By Frederick Boucher with kit history by Alan Bussie Google+ profile
Kit History
Released in 1956 the
In order, the 5 predecessors (using
Continue reading “Aurora’s 1/48 Fokker DR-1 Triplane Kit Review and Release History”
1/48 Scale Northrop F-15A Water Bomber/Fire Tanker from the Great Wall Hobbies P-61 Black Widow
By Steven Krick
History
This build represents the Northrop F-15A Water Bomber, serial number N9768Z. This aircraft was built originally as serial number 45-59300, which was the first production F-15A Reporter. 59300 was the only F-15A to survive into the mid 1960’s. It was used for NACA/NASA tests until 1955, when it was sold and registered as XB-FUJ in Mexico. In Mexico a ‘Droop Snoot’ was installed in the nose section for photo mapping.
It returned to the United States registered as N5093V with a yellow tail scheme. In 1964 Aero Enterprises installed a 1600 gallon fire retardant tank and operated the aircraft as a fire tanker during the 1964/65 fire seasons.
Cal Nat Airways then acquired the aircraft in 1966 and modified it to a single seater while painting it in the ‘International Orange’ color scheme during the 1966/67 fire season.
F-15 Fire Bomber circa 1965 (courtesy of Bill Larkins)
In 1968 the aircraft was sold to TBM, Inc and was lost on September 6, 1968.
As a result of the aircraft’s interesting history, there are very many unique and dramatic paint schemes for this bird. One scheme has International Red on the tail
Revell/Monogram 1/48 P-61C Black Widow From Operation Thunderstorm
by Steven Krick
Operation Thunderstorm
In 1945 the US Congress gave $250,000 to the US Weather Bureau to study violent weather, particularly thunderstorms. In Phase I, the main base for this study was
Phase II of the Operation was conducted at Clinton County Army Air Field in
The Operation was suspended in late 1947, with the
Continue reading “Revell/Monogram 1/48 P-61C Black Widow From Operation Thunderstorm”
The Kits of Pyro Plastic Company – An Illustrated Guide
By Alan Bussie Google+ profile
Many thanks to Carlton Shanks, John Burns and all the KCCers for their extensive research and documentation
Pyro is unique in plastic models because the subjects for kits were not selected by popularity. Pyro was a very successful company without model kits. Since the production of molds was subsidized by other profit centers, Pyro did not feel the extreme financial pressure that Revell and Monogram did. The later had to produce kits that would sell immediately and in quantity so they could make loan payments and recoup their tooling expenses.
We do not know how Pyro chose their kits; perhaps Bill even had input into the process! All we really know is that subjects were chosen based on historical significance and not sales potential. That is why Pyro kit subjects are so unique and in so many cases are the only kit very made (or even envisioned) of such a subject.
It appears that Pyro used popular reference books and sometimes existing wooden kits in the design process. This was not an unusual industry practice. As Pyro started making more detailed kits for more advanced modelers, they began to study the actual subjects when available – especially for automobile kits. This yielded some excellent models for that time.
Continue reading “The Kits of Pyro Plastic Company – An Illustrated Guide”
Nathan Lester & William (Bill) Morris Lester – The Origins Of Modern Injection Molding And Pyro Plastics Company
By Alan Bussie
Second Edition Notes
In the first edition, credit was given to one man for the first modern injection molding machine. This may or may not be true; evidence gathered over the last 3 years paints a more complicated picture. This revision is not an effort to take credit away from anyone but to give it where due.
I would like to thank artist and friend Michael Boss, Peter van Lune, Marsha Frantisak and the “Industry Watch” article cited below. Without these sources this article would not be possible. Marsha is niece of William Lester and granddaughter of Nathan Lester. Please note that any photos without credits are from the internet. If you did not receive credit or if any of these photos are copyrighted, please contact me for credit or removal. Thank you-AB
Introduction
Pyro is not the most famous of the US plastic model companies. Die-hard collectors know the name well, but even fewer are aware that Pyro’s founder, William Lester, was an entrepreneur, innovator and inventor. Furthermore, William learned molding from his father, Nathan Lester. Both of these men had a hand in inventing the modern plastic injection molding machine, which completely revolutionized American plastics manufacturing. Some details are lost to history but enough is known to create a rough portrait.
