Airfix kit models: a brief history movie

A brief look at the history of England;s most famous kit model brand, Airfix.
Sources:
Forty Years of Airfix Models
Sixty Years of Airfix Models
By Jeremy Brook
Scale Models International October 1994
J.C. Carbonel
Article provided by Sergey
The Book of Airfix
by Arthur Ward
Music Provided to KZbin by Universal Music Group
Look On The Bright Side Of Life (All Things Dull And Ugly)
Monty Python Monty Python's Life Of Brian ℗ 1979
The copyright in this sound recording is owned by Paragon International under exclusive license to Virgin Records Ltd ℗ ℗ 1979 Paragon International
Producer: David Howman Producer: Andre Jacquemin
Composer: Eric Idle

[@italianlawyer6308]

I am sixty years old, but for half the happiest days of my life, I remember holding an Airfix sachet in my hand.

[@lst141]

Italian Lawyer Well i can say the same thing and i’am some way younger than you!!, but I bought them in cardboard boxes!. Hurrah!

[@bigblue6917]

Shared memories there.

[@mikestrohm3271]

@ungratefulmetalpansy Back in the day I got 2s 6d pocket money a week, a plastic pouch kit cost 2s and that was my weekend sorted.

[@PoetWithPace]

same!

[@Taketimeout3]

My first ever kit was a horsa glider given out in a class in an attic room at school.. I remember sticking the windows on the outside. That was 1966. I was 7 and too young. I didn't go and buy one till 1968 and they were in plastic sachets. I think it was HMS Cossack. They were 2 shillings, all my pocket money. I still haven't learn to save money yet!

[@charlesemerson6763]

I got my first Airfix kit in 1963, my 5th birthday present. I watched my father build and paint it on the kitchen table. I treasured that Spitfire and couldn't wait till I could build kits myself. I'm 63 now and still building Airfix.

[@jamiebeale6672]

Great story and a similar experience for me albeit in the 70s, great to see airfix alive and kicking. 👍

[@neilwilson5785]

Good for you, my man. We all know what a pleasure this hobby can be. I built a FW-190 with my dad when I was starting out, and it is a memory I treasure to this day. He knew his stuff as well, as he was an engineer for an aviation company. I just got lucky with my parents I guess.

[@Ndlanding]

Some birthday present! It's like your dad giving his 5-year-old kid a bottle of whisky, then drinking it himself.

[@whisthpo]

@kev googlestein "The Dark side of the force is always the stronger" or something like that in an interview... David Gilmour

[@adrianrichards247]

Same story here ...but It was my mom in the 1960s buying me a model on a Saturday to build so she and dad could go out o. A Saturday Night ...you’d be imprisoned for that now

[@borderlands6606]

Specialist model shops in the 1960s were an Aladdin's cave for kids, and many adults too. Die-cast offerings from Dinky, Corgi and Matchbox, plastic kits from Airfix, Revell and Aurora, Meccano construction, Mamod live steam models, trains from Hornby and Tri-ang, Kiel Kraft planes and gliders and many others. Few modellers did justice to the evocative artwork on the box, but everyone tried. Some kids were serial modellers. Happy days indeed.

[@hughcameron]

I liked Frog kits too.

[@Farweasel]

@@hughcameron Were those the 'Heller' ones?

[@babuzzard6470]

As were the Seventies!

[@davidbarnes1955]

The Airfix model range range gave me a couple of school holiday projects in the 70s with the HMS Endeavour, Royal Sovereign and Heinkel HE, even my mother tried a small flying boat

[@ianmax69]

Imagine being a designer at Airfix drawing office in 1969? Designing a model of the supersonic Concorde the Harrier jump jet,, NASA's Apollo 11 Saturn 5 Moon rocket and the absolute pinnacle of human endeavour and achievement the Austin Maxi !

[@ian_b]

It was the "Austin Maxi Age". Little boys dreamed of being Austin Maxi drivers- or "Maxinauts" when they grew up. We won't see such golden times again.

[@simonmarsden66]

My wife's uncle was the technical draughtsman at Airfix

[@DL-go1xh]

Seriously? An Austin Maxi was replicated by Airfix. My Dad drove one. It was PVC everywhere.. but I still have a soft spot for it. Maxi. Not PVC Lol...

[@EricIrl]

@@brandmotivo I have to say that some of them were not so great. There 1960s Spitfire IX had shape issues as did their 109G and Fw190D. I have to admit though, they usually got it reasonably right. By the mid 1970s, Airfix were producing some cracking 1/72 aircraft.

[@j.chiari4222]

Lmfao

[@daviddjerassi]

Thank you at 86 years young like you i cannot count all the models of Air Fix i have built long live the company.

[@mbabist01]

I've been a happy Airfix modeler since I was seven years old. I am now 64 and still going strong.

