Taking a second shot at the Aurora SE5A

We bought quite a few of the non-powered Aurora kits from a closeout wholesaler at the NY Toy Fair back in the late sixties for the family toy and hobby business. There was a Fokker D-VII and a B-25 Mitchell in the assortment. I remember it took quite a while to get them all sold. (primarily as easy build kits for kids) A time machine sure would be a cool thing to have

lol, those B-25 kits keep showing up on aBay with engines added and they're bring crazy money, not sure if people know they're fake or just don't care.

Aurora also offered the old Comet p-40 and p-51 as 'giant' screw together kits.

Mark Boesen wrote:lol, those B-25 kits keep showing up on aBay with engines added and they're bring crazy money, not sure if people know they're fake or just don't care.

Aurora also offered the old Comet p-40 and p-51 as 'giant' screw together kits.

Yes, crazy money for the B-25 but I lust after it.  

The SE5A at 17" W/S. Not sure that's Giant.

Two box styles.  Early and late.  Mine is the early




Late style box.  (I think?)


I heard from the seller of the completed model, said he managed to remove the under carriage and top wing. Think I scared him with pictures of the PO damaged model. It may get her ok after all.

Either way you look at it, they're awesome. Glad you got them and will definately show them off to us.

I heard from the seller of the completed model, said he managed to remove the under carriage and top wing. Think I scared him with pictures of the PO damaged model. It may get her ok after all. wrote:

That Money Back guarantee !! Hope it gets there in good shape for you , Nice looking model . Are you going to put it together ? and will you power it ?

getback wrote:    That Money Back guarantee !! Hope it gets there in good shape for you , Nice looking model . Are you going to put it together ? and will you power it ?  

Yes,  thinking about putting the un-assembled model together and powering the built model.  I have a couple of spare Aurora engines in .049 but the dimensions are the same.  I will have to construct a control system and may have to drill and grommet holes in the fuselage.

Depends upon what kind of a mess it's in when it gets here.

Bob

Got the kit, built model is still on it's way. Tracking number shows the Post Office still hasn't received it but seller says he mailed it last week. California is a long way from West Virginia.

Kit is complete and in good shape. Everything is identical to the C/L version but is missing the bell crank assembly and the "radiators" nose weight. The fuselage does not have the openings for the control rods and the pilot isn't painted but the firewall is drilled for the engines mount. All easily corrected if I want to add an engine and fly it. Probably not.

Do you think that the kit is molded out of the same grade of plastic used in the powered RTF version?

ticomareado wrote:Do you think that the kit is molded out of the same grade of plastic used in the powered RTF version?

Yes, it appears to be.  Powered C/L version: Pre-smashed



Kit version un-powered, assembled by the buyer I would think but with colored parts:



Kit with all parts molded in the same color.



I thought the struts might be different but they are the same.  This kit has the same elevator hinges and axle suspension springs as the C/L version.  Can't see a difference in the basic plane.

Re-checked the tracking number just now and discovered that it was sitting at my front door.

From California with box intact. Some difference. Overall better than I expected. Painted pilot looks just like my first one. Springed landing gear all the same. Difference is in the enclosed cowl with no engine opening.





Sender removed the top wing, no easy task.





Tail skid assembly not broken on this one. Jury out on modifying for C/L.

Put a Testor Mac FRV .049 with tank on it. I should balance without too much extra nose weight.

A closer look reveals that it's painted to look like the C/L version. It's probably olive drab under all that white and yellow paint.





Looks like the PO glued the bottom seam, going to make it fun to take it apart. Interior struts are broken otherwise it's ok.

Might make it C/L after all. Will have to mod the cowl.

Bob

great thread Bob, keep it coming!

Thanks Mark, It made it's way into my binder along with some of your other contributions.

I just recently started keeping a history of my more significant purchases, wish I had done this years ago as my memory fades.

I always contact the seller asking about the history of the item.  Some are family, but many were purchased at yard and estate sales.  I also include an original picture from the ad (always ebay) along with the sellers description.








Bob

You're quite the archivist there Bob.

When it rains it pours.

Seller took my low-ball offer on this later model kit. He noted that he had not inventoried all parts against the manual. I questioned about the struts as I could not see any in the pictures but all other parts were there. He checked and said the struts were included.

It pays to negotiate.




Now I can build one of these as a C/L model using a spare engine without feeling like I'm destroying something.

Wow Bob. You never cease to amaze me. So it now looks like you switched from cars to SE-5's! You going to try and get them at a 1 for one to your cars?

Cool deal everything got there without getting smashed usps , Yeah British Bob you got a nice inventory log there , it's nice to be able to look back and see were you got the goodies and if its the same seller next time . Looking forward to some mods.

NEW222 wrote:Wow Bob. You never cease to amaze me. So it now looks like you switched from cars to SE-5's! You going to try and get them at a 1 for one to your cars?

Wish I could Chancey.

While Cox cars are quite plentiful, these C/L Auroras are not. Quality and low prices sell, Aurora it seems had the quality but the comparable prices were about double for a similar Cox product at the time. Right now on ebay there are Just two C/L Auroras, both scale P-47's @ $600+/$700+ each no box, no nothing, way to much money. Asking and selling are two different things. I was lucky to get those two built SE5A's for around a hundred each both needing repairs. More fun for me than NIB examples.

Aurora got into plastic kits and slot cars big time but Cox never really did with either.

Cox was into slot cars big time. In fact they got stuck with a lot of inventory when the bottom fell out of the commercial slot racing rage in the mid sixties.

ticomareado wrote:Cox was into slot cars big time. In fact they got stuck with a lot of inventory when the bottom fell out of the commercial slot racing rage in the mid sixties.

Your right Victor, I remember reading something about that.

Bob

Got the non-powered SE5A apart. Not much of a struggle. Turns out the seam "cement" was liberally applied paint. Only problem was getting one of the two half's assembly screws out because it was covered with paint and would not release from the interior post.



Definitely a paint job. Took most of my screwdriver inventory to get it apart.




To make it C/L I just have to duplicate the two triangular control rod holes in the left section fuselage and the exit hole in the right section and duplicate the four parts of the bell crank assembly.

Different takes on the pilots paint scheme.





Now I have to strip paint from the model...............How do I do that in a way that won't affect the plastic?

Oven cleaner?



The questioning ---- Robert

Is the white paint fuel proof?