BY BILL ENGAR

COURSE SYLLABUS:  ATLANTIS MODELS “THE AMOEBA” IS A SIMPLE, EASY-TO-BUILD MODEL SHOWING THE ANATOMY OF THREE SINGLE-CELL CREATURES.  CAN BE BUILT QUICKLY WITH JUST A SMALL AMOUNT OF PAINTING NEEDED IF DESIRED.  HIGHLY EDUCATIONAL MODEL TEACHES BASIC BIOLOGY!

KIT# L3800 – 13 PARTS – MOLDED COMPLETELY IN CLEAR STYRENE PLASTIC – MSRP $US21.99 – AGES 14 AND UP RECOMMENDED BUT YOUNGER KIDS SHOULD HAVE NO TROUBLE BUILDING IT – PERFECT FOR SCHOOL ASSIGNMENTS OR SCIENCE FAIR PROJECTS– PAINT AND GLUE NEEDED FOR ASSEMBLY NOT INCLUDED

This kit is actually a 3-in-1 model kit with the large Amoeba and smaller euglena and paramecium.  A clear base is included.  All three protozoa models are removable!

The plastic modeling hobby grew like wildfire throughout the late 1950’s and was white-hot during the early 1960’s.  By this time, it was easy to find multiple kits of favorite cars, planes, and ships like the Chevy Corvette, P-51 Mustang, and USS Missouri.  Many manufacturers took risks.  Some failed and some, like Aurora’s monster models, succeeded far beyond anyone’s expectations.

During this experimental realm of the hobby, a few model kit makers decided to try some educational subjects.  An example of a big success was Renwal’s Visible Man.  Visible Man was so popular that The Visible Woman followed and additional subjects were given the styrene X-Ray treatment.  The trend very nearly went to extremes with Visible Trout and Visible Cow among the more unusual examples.  Decades later, perhaps the strangest of them all, a reimagined Lindberg Corporation released the Visible Alien! 

Just 13 clear styrene parts make up the kit.  All round pieces are part of the amoeba.  The two smaller protozoa (paramecium and euglena) either fit on the stand or can stand up by themselves.

In our house, we had Visible Man and Visible Head.  Both these kits nudged Brudder Dick in a medical science career direction.  I got my own chance to build a Visible Head in a junior high biology class and since then I’ve had an interest in the various educational and anatomical model kits that are out there.  Fun with such models eventually inspired a multifaceted engineering career and I've been involved in biochemistry research including microbiology!
 
The Amoeba was first released in 1963 by a company called Superior Plastics.  In our bonus features, we’ll show more of what this company offered; they certainly had a number of unusual model kits!
 
Circa 1973, Lindberg received the molds and released the kit again.  It wasn’t available for nearly a half-century after that.

Atlantis brings The Amoeba back in 2022 as part of their STEM educational series (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math).  Aside from the unusual subject matter, it’s one of a handful of kits out there that is 100% transparent plastic!  This is perhaps the supreme challenge for a model kit maker.  Each mold has two halves; most parts are made with a side that isn’t seen and that part of the mold can be ignored by a kit maker since it won’t show on the finished model.  The insides of a vintage model kit car body are a good example; these can get pretty ratty with handling dings, and corrosion, and they’ll never show.  On a kit like the Amoeba, not only must all those mold surfaces be carefully handled, they must also be polished to a mirror-like shine so the finished part will be as transparent as possible.  Atlantis did a great job of mold cleanup, reconditioning, prep, or whatever here.  It's honestly hard to believe it was first tooled sixty years ago.  The Amoeba looks great!

Here's the amoeba with both halves dry-fit together and the nucleus in place.  At left, it appears to be in the process of consuming an euglena with one of its pseudopods.  This gives you an idea regarding the actual size difference between the amoeba and the euglena!

​Atlantis’ Amoeba kit has three organisms represented.  The Amoeba is in two halves with separate nucleus and food vacuoles.  The finished amoeba sits on a clear stand and the smaller protozoa fit in slots on the side of the stand.
 
Atlantis recommends this model for ages 14 and up.  But it’s really a simple model and kids younger than that should be able to handle it provided they can responsibly handle tools (razor knife), paint, and glue required to build it.  Any child at or approaching junior high school age (11-14) should have no trouble particularly if a parent is nearby to provide assistance or supervision.
 
