![[IMAGE]](munst1f.jpg)
The Munsters
Polar Lights reissue of Aurora model.
The Munsters was a short-lived show that took our Universal monsters and
put them in a "Leave it to Beaver" setting. There's no sense saying more
about it, since all you have to do is search the web for gobs of fanclubs
and info. Anything related to this show is worth a small fortune, since these
were the "pre-collectable" days, and not a lot of merchandise was produced.
The Munsters kit was produced by Aurora in 1964, and it was never reissued
by them. This makes the original worth a LOT of money. Considering the number
of tiny parts, a complete original buildup was also worth hundreds of dollars.
Of course, now that you can take parts from the new reissued kit and complete
your original, anyone sitting on one of these just saw the price drop a little.
That's one of the risks of the market. If not for the Polar Lights company,
I'd never have been able to afford one of these. Now if we can just convince
them to reissue a "Big Frankie", another rare and expensive model.
Now about the model. In order to squeeze in the entire gang (except for Marilyn,
she's never included) it is done in smaller 1/16 scale. It's also a pretty
crowded model, there are details that will never be seen, like the face of
Woof Woof, the stuffed toy that Eddie holds. All that tiny detail means most
of the time spent on this model is doing the paint job. The fit is surprisingly
good, the most trouble you'll have is assembling Herman's chair, there are
over 20 pieces to put together and you have to make sure the chair is tilted
just right before you glue anything down. Also, don't glue him to the floor
until you finish the rest of the model, it'll give you room to work.
As for the paint job, I gave the fireplace grate and top detail an old bronze
look, just a little black mixed in with the gold and lightly drybrushed over
flat black. The candlesticks are just molded detail on the backdrop, you
can give them a more 3-dimensional look by outlining them with black. The
TV was done in a tan veneer look to get it to stand out from all that brown.
Bottom line, take your time and count on this being a long term project.
I like the way it turned out, but I'd prefer to never have to build another.
Now if only the Aurora company had made an Addams Family Living Room, instead
of that little house!
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