Good point, Batman's really not a gun type of guy (not since the fourties, anyway). I don't think making the engine part of the robot is really practical though. How about using it as a shield, or one of those grappling hooks Batman uses, or one big-assed bat-arang???  

 

I originally thought the turbine in the front would look quite cool as the center of the chest, much like Vector Prime's chest appears, but it'd most likely require a total re-engineering of the transformation.

So I say just make it a big ol' gun if you want. Or failing that, make it the Batmo-bot's grappling line.

Matt

 

In my post, I suggested trying to maintain the Burton aesthetic ... my drawings were pretty worthless though. I've worked up something a bit better tonight:



My design is a bit different from the one you suggested. In mine, the rear wheel sections shift down instead of swiveling, but the engine portion still swivels. I also left the front wheels where they are in vehicle mode. When used as part of the feet, I think they make the legs too bulky. I put fins on the back of the forearms and I added shoulder pads. Generally, I wanted to combine the smooth and simple geometric shapes with the rather naturalistic anatomy of the statues from 'Batman Returns.' Think of it as armor over human anatomy. It'd be hard to model, but eh, you're our resident hawt goth chick.   Hope that helps ...

 

Oh yeah, and the forehead could be for cameras, lights, etc. And I think it'd be cool to use the guns in his legs. I didn't make the gun, but I think it's a good idea. As I just mentioned, this Batmobile has guns ON it. Batman uses them pretty passively in the movies, so he could use the engine gun passively too.

 

whoa wannabegeorge, that head looks all beast machinesy (which is a good thing, i love BM)  

the way youve done the torso would be a lot easier to engineer in 3d, and as much as i like the idea of the front wheels being part of the feet i think they look good on the back of the leg there.. they add bulk, where if they were part of the feet there would be a hollow wheel well that'd have to be filled somehow  

i wonder how the arms would look if the rear wheel sections you had slide down, in fact seperated outwards from the body, in line with the upper arm, like the shoulder panel of an eva unit? it might make the torso too narrow to do that, though ._.

 

I think it works better. The arm to leg size ratio is better balanced now. He doesn't look as ripped in the chest area, but sleek and agile is more fitting for Batman and the movies' look. Plus, it just looks more ... right  

 

the turbine could swing down and back around so that the front tip of the turbine plugs into a hole under the rear of the car/bot back piece, then unfold to be cape like

 

i like how the front engine/turbine is his "gun"

i'm sure he likes to "fire" it often  

dirty woo!  

 

Awesome. Eagerly looking forward to the preview renders. 

 

That Azrael Batmobot is the coolest thing ever! I totally want to do that now!

 

Thanks, I'll try & do a better pic of it & post it soon... I'm liking wannabeGeorge's ideas too, it kind of suits the batman of Burton's movies more....
Weewoo, you seem to have sparked a lot of interest in this subject. I think a line of Batman transformers would be cool, with all the batmobiles, batplanes, batcycles, bat-copters with bat shark repellent (holy useful gadgets, Batman! Its in the original 1969 Batman movie!!)  

Any more suggestions?