# Aurora Babe Ruth WIP



## dklange (Apr 25, 2009)

I bought this kit several years ago and have wanted to build it for some time now, so, as I was finishing the new Sinbad, I started work on it. I've always loved Babe Ruth and thought this was a very cool kit. The fit isn't very good, but, with some Aves here and there, it's starting to look pretty neat. So, here's a couple of shots, with lots of work yet to do...


- Denis


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## Zorro (Jun 22, 1999)

Can't wait to see this Aurora rarity come together. :thumbsup:


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## louspal (Sep 13, 2009)

Looks great so far. I love the crowd graphic of Yankee Stadium. Is that a part of the kit, I assume?


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## deadmanincfan (Mar 11, 2008)

Looks like you're off to a great start, Denis! :thumbsup:


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## Cro-Magnon Man (Jun 11, 2001)

I can't remember any other Great Moments In Sport kits appearing here over that last ten years or so, so thanks for showing.


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## Xenodyssey (Aug 27, 2008)

Even with the fit issues you've mentioned the figures look quite nice, both the sculpting. and the posing. Looking forward to seeing it complete.


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## OzyMandias (Dec 29, 2004)

Wow Denis, that is a sweet build!


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## rkoenn (Dec 18, 2007)

Those tooth picks have got to hurt!

I've never seen that kit. I didn't buy too many Aurora kits when I was a kid and kind of dropped out of plastic models around 1969 to move on to model rocketry. But yours is looking great. And it is interesting to see such a complete diorama. It looks to be almost complete at this time. It will be interesting to see what all that extra work adds to it.

Bob K.


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## dklange (Apr 25, 2009)

Thanks to all for the very kind comments!



louspal said:


> Looks great so far. I love the crowd graphic of Yankee Stadium. Is that a part of the kit, I assume?


Yes, the Yankee Stadium background comes with the kit. It really adds a cool element to the overall feel.

I want to add the pin stripes to Babe's uniform. That's looking like a good project. My plan is to use a Rapidograph 3X0 technical pen. I'll try to post some photos as I go.

Thanks again! - Denis


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## SteveR (Aug 7, 2005)

Very nice!


dklange said:


> I want to add the pin stripes to Babe's uniform. That's looking like a good project. My plan is to use a Rapidograph 3X0 technical pen.


Are you sure you wouldn't like to mask and spray using thin striping tape? It'd be more forgiving than hand-striping with the pen ...?


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## Mitchellmania (Feb 14, 2002)

Very, very cool!!


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## buzzconroy (Jun 28, 2002)

Nice work so far Denis, are you adding the pin stripes on Babe's uniform? 
I have this kit also,I need a Jimmy Brown kit.

Randy


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## apls (Dec 5, 2005)

I have a Willie Mays kit I am going to restore, after the Phillies, oh well! I am glad that Cultman has the decals for his uniform, but not for the wall, therefor I will have to be very careful when I removed and reuse them.


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## OzyMandias (Dec 29, 2004)

I've never seen the sport kits before. It's a dynamic model. Shame they will probably never be repopped.


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## Auroranut (Jan 12, 2008)

Looking great so far Denis!
I don't have any of the "Great Moments in Sports" kits but they're on my hit list (as well as all the other Auroras of course ) and it'd be cool to see these ones reissued.
Those guys really need to stay away from the javelin throwers though...:drunk:

Chris.


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## xsavoie (Jun 29, 1999)

Different shades of flesh on the figures faces would be great.This is the type of kit you would like to see in a bigger scale.By the way,what scale is it.:thumbsup:


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## PF Flyer (Jun 24, 2008)

Great kit. I have the Aurora GMIS Willie Mays that I built a long time ago. Your Babe Ruth looks lots better!


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## PF Flyer (Jun 24, 2008)

What the heck. Since we hardly ever see the Aurora Great Moments in Sports Kits here, I'll post the Mays pic. Just don't compare it to DK's Ruth!


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## apls (Dec 5, 2005)

Very good Willie Mays, not likly these kits will ever be re issued. Most of the atletes are still alive. I always wondered what was up with the chain link fence on the Say Hey kid. I saw the film of that catch in front of a big wall.


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## PF Flyer (Jun 24, 2008)

Yeah, the "wall" on the model is not accurate at all. At the Polo Grounds, there was no fence and, as I recall from the films, no "450 ft" sign. And I'm not sure about a warning track (hard to tell from the old b&w footage). Like a lot of Aurora models, this one took certain "liberties" for the sake of a more interesting kit and base. Thanks to Dennis for starting this thread. Wonder if anyone could post pics of the other GMIS kits: Unitas, Brown, Jerry West, Dempsey v. Firpo?


