Atlantis Models has bought another lot of tooling/molds.....

[Daddyfink]

34 minutes ago, Rick Wolfe said:

I wonder if Atlantis has the molds for the old 1/16 Aurora pinto funny car?   That would be sweet.

This is just an article to give you a basic idea of what might have happened to those molds. And I know for a fact that the late Tom West had part of the mold for one of the Hemi engines that self destructed during production. 

https://culttvman.com/main/aurora-faq-6-what-is-the-story-about-the-aurora-train-wreck/

 

Tom West was the R&D Product Manager for the Aurora Kit line at the end of the run. He says:

“The infamous train wreck (somewhere outside Albany, as I got the word) did in fact happen. Evidently it was a derailment which sent the car carrying a load of molds out into a field. Since they were so heavy, the molds were not tied down and pretty well tore up the car when they went through the car.

“The loss was actually in the area of 14 1/2 molds officially (or 15 1/2, something like that). The molds were taken to Chicago to the Morton Grove facility, where the insurance company paid on the loss. Obviously, the other 1/2 mold was not particularly functional, but then the insurance company never had to produce parts from the remaining 1/2 mold.

“There were some figure kits involved, a couple of aircraft molds, and the Addams family house sounds right, as mentioned on one of the other responses. I know that one of the accessory (black) parts molds for World War I aircraft was in there as well. I believe it was the Albatross CIII and two more kits that were the ones affected. Can’t remember which the others were.

“Aurora molds were pretty much dismantled by Monogram beyond the ones lost in the wreck. When they got the molds, they gave their marketing group the list and told them to tell management which tools they would use in a certain period of time, like 3 years or 5 years, or something like that. Everything after that was open to the tooling guys, who, I understand, were given a bonus based on the amount of beryllium steel (cast cavities) that they were able to salvage from those molds. This material can be remelted and recast into new parts. Much of the classic oddball Aurora product was melted down in what sounded like a real feeding frenzy which eliminated the greatest part of the Aurora mold library, especially unwanted figures.

Since that time I have talked to various people who would have been involved, and everyone was just following orders and nobody ever made a decision to scrap those molds. Tom Gannon, the Monogram President at the time was the only one who would take credit for the direction that set that in motion, as he felt it was good business to eliminate the stuff from the marketplace to eliminate competition. As if some of that old Aurora stuff was really going to compete with what Monogram was doing.

Hope this helps clear up some of the confusion.”

–Tom West

[tim boyd]

9 hours ago, Daddyfink said:

This is just an article to give you a basic idea of what might have happened to those molds. And I know for a fact that the late Tom West had part of the mold for one of the Hemi engines that self destructed during production. 

https://culttvman.com/main/aurora-faq-6-what-is-the-story-about-the-aurora-train-wreck/

 

Tom West was the R&D Product Manager for the Aurora Kit line at the end of the run. He says:

“The infamous train wreck (somewhere outside Albany, as I got the word) did in fact happen. Evidently it was a derailment which sent the car carrying a load of molds out into a field. Since they were so heavy, the molds were not tied down and pretty well tore up the car when they went through the car.

“The loss was actually in the area of 14 1/2 molds officially (or 15 1/2, something like that). The molds were taken to Chicago to the Morton Grove facility, where the insurance company paid on the loss. Obviously, the other 1/2 mold was not particularly functional, but then the insurance company never had to produce parts from the remaining 1/2 mold.

“There were some figure kits involved, a couple of aircraft molds, and the Addams family house sounds right, as mentioned on one of the other responses. I know that one of the accessory (black) parts molds for World War I aircraft was in there as well. I believe it was the Albatross CIII and two more kits that were the ones affected. Can’t remember which the others were.

“Aurora molds were pretty much dismantled by Monogram beyond the ones lost in the wreck. When they got the molds, they gave their marketing group the list and told them to tell management which tools they would use in a certain period of time, like 3 years or 5 years, or something like that. Everything after that was open to the tooling guys, who, I understand, were given a bonus based on the amount of beryllium steel (cast cavities) that they were able to salvage from those molds. This material can be remelted and recast into new parts. Much of the classic oddball Aurora product was melted down in what sounded like a real feeding frenzy which eliminated the greatest part of the Aurora mold library, especially unwanted figures.

