# Finally finished La Guillotine d'Aurora



## Mike Warshaw (Feb 23, 1999)

Here's the first model I've built in ages: Actually, the Polar Lights release of the Aurora Guillotine, which I've been planning to build since the '90s. The sign is a resin piece I picked up at Chiller more than a decade ago. I used the "lost oil" techniques for the wood, priming the pieces with tan enamel, then painting a mix of black, burnt sienna, and raw umber oil paints over that. While the paint was still wet, I used a flat brush to remove most of it, drawing the brush along the parts to create wood grain. Once that dried, I lightly drybrushed with tan. I sunk a washer in the neck, then placed a magnet in the head. I then put a little of the neck bone post back on the head to use for positioning, to easily repeat the execution of my little French aristocrat.


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## ChrisW (Jan 1, 1970)

Viva La' Revolution!

Hi Mike, nice to see you on the board! Nice job,wood looks weathered in scale.
Looking at the pictures you posted, the thought came into my head, "What the heck was Aurora thinking?!?!?"


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## Frankie Boy (Feb 28, 2002)

ChrisW said:


> Viva La' Revolution!
> 
> Hi Mike, nice to see you on the board! Nice job,wood looks weathered in scale.
> Looking at the pictures you posted, the thought came into my head, "What the heck was Aurora thinking?!?!?"


I agree with the good work on the weathered wood. And to the question "What the heck was Aurora thinking?" I'm sure it was something that just came off the top of the head.


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## Rob P. (Jan 26, 2004)

Very nice work! Your wood grain technique is great, and I will have to file it away and try it on future projects. 

As for what Aurora was thinking when they came up with this? Well doesn't every kid need a cigar cutter? 

Rob


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

ChrisW said:


> Viva La' Revolution!
> 
> Hi Mike, nice to see you on the board! Nice job,wood looks weathered in scale.
> Looking at the pictures you posted, the thought came into my head, "What the heck was Aurora thinking?!?!?"


I agree with all my brothers here Great Job on one of my favorite kits :thumbsup:
I know exactly what Aurora was thinking...Kids love Guillotines 
....and they had planned a whole line up of The Chamber of Horrors kits...the Rack...the Electric Chair...the Hanging Tree...and the Gallows... but unfortunately they were never made by Aurora 
Denis


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## cujo (Mar 26, 2001)

Your work looks great! I really like the gore on the headrest and blade:thumbsup:
Cujo/Chris.


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## TAY666 (Jan 8, 2000)

Frankie Boy;4750551And to the question "What the heck was Aurora thinking?" I'm sure it was something that just came off the top of the head.[/QUOTE said:


> Oh man.
> That was bad.
> 
> But in a good way
> ...


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

Mike,

What everybody else has said!

That nameplate looks like one by John Apgar's Posthumous Productions. Maybe someday, after the Disney Haunted House and Pirates of the Caribbean kits have been reissued, after Revell releases the last couple Knights, after Monarch issues the Ghost of Castel-Mare in glow-in-the-dark plastic, maybe _then_ John will publish a PP website so we can purchase his terror-ific products online...


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## Mike Warshaw (Feb 23, 1999)

Thanks, guys. Your comments are really gratifying. 

I do think it's a cool kit, but I must say, I agree with Chris. There was a moment when it was close to finished, when I had splattered some Freak Flex Old Dried Blood around, when it struck me that this was in really bad taste. I mean, have you read about the guillotines? They killed more than 30,00 people, and rather casually. The streets would reek with blood.

On the other hand, I did just, with great ceremony, slide the platform down, lower the stockade, release the blade, and swip! Right in the basket. Nothing but net. 

It does take me back to the old days, when I spent plenty of time browsing the Flatbush Hobby Shoppe to see what was new in the long boxes from Aurora.


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## Mark McGovern (Apr 25, 1999)

ChrisW said:


> ...the thought came into my head, "What the heck was Aurora thinking?!?!?"


CeeDub,

One might just as well wonder what Aurora was thinking when they made models of fighter airplanes, armored tanks, or naval vessels. They all dealt death, did they not? The only real difference between the Guillotine and models of military vehicles was that you could see the beheaded victim up close and personal (well, in 1/15 scale, anyway).

But of course, no kits were ever designed to inflame the builder's homicidal instincts. They were made to be enjoyed as replicas of their subjects, and what was the harm in that? A lot of us built the Guillotine, even the Monster Scenes, as kids. We turned out okay, didn't we...? :freak:


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## BobbysMonsterModels (Mar 8, 2014)

Very nice work. I love this kit!


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## Desert_Modeler (Jun 2, 2010)

When I built my "chopper" I cut off the headpost that inserts into the neck. because the blade didn't cleanly lop off the head.

I hit on the idea of using two weak magnets, one in the neck stump and one in the head to hold the head on the body when in either the upright or prone position in the stock.

Since magnets don't work well in shear , when the victim is in the stock, and the blade falls, the head comes cleanly off..

and it's repeatable..


now if I could only make the blood spurt out...............


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## ChrisW (Jan 1, 1970)

Desert Modeler,

did you know that when Polar Lights re-issued the kit as a glow iin the dark, that they included magnets o hold the head in place?


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## Night-Owl (Mar 17, 2000)

Well done Mike! :thumbsup:


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## Spockr (Sep 14, 2009)

Cool build of this gruesome kit. Thanks for describing the wood grain technique. I think I'll give it a try

The cutting edge humor that cropped up on this post was rather lop sided. It made me want to put my head in my hands or rather put my head in my lap. Then it fell on the floor....

Regards,
Matt


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## Marko (Jul 11, 2002)

Hey Mike, OH yes, very nice build and the wood grain is right there. The nameplate is very cool with the colors added!


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