An interesting aspect of the English-only instructions is that they utilize mostly written text for assembly.  It’s not like anything is complicated here; there is an overall assembly diagram and the text describes what to paint, but younger kids might appreciate it if Mom or Dad can help interpret the written instructions to help with the painting.  This is the sort of model that should be pretty easy to  build in an evening or two with most of the work involving a little hand-painting.

These circles represent the amoeba's food vacuoles.  Think of them as "stomach pods" that actually move around inside the amoeba to feed its various internal bits.  The details inside these "vacuoles" represent bacteria.  Ewww!  Actually, you can paint these all kinds of colors.  It'll be fun!

A hobby knife or single-edge razor blade will be handy for removing a small amount of flash and cleaning up sprue attachment points.  Use extra care when cutting parts from the sprue.  I'd recommend placing a small piece of wood below the sprue attachment point so you can avoid flexing the sprue as you apply cutting pressure.  You want to avoid stress-cracks in the clear plastic as much as possible.
 
I have two more simple building suggestions.  First off, don’t use conventional model glue to build the kit.  No matter how careful you could be with either tube cement or liquid glue, any surfaces touched with those glues will eventually turn an unsightly white on the clear plastic.  Instead, use Testors clear parts cement and window maker.  You could actually fit the parts together first and carefully run the glue along the seam.  It should run along the seam at least a short distance via capillary action and you can wipe away any excess.  The glue is slightly cloudy when wet but it will dry crystal-clear.  The most important characteristic is that it will not craze the plastic.  And, you don't need a lot.  The halves should stay together well if a drop of glue is placed in the locator pin holes or if the outside seam is "tacked" in a few spots around the edge of the model.
 

The other suggestion is a painting technique.  If you paint the backside of all the parts where painting is specified instead of the front, any brush strokes or slightly uneven spots will be invisible from the front.  Most microbes appear to have translucent parts, so why not consider using translucent paints such as Tamiya’s clear color acrylics.  Regardless, paints specially designed for model kit plastic should be used.  They should be easy to find at craft or hobby stores.

The wavy line at top left on the euglena (left) is its flagellum-tail that it uses to swim (leave the clear portion between that and the euglena's body clear plastic/don't paint it!).  The cilia-hairs around the paramecium (lower right) are fiber-like "legs" that the paramecium uses to swim as well as move food to its mouth.  Leave those and the area around them clear as well!

All three protozoa can be displayed on this stand and of course they're easily removable--don't glue them to the base!  There will be a small amount of flash and sprue attachment points to remove on some of the parts.

If you decide to paint the base, paint the bottom surface!  Your color will show through looking much smoother and shinier than if you painted the top surface.  You could carefully paint the tops of the lettering to provide a nice looking base in short order.

Here's a simple dry-fit of the major parts.  The model is a pretty good size; 14 inches across and 7 inches high!

This model might make a great gift for a young person who is considering or embarking upon a career in biology or medicine.  Most basic biology courses begin with the study of single-celled creatures as many of their components work the same as the cells in our bodies.  This kit will be helpful for anyone wishing to learn more about basic animal organisms.  Science fair displays and school assignments are other ideas where this kit could be beneficial for its educational value.

We love this information-packed kit! Atlantis has done a bang-up job of resurrecting the molds and box and instructions.  Enjoy one for yourself and give another to a young person learning about the world!  2Modeler.com gives this model an enthusiastic four thumbs up!
 
Special thanks to Atlantis Models for providing this kit for us to review and enjoy!
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This page of the instructions has introductory info and an assembly drawing. Note that Atlantis included a photo of the cleaned and polished kit mold!

The backside is crammed full of educational information about the models.  You'll just have to buy the kit to see it!

BONUS FEATURES

JOEL TAVERA BUILDS ATLANTIS MODELS' AMOEBA AND PUTS IT TO CREATIVE USE

Atlantis Models' Amoeba kit has obvious educational value for young or old.  However, with a little creativity, there are plenty of other interesting things that can be done with this awesome model kit!  Why not give it a supporting role in a movie scene??!!

