Airfix
Airfix is a British toy manufacturers , especially from model kits of plastic . The brand has been part of Hornby Railways since 2006 .
Company history
Airfix was founded in 1939 by Nicholas Kove , a Hungarian refugee. Initially, plastic toys were manufactured using the extrusion blow molding process. In this process, parts are filled with air, so the air is fixed in the part, so to speak (English to fix ). Kove also believed that a name that would put the company at the front of every list would be cheap. That is why the name Airfix was chosen.
After the end of the Second World War , Airfix was one of the first companies to use the new injection molding process (for the production of plastic combs) . In the late 1940s, Harry Ferguson of Harry Ferguson Limited asked if Airfix could produce a model of one of its tractors that it needed for distribution. Since there were problems with the mold , the model was produced in individual parts, which were then assembled by workers into the finished model. The model proved very popular and Airfix received permission from Ferguson to sell it under its own company name. In order to be able to lower the selling price, the models were finally sold with building instructions for self-assembly.
From 1952 Airfix models were sold through the department store chain Woolworth and thus conquered the mass market. Since Airfix was the first supplier of plastic model kits in Great Britain, the brand name has entered the language as a general term for such models.
In the 1960s and early 1970s, Airfix grew as the popularity of plastic models increased. The product range mainly comprised kits, partly also ready-made models of airplanes, ships, vehicles, figures, model trains including accessories, in particular a range of model paints.
The distribution in West Germany was carried out by Plasty Toys GmbH in Neulußheim, which was completely taken over by Airfix in 1980. This also brought pewter molds as well as wild west and knight figures into the Airfix range.
At the end of the 1970s and 1980s, the model market collapsed, which is attributed to different reasons. Plastic became more expensive due to the rise in oil prices , assembled models were comparatively cheaper, and the customer base had become smaller due to the pill kink . With the other divisions of Airfix making great losses, the company had to file for bankruptcy in 1981 . Airfix was bought by General Mills and production relocated to Calais in France. The figure and shape program of the German subsidiary, which also went bankrupt in 1981 , was discontinued.
After General Mills had given up toy production in Europe in 1985, Airfix was sold to the Hobby Products Group von Borden in 1986 , which also included the French brand Heller and the British Humbrol . The Airfix tools were relocated to Trun in the Orne department , to the Heller headquarters.
In 1995 Borden sold the Hobby Products Group including Airfix to the Irish holding company Allen McGuire , which continued it under the name Humbrol . Insolvency proceedings were opened in France in 2006 through the Heller-Humbrol group of companies . The brands Humbrol and Airfix were bought by the British toy company Hornby Hobbies , which is under the direction of the former Airfix boss Frank Martin . Since then, Airfix has been systematically rebuilt. A large part of the old range is available again, but there are also regular new products.
Model railway
Airfix first introduced model railroad items into its modular range in 1957. In the 1970s, this developed into an extensive range that not only included accessories, but also locomotives and wagons.
In the mid-1970s, the market for finished vehicles for model railways stagnated in Great Britain because a large part of the rolling stock offered lacked the level of detail and dimensional accuracy required by model makers. Airfix recognized this gap in the market and decided to offer a series of ready-made models that take advantage of modern injection molding technology and that should benefit from cost-effective production in the Far East . The new products were first presented at the Harrogate and Brighton Toy Fair in January 1976.
In 1979 the designation Airfix GMR was introduced for the finished models , where GMR stands for Great Model Railways . The new name was introduced to better distinguish the finished models from the kits. The previously light blue packaging of the finished models has been replaced by brown packaging with orange decorations and the new GMR logo.
Products
Airfix continues to sell model kits for ships, planes, tanks and other things , but also dioramas- themed sets for popular characters such as Wallace & Gromit and Doctor Who .
computer game
In 2000, the computer game " Airfix Dogfighter " appeared, in which the player had to compete against various classic Airfix models of airplanes, tanks and warships in the living room at home. The title is reminiscent of the Dogfight series from Airfix, in which two aircraft construction kits from the Second World War (e.g. Messerschmitt Me 262 and Mosquito ) were offered together. A double stand was included with the kit, on which the models could be mounted in such a way that they gave the impression of an aerial duel (English colloquially dogfight ).
literature
- Arthur Ward: Airfix. Celebrating 50 years of the world's greatest plastic kits , HarperCollins, London 1999, ISBN 0-00-472327-9
- Arthur Ward: The boys' book of Airfix. Who says you ever have to grow up? Ebury Publishing, London 2009, ISBN 9780091928988
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Airfix Railway System. Retrieved September 23, 2018 .