Alwyn Brice pays homage to the granddaddy of all kitmakers – Airfix.
Alwyn Brice pays homage to the granddaddy of all kitmakers – Airfix.
Fortunate indeed would have been the youth sauntering into Woolworth in the 1960s with a half-crown (that’s just over 12p to the younger generation reading this) in his pocket. Woolworth was the nearest thing to Aladdin’s cave in the urban (and indeed, suburban) districts; it was also the prime source for Airfix kits, at least in the early days of the model manufacturer’s output.
Woolworth had flat counters which aided viewing and the kit section would be crammed with boxes of the more expensive examples whilst bagged, Series 1 kits, were suspended from boards. Also on the boards were made up kits, so arguably the Woolies executives had done their homework: the resulting display was like cheese to a mouse.
And mice, back in those halcyon times, all made kits…
Airfix celebrated its 65th birthday last year, and whilst the Golden Age of kit building was arguably the 1960s, nonetheless the name has clung on through the various vicissitudes and changing market tastes of subsequent decades. Today’s world, one of instant gratification, hasn’t taken too readily to something that requires hours of patience and no small degree of skill in its manufacture: and whilst most can put together Ikea furniture with only the occasional visit to A&E, the challenge of a small replica involving fiddly parts and judicious application of glue is another matter altogether.
PLOUGHING A FURROW
Contrary to what many people believe, the little grey Ferguson tractor was not actually the first Airfix kit. This fellow (highly prized today, incidentally) was assembled by factory staff into a finished 1/20 model for sales reps to show and possibly give to prospective customers of the real thing. That was in 1950. It took a couple of years for Ferguson to allow Airfix to produce and market the model as a kit of 50 components in a bag.
The honour of the first purpose-made Airfix kit actually went to the Golden Hind, manufactured in 1952/3 and which was unashamedly based on something that a Woolworth buyer had spotted in the USA, albeit in a bottle. Cost put the plastic moulding company off the shipin-a-bottle idea but by dropping the bottle part, things looked better. However, Woolworth’s Head Office blanched at the suggested price of 25p for a boxed kit and so the idea of the header card and plastic bag came into play. Retailing the sailing ship at 2s (10p) made everyone happy, not least the schoolboy with his saved-up pocket money.
Old sailing ships clearly struck a chord with the public of the day and this encouraged Nicholas Kove, the brains behind the brand, to tool up for more of the same. Airfix’s original raison d’être, that of household plastic items like combs and toys for infants, started to move backstage as the kit building hobby took the limelight. In 1954 two more venerable kits were launched but it was to be 1955 that the direction changed, with the commercialising of vintage cars: to wit, a Rolls Royce and a 1930s Bentley. More important still, Airfix started living up to its moniker, and a Spitfire took to the skies. This latter was to mark out the company as a serious player and, despite the fact that the fabled aircraft was somewhat crude, it represented a very important milestone. In contrast, the Bentley was an excellent model, with plenty of detail and good looking spoked wheels, which must have raised a few design headaches all those decades back. Within two years all sorts of aircraft would be available, spanning both WW1 and WW2. Importantly, the areas of interest also grew, as witnessed by the first trackside model, that of a Country Inn, that would be compatible with the