Joel Tavera is well known for sharing photos of his amazing models online for decades.  He's one of the most creative science fiction modelers that there is.  While building Moebius Models' submarine Proteus from Fantastic Voyage, he contemplated some unique ways to enhance his display of this model.  Atlantis' Amoeba kit was auditioned for a role and won the part of some white corpuscles in Joel's scene from the 1966 science fiction film, Fantastic Voyage.

Joel airbrushed clear Tamiya acrylic paints to give his Atlantis Amoeba models striking color schemes and a realistic gelatinous appearance.

In this classic 1960's movie, a group of scientists and their research submarine Proteus are shrunk down to microscopic size to save the life of a dying fellow scientist who knows the secret to extending the time limit on the miniaturization process to longer than one hour.  Much of the film depicts the Proteus inside a human body.  Red and white blood cells are depicted via special effects to varying degrees of success.  Atlantis' Amoeba kit does a great acting job in Joe's presentation.  The cellular biologist in me can visualize the basophil and lymphocyte roles being played by the Atlantis performers here.

Joel's display base for the sub model utilizes the original stand from the Amoeba kit at rear and an 8X10" clear acrylic box frame that he got at Michael's craft store.

Moebius' Proteus was released in 2017.  It's a 1/32-scale kit of the fictional movie research submarine.  I'm old enough to remember seeing this movie on the big screen in a real theater!

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Continue reading our Bonus Features for this article.  Amoebas and single-cell organisms are featured in other movies and TV shows!

​MORE ABOUT AMOEBAS AND THEIR POND WATER PROTOZOA PALS

Amoebas (or amoebae) have been referred to as simple creatures because they are single-cell organisms.  The human body has about 200 different types of cells and some sources state that 100 trillion cells is a good place to begin guessing the total numbers of cells in a human body with about a quarter of that amount being red blood cells alone.

This is an amoeba dubia said to have a genetic blueprint 200X that of a human being.  Note that its pseudopodia are hyper-extended.  It can just as easily shape itself like the amoeba featured in the Atlantis model kit.  Amoeba are pretty much nature's blobs thanks to their fluid and flexible anatomy.

​However, some amoebae have more complex genomes than humans.  The genome is the blueprint that makes up an organism; without it, an organism could not reproduce itself.  Humans have about three billion base pairs of DNA.  The single-cell Amoeba dubia has a whopping 670 billion base pairs, over 200 times as many as us lowly humans.  Chances are these creatures have a lot more going on than we know about.
 
It has been said that no artificial intelligence program created to date can match the intellect of the average amoeba.  We see an amoeba as a squishy membrane-bag of cytoplasm with a few bits such as a nucleus and food vacuoles floating about, yet this “simple” organism can sense, pursue, and capture food, and recognize and escape various types of hazards. 

Every couple days or so, an amoeba simply splits in half, thus reproducing itself.  Instead of a plumbed-in stomach like we have, it uses food vacuoles, which are like little butlers that move around serving various parts of the cell with meals and removing waste!  If an amoeba is partially eaten, so long as a small portion of its nucleus survives, the amoeba can completely regenerate itself, assuming a complete set of genes is still there.

Parameciums are around a tenth of a millimeter long.  Your Atlantis version therefore has a scale of about 1000/1.

Paramecia differ from Amoebae in that they have a defined shape.  It is common for educators and scientists to refer to them as slipper-shaped, as is seen in the classic example included in the Atlantis kit.  The cilia, fine hairlike structures used for movement and feeding, cover the entire surface of the creatures.  The mouth is in the “arch” of the slipper--kind of like a squashed Pac Man.

Parameciums are mostly transparent organisms like amoebas.

Euglenas have a rudimentary form of vision in addition to their plant-parts.  Initially, scientists had a hard time classifying them as plants or animals.

Euglenas have a defined shape similar to paramecia.  A single whip-like tail called a flagella is used for propulsion.  Euglenas feed by processes common to both plants and animals, which makes them unique.  Chloroplasts inside the euglena feed the euglena via photosynthesis meaning it grows like a plant!  However, euglena also eat food like animals as well.  Those handy chloroplasts are full of chlorophyl, the stuff that makes plants green.  So you can use some green paint on the euglena in your Atlantis kit to make it stand out among its more transparent amoeba and paramecium friends.

