Eight wheels for turning and one turbine for burning!

[McColm]

Racing cars have evolved over the years and all sorts of concepts tried so SJMcColm Engineering Ltd came up with the idea of having a eight-wheeler. The front wheels could turn left or right but the rear wheels could steer on the opposite lock or if desired the same lock as the front ones  A U-turn on most British roads would be impossible for a small bus but with this design the steering wheels could even 'crab' meaning that this car can get into the tightest of parking spaces. Having the power unit as a turbine engine meant high speeds could be achieved but slowing down and braking suddenly rendered the car for motor racing plus it was a single seater with a very limited luggage space.
Goodyear and Dunlop sponsored the tyres, titanium was used in the construction and for the brakes, discs all round. There was a compartment for a rear parachute and anchoring device which would result in a pair of air brakes deployed from the sides of the car.  Rolls-Royce would supply three Spey engines not fitted with the reheat as found on the McDonnell Douglas F-4K/M Phantom.
 Testing began in the 1970s at RAF Machrihanish which didn't end well as the car ran out of runway, burnt out the engine but on the plus side the engineers found out the car can float as it was recovered in the North Atlantic Ocean. This set an unofficial land speed record of 550mph and also broke the water speed record before running out of fuel.
Whilst the boffins tried to iron out the faults a new body made from a carbon fibre compound mixed with titanium would be implemented. Boffins insisted that the maximum speed be limited to 350mph which would allow the parachute to be deployed and sufficient room for braking allowing the car to be used more than once.
Dubbed the Batmissile the car was entered in five races during the Formula One season of 1978,only for Formula One to ban the use of turbine engines after complaints from the other teams about their cars getting singed or catching on fire if they got too close behind the Batmissile due to the exhaust fumes SJMcColm Engineering Ltd pit crews also complained about the time it took to change eight tyres and refuel the car every four laps. Out of the five races the Batmissile came first in three of them and had to retire in two due to engine problems. The turbine blades were changed to being made from carbon fibre the disadvantage being at the time the carbon fibre becomes brittle in cold climates.
 The Batmissile would end its days with NASA as a test vehicle for various experiments, in the year 2002 the car was shipped back to Britain and now resides in the SJMcColm Engineering Ltd Hall of Fame Museum after a lengthy rebuild with the engine removed, fluids drained and batteries removed.

The kit that I'm using for this build is the 1/25 AMT/ERTL 1992 released Snapfast Batmissile 6614 from the film Batman Returns. This being the reissued model. I will be using some of my spare parts on this kitbash. I bought the kit from eBay at a bargain price but you'll need to shop around to get something in your price range.

[McColm]

This is what the finished model should look like built straight out of the box.







I've made the mistake of adding the windscreen which clips into place, it won't come out without major damage so I have left it. Although it's a snapfast I have glued the other parts. Adding a new engine air intake and rear exhaust from a 1/72 resin aircraft engine. The grill isn't glued in place which came off the 1/24 Tamiya Jaguar Mk2.







View from the rear





The underside

[McColm]

I think a change of colour is required either White Lightning or The Grey Lady. Well there's a little bit of filler/putty that's needed at the front so The Grey Lady will be first using Tamiya Grey acrylic primer and the look out for suitable decals for the final version. The electrical cables will be picked out in silver/steel with the springs of a different colour.