Since that time I have talked to various people who would have been involved, and everyone was just following orders and nobody ever made a decision to scrap those molds. Tom Gannon, the Monogram President at the time was the only one who would take credit for the direction that set that in motion, as he felt it was good business to eliminate the stuff from the marketplace to eliminate competition. As if some of that old Aurora stuff was really going to compete with what Monogram was doing.

Hope this helps clear up some of the confusion.”

–Tom West

This is part, but not all of the story.   You'll hear another version - that suggests there was a very real attempt to reissue the Aurora funny car kits after they arrived at Monogram - in my new book "Collecting Drag Racing Model Kits".....plus  there is list of topics that were planned for a follow-up 1/16th scale Aurora drag racing kit and diorama series if the initial Aurora 1/16th scale kits sold well......Cheers....TIM   

 

 

[cobraman]

I was actually lucky enough to get one of those 1/16 kits when they came out. I had the Pinto kit. I happened to be at a place outside of Chicago called Dispenses Castle of Toys. What a place that was. It was a great kit and a pleasure to build as I recall . Sold it built on the bay several years ago. Not possible but would love to see these available again.

[Tom Geiger]

Back when Model King did some large scale funny cars, it took him years to sell the 2500 kit runs.  We will have to see if there’s a market for larger scale, that community is a small but vocal group.

[Daddyfink]

5 hours ago, tim boyd said:

This is part, but not all of the story.   You'll hear another version - that suggests there was a very real attempt to reissue the Aurora funny car kits after they arrived at Monogram - in my new book "Collecting Drag Racing Model Kits".....plus  there is list of topics that were planned for a follow-up 1/16th scale Aurora drag racing kit and diorama series if the initial Aurora 1/16th scale kits sold well......Cheers....TIM   

 

 

I am just using this to give an idea of what might have happened to the Aurora molds. I know from talking to Tom that he knew that at least the tire molds had survived because they where abandoned in Canada, where Aurora was having them molded, and he had part of the mold mechanism from I believe the 392 mold, that was installed incorrectly and busted up when they tried to use it. What happened to the rest, well, that remains to be seen. 

He had lots of prints that he did when he studied the subject for Aurora, I hope Mobius can get their hands on them. 

I sure hope they can salvage some of that stuff, would love to have it. I know that they could simplify the engines by eliminating the innards. 

Thanks for the info, Tim! And I am getting ready to read the book again! 

Jesse C. 

Edited November 29, 2020 by Daddyfink

[Daddyfink]

3 hours ago, Tom Geiger said:

Back when Model King did some large scale funny cars, it took him years to sell the 2500 kit runs.  We will have to see if there’s a market for larger scale, that community is a small but vocal group.

There was a Los Angeles based hobby shop that would set up a booth at the California Hot Rod Reunion and he had the MK JJ Vegas, and for a few years I would buy one every time I attended. Needless to say, i have quite a few Vega kits! 

I think the lack of a larger distribution really hampered the kits sales. But then again, 1/16th is not everyone's cup of tea. 

 

[blunc]

21 hours ago, Casey said:

The blue Street Machine version of the T/A suffers from the same poor wheel offset/fitment:

 

 

 

 

 

 

I own all versions of these Monogram 1/32 kits, I've opened all versions, they all have the exact same size tires, even the Ford EXP kit. The wheels are all the same diameter that fit into the tires which are all the same size.

That being said, a few of the bodies will look just fine with the smaller tires/wheels (Nova, Ford EXP), the rest of them (IMHO) will not look like they are filling the wheel opening of the car. (see below)

This is a photo of the 71 TA, the chrome honeycomb wheel rear wheel/tire is from the kit placed/assembled in the kit location, the front is a snowflake wheel/tire from a 79 TA snap kit.

My "opinion" is that the kit wheel/tire is too small for the wheel opening, so I will be dressing up the snowflake wheels for this build.

[Dave Van]

OK Atlantis......my grail Unreal Roller is on the list for production......time to start a new request.....

[Mr mopar]

19 hours ago, Dave Van said:

OK Atlantis......my grail Unreal Roller is on the list for production......time to start a new request.....

I totally agree with you Dave I need this one !!!

