L is for Look Upon Our Wonders Ye Hobbyists and Purchase!

A real oddity today . . . and a real survivor! I believe this is an old Aurora shop-window display model, from the early days of both model kits and hobby stores, and has managed to survive a transatlantic crossing with no more damage than two broken block & tackle lifting-rings, both of which I have in a little self-seal bag somewhere!

And the transfers, the original waterslide transfers are being slowly shed like the last fragments of a snake's old skin! Although the modern Atlantis re-issue has the same sheet on better quality stock!

Back in the day, the early plastic kit manufacturers - Adams (Revell/Frog), Hawk, Monogram, Pyro, SNAP and Aurora, (among others) - would set out-workers to constructing so many of each new kit, which would be sent out to adorn the windows or display cabinet's of selected hobby shops to show the finished article.

A basic paint job was added along with a full set of transfers (as per the instructions!), in this case a reasonably austere scheme of black and silver . . . yes, I know, but you should see the gloss Buckingham or racing-green some of them got! It was a different era, and the companies knew 'little Johnny' might be using a tin of household gloss from the garage!

A few highlights. The construction is professional (clearly liquid-poly has been used - long before it was commercially available), everything has been properly trimmed back, all flash and gate marks cleaned-up and the paint seems to have been airbrushed on the runners and touched-up only where necessary, the highlights on the rear deck achieved with a printers roller and only a team building the same kit all day could get the tracks that perfect . . . oh, is that just me . . . Mr. Gardenglove Fingers!

I don't know if these are worth much, after-all you can still buy the kit  most days of the week somewhere on the secondary-market as about three Aurora boxings, two (?) Lindberg or the current [full price!] Atlantix and make it how you want it, so it's probably more of a curiosity? And . . . when you find those 1:30th/1:50th hard 'styrene crew figures in a rummage box, with a basic flesh, silver and gloss black paint-job, they probably came from display models?

1:48th scale, M-46 General Patton Medium/Heavy Tank . . . it just managed to be an M-[19]45! And if you do find one the Atlantis is a slightly different moulding (but matches late Aurora tooling) with the MG placed forwards, two (too thick) aerials added and some other, lesser changes