A History of Pyro & The First Modern Injection Molding Machine

[Casey]

Fascinating articles

http://www.oldmodelkits.com/blog/plastic-model-kit-history/the-kits-of-pyro-plastic-company-an-illustrated-guide/

http://www.oldmodelkits.com/blog/plastic-model-kit-history/william-bill-morris-lester-%E2%80%93-the-father-of-modern-injection-molding-and-founder-of-pyro-plastics/

[pharoah]

Great articles! I remember the design a car.

I had a design a plane when I was a lot younger.

[Tom Geiger]

They had a cool history. We wondered where "Pyro Park" was in Union, NJ since that's not far from where our club meets. Our member from Union, Dave Wood figured out the factory must have been knocked down some time ago. There is a new Home Depot there now. Right off of Route 22.

[Greg Myers]

Model History 101. Everyone should read this, thanks Casey.

[Casey]

They have a few mini-history articles, not just about Pyro:

http://www.oldmodelkits.com/blog/category/plastic-model-kit-history/

From the Monogram and Revell history articles:

"In 1991 Odyssey purchased the Matchbox tooling from Lesney and ex-Matchbox kits were released under both the Revell and Monogram names."

I wonder if this includes auto kits, too, as I recall there were a few Matchbox/AMT kits created and released while AMT was under the control of Lesney Corp. and the AMT tooling was in Baltimore, MD., but I'm not sure if Matchbox created any 1/25 auto kits during that time period.

There's a nice pic of the Revell USS Missouri mold in the Revell article, too:

There are some other tantalizing bits of info regarding the Aurora/Moebius monster kits, too, but it's too vague to draw any conclusions.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Fascinating. Thank you for the links.

[darquewanderer]

Great stuff, thanks.

[jas1957]

VERY interesting, thanks much for posting it. I can't get enough of this kind of stuff.

[Fabrux]

...there were a few Matchbox/AMT kits created and released while AMT was under the control of Lesney Corp. and the AMT tooling was in Baltimore, MD., but I'm not sure if Matchbox created any 1/25 auto kits during that time period.

The 1979 Ford Bronco was only released in AMT/Matchbox packaging before the Model King reissue.

[charlie8575]

Now those were a couple of articles well worth reading. Thanks, Casey.

Charlie Larkin

[Ramfins59]

Great articles Casey. Thanks.

[Joe Handley]

I have to exactly wonder how many of those old Pyro kits found their way into Lindberg's catalog over the years....... I'm pretty sure we have some of those kits on the shelves at work in newer packages!

[Don Sikora II]

Thanks for the link!

[Casey]

Might be a re-post, but this (well these, if you watch the other suggested videos) video does a great job of showing how injection molding works, and defines most of the specific terms involved-- sprue, runner, ejector pins, etc.:

[louie]

Now this is my cup of tea, I really find the history of model kit company's and the people behind them and directly involved with them fasanating. Very good stuff Casey and Thank you for pulling this thread back up.    

Jeff 

[Casey]

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Edited January 10, 2019 by Casey

[unclescott58]

Interesting stuff Casey. Thanks again.

 

[Casey]

http://modelkitreviews.proboards.com/thread/940/february-1961-article-ford-times

 

 

 

 

Edited October 24, 2018 by Casey

[64Comet404]

18 hours ago, Casey said:

From the February 1961 issue of Ford Times:

Fascinating article to read. I find it interesting that the '49 Ford on the cover is already displaying a bit of warpage on the body.

[Casey]

On 10/6/2018 at 8:13 AM, 64Comet404 said:

Fascinating article to read. I find it interesting that the '49 Ford on the cover is already displaying a bit of warpage on the body.

I'm sure the "infra-red baking" did help the plastic, either.

It's too bad the Ford Times was glovebox sized (5" x 9"), as the pics are small and grainy, but there are many details which can still be seen.

The 1/10 scale '60 Ford Ranchero body looks like a hollow shell, rather than a solid wood (or clay, thought the caption states it's clay...which, it doesn't look like to me) buck.