[@rogerking7258]

Many thanks for this thoughtful article. As a Brit, the irony of an American producing this insightful piece about a British icon is not lost on me!

[@StevieBzz]

My Mother worked as a nurse in the Palatoy factory in the Midlands around 1973 ? Myself and my brother would get all exited on the last Friday of the Month ? The Factory has a seconds department shop only for staff. We would get boxes of Action Man parts, Tanks Helicopters cars , and all sorts. I remember my favourite was Action Man as a Queens Guard, with a great costume and even a scaled HORSE. !!!!! Imagine what that would sell for now ?? Great memories and thank you very much. Still building Airfix. Long may they last. Thankyou very much.

[@maxsmodels]

awesome

[@Lockbar]

I love the old 1960's Airfix boxes. makes me feel like a kid again.

[@bobz1736]

I'll never forget the superb Apollo 11 Airfix kit I built as a kid. It was huge. Wish I still had it...

[@xkot6431]

My dad was stationed in England in the early 1970s. I grew up with tons of Airfix toys, mainly the 1/72 and 1/32 scale plastic figures, which were incredibly numerous and fun, and the various vehicles and playsets that went with them. I built a few Airfix airplane model kits as well, including the 1/32 scale Stuka and Mustang B. Airfix was as big a part of this American's childhood as Hasbro, Ideal, and Mattel were. Shout out to Palitoy (Action Man) as well.

[@roverboat2503]

I had the Airfix FN rifle too. When I joined the Army they gave me a real one (SLR). That was plastic too!

[@bigblue6917]

I have a feeling the bullets were not

[@duncanandrews1940]

I still have a REAL SLR, plastic furniture but the bullets are very real!!

[@robinwatters572]

Good gun though, always liked the L1A1. Used one on a range in the States recently. Happy memories.

[@rogerpattube]

Comment of the Day.

[@MrRobster1234]

When my buddy joined the US Marine Corps in 1970 his rifle stock was made by Matell

[@richardklug822]

In the early 60's I used my allowance and lawn mowing money to buy Airfix figures and armor kits at Woolworth's and Montgomery (Monkey) Wards. They hit the perfect price point: two boxes of soldiers or a tank for under $1. Spent several summers with my brother refighting WWII on the hill behind our apartment. Great times!

[@roberthill3207]

80s kid brother and i did the same thing.

[@whisthpo]

With my 'pocket money', I could buy 2 kits or 1 kit & some Humbrol paint! Happy Days eh? A visit to the Airfix counter in Woolworths was a highlight for me and when I found out the lads on the counter got to build the models on display, I wanted a job there when I left school !

[@jmfa57]

Back in the 1960s and early 1970s, every Saturday I got my allowance, and every Saturday, I got another kit to build. Never saved a dime until I got to high school. Great times indeed!

[@neilwilson5785]

I loved the model soldiers, and the sets with soldiers and a fort. Amazing. I had so many aircraft hanging from the ceiling on thread, a real dogfight. Some were Matchbox though. The Matchbox models were often very good.

[@Ndlanding]

@@whisthpo With my pocket money, I could have saved up for 3 months and bought a wee kit. And no paint. Times were hard back then. And for many folks, still are.

[@beendoneagain]

Airfix was a huge part of childhood. Great memories of all their kits and range of WW2 figures. Video games did take my interest away from kits, but 30 years later I decided to set up a little model station in my spare room and started modelling again. Now I am obsessed with building and buying kits. Great Company Great Times Great Memories Great Hobby!!

[@classicalvintagecollector]

Thanks for putting together the history of all of these modeling companies.

[@theravedaddy]

I treasured my airfix builds, hung them from the ceiling with cotton wool smoke and electric motors, bullet holes made with matches and a hot pin. The saturn 1B was a classic, having watched it on tv. Great times. Todays kids will look back to pressing buttons and being offended by everything.

[@keithhinke3277]

I used to use .22 cal. birdshot [if remember correctly #12 shot] at 10 to 15 feet-don't want too many hits. My masterpiece was a bf 109 E which took 4 machine gun sized holes from the birdshot in a line with 3 hitting along the engine and the fourth going through both sides of the canopy [even left a little "starring"]. The pilot was still sitting in the seat, but the head was entirely missing. The absolute best result, a single sweeping pass from an enemy machinegun. Surrealistic of course, no explanation given for how it could be viewed in that condition after surely crashing, but I didn't want to mess with perfection.

[@keithhinke3277]

Interestingly enough the 3 that hit the engine area didn't go out the other side, "meaning that the canopy plastic is weaker?". There is no engine of course.

[@richardm3023]

@@keithhinke3277 Perhaps strafed while on the ground???

