# What Was Your One Model Kit You Loved Now And Then!{one Kit Please}



## RHINO#1 (May 19, 1999)

HOWDY GANG! THE ONE KIT I LOVED WHEN I WAS A RHINO BRAT HAS TO BE AURORA'S WOLFMAN! AND NOW A DAYS IT HAS TO BE MY RHINO CUSTOM KIT THAT I LOVE SO MUCH, AND WAS GLAD IT WAS SAVED FROM MY FIRE I HAD RHINO KIT LOOKS LIKE THIS ONE, BUT WITH CUSTOM BASE: http://www.amoktime.com/detail.asp?product_id=mkko04&subcat=382 LET ME KNOW WHAT KIT YOU LOVED NOW AND THEN LATER GANG, RHINO!:devil:


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## wolfman66 (Feb 18, 2006)

Loved back then was my Aurora Rodan kit from 75 and its been with me for 30yrs now and still love it


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## F91 (Mar 3, 2002)

Aurora Seaview


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## fluke (Feb 27, 2001)

There are many older kits like the Aurora *MOON BUS* but my older brother had that when I was young and I built years later, so I can not count that one.

The *ONE* kit that I built once in grade school 75 again in 82 and in 93 was *Revell's* *1/32 scale Huey UH1-D 'slick'*. A pretty accurate and detailed model kit for 1966. I have always had a soft spot for Nam era Helo's and that one is my fav...the CH47-A Chinook is my 2nd.


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## lastastronaut (Jan 29, 2008)

Since I can only name one, the one that comes back to me time and again, was this little gem I had when I was around 7 or 8.
It was made by Revell I think. Sort of a characiture of a plane called a "Flapjack". It had sort of the exagerated egg shape, with motorized wings that flapped as two forward cannons pulled back and forth,and the prop spun.
I have since tried in vain to find it, and never can find it anywhere.
Would love to have it again.


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## Auroranut (Jan 12, 2008)

Lastastronaut, if you want your grail gratis, let me know.
Chris.


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## Auroranut (Jan 12, 2008)

My all time favourite is Monograms King Chopper. In 1970, for my 9th birthday, I got a total of $4.50 in birthday money. Mum took me to the local toy shop to spend it. Allthe Monogram car kits had me in a daze and I had a hard time picking what I wanted. Then I saw King Chopper. Unfortunately it was $6.50 so I couldn't afford it! Iended up buying Li'l Coffin instead. 
I saved up for ages to get King Chopper, but when we went back, it was gone. We went to some other shops to buy it but couldn't find it anywhere!!
Since then, I've always looked for it with no luck. 
I finally found it 3 years ago on the showrod model website. I asked and asked and even offered an ultra rare Honest Engine kit in exchange for one. After about 2 months, someone there offered me one. 
I now have my all time grail, and I swear, I'll die with it!! It's half built now and I've stripped all the chrome and cleaned up and assembled the parts that need to be deseamed before rechroming. This is my "Idon't care what it costs or how long it takes, it's going to be as perfect as I can possibly make it " kit. Chris.


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

Man that's a tough call...Love all the Aurora models (Monster) Guillotine worked, so it's high on the list...Forgotten prisoner comes in at #2 but my all time favorite has to be the Addams Family Haunted House. Not only a challenge to paint but it has moving Ghosts and one that pops out the back door...the trick was to make sure you hinged the doors just right and not start playing with it until the glue had thoroughly dried. I always wished the base was bigger for a few old gnarled trees...tombstones etc...my original HH met its' demise when (at the brilliant age of 17) I thought it would be cool to take pictures of it burning to the ground...yep Idiot Award goes right here!.....I've got 5 glow and 5 non glow kits mib one build up I'm always adding to (like the Winchester House) and one Resin kit with so much flash that I never did start it...
Thanks Rhino for this thread...I always look forward to looking back...:thumbsup:
Mcdee


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## revelo (Jan 11, 2007)

Mine is the Aurora White Tail Deer. It was the first model I built and was given to me by my father when I was 6 years old. 36 years later, I still have it, along with the box.


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## otto (Jan 1, 1970)

Oddly enough, Blackbeard the pirate. My cousin had one when I was a kid. By the time I was ready to buy, they were out of production. I'm not really into pirates, but I think it might be one of the best kits Aurora produced. Great pose, proportions, details and base.


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## wanted2buyit (Dec 18, 2007)

Hands down.... any kit of Titanic. Preferably 1/350 scale. But you name it, I have hit it. 

I must have done that ship 40 or 50 times 
Regular, wreck, raise the titanic wreck, what if the ship was never sank and had 30 years of service, the sister ships, britanic wreck, blah blah blah. I'm a sucker for those kits....

Display 'em, sink ,em, I love them I really do. 