Modern Injection Molding Machine (courtesy
Biography
William’s father, Nathan Lester, was born in 1884 in Minsk, Russia and immigrated in 1905. Bill’s mother, Mrs. Gussie Lester, was also born in Russia in 1884. We do not know much else about his youth, but Nathan was a brilliant man and entrepreneur who reached the top of his industry. He owned Lester Die & Machine Company of Cleveland (1920s to ?, referred to as ‘Lester Tool’ later), Lester-Phoenix Die Casting Machines in Cleveland (30s/40s+), one of the leading die-cast companies in the USA. At least one trade catalog (dated 1941) of Lester-Phoenix Die has survived. He also owned Lester Engineering and held numerous patents. This is a small sample:
- Pneumatic die-casting machine filed as early as 1926
- Plastic Casting Machine filed April 15, 1938 and granted June 3, 1941 by the Patent Office
- Link mechanism for pressure casting machines filed as early as 1939
- Injection molding control apparatus filed in 1943
- Injection molding machine spreader filed in 1944
In the book “The Story of New Jersey(1945),” Nathan is credited as being one of the “leading die casters in the United States” and heading a company (identified later as Lester-Phoenix) which “…builds die casting machines and different types of plastic moulding machines.” Paul Orban, the second engineer hired by Lester Engineering (and later chief engineer) said that “He was a pleasant man to work with, a chain smoker, and he paced like a lion in a cage in the engineering department. He was cordial and honest. Nathan was originally a tool-and-die maker. He worked for Reed before starting his own company.”
Nathan’s son, William Morris Lester, was born in Brooklyn, New York on Jan. 14, 1908. He attended Brooklyn public schools and graduated high school in Worchester, MA in 1904. His father’s business impacted him early; William was still in school when he started designing molds and casting machines. After high school he enrolled in Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He graduated in 1928 with a BS in Mechanical Engineering and extensive background experience in die casting machines and mold design.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
His first job was Developmental Engineer for Precision Castings Co., Syracuse, NY. After almost three years, his entrepreneurial spirit prompted him to leave in 1930/31. Bill went to his father’s shop, Lester Tool and Die Company, and Bill’s first job was Chief Engineer. Bill did own stock in Lester Tool, but it is unknown if he bought the stock before or after he became an employee. Bill designed molds and die casting machines for Lester, and Reed-Prentice Company manufactured the machines under license. Bill increased the efficiency of mold making through numerous improvements and attachments for tool- room equipment. He received several patents for these innovations in pressure and die casting equipment. Given the early dates (from the 1920) of Nathan’s patents and his leadership in the field, his son certainly learned the practical engineering and the business sides from his father. Bill worked about four years at Lester Tool. As we will see, he was a very fast study.
A Biography of James (Jim) Pettit Cox – The Father of Modern Model Box Artwork
By Alan Bussie Google+ profile
My sincere thanks to Art Cox. Without him this biography would not have been possible.
Box artwork is a major part of model kit collecting. In many cases, the illustration is more important than the contents! The most colorful and desirable kits are from 1953 to the early 1960s, which is considered the ‘Golden Age’ of model kit artwork. During this time, easy-to-assemble kits with dramatic box tops swept aside all pastimes and became the #1 hobby of teenage boys in
Jim and Aurora’s longest continuously used box art – the classic Fokker D-VII from 1956
Continue reading “A Biography of James (Jim) Pettit Cox – The Father of Modern Model Box Artwork”
The Story Behind Megow Balsa
Anyone who knows of the Golden Age of Model Aircraft has worked with balsa wood. This excellent article was printed in several of the Megow Company catalogs during the 1930s and 1940s. Fred Megow got his start selling balsa and wood stock from the famous ‘Green Cabinet’ in local Philadelphia, PA hobby shops. The kits that followed were all made of balsa as well, so Megow took the material very seriously, color coding their stock by the grade of wood; yellow (dead soft), orange (soft), red (medium), green (hard) and black (extra hard). When World War II interfered with supplies, balsa was hoarded for production as it as at Hawk and other manufactures. Sadly, Fred Megow chose to close down his international hobby empire in the late 1940s. I hope you enjoy this article, transcribed here with all of the original photos. (Alan Bussie) Google+ profile
By OTTO
Editor’s Introduction: Thousands of model airplane builders have for years used balsa wood with infinite skill and cleverness! Yet few know any more about it, other than it comes from
- Ochroma limonensis, found in
- Ochroma lagopus, found in
- Ochroma concolor, found in
- Ochroma velutina, found on the Pacific coast of
- Ochroma tomentosa, found on the upper
- Ochroma obtusa, found on the lower
- Ochroma grandifolia, found in the
This last mentioned species interests us most, as almost 100 percent of all balsa shipped to the
Moebius Models reissues of Aurora “Monster Scenes” -The Pain Parlor and Gruesome Goodies
By Justin Humphreys
© Justin Humphreys – 2010
Who was the marketing savant who decided to put “pain” in a kid’s toy’s name?