[@omaha2pt]

Did this bring back memories? I spent a few of my teen years building and painting Airfix 1:72 WWII models and soldiers, with which I then played war games with my friends. And kept them for a long time after that. Now I need to put my glasses on just to see the time on my wrist watch. Thank you for this video.

[@feikotemme8736]

WJ Smith Hahahahaha same,my friend....I own 3,so as not having to search that long for a pair of glasses in case I need them hahahaha nice to know one's able to meet buddies here on channels like these,knowing our problems AND our memories are all the same,stay safe and may time treat you well

[@wernervannuffel2608]

I did the same in Brussels, Belgium in the early '70 and also limited myself to soldiers and arircrafts 🙂🙃

[@MaitresChezNous21]

Airfix, Matchbox, Heller and even Italieri and Monogramm was my child's world in France, building kits, doing researches about history. Thanks to these guys for the dreams!

[@tonebonetones]

Excellent bio with one small, but very significant exception. As a schoolboy in the early 1970's, I saved pocket money and bought airfix kits by the dozen, and so did all my friends. These, after all, were the days of no home computers or mobile phones, so our spare time was roaming outdoors on bike or foot or making kits. One day, which I will never forget, one of my best friends asked me to come and see his new model Centurion tank. What I saw was the death knell of airfix. What I saw was my first Tamiya 1/35 scale model. It was simply astounding......the quality and detail of the mouldings....the lack of excess plastic on the parts, that with an airfix kit you would cheerfully spend half an hour carefully trimming with a craft knife, and most of all.......motorised and remote control! It was a quantum leap in model quality and technology. From that day on, we all bought Tamiya.....it became the 'serious' model to have.

[@davidcoates350]

Thank you for this great documentary, as a British boy AirFix was my go to kit for model building. Now as a 50+ guy i am now reliving my love of kits. And AirFix are still one i look at for choices.

[@MisterHughes]

Thanks for this video, Airfix were a big part of my childhood without actually knowing a lot about the company. I can still hear my Mum shouting at me for getting glue on the dinner table 😁

[@Cheeseatingjunglista]

I know this took you an age, but as a fan, I'd like to tell you I think it was time well spent - fantastic work, I knew nothing about its early years, thank you so much - superb vid

[@whisthpo]

Ditto.

[@neilwilson5785]

I agree. Really good information, a very good delivery (voice), and so much new stuff that I thought I should know already, but didn't.

[@sebastiansekinger5070]

Ditto!

[@Farweasel]

In short - Bloody fascinating.

[@basiliodubko6447]

Wonderful memories!!!! In the early and mid 60's I owned in Argentina many of the marvelous Airfix kits: Bismark, Hood, B-29, B-25, Nelson, Messerschmitt, P51, and the list goes on... It was pretty expensive down here, but... What a joy!!!! My parents rewarded me for my achievements in school, even that it costed them a great deal of economic efford..

[@Ralph2]

I too was not aware of how many Airfix kits I'd built until I watched this video! Thanks for jogging the memory.

[@maxsmodels]

same here

[@welshparamedic]

I'm a 63 year old Brit (Welshman ) and both myself and my younger brother enjoyed making Airfix kits when we were boys throughout our early teens, but life had other priorities and so Airfix (And Revell) became a low priority to a total absence!, Now that I am retired i have a renewed interest in making model warbirds again and have thoroughly enjoyed revisiting this hobby I once was very active in! This was a very well researched project by one of our cousins from across the pond and I can assure you that you certainty have done us proud for what was always viewed as essentially a British hobby/ model making company! PS; Loved the out takes at the end, Thankyou, and stay safe in this terrible period that the world is going through!

[@mcmoose64]

My first ever model kit was the Centurion tank , sold in the plastic bag with cardboard header . My dad bought it for me in the late 60s. I would have been 4 or 5 years old at the time. That unbuilt kit sat in the kitchen cupboard for years until my dad thought I was old enough to build it . Once of my earliest memories is of climbing onto the kitchen bench to reach the cupboard and look at the kit in anticipation . I think we ended up building it together when I was 7 or 8 yrs old .

[@ericgrace9995]

A perfect afternoon of lockdown nostalgia. As a young boy in the 1960s I would visit Woolworths on Saturday morning with 2 shillings burning a hole in my pocket. Sometimes it would be 5 shillings.. for a Wellington or Heinkel. You took me back ! Thankyou.

[@SCSuperheavy114]

Back in the 70’s I cut my teeth on 1/72 Airfix aircraft before moving on to Monogram. I also played with those 1/72 soldiers that my brother had. Many a fight over those...loved the box art some of the best! Well done ole boy!

[@glencochrane901]

As kids we loved their 1/32 scale soldiers.

