Model Kits from the Fantasy Worlds of Irwin Allen

Irwin Allen, was known as the "master of disaster." A nickname he earned for basically starting the disaster film genre. One "Disaster" film was "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea." Using shots from the feature film starring Walter Pidgeon, intermixed with narrative, Allen sold ABC on a TV Series of undersea exploration, Cold War subterfuge, and "monstrous" suspense.

In the 1960s, Allen moved into television as a producer and was responsible for series such as:

• Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964-1968)
  
  
• Lost in Space (1965-1968)
  
  
• The Time Tunnel (1966-1967)
  
  
• Land of the Giants (1968-1970)
  
  
• The Swiss Family Robinson (1975-1976)
  
  
• Code Red (1981-1982)

The first four shows have had several model kits rendered and sold in conjunction with their runs on prime time television. The primary producer of Irwin Allen show kits in the '60s and early '70s was the Aurora model company. They produced several models for Lost in Space, the Seaview and Flying Sub for Voyage, the Time Tunnel, and the Spindrift and a character model for Land of the Giants. Most of their molds were sold to Monogram and the story was that many were damaged in transit when the train they were on wrecked.

Not to be out done, Monogram did reproduce some of the kits from surviving molds. You see an example of the Flying Sub kit from Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, in 1/60 scale from my collection in the photo.

Not to be outdone, garage modelers began recasting the old Aurora kits in resin and vinyl in the intervening years. Then small, specialty model kit companies like Lunar Models, Playing Mantis, Polar Lights and today's popular Moebius Models have filled in the breach with studio quality replicas the builder and collector can be proud of.