chernobog13:

Steel armatures that were the “skeleton” for the King Kong models in the original 1933 film.

The last surviving original armature is owned by actor, prop archivist, and fan supreme Bob Burns (that’s the armature, and Burns’ elbow, in the top photo).

Burns once told the story of how he and his wife were invited to New Zealand by director Peter Jackson.  Jackson at the time was filming his version of King Kong.  Burns brought along the Kong armature to show Jackson.  Unfortunately, TSA agents at the airport, upon scanning Burns’ luggage, thought he had a baby skeleton.  They took Burns to an empty room where he quickly explained what the armature was.  The TSA agents immediately turned into geekish fanboys, and were delighted when Burns removed the armature and demonstrated how it worked.

The rest of the trip was, thankfully, uneventful.

Burns and his wife have a brief, “blink-and-you’ll-miss-it,” cameo in Jackson’s film ,outside the theatre where King Kong is being exhibited.