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## rkoenn (Dec 18, 2007)

PF, I don't know what you consider great but I certainly think your Willy Mays is great. My dad loved baseball and we lived near Tampa so we would go to spring training games over there where the Cincinnati Reds had their training camp. I may have seen Mays play against them back then, the early 60s mainly. I do remember many of the big name Reds starting over there such as Rose, Bench, Perez, and Concepcion. But to be honest I watch the standings but don't get too excited watching any sports real time. And I wouldn't be interested in building sports figure models but I do appreciate seeing builds as good as yours and DK's. Again, I would call your Mays an excellent build, from what I can see you really got the colors, the highlighting, the shading, everything spot on.

Bob K.


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## PF Flyer (Jun 24, 2008)

Thanks. I'm just such an admirer of Dennis's meticulous work (especially the flesh tones) that I'm always a tad nervous about putting up my pics. I don't use an airbrush or anything and just craft paints from Wal-Mart mostly. And I really didn't mean to turn this into a Mays thread. I, too, saw him play in Atlanta about 1967. He was my childhood idol and I had the kit as a youth. Paid way too much for this one on ebay a while back. At any rate, I hope DK will post more WIP pics of Ruth. From what I can tell only the Dempsey v. Firpo GMIS kit is available these days at a halfway reasonable price. The others are through the roof as they weren't produced for very long. Maybe some of the Aurora aficianados can add more about the sports kits.


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## dklange (Apr 25, 2009)

Great work on the Willie Mays, PF!!:thumbsup: I've not seen a build up of it before. It looks very, very nice!! Thanks for adding to the thread.

I would love to see all the Great Moments models show up here. I've seen several of them but, never in one place.

Thanks to everyone for the very kind comments!! They are appreciated.

I'm hoping to get some time this weekend to do some more work.

- Denis


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## Jimmy B (Apr 19, 2000)

Great work on both of these kits. Willie and the famous 'Basket Catch' and the Babe going yard (although that expression is still 40 years away)

GMIS kits will be promoted to the top of my Grail list if Atlantis comes through with Blackbeard and Captain Kidd next year. The Only GMIS kit I ever saw was Firpo vs Dempsey which I butchered when I was about 9.

When I saw decals of these on Cults site I was kinda optimistic that maybe a re-release was forthcoming. Why else produce Decals for kits that are that rare?

I wouldn't give up on the hopes of these ever being re-released. Look at some other re-pops we thought we'de never see: Munsters Livingroom, J&H, Monster Scenes, Big Franky, The Barris Batmobile and in a couple days Zorro.

I noticed if there's enough clamor on these boards for a specific kit eventually it surfaces.


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## Mr. Franz (Apr 17, 2009)

Well, I'm impressed by the high quality of work on both of these kits!

I got all of the GMIS kits as they came out except for Jerry West. Built the rest except for Willie Mays, which I stupidly gave away because I'd lost interest in model kits. The others are also gone. Wish I could hop into a "wayback machine" and get them back!

Would they sell now??? The Babe, I think, would. Not sure about Dempsey vs. Firpo--how many people under age 50 even know who those guys were? Also not sure about the level of interest in Jim Brown, Unitas and Jerry West. I would buy and multiples of all, but then I'm a sports fan and also have fond memories of building those kits (badly) long ago. 

-- Larry


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## PF Flyer (Jun 24, 2008)

I know Atlantis doesn't care if we ask....but my guess is that this would be a tiny niche market. Maybe one day models will be "mold on demand" and you can just put in a computer order and have whatever you want repopped. No box art, no shrink wrap, just parts and instructions in a plastic bag. A fair number of publishers are doing that with books. They get an order or several orders, they print, plain brown cover and all. Ah, perchance to dream....


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## bqeman (Apr 14, 2009)

Looking Good! I always loved the Great Moments in sports kits. Had quite a few as a kid. I was able to get Dempsey - Firpo a few years ago, but the rest are really expensive and hard to find.

Johnny Unitas was always my favorite.


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## apls (Dec 5, 2005)

I need the baseball for Willie Mays.


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## Scary Terry (Jul 8, 2009)

Can't help with the baseball -- but somebody has JUST the basketball from the Jerry West kit up on eBay right now...! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=370415339247&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_1204wt_1292


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## dklange (Apr 25, 2009)

*Update on Babe Ruth kit...*

I have spent some of the last couple weeks working on the kit. I now have the catcher and the umpire finished and glued to the base. I have the stripes started on Babe, but it's slow going. If all goes well I'll have some final shots in a week or two. - Denis


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