Pretty much every time Batman gets a new movie, he gets a new Batmobile. From the 1960’s family-friendly two-seater to the 2000’s militaristic Tumbler, there’s a version for just about every taste. And if you can’t find what you want on the big screen, you can always turn to LEGO builders to give you an alternate take you probably wouldn’t find elsewhere. And if that search fails you, then you can look to LEGO builders like Chris Doyle (that’s me by the way) to take things to a purely ludicrous level.

We’ve already shared a few smaller versions of the Unibattymobile mashup, but now things get really questionable with this latest iteration. Built as a direct mockery of the LEGO UCS Batmobile set, this creation demonstrates the danger behind the seemingly innocent statement “I bet I can source a lot of pink brick if I try.”

Measuring 80 studs in length, this creation came together over the course of two months and uses just about every style of bright pink brick available at the time. Some of the finishing touches were made with elements from the DOTS line that released the day the basic build was completed. Because builds like this are never quite “done.”

You know the drill

One of the primary design features of the 1989 Batmobile is the central engine…turbine…thingie. The Unibattymobile has one, too, designed to invoke thoughts of Unikitty’s blue horn. In fact, the whole design of the front end is meant to resemble Unikitty’s head, from the 1×1 sloped tile ears to the 1×1 round connection plate used to secure the horn. (There were many iterations of this build where the front slopes were mounted on their side to closer look like Unikitty’s ears. In the end, it looked better to match the Batmobile’s fender design…but only just.) The horn is the first play feature, too. Press down on a 1×2 grill tile near the cockpit and a power function motor is engaged!

Ride in style

Speaking of that cockpit, it’s designed to fit an embiggened Unibatty figure. (More on that later.) A selection of printed tiles and sloped brick provides some general-use control surfaces, and there’s a cell phone mount to handle the tunes and GPS. I’m not exactly sure how Unikitty would turn the steering wheel, but I guess she manages somehow. A 1×1 round tile from the DOTS line adds a bit of animated character.

You are my lucky star

The wheels are from the 2007 Mars Mission theme, providing a bit of contrasting color to all that pink. The hubcaps all feature different Star Faces from various LEGO Movie II sets, and stay “upright” even when the wheels are turning.

Tail Fins. It’s a pun.

Replacing the bat-themed fins with Unikitty tails was a no-brainer, but it took several frustrating building sessions to find the right scaling. I also had to figure out how to replicate those curves. Although some LEGO slopes and arches will nest well, there wasn’t a combo that really did things justice. I ended up with a three-tier approach on each fin. A layer of white brick gives the larger tail shape, while additional blue layers on either side create the insets. Mirrored building for the win!

All the bling

The temptation to over-decorate this was pretty great. Instead, mechanical detailing was limited to the same spots as the Batmobile; the sides of the car under the side panels, mostly. There’s a decent smattering of old-school chromed parts to add a higher level of shine to things.

There’s also a bit of bling at the rear. Taillights make use of transparent dark-pink chef’s hats and chrome 1×2 grill tiles. The back of the cabin is built out using car doors, curved slopes, and two nested rows of L-panels.

The jet exhaust is a toothed wheel and a fairly rare dome from Set 8925: Barraki Deepsea Patrol. This part was initially intended to be the air scoop on the side of the car, but it was just a bit too large. Having two on hand meant that swapping out parts for a flame effect was pretty easy, at least. The center part is a stickered 1×1 round tile from a Friends set. I thought it looked a lot like a cat butt.

Bringing the big guns

The UCS Batmobile has the action feature of raising guns, so the Unikittymobile has them, too. Well, maybe they’re guns. They might just be laser pointers. Cats love those things. Twisting the yellow Technic pin on the side of the car raises and lowers them in unison.

Light Up the Knight

While the Unikittymobile was designed to be 100% LEGO, at some point a sacrifice had to be made in the name of glorious excess. A $15 automotive in-dash USB Light kit was acquired…and thus we get sound-reactive ground FX and headlights.

One problem with adding the light kit was the lengths of cable that connected and controlled things. It’s easy enough to run the cables across a table when powered, but having an “unplugged” display was also important. Luckily the rear of the car has a lot of empty space inside it. The trick was making the trunk accessible. It relies on gravity to keep things closed, but the overall model is too fragile to swoosh about anyway.

Unibatty Upgrades

Unibatty herself gets a few new upgrades with this version. Mainly in terms of scale – the minifigure version isn’t exactly a compatible size. With an eye on display, there are two versions – a “standard” standing version, and a “ready to drive” option that can sit in the cockpit comfortably. Luckily LEGO has released that dark-pink heart in several scales, too. The “Bang!” belt buckle is meant to evoke the 1966 Batman captions.

To match the styling of the big versions, I also updated the minifig scale ones to match.

Using every part

One pink piece that didn’t make it into the big Unibattymobile was the 1x1x3 sloped brick. It’s a pretty scarce part, so acquiring it in enough bulk to matter wasn’t cost-effective. The one that did come in was added to a quick parody of the small LEGO polybag set 30300- The Tumbler.

Final thoughts

This was a fun build. If you’d like to see more detail shots, as well as some in-progress commentary, I have an album set up at Flickr.

I have a lot of pink brick left. I’m sure there’s another Unibatty project waiting for me out there. Maybe another theme mashup will come along.

Maybe Unikitty would like an X-wing. Or better yet, a Unikitt-TIE…