Batmobile Tumbler from cardboard, this paper model is based on the vehicle used by Batman in the Dark Knight series. This paper model was designed by Cláudio Dias and the template for this model can be found in paperinside.com (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_2-OPdzuETlU5AOfO5-sYaHKR1LnPdvo). I had finished building this model back in 2014.
Although earlier I had done some papercraft modeling this model had a much greater amount of detail than what I had done previously. There were several pieces that came together to make this:
I had printed the design in black and white on 70 gsm A4 paper and stuck it on cardboard boxes from cereal boxes. The laser printer I had used was short of blank ink and the blacks came out as grey. I had to later use a sketch pen to color the entire model black, the final result was an uneven black color, but this worked quite well as the tumbler was meant to be a vehicle that took a lot of damage so having a worn-out paint job suited it. But the main issue for the build was that I had not used the right type of adhesive to put certain parts together, so the model lacked strength. Also, another lesson that I had learned was to use thinner cardboard for smaller pieces and thicker ones for larger sections. Overall the model took me a month to build, I had a month of vacations after my 11th standard and I had probably spent around 3 hours a day on average working on this. In 2017 I had plans to make a remote control version, but due to time constraints, I have put this on hold.
Here is some information on the actual tumbler from the movie:
The Tumbler has a pair of machine guns mounted in the nose of the car between the front wheels. In “Attack” mode, the driver’s seat moves to the center of the car, and the driver is repositioned to lie face-down with his head in the center section between the front wheels. This serves two main purposes: first, it provides more substantial protection with the driver shielded by multiple layers of armor plating. Second, the low-down, centralized driving position makes extreme precision maneuvers easier to perform, while lying prone reduces the risk of injury a driver faces when making these maneuvers. Other devices included:
- Six rear flaps to assist brakes
- Twin forward-firing machine guns
- Rocket launcher
- Landing hook to Sprung landing stabilization
- Integrated fire-extinguishing system
- Integrated safety connection to gasoline control
- The vector-controlled jet engine on the back of the car is for quick boosts and “rampless” jumps
- Stealth Mode, which turns off the car’s lights and cuts the engine. The vehicle is powered by an electric motor, making it very hard to find in dark places (which makes the mode most useful at night), and as demonstrated by the car chase in Batman Begins, it can easily throw off pursuers.
- Explosive mines are deployed from the rear of the vehicle, which can take out any cars that make contact with them.
- Front of car is heavily armored, so the car can ram as a practical offensive attack, and also protects the driver while in the prone driving position/”Attack” mode
- Both front wheels can eject when the vehicle is damaged to form the Batpod.
Josh Elias Joy 