[RancheroSteve]

On 11/29/2020 at 10:07 AM, Daddyfink said:

I am just using this to give an idea of what might have happened to the Aurora molds. I know from talking to Tom that he knew that at least the tire molds had survived because they where abandoned in Canada, where Aurora was having them molded, and he had part of the mold mechanism from I believe the 392 mold, that was installed incorrectly and busted up when they tried to use it. What happened to the rest, well, that remains to be seen. 

He had lots of prints that he did when he studied the subject for Aurora, I hope Mobius can get their hands on them. 

I sure hope they can salvage some of that stuff, would love to have it. I know that they could simplify the engines by eliminating the innards.

I had the privilege of meeting Tom West back in 2007 when I facilitated a donation he was making to the International Model Car Builder's Museum. Part of that donation included a lot of the promotional materials for the Aurora Racing Scenes.

[Daddyfink]

3 hours ago, RancheroSteve said:

I had the privilege of meeting Tom West back in 2007 when I facilitated a donation he was making to the International Model Car Builder's Museum. Part of that donation included a lot of the promotional materials for the Aurora Racing Scenes.

Man, I sure miss Tom, he was a really cool guy. And that is the buck I actually held in my hands when I visited him once at that locale. I was trying to sweet talk him out of his 1/16th stuff, but he was saving it for his son. But, I did score a box full of 1/16 Dragster Test Shot trees! Lots of kit bashing parts! 

Did you by any chance score the busted mold part? 

[RancheroSteve]

27 minutes ago, Daddyfink said:

Man, I sure miss Tom, he was a really cool guy. And that is the buck I actually held in my hands when I visited him once at that locale. I was trying to sweet talk him out of his 1/16th stuff, but he was saving it for his son. But, I did score a box full of 1/16 Dragster Test Shot trees! Lots of kit bashing parts! 

Did you by any chance score the busted mold part? 

He was great guy - I'm really glad I had the chance to meet him. The Attempt 1 buck was a last minute addition to his donation - I had just recently built the kit and spotted it on a shelf just as I was getting ready to leave. I remarked on it and he said, "Here, The Museum might as well have this too". I was kinda floored just looking at it and realizing what it was, but then I got to hang out with it for a few days before I shipped it off.

We did talk a little about the Aurora drag stuff, but I don't remember the subject of the busted mold coming up.

[sfhess]

I met Tom West a couple of years before he passed away.  He brought a lot of cool stuff to show off at our club meetings.  On one occasion he brought notebooks full of drawings for the Accurate Miniatures Grand Sport Corvette and McLarens.  Incredible stuff.

[Daddyfink]

1 hour ago, sfhess said:

I met Tom West a couple of years before he passed away.  He brought a lot of cool stuff to show off at our club meetings.  On one occasion he brought notebooks full of drawings for the Accurate Miniatures Grand Sport Corvette and McLarens.  Incredible stuff.

I wonder if Atlantis can get their hands on the Accurate Miniatures stuff and maybe bring back some of the cars and the Vettes. 

Tom told me that when he handed in the drawings for the instructions, the guy who did the final lay out mixed it all up, and that is why those kits are such a pain to build from the box!  

[Mark]

Doesn't Academy have the Accurate Miniatures Corvette tool?  If I remember right, they announced a reissue.

[Dave Van]

27 minutes ago, Mark said:

Doesn't Academy have the Accurate Miniatures Corvette tool?  If I remember right, they announced a reissue.

I did work for the original AM when they were in Charlotte. I built a number of kits for use in trade shows and catalogs. 

When AM was reorganized in Concord NC my brother in law was Art Director and I helped out with other duties....some as simple as packaging kits. The end of AM was messy. My brother in law died suddenly at 40 years old and other AM owners had major life issues. The tooling was in Korea at the time IIRC and the plane kits sold off. The car kits tooling I never did hear where it ended up. But there were 'problems' with it. Pretty sure the Taurus NASCAR tooling was scrapped. The GS Vette kits Revell Monogram issued were just re-box of kits in storage at the Concord AM warehouse. I'm not sure the car tooling is still around. There was a major issue with the McLaren and I was told it would never be seen again. 

AM Taurus kit....

 

[tim boyd]

19 hours ago, Dave Van said:

I did work for the original AM when they were in Charlotte. I built a number of kits for use in trade shows and catalogs. 

