The story of the 1/16 Aurora Racing Scenes model kits

[Ben]

If you love the Aurora Racing Scenes kits like I do, I think you'll find that this article is full of interesting information!


*dead link*

[seeker589]

If you love the Aurora Racing Scenes kits like I do, I think you'll find that this article is full of interesting information!

The link to the photos and drawings is worth a visit! I had to save some of the drawings to hard drive. Great reference material!

I remember these kits. They were out of my price range and my skill set at the time they came out. Good thing, too. I most likely would have made a royal, hot mess of them. I was eight years old and figured I needed to use a whole tube of Testors glue per model. One tube - One model. It just balanced out in my mind!

[Ben]

The link to the photos and drawings is worth a visit! I had to save some of the drawings to hard drive. Great reference material!

I remember these kits. They were out of my price range and my skill set at the time they came out. Good thing, too. I most likely would have made a royal, hot mess of them. I was eight years old and figured I needed to use a whole tube of Testors glue per model. One tube - One model. It just balanced out in my mind!

LOL, thinking about that amount of glue, I can just smell it! LOL

[Greg Myers]

I have a friend that has all of these maybe a couple times over. I recently ask him if "reverse engineering" was possible would he allow his to be used to reproduce them, he said yes.

[Greg Myers]

And was totally tasteless.

as are most of these kits, mear toys in my opinion. If someone is going to take the time and effort to "clone" something , why not the Racing Scenes from Aurora ?

[johnbuzzed]

as are most of these kits, mear toys in my opinion. If someone is going to take the time and effort to "clone" something , why not the Racing Scenes from Aurora ?

Indeed!

[Monty]

as are most of these kits, mear toys in my opinion. If someone is going to take the time and effort to "clone" something , why not the Racing Scenes from Aurora ?

I remember when this stuff came out. I was surprised that my LHS didn't have it but, of all places, Woolworths did. I was big into Revell's 1/25 funny cars at the time, so I was disappointed to see that Aurora had issued all this stuff in a scale I didn't care about (1/16?) I'll bet if they had done these in 1/25 they could've given Revell a run for the money in accuracy.

[Greg Myers]

A Hudson model has been on the wanted list for years. Maybe not at the top of every list....but on it.

The other factor in the Hudson being viable is that it appealed to the non model car crowd. I have attended a number of the HET National conventions (Hudson Essex Terraplane) as a semi official Moebius rep. The real car Hudson enthusiast is a die hard hobbyist. They buy about anything that is well done with a Hudson badge. I displayed Moebius Hudson build ups at their shows.....and these guys could not wait to buy multiple copies of the kit themselves. This is the kind of market a kit needs today.

I doubt the molds for the Aurora 1/16 drag kits are still around. Many of the Aurora molds that Monogram bought are gone or were damaged behond use. They were great kits but even back in the day they got blown out at discount stores. I paid $5 for my garage set.

You doubt the molds are still around ? Where have you been the last twenty years or so? This has to be the greatest Urban myth of the modeling hobby. Did you miss the train wreck ?

Now to your "Blow Out at the discount store" name a kit that hasn't been blown out once they were past their prime. I think most kits at one time or another have found their way to the "blow out : table. Did I tell you the story of the $20 Pocher kits at K Mart? Your Hudson kits will end up there sooner or later. Who would have thought Revell would be "Blowing out" the last of the AM Grand Sport Corvettes?

Edited October 29, 2013 by Greg Myers

[Brett Barrow]

I doubt the molds for the Aurora 1/16 drag kits are still around. Many of the Aurora molds that Monogram bought are gone or were damaged behond use. They were great kits but even back in the day they got blown out at discount stores. I paid $5 for my garage set.

I recently spoke to Peter Vetri of Atlantis Models, one of the most knowledgeable folks in the industry when it comes to the location, condition, and viablitly of old tooling (especially Aurora) and he confirmed the Racing Scenes tooling is gone. Sold for scrap by Monogram back in the 70's.

[1930fordpickup]

I recently spoke to Peter Vetri of Atlantis Models, one of the most knowledgeable folks in the industry when it comes to the location, condition, and viablitly of old tooling (especially Aurora) and he confirmed the Racing Scenes tooling is gone. Sold for scrap by Monogram back in the 70's.

This is old news , but hearing it hurts. I know they can not keep everything that would cost a fortune to house all the old molds in a heated building. If not stored properly they would end up stuck together . All the moving parts could not be left together they would have to be greased up for storage.

I also think the wanting for the 1/16 scale parts is because our eyesight is not what it once was.

