Model Kits – Cro-Magnon and Neanderthal Man refurbish – Aurora Prehistoric Scenes

Aurora Prehistoric Scenes

Cro-Magnon Man
Neanderthal Man

A few months back, I purchased some original, 1971 – 75, Aurora Prehistoric Scenes kits. These were never reissued through other companies and the original molds were lost or melted down for scrap. Trying to purchase these, in the box, un-built, is nearly impossible without spending a small fortune on each. So, I purchased a used, previously built ‘lot’ with some missing pieces.

The kits were not in great shape with broken parts, old glue, and spaces in the seams that could not be re-glued.

So, it was my little project to refurbish these and bring them back to their original glory.

As you can see the kits had huge spaces that I filled with liquid plastic (Tamiya modeling putty). I sanded the areas smooth with fine grade sandpaper. I hate seams so I tried to fill and smooth most of them away.

I had to build a new foot for the Neanderthal Man.

I had to build a new tree for the base of the Neanderthal man model kit. I also built a new spear for the Cro-Magnon Man.

I sprayed both kits with gray model surface primer so I could start with a neutral color and paint them from scratch.

I found a good combination for skin tones using brown, eggshell white, and orange. I used different amounts of white to differentiate between the Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon’s skin tones.

I’m currently using acrylic paints instead of the usual oil-based model kit paints because they offer better control over color mixing. But that means having to spray the whole kit down with a fixative after its done or the paint will chip and peel. Spraying it in some ways brings out the colors a bit more and it gives the skin a natural shine, even though I’m using a matte finish.