Custom: DCIH Scale Bat-Computer

Here's my interpretation of the famed Bat-Computer scaled for 3 3/4th inch figures, complete with lights, console, chair, and digital Oracle.

The base came from one of the Walmart exclusive Iron Man Hall of Armor figures I bought on clearance. I took it apart, removed the semi-transparent floor and some other obstructions, then pulled the LEDs up through the grating.

The chair and console came from Playmate's line of Star Trek figures made for the Abrams movie. I'm not sure which figure(s) these particular pieces originally came with (they might even have been part of the Bridge playset), though they're all pretty much interchangeable, anyway.

I painted the chair black, along with the top of the console (leaving the decal as-is, of course). I also painted the bottom silver, so it would be closer to the color of the base. The bottom of the chair unscrews, so I detached it, put it beneath the grate, and screwed it back together using a slightly longer screw. Honestly, this aspect's given me nothing but trouble: if I were doing it over again, I'd just glue the chair to the base and save myself the hassle.

Once that was all reassembled, I worked on the monitors. All of those pieces are acrylic squares I found in a couple of stores specializing in plastic parts that I found almost across the street from each other in Chinatown (that's also where I found those clear plastic cubes).

A few of the pieces above didn't make it into the final project. I'm sure I'll find a use for them at some point.

The Oracle picture was traced out of a Birds of Prey graphic novel. For the monitors containing text, I used Martha Stewart brand transfers I found at Michaels (normally, I wouldn't bother to specify the brand, but it just amuses me too much).

I looked everywhere for triangular wedges of clear plastic I could use to get some of the monitors to sit at an angle, but couldn't find anything. Instead, I cut strips of plastic out of the "World's Finest Dog" packages, then folded them into triangular shapes.

I think I used the better part of a tube of super-glue putting everything together. And, as usual, it didn't quite go off without a hitch. The orange "Alert" panel wound up at an angle (superglue doesn't give you second chances), and I wound up smearing some glue on the screen. I thought I got most of it off using nail polish remover, but the pictures are more revealing than my eye alone.

It's got a few imperfections, but - frankly - I love this thing. Those clear cubes do an amazing job refracting the blue light, and some of the screens really seem to glow.