[@mikhailv67tv]

They were substantial and detailed. I remember the Australian Infantry which I'd line up against the Japanese Infantry

[@tanjohnny2757]

As a kid, I was so happy to get an Airfix catalogue. I can read through and through for hours. I still remember my first kit was the F-15 Early model. Thanks for the upload and memories.

[@user-py6oc4jo6c]

The Airfix soft plastic soldier sets got me started in historical miniature wargaming, which got me into military history, in which I now hold cum laude Masters degree. Thank you! --Bob Bailey (age 68) in Maine, USA

[@Mudge07]

Ah the “Joy of Airfix” is, for me, still a continuing story. My father used his RAF-honed hand skills to make many kits in the 60’s and passed on that enthusiasm to his sons. I remember, for the first time in decades, those Columbus ships with their huge, decal-filled mainsails; probably my earliest Airfix contact. Thereafter as the flywheel of pocket money and age spun up, the catalogue gazing and number of aircraft, tanks, dioramas and troops from many eras grew and grew in our bedrooms. Very much a pleasure, your video explains the business, and touches on the key players of the manufacturers’ role in replica kit history. A special mention to the artists who made the leap of imagination to present what we all tried to envisage in our kits, the real thing, but smaller.

[@megamiazga]

Airfix Dogfighter actually got me into modelling and aviation when I was 7 years old.

[@spazza4303]

Build a swag of Airfix kits during the seventies including the Saturn 1b kit. As a kid I loved them and would rush to my local Hobbyist with my saved pocket money and buy my next armoured kit , PZIV, Sherman, Tiger 1....etc..... It's an era I loved and miss to this day... not a care in the world.... Thanks for the trip down memory lane mate.....

[@stephenyoud6125]

Did airfix do a Panzer IV? I had the Sherman, tiger and Panther, DUKW and others

[@bigblue6917]

I got the Saturn 5 and the Lunar Lander. And the Tiger. Always though Airfix was that bit better then Matchbox

[@EricIrl]

@@bigblue6917 Depends on the kit. Airfix started making kits two decades before Matchbox so their earlier stuff was very crude. By the time Mtachbox started in 1972/73, the kit industry was maturing and kit builders were expecting better accuracy and fit. Matchbox deliberately pitched their kits at younger modellers so some of their earlier kits were looked on as a bit basic and crude - although by and large they went together well. They got better as they went along and their 1920s/30 biplanes are still looked on as very nice.

[@izmeorbin9602]

Nice video, thank you - from a now-older dude who had his ceiling full of Airfix models!

[@paulofreire7520]

62 here. For many, many years of my youth a dedicated wargamer. I still have all my painted airfix american civil war, WWII troops, tanks, trucks, scenario pieces, you name it. This video just brought me a load of great memories. Thank you 👍🏻🙏🏻

[@ArenBerberian]

Been making Airfix since i was a kid in the early 2000s. I can confirm that the brand, although not nearly as big among young people as say the 60s/70s has still stuck with many of us with many good memories.

[@mecongberlin]

Any favorite set/troops?

[@ArenBerberian]

@@mecongberlin Too many to say haha. Although i did always like their unique 1/32 multi pose line. Shame they never expanded on it.

[@doubtingthomas736]

Takes me right back to being a little kid!... I had quite a few of those kits in the 60s

[@bikerchefray]

I always knew I was nearly as old as Airfix, and you just brought back many memories. I still recall sitting round a table with my brother and father building kits. Also, when I was ten I contracted polio my father got me walking again by building an Airfix B29. I had a bed in the living room and he was at the kitchen table so he could see me and I him. But, if I wanted to see him working on the kit then I had to get up and walk. In the late sixties we moved from England to Australia and just as we boarded the train to take us down to London and the airport my brother suddenly realised that after all the selling our old house and moving into a rented house before packing up, we had left all the models in the back room of the rented house. We must have had every Airfix model that was made and we left the lot, including that beautiful B29, in a rented house with a landlady that had the most destructive little bas***d of a child. Only God, and that little t#%t know what end our models came to. Great work, loved the trip down memory lane; and nice choice of music at the end.

[@robinwatters572]

I had loads of Airfix kits hanging from my bedroom ceiling as a kid back in the late fifties, early sixties. Well done, very interesting .

[@SuperNevile]

that was the best way to display aircraft models, especially in combat, however great diorama's could be built, aircraft recovery, aircraft refuelling, and aircraft being 'bombed up'...…..

[@JohnJ469]

I connected mine with thread with black and glow in the dark paint. At night it looked like tracer in a dogfight. Memories.

[@Hybris51129]

Airfix holds a special place in my heart. I have never built a model in my life but Airfix had a video game Airfix Dogfighter. The cheat code for God Mode was Hybris. I had memorized that code so hard that it became part of my online identity to this day.

