With the recent news that Humbrol, the parent company of Airfix, has gone into receivership it is highly likely that another part of my childhood will soon disappear. Both names have been part of the British modelling scene for as long as I can remember and it will be sad to see them go.
In the mid to late 1950’s my mother took me shopping with her every Saturday. What would normally have been a boring way for a young lad to spend a Saturday morning was made bearable by an occasional visit to Woolworth’s to chose an Airfix aircraft kit. Usually this was one of the smaller planes such as a Spitfire costing about 2/- (10p) and sold in a plastic bag but if I had been really well behaved the budget occasionally stretched to 4/- (20p) which bought something bigger, and in a box such as a Mosquito. There were bigger models still, such as Lancaster bombers and Sunderland flying boats but they cost in the region of 10/- (50p) and were reserved for special occasions such as Birthdays and Christmas.
When I think back it’s amazing just how detailed those early kits were. The tiny plastic parts were a real challenge for a clumsy youth and inevitably more glue ended up on your hands and clothes than on the model. I always thought that the struts between the upper and lower wings of biplanes were the hardest to assemble and often led to such frustration that the plane prematurely “took a test flight” across the room on more than one occasion.
Still, it was good experience and I am sure it prepared me for bigger things to come.
More in keeping with this Forum Airfix also had a small range of plastic 00 scale railway kits. In the 50’s and 60’s I don’t think there was a home layout in the country that didn’t have an Airfix model of Oakham signalbox on it.
Do any other members of the forum have fond memories of Airfix?
John