Aurora Batman Repro Model Kit?

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Lou Szabo
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Re: Aurora Batman Repro Model Kit?

Post by Lou Szabo »

Brilliant
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JimmyVale
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Re: Aurora Batman Repro Model Kit?

Post by JimmyVale »

hisyouthfulward wrote: Sat Feb 18, 2023 6:14 pm Jimmy, thin sheets of styrene plastic are available for modelers. You could get a fairly thin sheet, trace out the letters, use a nice, sharp Exacto knife and make your letters that way. If you look real closely at the tree trunk for your kit, you may be able to make out where the original lettering was placed before they retooled the kit. If you look below the "knot" at the top of the trunk, you can see that the texture of the bark isn't the same as the rest of the tree. If you look closely at Batman's chest, you can make out the circle for the original bat-insignia that was removed for the Comic Scenes repop back in the 70's and all further reissues.
I'm in the slow, slow process of kitbashing a Nightwing kit from a Batman repop. As you can see, the styrene letters you make can be added to the trunk. Good luck!
I concur, “Brilliant”!

That’s some good forensic Batman-esque detective work!

Here’s something else I think is possible - the example model might be unpainted where Batman’s bodysuit areas are. It seems to be the same color the kit was molded in…,hmmmm.

Checking for faint signs of the original tooling….that’s awesome!!!!

Sheet styrene! Yes! I’ve used it before. Didn’t think of that.
3B013E78-DAE8-40F3-9C5B-90405DCA08B5.png
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BATWINGED HORNET
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Re: Aurora Batman Repro Model Kit?

Post by BATWINGED HORNET »

JimmyVale wrote: Sun Feb 19, 2023 4:33 pm
hisyouthfulward wrote: Sat Feb 18, 2023 6:14 pm Jimmy, thin sheets of styrene plastic are available for modelers. You could get a fairly thin sheet, trace out the letters, use a nice, sharp Exacto knife and make your letters that way. If you look real closely at the tree trunk for your kit, you may be able to make out where the original lettering was placed before they retooled the kit. If you look below the "knot" at the top of the trunk, you can see that the texture of the bark isn't the same as the rest of the tree. If you look closely at Batman's chest, you can make out the circle for the original bat-insignia that was removed for the Comic Scenes repop back in the 70's and all further reissues.
I'm in the slow, slow process of kitbashing a Nightwing kit from a Batman repop. As you can see, the styrene letters you make can be added to the trunk. Good luck!
I concur, “Brilliant”!

That’s some good forensic Batman-esque detective work!

Here’s something else I think is possible - the example model might be unpainted where Batman’s bodysuit areas are. It seems to be the same color the kit was molded in…,hmmmm.

Checking for faint signs of the original tooling….that’s awesome!!!!

Sheet styrene! Yes! I’ve used it before. Didn’t think of that.

3B013E78-DAE8-40F3-9C5B-90405DCA08B5.png
Image
While Aurora did mold some of its kits in the dominant color of the intended, finished model (e.g., Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea's The Flying Sub hull was molded in yellow, like the various film miniatures), the Batman product photo on the original box appears to have the torso and legs painted in that off gray / blue color. At least it seems that way yo me.
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BATWINGED HORNET
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Re: Aurora Batman Repro Model Kit?

Post by BATWINGED HORNET »

JimmyVale wrote: Sun Feb 19, 2023 4:33 pm Here’s something else I think is possible - the example model might be unpainted where Batman’s bodysuit areas are. It seems to be the same color the kit was molded in…,hmmmm.

Checking for faint signs of the original tooling….that’s awesome!!!!

Sheet styrene! Yes! I’ve used it before. Didn’t think of that.

3B013E78-DAE8-40F3-9C5B-90405DCA08B5.png
Image
While Aurora did mold some of its kits in the dominant color of the intended, finished model (e.g., Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea's The Flying Sub hull was molded in yellow, like the various film miniatures), the Batman product photo on the original box appears to have the torso and legs painted in that off gray / blue color. At least it seems that way to me.
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JimmyVale
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Re: Aurora Batman Repro Model Kit?

Post by JimmyVale »

BATWINGED HORNET wrote: Mon Feb 20, 2023 4:44 pm
JimmyVale wrote: Sun Feb 19, 2023 4:33 pm Here’s something else I think is possible - the example model might be unpainted where Batman’s bodysuit areas are. It seems to be the same color the kit was molded in…,hmmmm.