[@PaulAFulcher]

You knocked this one out of the park Max, i was a great airfix maker in my youth i built a great number of fighters and bombers of the day,and i still think very highly of them today. Your brief history seems to me to be spot on..many thanks for this one !

[@grahamgibbs5948]

Excellent .Takes me back to my English childhood.

[@stevecuz4751]

Thank you for sharing. My dad was a master model builder and I was lucky enough to grow up with hundreds of highly detailed and accurately painted model airplanes from about 1965. I still have a box full of the tiny tanks, trucks, jeeps and tiny soldiers from the AirFix line of green military miniatures.

[@alandouglas8939]

Being a New Zealander, I grew up with Airfix so I really enjoyed your video as I learnt so much that I didn't know. I have built quite a few Airfix models and I always have containers full of Humbrol paints. I even had Hornby model trains as a lad. I have to say that the quality of the latest Airfix kits is fantastic. I guess that is mainly due to CAD and CNC milling systems used in the mastering of the molds. No more raised panel lines on aircraft.. Keep up the fantastic videos.

[@ethanbryant5468]

Growing up in the 2000s, I remember that playing that video game every day during the summer. It was actually a pretty impressive game for the time!

[@sweepsp8468]

I worked for Airfix back in the early 70's as a trainee pattern maker. For those who do not know I made the originals in wood and then cast them in resin which was then transfered to metal. Those years were some of the best in my life. I was already a model maker and to work at the place that made my favorite models, well I was in heaven. It was sad to see the company slowly go down, but the working practises were too old fashioned. The one thing I remember about that time was everyone their thought we were the best and I think we were. Thank you for bring back so many memories.

[@phoenixris]

A fantastic summary, thanks for the time spent doing the research.

[@wernervannuffel2608]

Indeed, a very good historical research report about toys that helps me to form my personality 😃

[@EM-wd2vg]

Still have many kits with the stunning artwork by Roy Cross stored in the loft. First ever kit built for me by my dad was the Concord, first one built by myself was the Spitfire of course. Really believe kids today are missing out. Big thanks for this, along with Arthur Ward and James May (both airfix aficionados) it brought back so many childhood memories...

[@Grundag]

As I listen to this, I am looking at my Airfix Churchill, a gift to myself some Christmases ago. I have great respect for this man who had reinvented himself so successfully and thusly provided so much joy to people all over the World. Thanks for the History, my Friend!

[@whisthpo]

I made the Airfix Churchill nearly 58 years ago...Weren't the road wheels a pain?

[@geraldsmith5427]

Born in 1955. Like you I started building Airfix airplanes in the 60s loved making them and hanging them on the ceiling great times .Paid 2 shillings for the spitfire and then started using 1/72 model soldiers. Still modelling to day.

[@victor62246]

Thank you for this (long awaited) docu about Airfix,I loved it. I finished my newest Airfix kit just last week! (1/72 Vampire T-11).

[@peterfmodel]

I grew up with AirFix and have very found memories - great memories.

[@roberth8944]

I'm so glad for Airfix's new outstanding kits and certainly hope Hornby can keep going. While I was stationed at RAF Woodbridge in the 67th ARRS, 1978-81 Airfix came out and took photos of one of our USAF HH-53C Super Jolly Green Giant helicopters (tail #5785); 1/72 Kit 06003-7 was the result and is still the most accurate H-53 model, correct outline and engine shapes (even though it has those over size rivets). Still have a couple to build again. If they could update that one, maybe as a Pave Low I'll buy several.

[@rogerfox2995]

Thanks for this maxsmodels. I was given my first kits around 1952, the Ferguson being the first. My uncle was the service manager at the local Ford garage where Cove had his car serviced. Every time he would hand over 5 or 6 kits which would be passed on to me. I particularly enjoyed the 1:76 model railway buildings which I made and my dad painted. all this passed about 1962 when girls became much more important. Couple of points, - the original Hornby company, started in 1901 by Frank Hornby of Mecanno (Erector in the US), Dinky Toys and Hornby Railways fame, went bust in 1964 and was bought by Triang - at that time the biggest toy company in the world. Dapol still use many of the original Airfix OO gauge moulds and it's possible to buy the same kits as I did 65 years ago.

[@howardsykes2754]

I started building kits from the age of 9, that was 60 years ago. Airfix was IT, until much later as I grew up in a British colony. But I have never lost my desire to construct something that, though I could never achieve perfection, I was always proud of when finished & on display. It's just a shame so many from younger generations are losing interest as it is not an instant gratification process.