[Dave Van]

From Tom West, who was there ... the story of the Aurora mold train wreck and later "feeding frenzy" by Monogram that saw a lot of the Aurora tools sold for scrap.

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

I've never seen that post.....but heard the same story from someone higher up than Tom at Monogram. Pretty much validates the 'myth'.

And repeats what I said about scrap vs running the molds.

[Mark]

Per Tom West's articles on the history of drag racing models that appeared in SA(E) some years back, the Racing Scenes were phenomenal kits done in by poor marketing. One of the reasons they were poor sellers was Aurora's insistence the kits be broken down into "scenes," as was its practice at the time. That meant the modeler had to purchase three or four kits to build one complete model, which added up to a lot more than the cost of one Revell 1/16th scale funny car kit (which the Racing Scenes were intended to compete with.) When Aurora finally did get around to combining the scenes, the resulting kits (Vega and Pinto) were still more expensive that Revell's. West also opined that Aurora didn't do themselves any favors with the Racing Scenes box art, which he called "more suitable for denture cleaners" than for supposedly exciting drag racing model kits.

West also mentioned that the Racing Scenes tooling was difficult to run even when it was brand new due to the complexity of the molds and breakdowns were common.

Furthermore, there's absolutely no sound business reason for the Racing Scenes to be revived via reverse engineering when Revell still has the molds for its excellent 1/16th scale funny car kits in its tool bank.

Three things helped kill the Aurora kits:

-the Aurora name: Aurora was never really taken seriously by model car builders

-the pricing of these items: Revell's complete car kits were more reasonable than Aurora's parts packs. Combine that with "not taking Aurora seriously", not knowing how good the parts in their kits were, and not being able to get a handle on how good they were from the poor packaging

-Revell having "name" cars while Aurora didn't

That said, Aurora probably would have been smarter to just offer the garage scene items in 1/25 scale, and if those took off, get into doing some car kits later. The garage items, plus a decent ramp truck, with photographic box art, might have stood a chance...

[iBorg]

I remember Tom West, the designer of the Aurora kits bemoaning the kit bodies. One of them, I believe the Pinto won't sit on the kit chassis without major work.

As for price, if I remember the prices correctly the Revell kits sold for about 2/3rds the price of the Aurora kits and the Revell kits were name cars.

I do remember these being blown out at several non hobby shops. When I think about that and the K-Mart Pochers, I do want to kick myself.

[Greg Myers]

these guys

Edited November 1, 2013 by Greg Myers

[Greg Myers]

that was a great web site, lots of pictures and the whole history right from the source no guessin', fussin', nor fumin' goin' on there.

[Leonard Aguilar]

Collect and build 1\16 Aurora , love it !

[Daddyfink]

Collect and build 1\16 Aurora , love it !

Very cool! Welcome to the board!

[Belugawrx]

Your shop looks awesome!!

Welcome to the board

Cheers

[Earl Marischal]

Three things helped kill the Aurora kits:

-the Aurora name: Aurora was never really taken seriously by model car builders

-the pricing of these items: Revell's complete car kits were more reasonable than Aurora's parts packs. Combine that with "not taking Aurora seriously", not knowing how good the parts in their kits were, and not being able to get a handle on how good they were from the poor packaging

-Revell having "name" cars while Aurora didn't

Wouldn't agree with much of that from a personal point of view. I built a handful of their 1/32 hot rod kits in early 1970s and enjoyed them. The name (or packaging) didn't bother me and the UK prices were, for a teenager at the time, acceptable.

steve

PS Apologies for going somewhat off-thread.

[bobthehobbyguy]

Unfortunately the link is gone and is labeled as a dead link. Would have been an interesting read? Always a hazard when old threads are brought back.

[Greg Myers]

Some I saved

[Greg Myers]

More I think it's time for some "Reverse Engineering"

[High octane]

I have a friend that has all of the Aurora 1/16th kits in his "stash."

