Airfix

Airfix is the oldest UK manufacturer of scale plastic model kits and has been producing kits for the mass market since 1952. Airfix produces a wide range of kits aimed at all types of scale modellers with subjects such as military aircraft, civil aircraft, ships, galleons, cars, space, figures, dioramas, and military vehicles.

From Combs to Model Airplanes
Airfix was founded in 1939 by Nicholas Kove, a refugee from Hungary who originally manufactured rubber inflated toys. The name Airfix was chosen because part of the process involved fixing air into products. Kove believed that all successful companies should have their names at the beginning of business directories and consequently the name Airfix was born. After the Second World War he switched to producing plastic combs and was the first manufacturer in the UK to introduce an injection moulding machine.

In the late 1940s, Airfix was approached by Harry Ferguson (the tractor manufacturer) to make a cheap model of one of his tractors that could be used by his sales team as a promotional tool. At first there were problems making the model, so it was decided to make it in a series of parts to be assembled by a team of skilled workers.