[@kenty2831]

I have enjoyed biographies in the past, however this is at the top of the list. Thank you for opening my eyes to the world plastic kit manufacturing

[@cannoneer155mm]

Between 1971 and 1974 I was stationed at Elmendorf AFB, AK. During this time I made over two hundred 1/72 scale model kits of WW2 aircraft, with a few between war a/c and one Korean War Skyraider. I had lots of time on my hands and was cooped up in the Barracks during the winter months. My favorite vender was The Squadron Shop. I had a subscription to their monthly magazine and planned what kits to purchase from them every payday. Names like Heller, Frog, Airfix and others were in my collection and I spent many a weekend engaged in building at least two kits over the weekend, having them completed by late Sunday Afternoon. Airfix was the kit brand that I bought the most of. It is sad to see that kits that cost $1,00 +/- a quarter now go for $6.00 or more.

[@paulcarolkampa511]

I can identify with your enthusiasm. I began building Airfix 1/72 scale kits in the 1960's. I still have at least 75 of the over 200 I built over the years. They are packed away for an upcoming move, but will be carefully unpacked and displayed over the HO/OO train layout in the yet to be designated hobby room.

[@whisthpo]

"Time, spent well, is so rare" Bryan Ferry/Roxy Music

[@northmann9712]

Evocative and heaven help me, emotional. Thank you, Old boy.

[@Snootyboss]

Thank you for making and posting this. I had a world of fun making these kits. I started with turrets on ships that wouldn't turn, dings in the dining table that I hurriedly tried to hide and picking glue from my nails. I made a diorama with a bren carrier once that I was chuffed to bits with. I had hours and hours of getting lost with my imagination and my airfix soldiers as a youngster too. It's amazing what memories come back watching this. Thanks again.

[@raticide4you]

Thank you for having posted this overview. In the early 1960ies I made numerous kits mainly airplanes. They were super cheap and well detailed. I lived in the Netherlands at that time and I played with a lot of British toys: Dinky Toys, Matchbox, Airfix kits and Meccano. Britain was the place to be at that time for new ideas. We also had a lot of British entertainment on Dutch television and of course the British pop music invasion. It was a good time for being young.

[@philthycat1408]

My favourite part was soaking the transfers in a saucer of luke warm water and sliding them carefully into position.

[@stephenrose1343]

First Airfix kit was the B17, made on the kitchen table with my dad in about 1966. Still remember the little red capsule of glue. My. Father was in the REME(engineers) in WW2, not only did he test captured axis vehicles,( A Kettenkrad being a favourite! ) He also drove around an American general in a Duesenburg. He was seconded to the USAF for some of his service and regaled me with stories of many of the aircraft he saw. Second Aircraft was the Short Sterling a real beast and a great kit complete with tractor and bomb trailer. Both hung from my bedroom ceiling until I was in my twenties, great days and a great, loving Dad.

[@user-ni2zo5zo3c]

You have no idea how you telling us of your childhood, and of your "great, loving Dad" gladdens my heart. Thanks.

[@tonyb83]

Building an Airfix Lancaster bomber at Christmas in the late 50's or early 60's.... happy memories. Great video thanks.

[@jameswelford1314]

A really enjoyable half hour of my life spent watching that Max. Thank you

[@martynrowse5638]

Airfix - Meccano - Lego ------spawned a generation of engineers and designers.

[@brianartillery]

Thank you for that video. Airfix models have been a very large part of the 57 years I've been on this planet. I was quite a solitary, lonely kid, and making model kits, losing myself in them, made my life a whole lot better. Buying them from the local newsagent, or from Woolworth's, if I went into town with my parents (although I learned never to buy the 1/32 scale cars, as my dad would find the temptation to build them himself just too great) , is a happy memory indeed.

[@paulconnors2078]

I am 70 and built many models during my young years in the 1960s and 70s. Thank you for this history lesson as well as the trip down memory lane. I especially noticed your reference to your Squadron model purchase. I remember vising the Squadron/Signal shop in Nassau County on Long Island many times during my college years when, by then, I was into painting lead figures.

[@spookybaba]

The days when kids were productive, and imaginative. My dad used to 'Buy them for me'. But, he always ended up building them. 😊 I got to paint most of them.

[@shane142]

I still have a lot of the Airfix's Books and there magazine's they use to do for model makers. Very interesting reading even today.

[@kawaracer69]

Thank you for this fabulous work. It's been a journey back in time. Airfix was always part of my childhood. I stopped building them when I turned 16. Part of the pleasure was visiting those toy stores full of dusty boxes hunting for the model that would inspire me. Sadly those stores have all closed down so I'm off to Amazon to order my next one. Can't wait to re-live the impressions again.

[@heli-crewhgs5285]

My first ever Airfix kit was a birthday present, back in 1970. It was a WW1 German (?Fokker?) triplane made from red plastic. The next year, the first Airfix product that I bought myself, was a box of ‘00’ scale Napoleonic-era Scottish soldiers (all wearing kilts.) They were made from a pale yellow plastic.

