Picture
a quiet suburban neighborhood, on a sunny, summer afternoon. Let's
go down this street to the brown house at the end and step around
to the backyard. Here you'll find three boys sitting at a picnic table,
all carefully putting together the lastest King Kong Aurora model
kit! I have to be honest
here, and tip my hat to Richie. When he unveiled his final piece of
work, they were truly masterpieces! So let's take a romp back in time to the mid 60's, where my love of a good model started.
This was a pretty straight forward model. (Most of the early Aurora Models were not difficult to put together...by 'straight forward model' here, I mean as far as painting goes).
You always got your original ideas for painting your models from the
box cover itself. Since most of the Boris Karloff movies were in black
& white, your research material was pretty much limited to either
back copies of Famous Monsters of Filmland magazines or the
box cover. There's a color of Olive Green, that to this day will always
be Frankie Green to me! Although not a big fan of the MOTM line, (w/ the exception of the Creech) Revell-Monogram re-issued the Monsters of the Movies version of Frankenstein in the Summer of 1999! A TOYS-R-US exclusive. On 22 Aug 99', the Polar Lights/Revell/CineModels Long Box reissue of Frankenstein appeared!
The Creature from the Black Lagoon was a fun model to put together. Again, like Frankie, this was another easy one to paint. I've seen some photo's of this model that are really impressive, with some nice shading of green, with a reddish tint to the stomach area. The base for this
model had alot more fun stuff to fool around with. A little lizard,
a snake entwined in the tree, and a great skeleton hand! (What more
could you ask for!!) Good
news for Creech fans, announced at the 2011 iHobby Expo, was the appearance
of this 2 figure set coming out from MOEBIUS!
To
see a list of ALL the Creature
kits that have been produced to date!
Was
there ever a better Dracula than Bela Lugosi?? Unfortunately, none
of us And you had that neat, but really tiny, medallion to get right. Frankly, we wished
that the model inside the box was posed like the image on the box
cover!
Revell-Monogram re-issued the Monsters of the Movies version of DRACULA,
Also out in July
99, is Polar Lights' Dracula's Dragster.
Okay, be honest with me...didn't you think that Talbot was a whining SOB? The man desperately needed to spend some time around Jack Nicholson to truly learn how much fun it can be to run around on all fours!! Although we bought this model, I think the only one who liked it was Mike. For the rest of the 'Gang', there really wasn't much you could do with this. The base was simplistic...a couple rocks, a rat and a skull, and I recall Richie wanting to paint a psychedelic paint-scheme to his blue jeans!! The pose was campy,
and was ripe for some off-hand deodorant remarks made back and forth.
Overall, a pretty 'Ho-Hum' entry into the Monster collection. If you don't want
the re-issued 60's version, POLAR LIGHTS produced a brand NEW Wolfman!
One that is closer to the view we loved on the box top!
Now
this model was more like it! Now we could really show off our stuff
with the paint brush!! The challenge:
In May of 99'
the new MUMMY movie hit the big screen!
For some odd reason I can't recall building this as a youth? In fact, can't recall any of my friends building the Phantom?! Not sure why, either? I do know that of all the Aurora monster models, if I was to rank them in order of favorites this particular model would still come before The Wolfman. And although I find creature type monsters to be more fun to do than human-type figures, I did like the challenge of painting humans. Dracula, Hunchback, all the SuperHeroes hold vivid memories for me. So what happened with the Phantom?
Of all the models featured on this page, this one probably holds the most memories for me, and is, hands down, one of my favorites from the early 60's. My only complaint with this model, is that Aurora did NOT use the top of the Empire State Building for a base and have Kong swatting airplanes! The original Aurora edition Kong goes for a pretty penny. I acquired the 'Luminator' version off eBay, for $31.00. POLAR
LIGHTS' came out with a re-issued KING KONG in October of 2000!! Kit
by Revell, box & instructions by PL! So now you don't have to search
eBay for an old Luminators version!!
Visit
the Spotlight On... page for a look
at ALL Kong kits! No
self-deserving model collector could pass up the companion piece to
ol' Kong and NOT get Godzilla!! This was a great model to make. With the crushed cityscape beneath his huge feet, you could spend hours making great total disaster features! And getting a nice shade of different greens on 'Zilla's body had me up til the wee hours of the morning. CineModels put out a re-issue in the mid-80's, & Monogram put out a reissue in 1995, after getting the Aurora molds, and can still be found quite easily. Polar Lights reissued
this Aurora classic, (Revell now held the molds) ...appearing on hobby
shelves in Aug 2000!
We were all treated to a new look for Ol' Greenie in the 1998 movie, and although models have been non-existant so far...Polar Lights had plans on releasing TWO versions of this model. The first would have been just Godzilla, with a later version including Babies. Sculpted by James Groman.
PL's New Godzilla with Babies! But on March 23, 2000 it was announced that Polar Lights pulled this model from production. Was stated that this kit was too expensive to produce and is being shelved, for now. In May 2006, this resin version popped up on eBay. Although a few resin cast were made from Jim's prototype, David Metzner tells us that those were all accounted for. Turns out a few more were casted up unknowingly & are only now being seen. This particular cast was sold by draven687dah of Cincinnati, Ohio and sold for $510.00. Who made up the extra copies is fueling quite a discussion, and exactly how many copies are out there without permission remains to be seen! In late Oct 2000, they did announce that a 16" version from the GODZILLA 2000 movie will be issued in 2001! ...and paved the way for this new 16" version to be produced! Here Chris White holds up the Box Art painting he did for the kit, preliminary photo's of the kit itself from WF, and better photo's of the end product...