While Aurora did mold some of its kits in the dominant color of the intended, finished model (e.g., Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea's The Flying Sub hull was molded in yellow, like the various film miniatures), the Batman product photo on the original box appears to have the torso and legs painted in that off gray / blue color. At least it seems that way to me.
Yeah, you’re right. The builder appears to have smoothed out the areas where the arms meet the body. Unless there was a perfect fit, those gaps would have to be filled. Gaps filled with putty would need sanding and paint so I think it was likely painted. That is, unless the builder did a perfect job smoothing everything out with glue alone - highly unlikely.

Since I haven’t built a model in a while, I’m researching how to do this right:

1. I intend to spray the Batman figure with Tamiya rattle can lacquer primer, appropriate paints, and appropriate clear coats.

2. Satin clear will seal the mask, cape, shorts, Bat-symbol, gloves and boots. I like that there’s a little shine on those items.

3. Flat clear will seal the grey bodysuit.

4. Since my research revealed that anything can go over lacquer, the tree, owl, bats and ground will be primed with Tamiya lacquer primer, then I might break out the brushes and some flat acrylic paint for those parts. I’m not going to use any clear coat on those parts when I’m done because the lacquer clear coats I have aren’t going to be compatible with the acrylics.

5. The cost of the supplies has exceeded the cost of the model, which was pretty expensive. This has become a bigger project than intended so I’m going to mount a shelf on the wall and put the finished model in a display case on the shelf, maybe with some kind of little orange light lighting up the background.

So far, I haven’t done much except read about paints and model assembly as well as buying supplies.

I’m really glad this kit is so straightforward. Barring any paint disasters like spitting, wrinkling, or runs, the kit should go together pretty quickly. I’ll photograph and document the build. I hope to get started in a week or two. I am not the most experienced modeler - every time I build something, I have to re-learn about the hobby!
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Larry A.
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Re: Aurora Batman Repro Model Kit?

Post by Larry A. »

I know that the kit is overpriced, but perhaps "Atlantis Models" can find the mold for Bats and reissue it at a cheaper price. If that were to happen, using what I've learned fromeveryone here, I would rework it to look like AW, similar to what Lou has done!
Larry
JimmyVale
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Re: Aurora Batman Repro Model Kit?

Post by JimmyVale »

Larry A. wrote: Sun Feb 26, 2023 1:39 pm I know that the kit is overpriced, but perhaps "Atlantis Models" can find the mold for Bats and reissue it at a cheaper price. If that were to happen, using what I've learned fromeveryone here, I would rework it to look like AW, similar to what Lou has done!
Yes, the high cost of this vintage kit turned the whole idea into something bigger than I’d intended. Since it was so expensive, I decided to make it the best I can. I bought all kinds of spray paints and decided to build it the way it was intended to be built in 1965. Since my kit is a later reissue, I’m adding things to make it look like the original.

Some radically change the Aurora kit, which is very creative. Some modelers removed the tree part and had Batman hanging from a rope. Others painted him black, many have converted it into an Adam West model. All good ideas! I’m going a different route and will attempt to make it look like the prototype example picture on the 1964 - 1965 box.

This is going to be somewhat advanced and I’m wondering what the heck did I get myself into?!?!????

I probably won’t get it done for a few months but when I do, I’ll post pics. Right now I’m researching how to dry brush detail on the body suit. I’ve never been good at that. Image

I can’t tell if the builder just shaded in those lines on the suit with a pencil, a paintbrush, or used some dry brush technique. It kinda looks like a few lines were just added with a fine paintbrush dipped in black paint. Can’t tell.


Yeah, somebody should reissue the kit. It looks pretty simple to build.
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Larry A.
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Re: Aurora Batman Repro Model Kit?

Post by Larry A. »

Hi JimmyVale! A couple of suggestions: Since the emblem is circular, might I suggest that You look up how the suit was drawn in the comics when the Bat Signal style emblem first came into the comics and see how the musculature was illustrated. Another thing that might be do-able is pick up a VERY fine line artist's pen at a local craft or art supplies store and after putting the base coat on (and dry, btw), follow the muscle lines . I did that YEARS ago for the "Superman model."
I hope this gives You some ideas,
Cheers, my friend!
Larry
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hisyouthfulward
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Re: Aurora Batman Repro Model Kit?