[Casey]

https://atlantis-models.com/blog/the-aurora-molds-urban-legends/?fbclid=IwAR2-9FZAKCPwM1TgzY6zte5K8pSzrKDbUpzwqh6PSYq8grlexa_xBwtMMZA

Copied body text of the above linked content in case the link dies: 

 

The Aurora Molds "Urban Legends"

Aurora Molds - Urban Legends… Author Bob Johnson, Contributors Ed Sexton and Peter Vetri

Ever since the mold inventory for plastic kits from Aurora Plastics Corporation was acquired by Monogram Models in the late 1970's, there have been no end of rumors and speculation from the "infamous Binghamton NY winter train wreck" (fact) to the disposition of various tool sets over the following years. Even reading the description of the trials and tribulations of Aurora on Wikipedia, there is no mention whatsoever of the purchase of some tool sets by Monogram during the winter of 1977. By mid 1978 the acquisition was completed and internal records of Monogram Models, Inc. indicate that approximately 740 molds +/- were shipped to Morton Grove, Illinois. The quantity damaged beyond repair was less than 30 molds (assessing a "mold" as the cavity and core halves even if separated in the train wreck) and by late 1979, as many as 500 molds had been scrapped. In addition, Roughly 51 molds sets composed primarily of character figures and 12 various cars; likely in 1/32nd scale, were not part of the sale to Monogram. Most of these molds were scrapped for various reasons or mold bases repurposed by Aurora themselves.

Without question, any modeler who built Aurora kits in the 1950's and 1960's has a "favorite" from Frankenstein to the turquoise P-38 "Lightning" to the Douglas MB-2 mailplane, "Mod Squad" Ford Woody Wagon, and the North American B-70. Those who built these kits as youngsters surely had different interests than senior management at Monogram whose primary goal was to acquire the Aurora molds and restrict further production primarily to ensure that existing retail shelf space was given to large numbers of reissued Aurora subjects from a potential new firm. You can see exactly what kits went right into the Monogram line by looking at the 1979 Catalog. The potential for reissues was weakening as vintage items were looked upon as less detailed and less accurate than new kit creations in the 1970's. It was a reality of what was already a shrinking market. The shelf space the industry once possessed is long gone.

After 1990 or "thereabouts", there were beliefs among the modeling community that Aurora molds stored initially at the Monogram facility in Morton Grove and relocated when Revell-Monogram changed ownership and moved to Northbrook, Illinois, and then moved a third time in 2007 under new Hobbico ownership when offices and molds were moved to Elk Grove Village, Illinois. Between that time and the Chapter 7 bankruptcy of Hobbico in 2018 and the sale of Revell assets to Quantum Capital Partners in Germany, only one 3 Aurora mold sets were sold; a duplicate 1/32nd scale Batmobile and the Monster Scenes Animal Pit and Dungeon molds. Other firms may have marketed kits based on Aurora molds, but that process utilized bagged assemblies produced in the Morton Grove facility. Many Aurora kits were reverse engineered like the Moebius Models Dr. Jekyll and the Atlantis American Bison to name a couple. The sale and purchase of bagged assemblies is a common practice in the hobby kit industry, and has been for decades and continues today.

Throughout the period from 1991 through the closure of Revell in 2018, ownership and management changed... but, one constant was the Product Manager. This person worked with several firms that purchased bagged assembly items from the overall Revell mold inventory. Following the purchase of Revell assets in the USA and Germany, "interests” for the German buyers specified molds held in China and the USA that they wished to retain for future production. There were a number that were not selected and those were set aside to be scrapped. Knowing that this would lead to a number of vintage mold sets from Monogram, Revell, Aurora, and Renwal disposed of for material value only. Revell product manager Ed Sexton saw the value in selling a quantity of the remaining molds to a viable buyer; Atlantis Toy and Hobby inc. Located on Long island New York. Fortunately, these principals saw potential in future production from most of the molds scheduled for destruction and a business "deal" was negotiated. Those that remained were transferred to Atlantis; a major undertaking all its own.

The past 3 years has seen the limited production of vintage kits that had not been produced in years. If you appreciate what Atlantis is creating, support them with purchases! We need to thank Ed Sexton along with the cooperation of Lou Aguilera, President of Carrera Revell of Americas, Inc. that a "quick sale" to a junk dealer did not happen. While Ed worked with principals at Atlantis Models, Lou negotiated with the new German owners to achieve an acceptable solution. Their foresight to find a small firm that was (and is) committed to work hard to survive in a very different hobby market is not only laudable, but provides future kits releases from vintage molds that otherwise would have been lost. Atlantis co owners Peter Vetri and Rick Delfavero are taking on a massive challenge that goes way beyond what you see when a new Atlantis kit makes its way to a retail shelf.

Hopefully, this provides facts that refute the "what ifs"..... and before anyone asks, there is a list of what was purchased and that remains the confidential property of the new owners. Support them all that you can.

Better to buy vintage kits!

Feb 10th 2022 Bob Johnson

[Casey]

I'll add these, which someone posted in the comments section of an Atlantis facebook post at least a year ago:

Edited February 12, 2022 by Casey