When AM was reorganized in Concord NC my brother in law was Art Director and I helped out with other duties....some as simple as packaging kits. The end of AM was messy. My brother in law died suddenly at 40 years old and other AM owners had major life issues. The tooling was in Korea at the time IIRC and the plane kits sold off. The car kits tooling I never did hear where it ended up. But there were 'problems' with it. Pretty sure the Taurus NASCAR tooling was scrapped. The GS Vette kits Revell Monogram issued were just re-box of kits in storage at the Concord AM warehouse. I'm not sure the car tooling is still around. There was a major issue with the McLaren and I was told it would never be seen again. 

AM Taurus kit....

 

Interesting....If I am remembering correctly, I was told the NASCAR tooling was still in existence and one or more people took a trip to S. Korea during the time when the relations with N. Korea deteriorated, for the purpose of finding a more secure site to hold the tooling....TIM

[Dave Van]

2 hours ago, tim boyd said:

Interesting....If I am remembering correctly, I was told the NASCAR tooling was still in existence and one or more people took a trip to S. Korea during the time when the relations with N. Korea deteriorated, for the purpose of finding a more secure site to hold the tooling....TIM

When Moebius first got into model car kits I was the go between to Moebius acquiring the Taurus tooling. But it was now to old for a current car and not cool enough to do 'vintage' kits.  At that time it was my understanding it was the toolings last chance. Where the tooling is today I can not say....but it was heading toward the scrap heap if it was not put to use soon. 

The positive is it gave me a door to working with Moebius. Thx

[unclescott58]

On 11/25/2020 at 11:09 PM, PintoKING said:

H1825 moonship spacecraft;  I LOVE those old space kits.

 

Which spacecraft kit is this one exactly?

[unclescott58]

I know a lot people think I'm nuts for wanting the old Revell 1971 Jungle Jim Camaro. But, it was one of first funny car kits I built back in the day. In fact, I think the only other funny car I had built before that was Monogram's Mean Maverick. And like Mr. Van above, I'd love to see Atlantis bring that one back. Back to the '71 Jungle Jim Camaro. In retrospect I understand that it was not a very accurate kit. But, I thought it looked cool at the time. And want to get one back in my collection. I think I can do a better job building it this time. The first time, I just assembled it straight out of the box without any paint. Built in one afternoon. I will take more time and use paint on this one.

[unclescott58]

On 11/27/2020 at 12:22 AM, Casey said:

Yes. I don't think any of those three have been available since the early to mid-eighties.

I also will be looking forward to both the Firebird and Nova, if they are the exact kits shown above. Plus the '56 Buick if it can be built stock.

Edited December 6, 2020 by unclescott58

[unclescott58]

On 11/26/2020 at 12:29 AM, RSchnell said:

Same here. I keep hoping the molds for the old Revell Space Station show up.

My #1 holy grail kit, the old Revell Spare Station from the late 50's. I believe that was only put out the one time, and was not a good seller at the time. I hope molds are still around for that one. But, I'm not holding my breath.

[TooOld]

1 hour ago, unclescott58 said:

Which spacecraft kit is this one exactly?

[Tom Geiger]

Isn’t this one on the list?  It’s a kit that brings strong comments about its build ability,  but also strong feelings about the nostalgia of the box art.  With the clone of the real car around, newer modelers would be familiar with the subject.

It just has to be done with the original box art!  And note that the decals for the Hollingsworth car have  never been in the kit, so that would be a big thing if they could pull it off.  And the real car has wire wheels, no doubt I’d be asking too much for them to include those in the box!

Sharp eyes may notice Bob Paeth’s autograph on my box. He was pleased to sign it for me and we had some great conversations about his involvement with the original kit!

Edited December 6, 2020 by Tom Geiger

[Dave Van]

42 minutes ago, Tom Geiger said:

Isn’t this one on the list?  It’s a kit that brings strong comments about its build ability,  but also strong feelings about the nostalgia of the box art.  With the clone of the real car around, newer modelers would be familiar with the subject.

It just has to be done with the original box art!  And note that the decals for the Hollingsworth car have  never been in the kit, so that would be a big thing if they could pull it off.  And the real car has wire wheels, no doubt I’d be asking too much for them to include those in the box!

Sharp eyes may notice Bob Paeth’s autograph on my box. He was pleased to sign it for me and we had some great conversations about his involvement with the original kit!

I'll get 1 or 2 of these........if only for the nostalgia of recalling how badly it beat me as a kid!!!  It's a tough build ...like another chance!