[Snake45]

That Pyro article was a walk down memory lane. I four of the 1/1200 warships at my grandparents' house--a US and a Japanese aircraft carrier and battleship. Had many "battles" between them on the bed. Have the 1:1 scale Colt "Peacemaker" I bought and started in the '70s--need to finish that someday. I have at least one Triumph GT-6, maybe two, and at least two of the 1/48 Gloster Gladiators, maybe three, a kit that's still spoken of with respect in Model Airplane World. 

I got a Design-A-Plane for Christmas or Easter or birthday or something when I was about 5. I spent countless hours building the various semi-accurate configurations, and designing my own. About a decade ago I bought what seems to be a complete set with original box, etc., off eBay. I think I paid about $40 or $50 for it and was glad to get it. This one--and all the ones I've seen reference to, such as in the article--came with a "slide rule" gizmo that was supposed to be of some sort of use. I don't remember that in the one I had as a kid. I seem to remember a booklet or manual or maybe it was just a big sheet that folded up that illustrated and detailed the various "real" airplanes you could build with the thing. Was disappointed that the one I bought didn't have that booklet. Then again, maybe I completely imagined the thing. 

[ChrisBcritter]

"A 1949 Ford sedan, for instance, can bring from $30 to $50 if you can find a collector who needs it."

A lot of money in 1961! Fifty-odd years later, they don't go for that much more.

[Art Anderson]

17 hours ago, Casey said:

I'm sure the "infra-red baking" did help the plastic, either.

It's too bad the Ford Times was glovebox sized (5" x 9"), as the pics are small and grainy, but there are many details which can still be seen.

The 1/10 scale '60 Ford Ranchero body looks like a hollow shell, rather than a solid wood (or clay, thought the caption states it's clay...which, it doesn't look like to me) buck.

Those earlier promo's (through at least 1961 at AMT/SMP, 1962 for JoHan) were molded in Tenite, which was DuPont's brand name for their acetate plastic formula.  Tenite (Acetate) was chosen, very early on, as the medium for molding promotional model cars, as it is virtually shatterproof, which could not be said for the pure styrene resins available through the  mid-late 1950's.  Straight styrene was considered dangerous for toys, due to it's breakability into shards that could have sharper edges than your mom's kitchen knives.  ABS plastic (a blend of Acrylic, Butyldiene and Styrene) came along about 1960, and by 1962, both AMT and JoHan were using ABS, which while it could be broken, would not shatter if dropped or stepped on.  ABS also solved the problem of "warping" when exposed to high humidity or immersion in water that was the big drawback to Tenite/Acetate, and retained the ability to pick up a mirror-sheen from highly polished molds as well.

As for that 1/10 scale hollow Ranchero body, that would have been an acrylic (think polyester resin here) casting made by closing up the prototype hand-carved basswood mold patterns, which AMT (and MPC) pattern-makers created, which after such polyester resin molding samples were approved, became the patterns "pantographed" and downsized to 1/25 scale, for model car kit production.

Art

[Snake45]

1 hour ago, Art Anderson said:

Those earlier promo's (through at least 1961 at AMT/SMP, 1962 for JoHan) were molded in Tenite, which was DuPont's brand name for their acetate plastic formula.  Tenite (Acetate) was chosen, very early on, as the medium for molding promotional model cars, as it is virtually shatterproof, which could not be said for the pure styrene resins available through the  mid-late 1950's.  Straight styrene was considered dangerous for toys, due to it's breakability into shards that could have sharper edges than your mom's kitchen knives.  ABS plastic (a blend of Acrylic, Butyldiene and Styrene) came along about 1960, and by 1962, both AMT and JoHan were using ABS, which while it could be broken, would not shatter if dropped or stepped on.  ABS also solved the problem of "warping" when exposed to high humidity or immersion in water that was the big drawback to Tenite/Acetate, and retained the ability to pick up a mirror-sheen from highly polished molds as well.

As for that 1/10 scale hollow Ranchero body, that would have been an acrylic (think polyester resin here) casting made by closing up the prototype hand-carved basswood mold patterns, which AMT (and MPC) pattern-makers created, which after such polyester resin molding samples were approved, became the patterns "pantographed" and downsized to 1/25 scale, for model car kit production.

Art

I believe this also explains where the term "high-impact styrene" (not seen that much anymore, but common in the '60s) comes from. 

[89AKurt]

Thanks for posting!