Since I was 9 or so. Its the kits I love to do once in awhile.

Kurt


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## Dr. Pretorius (Nov 17, 2000)

I can never pick a "favorite".
For this topic I'd say it was the Aurora Viking Ship from the "Young Model Builder's Club".
I loved building it some thirty years ago. That kit is long gone now, but I have another that I'll build someday.

I built the Weird-oh's "Daddy" kit for the Staff table at the 2006 Chiller Model and Art contest. I enjoyed building it, and got lots of positive feedback about it. So that's my favorite "now" kit...until I finish "Rif Raf and his Spitsfire".


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## Zorro (Jun 22, 1999)

As a kid - Aurora Frankenstein. First figure kit I ever built and the absolute icon of Aurora figure kits as far as I'm concerned.

As an adult - Aurora Blackbeard. All things considered the best figure kit Aurora ever produced. My absolute grail as an adult collector.


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## Roguepink (Sep 18, 2003)

I spent the past hour on Google looking for it, but I had this one WAAAAYYYY back when:

Gerry Anderson Starcruiser 1

It's the only image I could find, so you Anderson fans out there can probably tell me more about it. There MIGHT be remnants of it in storage, so if I get around to cleaning out the basement, I'll let everyone know if I find it.

In my digging online, I found this entry: Starbird Avenger. THIS was one of my favorite toys for years and years and years. My dad made a huge carrier ship / space port to go with it (out of carboard boxes, paper plates, you name it). You tilt it up and the pitch rises, you tilt it down, the pitch falls, and if you press a button it makes laser sounds, it has lights, and you can reconfigure it. Sort of a precursor to the South Bend "Enterprise" toy.


...looking over the Starbird page, I also had the command base. Toys are wasted on the young.


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## James Henderson (Aug 22, 1999)

Snoopy and his Sopwith Camel. No question.


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## Steven Coffey (Jan 5, 2005)

Roguepink said:


> Starbird Avenger. .


I had the same toy, I thought it was the greatest thing ever! I saw one for sell some place. It was way more money than I had on me at the time or I would have bought it! As for favorite model mine was the Klingon Battle Cruiser. It was the first model I ever built. That was back in 1974 I was 7. It is still my favorite.


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## Seaview (Feb 18, 2004)

The Aurora Flying Sub, because it was my first. Spindrift, Invaders Saucer, Seaview and Voyager all came later, but I still love the Flying Sub as much today as I did when I first built one at the age of 8 (about a hundred years ago).


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## BrianM (Dec 3, 1998)

Great topic!.....and difficult to answer. My some of my childhood favorites are the Aurora monsters and AMT Trek kits. I'll say my original Aurora Robin, one of the first kits I ever built (still have it, still love it).


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## Trek Ace (Jul 8, 2001)

For me, it's not one kit, but rather an era of kits. All of the space models from the 1950's and early 1960's from the likes of Strombecker, Revell, Monogram, Lindberg and Hawk - before the real space program came to be. That was a glorious time of imagination and possibilities, when Von Braun, Ley and Bonestell were at the top of their form with the fantastic designs of what the spacecraft of the near-future would look like. I want them all - all over again. 

Some have been reissued at different times by different companies, but there is still a huge gap of old kits that have yet to see the light of day since their original issue. I'm hoping that Lindberg and Hawk will be reissuing all of theirs.


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## Ignatz (Jun 20, 2000)

Most loved and my first model kit, was the early issue AMT Star Trek U.S.S. Enterprise. It still had those sketchy tab and cam connections for the nacelles back then! Second kit built was Aurora's 2001 Orion Shuttle. I got it from a dolla store for $.99. My brother got the Ragnorak and we built our respective model together. MAN! They made great bathtub toys! Lot's of water landings.


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## beck (Oct 22, 2003)

all of the original Aurora monsters are special in one way or another to me but if i had to choose it'd be the Forgotten Prisoner .
hb


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## Rebel Rocker (Jan 26, 2000)

WAY too difficult to pick out only one!! So, I would have to say every kit made between 1963 and 1976!! What? Not narrowed down enough? Oh, COME ON!!!!

Wayne


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## mrmurph (Nov 21, 2007)

I'd have to day the Aurora Bride of Frankenstein with the great box-art and cool lab setting. I waited forever to score one when I was a kid. Finally had to order the darned thing directly from Aurora.
When PL put out the glow BOF I was overjoyed. That was the one glow kit I'd really wished Aurora had put out. 
I've got a feeling The Ghost is going to run a close second... or maybe the Invisible Man.
Great topic, and thanks for asking.


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## Duff Miver (Dec 18, 2007)

For me it has to be 'Fate of the Mutineers' by mpc. I love this kit ! The quicksand! The arm pull! Zap Action ! I remember being in K-mart around 1974 and begging/bugging mom for over an hour to get it for me . [she finally did] That memory is very dear to me ...


