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Sunday, July 21, 2013

Johnny Lightning 2003 #489-50 1/64 1940s Batmobile Die-cast Kit

Toys & Stuff has an interesting Batmobile for today's selection - a die-cast kit from Johnny Lightning. Johnny Lightning produced several die-cast kits, this 1940s Batmobile, a 1960s Batmobile, and the 1930s Batgyro. The kits themselves are primarily metal but have several plastic pieces as well. This was my first attempt at one of these and overall I found it to be relatively easy but there were a couple points of concern as we'll see later. I really like the particular vehicles chosen because they tend to round out the variety available for Bat-vehicles in 1/64 scale, and it's nice to see something other than Hot Wheels in the line-up! Enjoy!

Normally the packaging appears at the end of the posts but I thought it needed to be brought up front this time.





 Set contents


 Each set comes with its own screwdriver. Additional parts are in a sealed bag which tucked in behind this display.


The assembly sequence





 The cabin area is pre-assembled - no need to push the steering wheel into the dashboard as the instructions suggest.



 It's important to push the exhaust header all the down, making sure the exhaust pipes are fully pushed into the holes in the fenders otherwise...

...otherwise the hood does not seat well and you end up with a big gap
 




 While the screwdriver included in the kit is adequate for attaching the hood, I ended using one of my own for the job as it allowed me to get a better grip and more torque. The kit screwdriver is shown in the photo.

















A nice size comparison of the Johnny Lightning 1940s Batmobile with the Ertl Batskiboat