Just before the outbreak of World War II, Nicholas Kove, a Hungarian living in Britain, was making inflatable rubber toys. He called his company Airfix.
In 1947, Airfix bought an injection moulding machine to make plastic combs. Then, in 1949, Ferguson’s ordered a quantity of plastic model tractors for its sales reps to give away.
Subsequently, Airfix also sold some in kit form to Woolworths.
Encouraged by the interest, in 1952 the first of many bagged model kits were produced – the first kit was of the Golden Hind. The first aircraft model was a Spitfire, released a year later.