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## Bruce Bishop (Jan 17, 1999)

I truly cannot pick just one favorite model or toy. The same with old TV series and movies, and books or comic books. 

Oddly, my model kit subject interest has broadened over the years, while my TV/Movie/Book/Comic Book interests have narrowed (some more than others of course!).


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## kit-junkie (Apr 8, 2005)

I don't think I have a grail, but two kits I wish I still had are Hoist the Jolly Roger and a big scale chopper trike (Evil Iron) that had a skull molded into the body above the seat. I saw it on the bay a while back, but it was already going for more than I could justify spending.


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## 1bluegtx (Aug 13, 2004)

Aurora Prehistoric scenes T-Rex. Still have the one i had as a kid.......plus five more since then!

BRIAN


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## BronzeGiant (Jun 8, 2007)

I'm gonna break the rules and mention 2 kits. The first kit I ever built was the Aurora F4-D Skyray. I'm lucky enough to have a mint condition unbuilt example still in the shrink wrap. 

My favorite kit that I loved then and now is the AMT Silhouette show car. I have no idea how many of these I have bought over the years. I just can't resist buying one when I see it. 'Course I haven't BUILT all of them but, hey who lets THAT slow them down.

Steve


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## Carson Dyle (May 7, 2003)

If I had to narrow it down to one, it would have to be the Aurora Flying Sub, with the running Spindrift a very close second.


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## The-Nightsky (May 10, 2005)

Mine is the Aurora Ragnarok..... Wanted one real bad...saved and saved and saved... went back and you guessed it...Gone!!! Settled for a spindrift instead....Really wanted a Ragnarok...still want one but can't afford to pay stupid money for it. Sigh.


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## pugknows (May 28, 2002)

Monster Scenes Pendulum and Aurora Frankenstein, I may have mentioned before but we had a house fire (1997) and after the wife, kids, pets and cash were safe, While my wife was hunting down our wedding album I was rescuing the models starting with the Pendulum. You have to have priorities.
Rob
Monster Model Review
http://youtube.com/user/monstermodelreview


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## Gillmen (Oct 16, 2004)

The creature from the black lagoon! My all time favorite monster and my all time favorite Aurora kit! Nuff said!!:thumbsup:


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## Poseidon (Aug 30, 2004)

The one kit that brings back most of my childhood modeling memories is the Superman kit - where he's punching through a brick wall. Not sure who the manufacturer was in the early 1970's.


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## The Batman (Mar 21, 2000)

For me, the one kit I would single out would have to be my Aurora Batmobile.

Yeah, it may not have been the most accurate kit - BUT - I loved it as a kid and I still treasure it as an adult.

- GJS


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## Steve244 (Jul 22, 2001)

one? (great thread by the way...)

IPC GT40, and any of the newer versions by other makers. But the IPC kit is my favorite; I messed up several of those as a kid. Have an original in my stash and many more current versions.

Johan Chrysler Turbine (the original and its re-releases, but not the curbside, shudder). Messed many of these up as a kid. Have a couple reissues from who knows what decade in my stash.

Renwall Ethan Allen subs. Have an original plus the Revell Germany reissue in my stash.

The flying sub takes it though. Suspended work on one 3 years ago. I'm waiting for my muse to retake me (or my 3/4 life crisis).

I think the theme here is it's gotta have something in it besides air.


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## Jafo (Apr 22, 2005)

monograms 1/48th B-17
could/can fly it around the air making engine and bomb noises with machine guns popping
or just look at it daydreaming about WWII.


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## Cappy D (Jun 19, 2004)

The one, single kit would have to be Revell's 1/32 Bf 109G. It captured my imagination then, and still does now, regardless of all then inaccuracies.


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## Seaview (Feb 18, 2004)

Funny you should mention the 109; my first plane, a 1/48 scale Monogram ME-109e, gave me a lifelong interest in WW2 in general, and the Luftwaffe in particular. I suppose that ME109 had the longest influence on me, but my all-time favorite is and will always be the Flying Sub.
Man, what a GREAT thread this turned out to be!


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## CaptFrank (Jan 29, 2005)

Then: Has to be the _*U.S.S. ENTERPRISE NCC-1701*_ by AMT/ERTL.

Now: The ERTL _*U.S.S. ENTERPRISE NCC-1701 *_refit.
(I haven't built the Polar Lights 1:350 yet, so I don't
know if I like the kit itself, yet.)


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## Moparaz (Jan 26, 2008)

Just a whole lot esp aircraft - had to think but I guess it would have to be the WWI Neiuport 28 just love the WWI models


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## =bg= (Apr 2, 2007)

James Henderson said:


> Snoopy and his Sopwith Camel. No question.


