Following on from my post about the Batmobile, I’d like to introduce you to a man who has fabricated his own Tumbler Batmobile, Mr Bob Dullam, musician, master sculptor and prop builder extraordinaire.
I recently had cause to contact Mr Dullam because I thought that I had been fortunate enough to purchase one of his sculptures through e bay. I bought this piece some time ago, and have only been able to trace it to Elstree Props. The guy I bought it from made out it was production made for Batman Begins. The way he told the story, he made out that he got it thrown in with another lifesize statue deal. I saw one similar at the London Film and Comic con, as part of the Warner Bros display, and then recently, something similar came up on e bay – a torso – but strikingly similar to mine - the ebay ad said it was a Bob Dullam original, so I searched his name and discovered that Bob had scratch built his own Tumbler. I thought I would contact him to verify the statue for me, in the meantime I thought I’d Scooby doo some info for you guys about his Tumbler project.
My statue
Bob Dullam
By day Bob Dullam works in the industry sculpting props for a living, by night as an accomplished bassist, he creates aural sculptures for those lucky enough to be around his home town of Watervliet MI. As you would expect, the B man has a partner, Mr Bob Causey, who has also built a Batmobile, however Bob C’s wheels are a Batman Forever style Batmobile, the kind with the blue neon lights. Generally, the two Bobs work as a team, and together they have sculpted some of the most beautiful and most highly collectable pieces in contemporary fandom, check out http://www.dullam-causey.com/ for the finished article/s. However despite the artistic pairing of dynamic duo, the mission of the Tumbler was something that our heroes has had to undertake alone. “It's a once in a lifetime project. Write Bob, “I did this alone, no help..” He continues -
Bob C. and I each work independently out of our homes on these cars. For each of us, its big dream come true. We do it from shear determination, lack of sleep, thinking out of the box constantly. Not easy
Bob scratch built just about everything external on the car using photos and schematics that he had researched himself. Bob posted updates on his progress on the forum Superherohype, under the psydonm YoungBat. Here other fans would comment on his work and help him out with information. The forum became an invaluable resource and source of moral support for YoungBat. You can read the whole saga starting here: http://forums.superherohype.com/showthread.php?t=308526
Here is a slice of the action
Here is a prog shot of the steering linkage being assembled. what you see hanging down is a rod-end joint sometimes refered to as a helms joint. It will be screwed into the "Z" like arm that pushes/pulls the spindle. So the rack and pinion inside pushes rods that push/pull a lever, that in turn twists the rod you see sticking out of the front fender, that twisting moves the gold linkage that holds the helms joint, and that pushes/pulls the "Z" arm that pushes/pulls the wheel. clear as mud eh!
“These pictures make it look simple”, writes Bob somewhat modestly. However, it can’t have been easy to create such a thing, even with the network, the experience, and the talent Bob clearly has. For Bob, the mission needed a leap of faith.
... there were stages in between the beginning, and now that I really didn't know for sure if I was on the right track. Having never built this car, and trying to replicate it you have to some degree take a leap of faith.
I am reminded of the trials of Bruce Wayne himself, under the questionable tutelage and awesome power of Ra’s al Ghul himself. In his search for understanding, Wayne journeys to Tibet. In order to begin his training as ninja, Bruce must undertake his own leap of faith, and he is instructed to search the snow capped mountains to find a rare blue flower, a quest in itself in the barren highlands. His success is marred by his total exhaustion and he soon discovers that the object in question marks only the beginning...
The Tumbler project generated an avalanche of interest last year, and Bob sat for over two dozen interviews in the summer alone, and several TV spots. You can see clips of the time a German TV crew visited him at his home on his You tube channel here. http://www.youtube.com/user/bobdullam but they are few and short. Elsewhere, Bob has stated that most interviewers were interested in the same thing – proclaiming how cool the vehicle is –asking, how much did cost? Does it work? Is it street legal? Is it for sale? Sporadic interviews on the web and blog entries cobbled together from various sites collude support this lazy journalism. Out of all the interviews that I have read, it struck me that everybody seems to be missing the point. From what I can gather, nobody seems to have asked the million dollar question, ‘what is it like to be Batman?’ how does it feel? to amongst these wonderful objects and share your life with them? In a forum posting - whilst talking about building the car - Bob offers some enlightenment -
It feels like climbing Mt. Everest half way up, you start to wonder if this wasn't a big mistake. Then you realize that you are too far to quit. In fact, quitting is now not an option. Because if you do quit, you will have set precedence about yourself, and all up to this point will become a huge disaster. You get a little farther, now you look down and view is breathtaking. So on an emotional level this car is giving back to you, what you gave to it. It makes you start to think that, If you can do this, then you can make anything happen if you really want to. It revitalizes faith in yourself. This is not supposed to be possible. Not at this social/economic level.