Post by hisyouthfulward »

Another option for the chest emblem is to find a good resolution picture of the end credits and use the bat-signal image as your guide. This way you can bring some 1966 authenticity to the model and, oddly enough, both the sculpted kit emblem and the tv credits signal are pretty close. Again, you can get some very thin styrene, cut out the circle, cut out the bat and glue onto the circular area that you can still make out on the model's chest.
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Lou Szabo
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Re: Aurora Batman Repro Model Kit?

Post by Lou Szabo »

Wow, that’s a good eye. I remember reading and looking through that era of comics, and due to inconsistent artwork panel by panel, I could never tell if it was supposed to be round or oval.
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BatToys
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Re: Aurora Batman Repro Model Kit?

Post by BatToys »

This first issue Aurora Batman I had professionally built by Bill Craft. The other kit is the Aurora factory built Batman sent to hobby stores for display.
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Lou Szabo
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Re: Aurora Batman Repro Model Kit?

Post by Lou Szabo »

Looks great Frank. I remember that top on in Woolworth’s in the basement/lower level, along with the rest of the superheroes and Universal monsters. The 4 year old in me didn’t understand models, but they looked great, and when the reissues came in 1974, my paper route money and I bought them all.
Some days you just can't get rid of a ... SHARK!
BiffPow
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Re: Aurora Batman Repro Model Kit?

Post by BiffPow »

My grandmother gave my brother and I a huge lot of 1960s Universal horror models, and I supplemented them with purchases from the local Ben Franklin store with models from “Dark Shadows” and some of the other 1970s releases like “The Forgotten Prisoner of Castlemare.” Sadly, I don’t have a single one of those and I have no idea what happened to them. All of them were gone by the end of the 1970s.

I DO, however, still have a built-up, but unpainted, 1960s Batman, minus the base. He may have a Bat-a-rang, I can’t recall. It’s stored away.
JimmyVale
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Re: Aurora Batman Repro Model Kit?

Post by JimmyVale »

Larry A. wrote: Thu Mar 02, 2023 6:50 pm Hi JimmyVale! A couple of suggestions: Since the emblem is circular, might I suggest that You look up how the suit was drawn in the comics when the Bat Signal style emblem first came into the comics and see how the musculature was illustrated. Another thing that might be do-able is pick up a VERY fine line artist's pen at a local craft or art supplies store and after putting the base coat on (and dry, btw), follow the muscle lines . I did that YEARS ago for the "Superman model."
I hope this gives You some ideas,
Cheers, my friend!
Greetings! Thanks for the great ideas! I have some sheet styrene coming for the emblem and lettering. I built a lost in space robot vacuum formed model kit back in 1989 that was the biggest piece of junk I’ve ever seen. It was Halloween mask material. I didn’t care at the time and built that kit and added a bunch of detail with sheet styrene cut out with an exacto knife. So, I’m confident I can replicate the logo with that. Thanks again for suggesting it. My original idea was to sculpt it with putty….man, that would’ve been a pain. The styrene bat symbol makes much more sense.

The recent pics you guys posted are informative as well. The one from the Aurora factory, especially. It seems they painted it as a 13 year old boy would. Not crazy elaborate or detailed but, not a shabby job, either. A kid could look at that and say, “….hey, I can build that!” If they displayed some impossibly perfect example, it might appear too difficult to build. Brilliant strategy. I’m just guessing here.

There are a few things about the kit that are interesting (to me):

Image
Batman’s font on the instruction sheet - what!?!! Classic! I should make a label for the completed model that looks like that!

He’s got a “boomerang”! Awesome!

And - Batman’s ears. What the heck?! They never looked like that back then - facing forward. Maybe an exception would be on a Halloween mask. I bet some men who knew very little about Batman, designed the kit. They probably picked up the latest comic and/or saw a Batman Halloween costume and just designed the kit off those.

I love it. That’s what I want to replicate - how Batman was regarded right before the TV show came out.
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I’m gonna add some kind of music to the model but haven’t decided yet. Maybe just a Halloween-esque sound effect like wind or thunder to make it pre-TV show period correct which is what I’m aiming for.
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Thanks for the ideas. Yes, I’m going to try the fine detail lines method of accenting musculature.
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Larry A.
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Re: Aurora Batman Repro Model Kit?

Post by Larry A. »

I look forward to see how it turns out for You.
Larry
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