The Vintage Years of Airfix Box Art
Product ID: 1748857
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Airfix has been commercially producing plastic kits since 1952 and its models have been made by successive generations of young boys and men alike. In the 1960s, a talented graphic artist called Roy Cross was commissioned to paint some of the box art for Airfix, and for a ten-year-period he provided many of the glorious paintings seen on the boxes, setting new standards for realism and accuracy. Many are still being used today, a full four decades later. Inside the pages of this book are some of Roy's best artworks, shown here in full format and in superb detail, with many reproduced here in book form for the very first time. As well as his vintage box art, Roy has included many sketches and alternative versions of his Airfix box art. After Roy left Airfix in 1974, the company went through a turbulent time. The present owners are Hornby, who have ambitious plans for Airfix and the other brands it acquired including Scalextric and Corgi. The decade that Roy Cross worked for Airfix, though, could be classed as their vintage era, with some of their finest models being produced then in their millions, ready for eager youngsters to build up into detailed miniature models of their favorite aircraft, ships and locomotives. Review: Fantastic Model Kit Reference Book - Having grown up with model kits in the 1960's and 1970's, I was a true Airfix fan, they were accurate models that were readily available and just at the right price for a young boy with not a great deal of pocket money. The company has passed through the years and been in an 'up and down' situation until lately it has seen a resurgence to its former 'greatness'. Author Roy Cross joined Airfix as it entered its 'golden era' of the 1960's and 1970's and he was responsible for producing the box art that drew many a wide eyed young customer to Airfix and their products, in this first volume he discusses how he evolved into an artist of some repute and went on the produce the art for Airfix's premier kits of those early years. The cover of this book is probably one of his best ever-showing Airfix's B-17 Flying Fortress delivering a bomb load and firing off every gun on the aircraft in its defence as well as flying on only three engines. As Airfix was releasing its state of the art model kits, particularly its four engined bombers, TV shows such as 'Twelve O'Clock High' enabled young modellers to take a break from the kit to watch the action on the screen. In this book the author describes how he progressed into the world of a commercial artist and came to work for a model kit company, along the way he also managed to work with some of the premier artists of the day in figure modelling, aircraft and vehicles and describes his work in bringing a new model kit from its design stage to the final package state, where the artwork of its packaging went a long way to selling the product and making it appealing. In some cases, the different model kit companies were releasing similar kit subjects, so buying a Hawker Hurricane from Airfix as opposed from Revell was probably due to the first encounter of how the kit was packaged and presented. I enjoyed this book from both a nostalgic reference of Airfix and its products in those early years to the story of how the company, once producing a product for sale, then goes about getting it packaged into an appealing form to make people want to buy it. In summary an extremely well written and laid out reference on Airfix products and their early days in the plastic model kit market. Very well illustrated and presented, the book makes a good reference and also a nostalgic trip down memory lane. Well done, Roy Cross! Review: Cross gives some of the inside story - Books on the history of model kit companies have become popular in recent years, and a segment of that interest deals particularly with kit box art. Arthur Ward already did the definitive history of Airfix itself some years ago; now comes noted artist Roy Cross's take on the box art in this oversize book. Aside from plentiful examples of the art we are familiar with, Cross shows the complete path from concepts to reality, including some fascinating looks at concepts that didn't make it to the boxes, and reasons why. An index shows where any of the subjects illustrated is shown in the book. There's a lot of nostalgia here, and it reminds me of those heady days in the `60s and `70s when it seemed that Airfix was releasing half-a-dozen new kits every month. Recommended, if the topic appeals to you.
