The awful Aurora Vampirella sculpt!

[StyreneDude]

I have to join the group who thinks Vampirella looks terrible. Honestly I'd have never guessed it was a Bill Lemon sculpt. His other work is far superior, but hey, they can't all be masterpieces.

Just like any band...every song can't be a number one.

[YoungestMonsterKid]

I think a major problem in the first place is that y'know, most kids in the day were gonna get their models together kind of messily painted. And that looks okay for ugly monsters but when you want attractive monsters the poor paint quality shows much more

[BijouBob8mm]

StyreneDude's MUMMY is one of the best finishes I've seen on that kit.  Can't wait to see more from him (as promised on a previous page).

I've always wondered if Aurora was trying to somewhat downplay Vampi's erotic qualities.  (But then again, maybe I'm generously overthinking things on their behalf.)  There were few female horror kits back then (Aurora's Bride of Frankenstein being the most notable exception).  Notice, in the Monster Scenes comic, she is not the heroic character of the Warren magazine, but an evil camp vamp.

Sadly, not all sculpts from Aurora were top-notch.  Always thought the Hunchback and Witch could have been a bit better.  (Speaking of the witch, did anyone ever wonder why she was wearing sandals?  Not really Puritan-era footwear.)

[YoungestMonsterKid]

StyreneDude's MUMMY is one of the best finishes I've seen on that kit.  Can't wait to see more from him (as promised on a previous page).

I've always wondered if Aurora was trying to somewhat downplay Vampi's erotic qualities.  (But then again, maybe I'm generously overthinking things on their behalf.)  There were few female horror kits back then (Aurora's Bride of Frankenstein being the most notable exception).  Notice, in the Monster Scenes comic, she is not the heroic character of the Warren magazine, but an evil camp vamp.

Sadly, not all sculpts from Aurora were top-notch.  Always thought the Hunchback and Witch could have been a bit better.  (Speaking of the witch, did anyone ever wonder why she was wearing sandals?  Not really Puritan-era footwear.)

well the "Salem" title wasn't always with her
so maybe she's not meant to be a Salem Witch (I live near Salem by the way, funny thing is that the place that plays up the witch and monster theme isn't actually the part of Salem where the trials happened, the real place it happened changed it's name)
also, I don't see anything wrong with the Hunchback model, I think he just isn't meant to resemble any particular movie

[BijouBob8mm]

I knew the Witch wasn't always labeled as a Salem Witch...I just don't think sandals seem appropriate for such a character, no matter which side of the pond the old girl was on.  As for the Hunchback...even as a kid I just thought the head wasn't up to the usual Aurora quality.  But that's just one man's opinion.  I see resin replacement heads are available, so you could go with Lon or another.  The late Tom Triman (animator, writer, and former member of the UMA) did a fantastic makeover with putty on his Hunchback, really giving it the Chaney look.  Will have to dig through some of the photos he'd sent me over the years and see if I can find shots of that build-up to share here.  He was great at taking those kits to another level.

I'm thinking either here, or maybe at the Classic Horror Film Board, someone posted a great looking build of the Vampirella kit...probably one of the best jobs on it I've seen.  Don't know if it was just their paint job, or if they'd reworked the figure.  It certainly made that kit look better than it was.

[BijouBob8mm]

Keep intending to share this, only to get sidetracked and forget.  If you're not already familiar with this fantastic book about the history of Aurora's Monster Scenes kits, this is a must-have volume for any monster or model library!  The story-behind-the-story of how the kits came about, only to be wiped out, and how they paved the way for the Prehistoric Scenes and Monsters of the Movies kits that came after them.

https://www.amazon.com/Aurora-Monster-Scenes-Controversial-Generation/dp/0692202870/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1488574198&sr=1-1

I think the same folks have a Prehistoric Scenes volume currently in the works.

[YoungestMonsterKid]

I really should get that book one day

[horrorhunter]

Keep intending to share this, only to get sidetracked and forget.  If you're not already familiar with this fantastic book about the history of Aurora's Monster Scenes kits, this is a must-have volume for any monster or model library!  The story-behind-the-story of how the kits came about, only to be wiped out, and how they paved the way for the Prehistoric Scenes and Monsters of the Movies kits that came after them.

https://www.amazon.com/Aurora-Monster-Scenes-Controversial-Generation/dp/0692202870/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1488574198&sr=1-1

I think the same folks have a Prehistoric Scenes volume currently in the works.

I have a few monster models but I'm not even close to most of you guys who specialize in them. That said I had to have the book and I recommend it highly. It's really a must-have for any monster fan, especially if you had the Monster Scenes kits as a kid.





Here's a link to bypass Amazon: http://www.monsterscenes.net/ms_book.htm

[BijouBob8mm]

I did a review of Dennis' Aurora book for Scary Monsters Magazine back when it first came out.  Hoping to get a heads-up from him about the Prehistoric Scenes volume when it's ready to roll.

[YoungestMonsterKid]

do have this book though