[@whisthpo]

This is a fantastic look into the World of Airfix which I hold dear to my childhood Max. I can remember at the age of 4-5 my Dad bringing home the Short Sunderland..I remember him letting me paint the spiky exhausts in Matt Black! Then my first kit was the Golden Hind and the HMS Victory...This would be 1959/60 I think. Seeing all the Original box art of the kits I have made over the years was a real nostalgia trip and I thank you for that Max! The model that stole me away from 1/72 and Airfix was a 1/32 T34/85 (I cant remember the make, it may have been Monogram) and then went on to the Nitto Sd Kfz 251 Halftrack , and then 1/35 Tamiya all the way!

[@PiperStart]

Here in the lost British outpost of New Zealand, Airfix remains popular. Academy kits are cheaper, but the box art on Airfix kits sells them. My paper delivery money went on almost every new release and fueled my interest in history - even helped me to buy the 1/24 Spitfire! Now, in my dotage, I go for Tamiya and Hasegawa as paragons of quality, but I always look wistfully at the Airfix kits on the shelf at our local hobby shop.

[@tonyromano6220]

Magister in Artium lost! LOL

[@tonyromano6220]

Magister in Artium thanks for tip

[@PoetWithPace]

Ahhh, those happy memories!

[@johnphillips8651]

An absolute gem of a presentation

[@vsmicer]

I spent much of my childhood and early teen years building Airfix kits - mostly WWII Aircraft, as my dad had flown one. I also made the odd Tamiya kit diorama. They fuelled my interest in real history and my studies as a sculptor. This video makes me reflect and miss them.

[@orbitalair2103]

Amazing how all our memories of "great" plastic models really only spans a short time. In the 70s I dont recall seeing any airfix kits in my area of the USA. When I got some new kits a couple years ago, getting back into plastic models, I got a couple airfix to see how they were. I find them very good. Well molded and detailed and reasonably priced too.

[@nascargraham]

Thanx for all the model retrospectives. My childhood hobby history.

[@retepeyahaled2961]

When I was about ten years old, I bought my first model after I had saved my pocket money for several weeks. I rushed home, put it together.. and I could not wait until I had saved enough pocket money to buy the next model. Now I am 64. This brings back so many pleasant memories, thank you very much.

[@grecco_buckliano]

HOLY MOLY. I had no idea Airfix had such a deep history OR such a deep catalog. Stellar production, Max. And in the name of "keeping it civil", I did wash my hands before making this comment.

[@ohlawdy6855]

Personally big on model ships myself. Really appreciated how many different ships Airfix has done that nobody else even touches. You don't see an RMS Mauretania or Queen Elizabeth kit from anybody else, most of the time it's either battleships or Titanic and I definitely enjoyed seeing more variety from them.

[@miamiclipper]

I've always loved Airfix kits since the 1960's. Thanks for the history lesson on my favorite hobby.

[@dannythomson5239]

Airfix and other companys such as Matchbox made my childhood in the 70's a very happy one. i still to this day enjoy doing some builds. great and very interesting video sir, thankyou for making and uploading this.

[@Winterchylde]

It would be a sure certainty that most, if not all, British modellers of my age/generation (I'm 57) started out making Airfix models (mine was a Messerschmitt Me 109 - I managed to put the wings on backwards!) and I even made that Ariel mootorcycle at one point I think, as well as the Angel Interceptor and the Eagle Lander, amongst many others (plus some of the 1/12th figures). I then graduated to Aurora, Revell, and Monogram, before stopping when I was in my late teens. I restarted about 5 years ago (albeit on resin figure busts) abd now concentrate on 1/72nd military support vehicles, mostly made by Asian/East European manufacturers., There's no getting away from the fact that Airfix was the one that started this journey for me...

[@mlaudisa]

Same here... Hasegawa, Fujimi, Monogram, Revell, and Tamiya came later for me, but the "fever" was caught with Airfix, cheap and cheerful... so many boxarts I now recognize as having built after nearly 50 years... how about Frog? Did you do any of those? I think I remember a couple...

[@Winterchylde]

@@mlaudisa: Yes, I made some Frog kits too, as well as Matchbox ones. Can't remember which ones I built, but I know I made a few. ESCI too...

[@slartybartfarst55]

@@mlaudisa Wow! Frog! I had totally forgotten about them! My childhood days came rushing back, thank you!

[@craigmesh9210]

I am a 56 year old Brit it was the toy of our generation great times.

[@whisthpo]

"before stopping when I was in my late teens" Girls eh?....

[@mrains100]

Thank you, I learned a lot about the business end of our hobby. It is not what you like, it is what sells.

[@trooperdgb9722]

Having built the 1/24 Spitfire, 109 and Stuka many years ago the idea of a 1/24 HELLCAT may just be the spur to get me to make one more model..... Thanks for an excellent episode...

