Model Kits – Cro-Magnon Woman and Sabertooth Tiger refurbish – Aurora Prehistoric Scenes

 

Aurora Prehistoric Scenes

Cro-Magnon Woman
Sabertooth Tiger

Once again, these kits are no longer available, have never been reissued and haven’t been made since the 1970’s.

The Sabertooth Tiger was part of a ‘used lot’ collection that I had purchased from eBay with missing and broken pieces. The Tiger itself was in- tact and had minimal painting done to it. It was missing the base and accessories. I was excited to get this because when I was young I had won a model building contest with this kit, second place; I got a trophy and a gift certificate.

The base I used was in the ‘used lot’ box and I’m not sure what kit it comes from. I made some changes, adding a big rock on one side and a small tree. I originally planned on putting leaves on the tree but decided I liked the way it looked without them. I made the deer leg with clay to match the one in the original kit.

 

I sprayed the kit with gray primer so I could start painting from a neutral color. The original color of the kit is a tawny orange and many people leave it unpainted but I wanted to go with a more natural color of today’s Mountain Lion.

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The Cro-Magnon Woman I purchased separately. It was a complete kit, previously used and partially painted but not built.

I didn’t care for the paint job so I sprayed it with primer and started from scratch.

She came with two sets of legs for the builder to choose from. Most people go with the flat footed stance because it’s easier to place her on the base. I used the ‘action’ legs which look more animated.

It is impossible to get her standing on one foot using glue. To solve the problem, I positioned her right foot on a grass clump. I took a straight pin and heated it until it was glowing. I pushed the pin up through the base and into her foot and leg. A little crazy glue to keep her from spinning and you get a nice action shot of her jumping away from the snake.

 

The snake is usually positioned in the tree on the base, but I never liked the way it looked – it always looked unnatural. So, I found a Sabertooth Tiger skull in my ‘used lot’ box which I believe is from The Cave kit and positioned it on the base to form with the contours of the snake.

In my next post, I will show the Allosaurus with my own custom base.

 

Dinosaurus (1960) – movie review

Rare and Obscure Dinosaur films

Dinosaurus (1960)

Produced by Jack K. Harris (The Blob, 4D Man, Equinox), this 1960 B- movie is more likely fun for kids but adults might enjoy the campy humor, especially associated with the caveman (Gregg Martell). Construction crews building a port on a Caribbean Island accidentally dredge up two long buried dinosaurs from the ocean floor. They have been preserved by the cold deep waters. The Brontosaurus and Tyrannosaurus are pulled onto the beach and the foreman, Bart, calls a scientist to come investigate their find. Little do they know, but they have also beached a Neanderthal Man tangled in the seaweed. Overnight there is a violent thunder storm and the dinosaurs are struck by lightning, bringing them back to life (ala ‘Frankenstein’ science). An orphan boy, Julio, befriends the Brontosaurus, knowing he is a herbivore. The T. Rex is soon on the hunt putting Julio in jeopardy but Julio is saved by the caveman. The caveman falls in love with Betty. Later in the film Julio, Bart and Betty, are stuck in a cave as the T. Rex tries to gain entry. As the walls collapse, the caveman saves Julio again, along with Bart and Betty. The climax of the film has the foreman fighting the T. Rex in a steam shovel from the construction site. Filmed partly on the island of St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, the film is campy entertainment for all ages.

B-movie fans will also be entertained by the trivia and correlations to other films:

Marcel Delgado (maker of King Kong) had only 2 weeks to design the dinosaur models used for the film.

During filming, the special effects crew also filmed a sequence for The Twilight Zone using the miniature set and the Brontosaurus. The footage can be seen in the TZ episode “The Odyssey of Flight 33.”

The steam shovel vs. T.Rex climax is reminiscent to Ripley fighting the Alien in the ‘pay-loader machine’ in the film Alien. It is also clearly ‘hijacked’ for the scene at the end of Carnosaur (1993).

In one scene, a bus full of tourists is confronted by the T. Rex who bends down low and peers into the bus windows at the screaming people. (see photo above) He then bangs the bus with the side of his head and eventually crushes the bus. The similarities between this scene and the scene in 1993’s Jurassic Park with the ‘tour jeeps’ are more than a coincidence and thought to be Spielberg’s homage to the earlier film.

Psuedo science:
By now most of you know, there was no actual Brontosaurus that ever walked the earth. The Brontosaurus was a mistake of having the wrong head on the body of an Apatosaurus. Through the 1980’s, most museums began removing the ‘Brontosaurus’ heads from their skeleton displays and replacing them with the proper, smaller heads. And naturally, millions of years passed between the time that Dinosaurs lived and Cavemen arrived on earth.

Related Articles:
The Legend of Dinosuars and Monster Birds
Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women

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I always attract the wrong type of guys

Caveman think… brain hurt.

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My dates always end like this – maybe I should quit drinking

Marcel Delgado

Twilight Zone episode

The Odyssey of Flight 33