Euglenas have plant-like qualities!  That green color is chlorophyl.  Euglenas can feed via photosynthesis!   The chloroplasts on your Atlantis euglena are the oval-shaped structures.  Paint 'em green!

I recall introductory classes in biology during junior high and high school.  Normally, plant science is where the concept of cells is introduced and from there, single-celled creatures such as amoebas are where the study of animal cells traditionally begins.  Different components of these cells are studied and basic biological concepts such as respiration, ingesting and digesting food, excreting waste, and reproduction are learned.  One doesn’t need to study this for long to be amazed at the complexity and beauty of these so-called simple creatures and quite often, we encounter some version of the statement, “we don’t understand exactly how or why this works the way it does.”  It’s here where we often contemplate our spiritual and intellectual beliefs to come up with the answers that satisfy us and of course our minds are inspired to pursue more on the subject.
 
A model kit like Atlantis Models’ Amoeba is a great place to expand our minds regarding the so-called miracle of life while engaging our hands and creativity!

MORE MOVIE STAR AMOEBAS

The amoeba is known for its ability to change its shape dramatically and “ooze” its way along using pseudopods, or “fake feet.”  The notion has had a little attention from Hollywood over the past; not nearly as much as “monsters” with defined body parts, of course.  Let’s take a look at a pair of examples.

THE BLOB

The Blob was a very low-budget affair produced by Jack Harris, a film distributor who wanted to break into film production.  He convinced Valley Forge Films, a company specializing in Christian films based in Pennsylvania, to produce the feature on a famously meager $110,000 budget for a 1958 release.  Harris cast a then-unknown Steve McQueen in his first starring role.  McQueen famously turned down a percentage of profits for a $2800.00 one-time check.  McQueen needed the quick money and left behind what would have become at least $400,000 had he waited a little.  This was ten percent of the 4 million dollars that the hit movie quickly made which was his other contract option.  McQueen still ended up doing just fine!  Burt Bacharach wrote the music to the tongue-in-cheek opening Blob theme and the song became a minor hit in the USA!

Spoiler:  things will not go well for this fellow.

Being a film extra is fun; these people are having a great time fleeing the Colonial Movie Theater in panic.

Next, we jump-cut to some awesome low-budget visual effects as The Blob chases those happy people from the theater.

One of the really interesting things about The Blob was its ability to sense and pursue food; in this case some number of disbelieving small town folk played by jovial, underpaid actors and extras.  Real amoebas actually behave in this manner.  Dismiss the movie if you like for its lovable schlocky attributes, but the intellect and motivation of The Blob seems pretty much like the real thing, albeit on a much smaller scale.

ORIGINAL STAR TREK:  THE IMMUNITY SYNDROME

The Immunity Syndrome, an episode of the original Star Trek TV series, featured (spoiler) a giant single-celled space “amoeba.”  Some of the more erudite Star Trek critics consider this episode one of the worst of the series.  I remember watching it when it was first broadcast and it has always been one of my favorites.  Perhaps the critics were down on it because it was a “Monster-of-the-Week” episode.  But I was very young and enjoyed any “Monster of the Week” outing after being scared to death watching The Blob.  In this episode, Mr. Spock gets plenty to do and it also has one of William Shatner's (AKA Captain Kirk) best script deliveries in the series (spoiler): "AN-TI-BO-DIES!"

EDUCATIONAL MODEL-O-RAMA

SUPERIOR PLASTICS

The Amoeba was first made by a model kit company called Superior Plastics in 1963.  This company made a few other models; each of which was far more unique than the usual airplane, car, or ship model.

Superior Plastics' Lobster!  Molded in cooked-lobster red!  I wonder what a cooked lobster is doing in that pond environment; it would look much better on a plastic plate with a cup of plastic drawn butter.

This frog kit had a full set of bones and internal organs!  You could learn about a frog's insides without having to dissect a real one.  This model has seen sporadic re-releases; frogs everywhere are grateful.

This Statue of Liberty model was later sold by Revell and Lindberg.

Model kits of the Taj Mahal and the United Nations complex in New York City were available as model kits thanks to Superior Plastics!  Unfortunately, they didn't have any big hits and the company got out of the extremely competitive model kit business.  Eventually, Lindberg Models got some of their tooling.