[@occamsrayzor]

What an excellent video! I had so many of these as a kid and, being a gigantic nerd and model-maker still, I have some on the shelves now.

[@OMEGATECH]

Thank you once again for a great video, and condensing this subject in a very understandable way, it's incredible the kind of roller coaster ride these model companies have their ups and downs truly amazing

[@maxsmodels]

it really is

[@thedudemeisteragain]

In the Netherlands, i remember Airfix as a kid but later i mostly saw Revel and Italiri? And of course Tamiya

[@chelseachelseaboy]

Just watched your Airfix vid...superb, loved Airfix as a kid.....just last year in a fit of madness or nostalgia I bought three Airfix 1/72nd Messerschmitt BF 109's....Wow!!...things sure had changed, the kit was amazing, I then looked in to buying glue & paint....I have to admit I was stunned when I discovered how many model kit manufacturer's exist today...Tamiya, Hasegawa, Italeri & Esci I remember well but I was so surprised how much the hobby had changed right across the board...water based acrylic paint...glue that actually stuck the kit together without having to hold it for an hour LOL's, my nephews are now buying kits...that has to be a good thing, thanks for the video.

[@jonathanwilliams3134]

Great video! Airfix kits were the backdrop to my childhood and the basis of my amazing relationship with my grandfather - former RAF. You have brought it all back to me.

[@chancerNW]

I remember some of the Airfix toys. The SLR rifle replica was great with a removable working magazine and soft plastic pellets it only hand a reach of about 12ft but it was fun. They also had a range of rubber band powered flying modle aircraft kits with vac form fuselages and foam polystryne wings. The Fokker Fellowship with two powered props was brilliant.

[@buzzawuzza3743]

The box art of for the 65 Corvette Sting Ray shows it drag racing with a parachute on back! Now that's cool!

[@maxsmodels]

That thing is awesome

[@hoppinonabronzeleg9477]

Wow! What a story I never knew about the founder Nicholas Coe! I was given a model of a MK3 Handley Page years ago. The plastic was black. in 2004 I went out to see NA337 in Trenton Ontario. I took with me an MPC HP Halifax (white plastic) and presented it to the team when I went to see it in the original workshop, while the new building was under construction.I met Karl Kasgaard, and Lloyd Wright. They are a lovely set of very accomplished aircraft builders. If you are ever in Southern Ontario, it is well worth the trip to see it!

[@spikeyflo]

Fascinating doco. I made hundreds of Airfix planes and ships when I was young. Great memories and I had always wondered as to the history of Airfix. Thanks from Australia.....another place where Airfix was big!

[@More-Space-In-Ear]

I was so lucky as a kid, my mother worked in a toys shop and I had plenty of money off airfix models and trains....I remember a ME BF109E 1/24th scale flying out my bedroom window and seeing it glide down to my garden, shocked because it flew...oh happy days

[@edlangley4660]

I built Airfix Kits from an early age. I'm now 5 years away from retiring from my job as an aircraft maintenance certifying engineer. Guess what I'm going to do as a pensioner, build Airfix Kits. What else!

[@paulhughes946]

A huge thank you from a Brit currently living in Doha. This was really nicely done. I felt nostalgic at some bits, laughed out loud at others but found the whole thing fascinating. For someone who just loved Airfix models and Hornby trains as a kid I was oblivious to the story behind the companies. This clearly took a lot of time, effort and research but the end result is amongst the best things I have seen on KZbin.

[@victorcroasdale4992]

A bit over 30 years the "Center" in Doha sold some Matchbox kits. They did the standard dumb thing, that is they bought a lot of the same kit, rather a few of a wide range of kits. Eventually they sold them off dirt cheap, I got a good box of swag, including a "Victor" bomber which I built in Doha at the time of the first Gulf War.

[@mlaudisa]

Thanks for another fantastic and informative video. Growing up in Italy in the 60's and 70's, Airfix was almost foundational in my upbringing, along with pasta and cheesy movies of the time. I recognized, with great nostalgia I might add, much of the excellent boxart you're showing. In particular, I got shivers when you showed the Beam Engine and the 54mm 2nd Royal North British Dragoon, which I remember as a whole-white polystyrene kit that was impossible for me (as a kid then) to properly paint. I find it so fascinating how my memory, which I consider quite poor, seems to have instant recall the moment I see the boxart of kits I built! Having come back to the hobby a couple of times since, this being my third "phase", I'm now inspired to look for the Dragoon kit and give it the proper, adult modeller treatment if I can find it, will check eBay. Again, thanks for the walk down memory lane, and the history lesson as well, model kit companies seem to always have very tortuous and mysterious histories which you so nicely reveal and narrate. Best wishes and keep them coming!