Product Description

WHO SAYS YOU HAVE TO EVER GROW UP? A self-confessed 'Airfix boffin', Arthur Ward is acknowledged as the Airfix historian. As a youngster, he spent many happy hours drawing, creating weird and wonderful machines - mostly tanks, aircraft and spaceships. In the 1960s, he discovered that his private world could be given three-dimensional form via plastic kits, and since then his love of models (especially Airfix) has been unabated. For the last 25 years, he has collected examples of early Airfix kits and, seeing nothing odd about this eccentric passion, 'saves them for posterity'.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1669 in Books
• Published on: 2009-09-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 192 pages

Review
This is a very important book. No-one should underestimate the importance of Airfix in turning British boys into the well-rounded men they are today

About the Author
A self-confessed 'Airfix boffin', Arthur Ward is acknowledged as the Airfix historian. As a youngster, he spent many happy hours drawing creating weird and wonderful machines - mostly tanks, aircraft and spaceships. In the 1960s, he discovered that his private world could be given three-dimensional form via plastic kits, and since then his love of models (especially Airfix) has been unabated. For the last 25 years, he has collected examples of early Airfix kits and, seeing nothing odd about this eccentric passion, 'saves them for posterity'. He is the author of The Model World of Airfix (1984) and Airfix: Celebrating 50 Years of the Greatest Plastic Kits in the World (1999), as well as Collecting TV Toys & Ephemera and Classic Toys. He has his own website, CollectingFriends.com, co-founded with Peter Donaldson of Radio 4, which attracts over 2,000 keen collectors worldwide.

Customer Reviews

The Boys Book Of Airfix
After collecting all of his previous titles and being a great fan of Arthur Wards enthusiasm for nostalgia, i just had to have his latest book on Airfix.
Needless to say i was not disapointed, the format is very similar to his previous books but not repetative.
Pages of the writing well complimented by photographs and boxtops of the kits produced by Airfix right up to the present day with the companys purchase by Hornby. The book not only features the variety of products produced over the last four to five decades,but nicely brings you right up to date with the modern kits including the Dr Who series, Shaun the Sheep, the HS Nimrod and the much acclaimed and well recieved TSR2!.
The list of contents is endless and the book gives easy and pleasant reading. One personal reminder to me [of which i had long forgotten about] was seeing the FN rifle i had played war with as a young lad.
This book will appeal to anyone who grew up during the 1960s and early 70s and still dwells in the past!

A nostalgic read
Received this as a gift and it certainly brings back memories, from the evocative box art from Roy Cross, to the packaging in bags (to keep the costs down). The book is written by historian and Airfix authority Arthur Ward who has written a couple of other books on the subject. The book starts with a biography of the colourful founder of Airfix, Nicholas Kove explaining how he moved from the largest producer of plastic combs in the country to high quality plastic kits. It then introduces the other key characters who helped shape the firm. The book has many interesting details such as the Bristol Superfreighter kit was sold onboard the plane to its travellers and how the origional Spitfire model was a poor representation but soon improved. It is well illustrated with many rare and interesting pictures which show the sheer diversity of models Airfix has produced apart from the military kits for which it is best known; these include garden birds, railway buildings and dinosaurs! Overall an excellent read but aimed at nostalgic adults rather than children despite the title

Pure nostalgia for the Airfix Generation
If like me you remember going down to Woolies to buy the latest "two bob" kit in it's bag you can't help but be fascinated with this read. Well written and illustrated it goes into some detail without ending up as a list of dates and events. Worth every penny and highly recommended.