You're one of the bright ones--but only if you buy a Superior Plastics model.  Boy's Life Magazine says so.

The Superior Plastics Statue of Liberty has been re-released a few times, but this Lincoln Memorial hasn't seen the light of day in well over half a century.

There aren't too many sports models.  A kit of Yankee Stadium could occupy your time on a rainy day when you couldn't play baseball outside.  Alas, there weren't enough rainy days to make this kit a home-run hit.

MORE EDUCATIONAL KITS

As mentioned, Renwal was the king of the “Visible” kit.  Visible Man was the quintessential educational model kit and perhaps one of the most popular and successful educational model kits ever.  It spawned an entire line of “Visible” kits from the company.  Eventually, Renwal closed and Revell ended up with many of their assets.

Atlantis Models has many Renwal molds and we're happy to see them re-releasing a number of previous Renwal subjects that have not been available in many decades.

Few visual aids for learning about the human body's internal organs and their placement  are as powerful as Visible Man and Visible Woman!

Visible Woman included a bonus "bun in the oven" providing two display options and a two-for-the-price-of-one value!  Alas, poor Visible Man couldn't match this feature.

Like Visible Man, this 1/1-scale Visible Head could be an invaluable tool in teaching human anatomy in a way no book or film ever could.

Visible Man had many releases over the years and passed through a few different companies.  The kit was last sold just a few years ago by Skilcraft.  This company apparently no longer makes educational products; nowadays, it specializes in producing adaptive products for the blind.

VISIBLE MAN AND VISIBLE WOMAN AS SEEN ON TV

Visible Man and Visible Woman were used as props in the British TV sci-fi series, Space: 1999 which was on TV from 1975-77.  This series was known for its spectacular special effects including some very cool spacecraft models.  Spoiler:  There were lots of explosions!

Visible Man and Visible Woman are guest stars starting in the first episode, Breakaway, of Space: 1999.  Amazingly, they survived a likely fall from their windowsill perch when the Moon was violently torn from Earth's orbit at the end of the episode.

Barbara Bain plays Dr. Helena Russell, the chief physician for Moonbase Alpha.  In several episodes, Visible Man and Visible Woman can be seen in her office.

Thank J. Lloyd International, brand holder of Lindberg, in 2006 for releasing Visible Alien!

If Visible Alien mutilates Visible Cow, could you see the results?

I've cleaned and eaten enough freshly caught trout that I can pass on The Visible Trout kit.

A BIG FINISH - BIG EDUCATIONAL KITS

In the 1950's and 60's, model kit companies weren't afraid to take big risks with some big models and U.S. Capitol and The Renwal Cosmorama are two good examples.  Marx Toys was experienced with large plastic pieces thanks to their many toy products and they tooled a Capitol building in 1/160 and The White House in 1/48.  Glencoe models re-released these.
 
The Cosmorama could project the stars and constellations on the inside of a large, white dome.  You could pick any location on Earth and any time and date, and the Cosmorama would show you what the stars would look like there.  This model sparked a strong interest in astronomy for both Dick and me.  Dick actually modified his star projector sphere for accuracy, adjusting the brightness of some stars and even adding a few that weren’t originally included.

Everyone needs a U.S. Capitol building on their N-Scale train layout.  This model was re-released by Glencoe.

We had one of these at our house.  It has to rank as one of the most spectacular model kits of all time--a functioning planetarium!  You're probably going to pay well over a thousand dollars for one of these complete on eBay nowadays.

This kit came in a large box and was composed of a number of very large moldings including the dome parts and console.  It retailed for $20 in 1963, which is around $200.00 today.  Examples showing up on eBay are bid to some rather outrageous amounts!  We took diligent care of the Cosmorama, but our mother quietly disposed of this amazing model when we weren’t around without telling either of us.

ATLANTIS MODELS PROVIDES A RANGE OF EDUCATIONAL KITS TODAY--TRY THEM ALL!

Like the model kits we've discussed here, Atlantis Models' educational kits combine plenty of  building fun with an educational experience!  The aircraft engines have moving parts that show just how the real thing operates.  Enjoy them for yourself or give as a gifts to someone you love!
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