That one and the Voyager. Not even close.


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## MangoMan (Jul 29, 1999)

Without a doubt, Cousteau's _Calypso_. 

First kit I did as a kid where the paint job actually came out nice. Had a blast playing with the extra subs and scuba divers that came with it.

Re-did the kit a few years ago, still looks great. :hat:


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## NeilUnreal (Feb 17, 2001)

My all-time favorite is probably the Revell Mercury/Gemini combo in 1/48 scale and various instantiations. I think I've owned four or five of them. I even built one set in a hotel suite!

My favorite model memory is of a 1/72 scale Spitfire my dad built for me when I was about six. When I was younger, my dad was a meticulous model builder and painter; his out-of-the-box buildups left little need for superdetailing.

-Neil


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## txbuster (Mar 23, 2000)

I'm with a few others who have already posted a reply - for me it's the era of the Aurora monster kits that began with Frankenstein in 1961. If you loved the old-time monster movies, these kits were extraordinarily special to much of the youth of the early to late 1960's. The Aurora kits seemed to capture the appeal of the movies and allowed kids to have the monsters right in their own bedroom. Looking back, it was truly a wonderous thing at the time -and, as evidenced by the popularity of the reissues - an important feeling that lives on in many of us! I think these models deserve some credit for helping kids to develop skills, teaching us patience, and providing us fond memories of good clean fun when our buddies weren't around to participate in other activities.


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## spocks beard (Mar 21, 2007)

The original LIS small version by aurora,with the robinsons/cyclops.I got it through an issue of famous monsters of filmland captain company ad,Years ago.I wanted the bigger kit with the chariot but it was sold out.I'm sure the kit was allready out of production,as this was the seventies.That was one of my first kits and lis was in syndycation at the time.


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## xr4sam (Dec 9, 1999)

Well, I have to break the rules, but only because there's 4 kits I've built about a half-dozen times each. They are:

Monogram F-4C/J--I think I've built every version at one time or another
Monogram A-1 Skyraider--I remember building the Navy Korean War, and Air Force Vietnam releases, again several times over
Monogram A-4 Skyhawk--with and without the avionics hump, and an aggressor variant, using some leftover decals. Ah, youth!
AMTs USS Enterprise, no bloody A, B, C, D, or E! I couldn't begin to tell how many of those I've built over the years! One day, I'll actually be happy with one!

I can't begin to think how many lawns I mowed for all of those hunks of plastic!


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## Roy Kirchoff (Jan 1, 1970)

Then would have to be Monograms Red Baron. Built it when I was 9. Ahhh the last of the single digits......

Now is harder to put my finger on but I really like The Three Stooges by Polar Lights. Long live Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard!

RK


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## Nosferatu (Dec 16, 2007)

As a kid it was the T-33 trainer by Hawk, that hawk head on the box was so cool. It was a tough choice back then, those 60 & 39 cent Lindberg kits were great, as well as those fine kits from Monogram, the "49er's" & the Four Star Plastikits. Now it has to be The Munsters, for $15 it can't be beat, you can take the parts out of the bags & put them back in the box and it won't close completely.


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## Ratmaster2000 (Jul 20, 2005)

I'd also have to say Snoopy and his Sopwith Camel back then. Now? I'd prolly say a model that was around the same time as snoopy, but I just got my hands on one off ebay, and that is the monogram goodyear blimp, with moving marquee. We had one as a kid, but it got trashed and eventually thrown away. I hope to built that blimp once I am outta texas and back in california were ALL my models are at I hope to find another in as good condition as the one I got, so I can build one for my mom Btw, if anyone wants to contribute to the "get ratmaster home" fund, send me a PM or e-mail Thanks all


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## Zathros (Dec 21, 2000)

*Favorites..C'mon!! almost NO one can pick jsut one! lol*

hands down all time favorite: Aurora #418 LIS Robot, then The Spindrift, FS, and of course the FV Voyager!! its got PLENTY of "_Specialized MASS APPEAL!":thumbsup:_


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## buzzconroy (Jun 28, 2002)

My fav as a kid and now is aurora 1/32 la france pumper, I was so fasinated in fire trucks as a kid, and the John Steel box art was eye candy, but sadly it was to difficult to build for a 9 year old, I have 3 of them now.

Buzz


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## packard400 (Apr 24, 2006)

My favorite was the JoHan Chrysler Turbine Car. Totally detailed, everything opens, and
working injection moulded coil springs! What else can I say?

Mark


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## Aurora-brat (Oct 23, 2002)

Mine is the Lindberg 1/48 Curtiss Goshawk. My dad must have built a dozen of these for me when I was a kid, which I would play with and eventually destroy. I revisited it a few years ago and it was a pleasure to build and fun to relive some of my childhood memories.


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