Kits you'd like to see, but hey, you know they ruined the molds.

[Casey]

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. car (later issued as the Mademoiselle Secret Agent 97 without any alterations) and the Piranha were first issued around the same time. They didn't share a single part.

You're right. I was thinking of the "double" Piranha kit:

[38 Crush]

I'm diffinetly on board with the Uncertain T. Love that kit. There are some rumers about it but nothing solid.

[JohnU]

The AMT 1972 Chevrolet Chevelle SS & The AMT Kenworth W-925. The AMT Pinto mentioned earlier as well.

For me specificly the 1972 Chevelle Red Alert Amt Kit# T550!

[Greg Myers]

Did something happen to this kit ?

[Draggon]

Yea, no kidding on Red Alert.

[Mark]

Did something happen to this kit ?

The Chevelle was backdated by Ertl to the 1970 (which actually makes it more accurate as the Red Alert because the 1:1 car was a 1970). It was later reissued as a '72 again, but the '72 bumpers were newly tooled and weren't as good as the originals. Most of the optional parts have been changed, and the cut line on the underside of the hood has been eliminated too.

[Greg Myers]

I've never seen the '70 AMT version. Do you have any pictures?

http://www.chevyhardcore.com/news/spotlight-bob-hamiltons-red-alert-70-chevelle-ss-454/

[bigphoto]

How about the 1/43 AMT kits other than a select few that showde up in the 90's not a peep of them.

[Mark]

I've never seen the '70 AMT version. Do you have any pictures?

http://www.chevyhardcore.com/news/spotlight-bob-hamiltons-red-alert-70-chevelle-ss-454/

There was never an AMT issue of the Red Alert in 1970 trim. The Red Alert kit was first issued around 1973. I believe the Red Alert was unchanged parts-wise from the '72 annual kit. The Red Alert was one of those AMT kits that you saw on the shelf in every K-Mart store in the country. The box art was retained through the late Seventies. The '72 was backdated to the '70 many years after the Red Alert last appeared. When that was done, most of the optional parts from the Red Alert were replaced with different parts. There is only one 1:1 car, the '70.

[Greg Myers]

I'm confused. What do you mean "The Chevelle was "backdated" to the 1970." "There was never an AMT issue of the Red Alert in 1970 trim. " ? You seem to be talking about two different things here.

[Casey]

I've never seen the '70 AMT version. Do you have any pictures?

I'm confused. What do you mean "The Chevelle was "backdated" to the 1970." "There was never an AMT issue of the Red Alert in 1970 trim. " ? You seem to be talking about two different things here.

The AMT '70 Chevelle SS 454 kit was never issued with the Red Alert decals is what Mark said.

[Greg Myers]

Gotcha. and I got both kits to build a better mouse (Rat) trap.

Edited December 4, 2012 by Greg Myers

[tooltas]

obs or bigfoot 1 or the 72 gmc step sides or some of the 4wd trucks

[Casey]

The Aurora tooling story was told to me by Tom West. Yes, the same person who designed them. Some of the tooling for the 417 Hemi was destroyed when it was used improperly during production and not repaired, he as part of the tooling that made the engine block and it is fragged!

From what he told me, the train crash messed up tooling that no one really cared about at the time. The Knights, haunted house type stuff and John Kennedy, the kit, not the Pres. The tooling was taken over to Monograms facility and the shop guys where told to go over it and pick out stuff that was still viable. The rest was scrapped for the value of the metal. From what he knows, some of it was scrapped out the back door for its value and the profits shared with some of the engineers who gave the blessing to scrap the stuff. So, the tooling still may exist or it may have been scrapped.

He did tell me that they never got back the tire molds from Canada where the tires where being produced. So, those may also still exist.

This seems to jive with what Jesse said.

http://culttvman.com/main/?p=6365

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

[Greg Myers]

no mention here of these gems :

[Ben]

Revell will finally dig out the Aurora molds they have and dust off these gems.

Is this confirmed? I thought all the Aurora Racing Molds had been destroyed?

[Greg Myers]

I don't see mention of any of the above kits mentioned in here : http://culttvman.com/main/?p=6365

Edited April 5, 2013 by Greg Myers

[Casey]

Is this confirmed? I thought all the Aurora Racing Molds had been destroyed?

I'm not sure it can or will ever be confirmed, and I know Art Anderson has mentioned a similar story to the one Tom West told, so it's reasonable to think the 1/16 Aurora Racing Scenes tooling is gone.

Per Jesse's earlier post, as told by Tom West:

"Some of the tooling for the 417 Hemi was destroyed when it was used improperly during production and not repaired, he as part of the tooling that made the engine block and it is fragged!"

Assuming that's true and it arrived at Morton Grove in '77, and considering how poorly the 1/16 Racing Scenes sold for Aurora, I would think it would've been an easy choice for scrapping.

[Greg Myers]

Hard to believe they didn't sell. I was in the Navy at the time, Okinawa '70-'74 so I wouldn't have a clue. Didn't see any at the base hobby shop. Jut look at this stuff and drool. http://www.straightlinemodeler.org/aurora.html

[Chuck Kourouklis]

Yeah, spent X on these - a big enough X, don't you worry - and I got no regrets at all:

They're everything they've been cracked up to be. Not slapping 'em together any time soon, so if tech advances quick enough to make 'em re-doable, I may just have some usable masters.

[Greg Myers]

That's what I'm talkin' about, reverse engineering.

[Casey]

They're everything they've been cracked up to be.

I remember opening the Pinto & Custom Painters kit I bought on eBay in '99 or so, and the disappointment shortly thereafter. The locating pins on the windshield were huge, the body had way too much roll at the rockers, and the nose and fenderlines seemed very "square". The figures are great, and the best part of that particular kit IMHO. Bell bottoms, pointy collars, and a 'fro scream early '70s, but the head can interchange with the F/C Drivers' bodies, making them even more versatile.

The F/C Chassis (mine was a swap meet glue bomb buy) set had some nice details, but since the chassis is molded in one piece, the tubing is only half round. Good for a quick glance, but not nearly as realistic as the Revell 1/16 F/C and T/F kit chassis. The M&H tires are phenomenal, the 5-spoke American front wheels sensational, and the Donovan 417 is in a league of its own.

Hard to believe they didn't sell.

According to Tom West's History of Drag Racing Models which ran in SAE in '90 or so, they didn't sell well at all.

[Chuck Kourouklis]

I just come to a different conclusion, Casey. For the era, the bad parts aren't so far off, and the good parts are pretty unbelievable.

[Casey]

I just come to a different conclusion, Casey. For the era, the bad parts aren't so far off, and the good parts are pretty unbelievable.

They are great, but they do have some shortcomings in a few areas. I think the Racing Scenes kits tend to get a bit overhyped since Aurora is defunct, similar to what's happened to JO-HAN kits, but I don't see the quality of the RC parts ever being equalled. The Tom West article really spelled out why, and I wish he'd write a follow up, adding some more history of his time at Aurora.

[Chuck Kourouklis]

Well yeah, Tom's article spelled out the biggest problems with the bodies, so I went into this knowing just what to expect there; and without any nasty surprises, it was easy to be blown away by the rest.

It's also interesting that there's something to the engraving "flavor" that seems similar to the MPC big-scales of the time - don't know why a shared molding facility would bring that about if different artisans handled the tooling, but there does seem to be a certain subtle kinship there.