Showcasing some of the most recognized and dynamic examples of aviation art ever produced, the paintings here appeared on model airplane kit boxes. Generations of hobbyists have enjoyed these colorful and inspiring paintings that graced model packaging in hobby shops. More than 170 of the most memorable examples are displayed in full color. They chronicle aviation history from the Wright Brothers' Kitty Hawk Flier to the Apollo Lunar Module, including many of the best-known aircraft in aviation history. Among the many artists whose works are portrayed are Tom Morgan, John Steel, Jack Leynnwood, Lorenzo Ghiglieri, Jim Cox, John Amendola, Ray Gaedke, Jo Kotula, and Dick Locher. In the well-researched text, these artists tell personal stories behind their art in their own words. This book will be treasured by aviation enthusiasts, model builders, and everyone who has fond memories of their model building days.

A life-long model builder, collector, and connoisseur, Craig Kodera examines the hobby of plastic model building to give you a book on collecting vintage model airplane kits. The book features more than 400 detailed, high-quality, full-color photos of vintage aircraft model kits and their components, and is written in an engaging and entertaining style to examine what gives specific models their current collectible value. Box wraps, direction sheets, and decals are also covered in detail. This book highlights exactly what collectors should look for (and be aware of) in building their collections. For proper historical perspective, the author covers model kit development in the heyday of the 1950s and 1960s. Comprehensive value and pricing information for vintage kits is shown as well.

The Airfix company was formed in 1939 and, since it produced its first plastic kit in 1949, grew to be the United Kingdom's leading model kit manufacturer. Several generations of young and young-at-heart modellers have made Airfix kits and, despite turbulent times in the 1970s and 1980s when the company changed ownership several times, in the twenty-first century it goes from strength to strength under the wing of Hornby Hobbies. The 1960s and early 1970s might be called the vintage years of Airfix, when some of their best and most popular kits were produced. For ten years up to 1974, renowned artist Roy Cross produced some of the stunning paintings that appear on the boxes of Airfix kits of the era. Roy set the standard for such artwork, to the extent that many are still used today, four decades later. Roy Cross's earlier book, The Vintage Years of Airfix Box Art, contained a host of the paintings he prepared for Airfix, but the unearthing of many more images in old Airfix files has enabled this entirely fresh look at Roy's work to be presented, coinciding with the seventy-fifth anniversary of the first Airfix kit. Thus the remainder of Roy's ten years' work for Airfix is reproduced here. This new compilation features many rare illustrations as well as studies and sketches that were not accepted at the time, and is beautifully illustrated with 180 colour artworks.