Does Barbie drive a Pain Ferrari? Would the Great Garloo have sold better if Ideal had called him The Big Green Pain Demon? Has Wham-O made a fortune over the last fifty years selling Pain Hoops?
Aurora’s Original Monster Scenes Pain Parlor from the early 1970s
The answer to the last three questions is a resounding no, but Aurora’s creative minds Continue reading “Moebius Models reissues of Aurora “Monster Scenes” -The Pain Parlor and Gruesome Goodies”
Dr. Jekyll as Mr. Hyde- Aurora Monster Kit reissue by Moebius Models
By Justin Humphreys
© Justin Humphreys – 2010
For the last seventeen years, model kit aficionados have seen a steady stream of superb replicas of Aurora Plastics’ iconic styrene monsters, from warhorses like the Frankenstein Monster to heretofore un-reissued rarities like Dracula’s Dragster. But one of Aurora’s 1/8th scale beauties has been passed over without fail whenever reissuing time rolled around: Dr. Jekyll as Mr. Hyde.
Why is the good doctor never returned to hobby store shelves? Did that flask that Dr. Jekyll’s chugging spook parental watchdogs into thinking that it would inspire impressionable young chemists to poison themselves with some unspeakable brew? Where’s the logic here? Why has this kit been out of the legitimate kit market for over thirty years?
Moebius Models reissue of the classic Aurora Dr. Jekyll as Mr. Hyde
“No one did it earlier as they said it wouldn’t sell,” says Frank Winspur, president of Moebius Models. “At Polar Lights, they thought it wouldn’t sell enough to make it break even.” Larger kit manufacturers, he says, “felt it was a crappy kit, hard to build, and no one remembered it with any fondness! Crazy stuff, in my opinion!” Continue reading “Dr. Jekyll as Mr. Hyde- Aurora Monster Kit reissue by Moebius Models”
From Mexico to Venus with Paul Schiola-Ultratumba Productions’ Mastermind Speaks!
By Justin Humphreys
© Justin Humphreys – 2008
Please note that this interview with Paul Schilola took place in 2008. Ultratumba ceased production in 2009. – Alan Bussie
Over two decades after his death, the delightfully lurid cinematic monstrosities of creature creator (creaturist?) Paul Blaisdell remain perennially popular. Rather than lumbering, shambling, or fluttering around dive-bombing victims as they did in their original movie habitats, they generally sit stock-still these days… In effigy, that is, courtesy of Ultratumba Productions.
Ultratumba is releasing a series of 50s and 60s-era movie monster models that have, among other things, resurrected Blaisdell’s monstrous menagerie—creatures like “Beulah” the Venusian from It Conquered the World, and the titular BEM from Invasion of the Saucermen with its head like a bundle of vines from a freshly-picked pumpkin patch with a hideous trademark Blaisdell scowl.
Author George Clayton Johnson once told me that “Pulp never dies,” and that’s uniquely true of unique pulp. And nowhere has pulp been more unique or lovingly rendered than with Blaisdell’s monsters. Bizarre, bulbous, bug-eyed, scaly, or all spines and crackly surfaces, they remain a lasting tribute to Blaisdell’s furious imagination. They are 30s “Amazing Stories” covers sprung to life.
Ultratumba’s Angry Red Spider Resin Kit
At first glance, they might appear ridiculous. One modern horror director and movie aficionado Continue reading “From Mexico to Venus with Paul Schiola-Ultratumba Productions’ Mastermind Speaks!”