It seems that in one sense, the trials of the car have made the (Bat) man of Bob. Perhaps we all have a Tumbler in our lives, something connected with the fates, intertwined with our destiny, that potentially makes us into heroes. For me, its the PhD, talking and writing about memorabilia. I want to make film and television memorabilia a subject of serious academic consideration. "tough, arduous work’ the I-Ching called it, and some days, I tell ya, it feels like I'll never get out of this damn garage, but ultimately its gotta be worth it.... I want to be, a Doctor of Stuff...and like Bob says, if I can do this, then I can make anything happen if I really want to.
A eloquent and socially conscious man, I belive Bob attempted to steer interviews round to legitimate issues that the project had highlighted, which he felt needed media attention, such as car safety for example. Scouting for parts Bob became aware of the ridiculous money people pay for expensive cars, which are badly designed. I wanted to give Bob a little space here, and bring your attention to these issues
The tumbler is 9' wide, so there is not much chance of it rolling. Some Jeeps are prone to skid rolling. top-heavy. The worst kind of crash in any commerical vehicle is a side collision at the drivers side. NO protection. Just a door about 6" deep, made of thin sheet metal, and/or plastic. Get hit in the drivers side in your volvo at 60mph. and you're dead. That door will be moved from your left side, all the way over to the passenger side. Now hit the left side of a tumbler at 60mph... you have 2.5 ft. of D.O.M tubular steel, with beams mounted in cross triangular patterns right next to your left shoulder. There is not much weight at the passenger part of the car so the car will be shoved (engine is in the back).
Not much chance of another car getting to you. More reinforcement than a circle track race car. Very tough for another car to break through that kind of bracing... I was at an auto yard looking for parts, when I happened upon a ferrari that got hit on the drivers side. NO way the driver survived that. And I also noticed how easily the fiberglass broke because they vacumn bag the body parts to keep it light, low resin to glass ratio. As far as impact resistance, the body is a joke. You could see the fiberglass was dry in the middle, the resin never got to it. hence fairly weak.
And I can go on, and on...
Obviously we can’t all build or reinforce our own cars, yet this is food for thought. Road safety should concern us all, but it is something that is easy to get complacent about, and many of us do. Now I'm not suggesting that Bob drives it around schools (for example) but if the Tumbler can highlight road safety in some way, and save just one life, then Bob's superhero status is assured. Just about everybody I know has been in a car accident at one time or another, how about you? Sherlocking this I discover that according to the DVLA site, side impact accidents account for 75% of road fatalities in the UK. Think about that next time you're riding shotgun Robin.
I was going to leave you with that sobering thought Batfans, however for those of you itching to know, Bob’s Tumbler project has cost somewhere between fifty and seventy thousand dollars, issues of legality vary from state to state, and no, it is not for sale. “You wouldn't want to sell this if you had one, believe me” states Bob. Not content with the car alone, Bob has fabricated this sweet Batsuit, and is currently engaged with building a BatPod motorcycle.
My assumption that I had purchased a Bob Dullam original was soon quashed by the man himself, who was kind enough to drop me a line. Bob said that he had seen my statue around, but was not responsible for its creation. If YOU have seen it around or can help solve the mystery, please get in touch. I hope that I can bring you another report on Mr Dullan and his fantastic, insperational adventures one day soon.
Untill then, bookmark me whydontyou, and stay tuned for a closer look at one of the Gargoyles from Gotham City Cathedral ...same time, same channel...
Charlie Bugwriter
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