together, and the trigger guard is cut from a piece of craft tin I already had. The coils are aluminum armature wire, and the fitting for the cord is a coax cable connector embedded in the stock.

I really tossed this together quickly, so I could get my photo op at the Chiller Theatre con with it. But I think it turned out reasonably well, seen from a distance, anyway, and I've never seen anyone else make one. When I went in for my photo op with Adam, Burt, and Julie, Fred immediately ID'ed it, and Adam did a "Woah, look at this!"

So, overall, I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out. Another obscure prop to add to my collection!

RRR

[Batfanman]

Looks great RRR. I'm surprised that there wasn't a Bat-logo on the original or something that made it look more bat-like.

[Ben Bentley]

I spotted this over the weekend in your photos from Chiller! This came out great, Rick!

[burkestudio]

That's really cool!!

-Jeremy

[Larry A.]

Cool, Indeed, Rick.
Just out of curiosity, how did You figure out the dimensions for it. It looks like something I could build in my apartment. Come to think of it; What ARE the dimensions of it, if You would, please?

Thanks,

[Chuck Williams]

WHOA Indeed!!!!

You knocked this out of the park Rick!!!!
Love everything about it.

WELL DONE!!!!!!!!!

[rickrickrick]

Thanks, all. If I hadn't been on a deadline, there are lots of things I would have done differently. Making it all from scratch proved to be a bigger challenge than expected. Of course, they probably built it all on an existing prop gun, so they were already halfway there! I didn't have that advantage.

Larry, I tried to estimate dimensions based on the prop's relation to Adam. For example, we know he was 6' 2", and a human head is generally about 9" tall, so how did the prop compare to his height?, etc. And I made estimates based on things like how much room his gloved hand took up on the grip, how big it was compared to the known dimensions of the Batmobile, and so on. It was really crude guesswork based on framegrabs and repeated viewings of the brief scenes in which it appears. My main issues with the final result are that I think the barrel is too long and too narrow, the coils too small, and the body too thin. In the end, I was just thrilled that Fred and Adam knew what it was on sight!

RRR

PS - I think it ended up being about 3 1/2' long.

[Batman65]

That is an extremely well made prop. You did an amazing job on this! Looks just like the original.

[Scott Sebring]

Too cool!

[Jimmy L. 66]

very nice. nice pic of you and the gang as well!

[Larry A.]

Thanks Rick. I've had to do that before and it does help to have a solid baseline measurement, such as Adam's height. I have no doubt about Your doubts, but remember, We are usually our own worst critics. I think You did a great job. I hope that I can do that well on my own Bat Radio.
Glad You are back!

[Meule]

Absolutely fantastic, I love it. Job well done is an understatement in this case

[tmmello]

Looks fantastic, getting ready to model a mego sized one.