| Best Sellers Rank | #3,107,371 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.8 out of 5 stars 100 Reviews |
B**8
Fantastic Model Kit Reference Book
Having grown up with model kits in the 1960's and 1970's, I was a true Airfix fan, they were accurate models that were readily available and just at the right price for a young boy with not a great deal of pocket money. The company has passed through the years and been in an 'up and down' situation until lately it has seen a resurgence to its former 'greatness'. Author Roy Cross joined Airfix as it entered its 'golden era' of the 1960's and 1970's and he was responsible for producing the box art that drew many a wide eyed young customer to Airfix and their products, in this first volume he discusses how he evolved into an artist of some repute and went on the produce the art for Airfix's premier kits of those early years. The cover of this book is probably one of his best ever-showing Airfix's B-17 Flying Fortress delivering a bomb load and firing off every gun on the aircraft in its defence as well as flying on only three engines. As Airfix was releasing its state of the art model kits, particularly its four engined bombers, TV shows such as 'Twelve O'Clock High' enabled young modellers to take a break from the kit to watch the action on the screen. In this book the author describes how he progressed into the world of a commercial artist and came to work for a model kit company, along the way he also managed to work with some of the premier artists of the day in figure modelling, aircraft and vehicles and describes his work in bringing a new model kit from its design stage to the final package state, where the artwork of its packaging went a long way to selling the product and making it appealing. In some cases, the different model kit companies were releasing similar kit subjects, so buying a Hawker Hurricane from Airfix as opposed from Revell was probably due to the first encounter of how the kit was packaged and presented. I enjoyed this book from both a nostalgic reference of Airfix and its products in those early years to the story of how the company, once producing a product for sale, then goes about getting it packaged into an appealing form to make people want to buy it. In summary an extremely well written and laid out reference on Airfix products and their early days in the plastic model kit market. Very well illustrated and presented, the book makes a good reference and also a nostalgic trip down memory lane. Well done, Roy Cross!
J**F
Cross gives some of the inside story
Books on the history of model kit companies have become popular in recent years, and a segment of that interest deals particularly with kit box art. Arthur Ward already did the definitive history of Airfix itself some years ago; now comes noted artist Roy Cross's take on the box art in this oversize book. Aside from plentiful examples of the art we are familiar with, Cross shows the complete path from concepts to reality, including some fascinating looks at concepts that didn't make it to the boxes, and reasons why. An index shows where any of the subjects illustrated is shown in the book. There's a lot of nostalgia here, and it reminds me of those heady days in the `60s and `70s when it seemed that Airfix was releasing half-a-dozen new kits every month. Recommended, if the topic appeals to you.
S**H
Wonderful book!
Great book with some amazing artwork from the airfix series. Highly recommend!
P**N
Revisiting My Youth
I thought this was great! Having grown up making Airfix models in the 70's the pictures and story in this book brought it all back to me. It doesn't have all the great box-top artwork, just a large selection, but still has most of the main ones I remember (and built!). Highly recommended for anyone who doesn't want to let go of their youth!
D**A
The Vintage Years of Airfix Box Art
A lovely illustrated and presented book which shows some of the best artwork which appeared on Airfix box tops. I recommend this book to all Airfix model lovers.
K**.
Pictorial treat for 60s' and 70s' boys
Cavalcade of classic Airfix boxtop pictures from 60s and 70s. Apart from high-quality pictures, the book offers relatively little. However, for anyone been hooked with Airfix kits as a kid this book is a treasure. Some of the boxtops I had forgotten, but this book brought back so many vivid memories of the golden days of early 70s when all the boys in my neighbourhood assembled model kits.
P**I
A very fine collection...
A very fine collection of very well reproduced images of the Airfix box art art of Roy Cross. A must-have if you like his work.
D**Z
Five Stars
Gorgeous book for the lover of the model aeroplane and its art.
G**L
Beautiful Box Art Book
This is a beautiful presentation of the eycatching artwork that Roy Cross produced for Airfix in the 60's & 70's. High quality printing on glossy paper. Recommended for for aviation & box art fans.
J**8
Great slice of nostalgia
Bought on a bit of a whim thinking for around 25 quid it doesn’t matter if it’s a bit naff! What a great slice of nostalgia though, brought back many childhood memories. Illustrations are simply beautiful and, although there isn’t a great deal of text (it is all about the pictures after all) it’s interesting to read the background behind Them.
L**N
Non tutti possono capire!
Una carrellata delle più famose illustrazioni delle scatole airifix. Solo chi è nato negli anni '60 e '70 può capire l'emozione nel rivedere le stesse illustrazioni su cui ci si lustrava gli occhi da ragazzini nei negozi di modellismo. Era una epoca differente passata a incollare e pitturare rivivendo momenti storici del passato. Non c'erano videogiochi, non c'erano smartphone, c'era l'Airfix con le sue scatole di montaggio per tutte le tasche.
B**Y
Indémodable
Si l'on aime ce type d'illustrations, c'est un bon retour dans le passé.
M**L
Tolles Buch
Großartiger Band, Tolle Bilder - nichts hinzuzufügen!
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