Kit hit the shelves in December 2001! Polar Light's new Godzilla's GO KART was sighted on shelves on 8 October 99! Great having this in my collection once again! The bad new is that
Polar Lights received a 'Cease and Desist' order from Sony and can
no longer sell it.
Ed
Note: it was also noted that PL had plans for their own Godzilla
kit (above) and probably didn't want to muddy the waters. In
the fall of 2021, Polar Lights reissued this classic, with new box
art!
(I guess they resolved the above issue with Sony!)
Another great model to make your Mom cringe was The Forgotten Prisoner of Castel Mare!! It was the only new horror kit ever released in 1966 and was created and copyrighted by 'Famous Monsters of Filmland'! It appeared again in 1969 under the 'Frightening Lightning' series, and 1969-1975 in the 'Glow-In-The-Dark' series. CineModels reissued the kit again in the mid 90's!
Polar Lights' reissued this great kit in April 2001, with PL doing
the instructions and box art, and Revell providing the model kit!
In 2024, Doll & Hobby reissued The Witch kit!
lucky enough to see Mike Hill's 1:1 Aurora figures!
Michael Berglund offers these great looking mini-Aurora pieces:
On one of the many On-line Auctions, someone had original Bama artwork of the Creature and the Mummy for sale. Opening bid was $100.00 and both closed out at $12,500.00 each! Whether true Bama originals, I couldn't say, but was interested in learning that it is a one piece painting, which means, if they are originals, they were later cut in two for each individual box art. Days later, over on eBay, we suddenly see a reportedly original Salem Witch canvas used for the box art. There was also this Aurora display model of our favorite Witch, which features a fabulous paint job! Also on eBay, Moephyl was selling the original art to these two kits: 1971 Aurora Monster Scenes Giant Insect Original Box Art. Here is a painting of the infamous Monster Scenes #643 Giant Insect kit. It's executed in gouache (opaque watercolor paint) and measures 10 3/4" X 5 1/4". It was used on the side panel of the box as well as the inside of the Monster Scenes dealer catalog. 1967 Aurora #206 Snuffy Whoozis Model Kit Original Box Art.
Here is a painting of the funny Snuffy Whoozis father. It's executed
in gouache (opaque watercolor paint) and measures 14 3/4" X 11".
As the 60's were coming to a close, and TV started to become an influence, my model making started to shift from the horror avenue, to my other interests.
The RAT PATROL was especially fun to put together. Once built, it made a nice diorama. Scale was different than I was use to, but this started my movement to Science Fiction Spaceships and the Star Trek diorama's. I
really loved this LAND OF THE GIANTS model.
Doll&Hobby GA reissued this great
kit in 2019.
Vampirella! What can one say about this, except she was the lustful desire of every 10-15 yr old boy! I recall when I walked up to the cash register with her firmly in hand, an old lady called me a degenerate for purchasing such filth!! Ah...she knew me so well! Actually, it wasn't that good a likeness, once it was built. Her face was all wrong and she appeared, to me at least, a little chunckier than she should have been. If you don't mind spending the extra bucks, there are resin versions of Vampi. One, made by Impact, sculpted by Sugita, is truly fantastic. In fact, there's a whole slew of resin Vampirella's! They vary in prices...but what the heck!! It is, after all, our favorite Vampire, after Drac, of course! I've
added a new page Spot Lighting all the
kits based on our Femme Fatale!
I enjoyed building the BATMOBILE alot and see them
also for sale on eBay. Prior
If you'd like to convert them to various other characters, stop by the REPLACEMENT PARTS page. Tom Parker made up a SPACE GHOST head for use on Superman's body, and a female Robin head (with neat glasses) for the Robin kit! There's heads for a retro Adam West & upcoming Burt Ward versions as well!
Here's a flash-back back to the past. This was the poster on display at Toy's R Us stores in late 99'! Polar Lights, Cinemodels & Revell's joint reissues have Frankenstein & Wolfman, which just appeared, followed closely by Dracula. Again, the Mummy appeared in July. The Creature was NOT a TRU exclusive and can be found in local Hobby Stores. Revell has announced they are reissuing them again, (in new boxes), in early 2009. Moebius
Models arrived on the scene in early 2008. Frank Winspur, former
owner of the 'Dolls & Hobby' store in Florida, entered the styrene
scene and has been producing great kits hand over hand!
In the mid 2000's, Monsters In Motion & later Pestilence Labs
came out with the 'Aurora Tribute Box' series! I've got a closet full of models safely sitting on the shelves now. For Kit Reviews & WIP steps throughs of the models I've built recently, stop by my Work Bench page! I still have a list of models on my 'Wish List' which for every one I'm able to cross off, I end up adding 3 or 4 more on to it!!  Well, as the wife says, "It'll keep you off the streets!!"
If you get the time, do visit the LINKS page. If you enjoy model building, then these sites will inspire you to get out that old tube of glue, sneakily "borrow" the wifes nail file and start spreading some newspapers all over the kitchen table one more time! For the opportunity to visit both Phil's and Bruce Bishop's Basement and see their impressive collection of models, go down to the Basement. Now stop looking at this screen and GO BUILD A MODEL!! - Buc |