Was/is there a USAirfix?

[MANDO VILLARREAL]

As a kid 0f 10 years old I remember buying a kit a week from my local
Krogers grocery store for about a $1 a piece. My memory seems off, but
I swear the box had the name USAirfix on it instead of plain 'ol Airfix.
Does anyone remember this brand?

PS My 1st kit was a (US?)Airfix P40 in 1/48 scale. Finished it in one
night using only a tube of yellow contact cement and a toothpick.

[William H. Shuey]

Post by MANDO VILLARREAL
As a kid 0f 10 years old I remember buying a kit a week from my local
Krogers grocery store for about a $1 a piece. My memory seems off, but
I swear the box had the name USAirfix on it instead of plain 'ol Airfix.
Does anyone remember this brand?
PS My 1st kit was a (US?)Airfix P40 in 1/48 scale. Finished it in one
night using only a tube of yellow contact cement and a toothpick.

I believe the Airfix company had a U.S. subsidiary for a couple of
years either before or after their mold leasing deal with MPC. Since
free trade became fashionable they no longer bother.

Bill Shuey

[Maiesm72]

Post by MANDO VILLARREAL
I swear the box had the name USAirfix on it instead of plain 'ol Airfix.
Does anyone remember this brand?

Airfix kits were distributed in the US under a lot of labels:AHM, Airfix
Corporation of America, Airfix Craftmaster, AVA International, Continental
Models, MPC, Revell and USAirfix.

From 1981 to 1986 General Mills owned Airfix, followed by Borden, who held the
company until 1994.

AVA International was the American distributor for Airfix in 1979. The USAirfix
label was used by them from 1980-81.

Post by MANDO VILLARREAL
My 1st kit was a (US?)Airfix P40 in 1/48 scale.

Um, Airfix never made a 1/48 P-40. The USAirfix kit #10060 is a 1/72 scale
P-40E Kittyhawk. The only 1/48 kits that they packaged were the Spitfire Vb, Me
109F-4, Hurricane I, Ju 87B-2 and F-15.

My favorite USAirfix kit is the C-130 in Blue Angels "Fat Albert" markings and
the Gosling/Widgeon in USCG markings.

Hope this helps a bit.

Tom

[Tom Hiett]

Post by Maiesm72
Um, Airfix never made a 1/48 P-40.

They apparently repopped the Otaki 1/48 P-40E.

http://modelstories.free.fr/analyses/avions/MS2001_5P/ARFX_P40E_48/

Tom

[Maiesm72]

Tom

Thanks. I'm not up on the Dark Side scale :-)

The photo of the captured P-40 is a treasure!

Tom

[Tom Hiett]

Post by Maiesm72
Tom
Thanks. I'm not up on the Dark Side scale :-)
The photo of the captured P-40 is a treasure!

They are suppose to be raising an original AVG P40 this month from a lake
in China but I think its been delayed. Thought I had a web page with
status reports but the only one I find is months behind.

Tom

[Ron]

Airfix did repop the 1/48 Otaki P-40.

Post by Maiesm72
Tom
Thanks. I'm not up on the Dark Side scale :-)
The photo of the captured P-40 is a treasure!
Tom

[Rob van Riel]

Post by MANDO VILLARREAL
As a kid 0f 10 years old I remember buying a kit a week from my local
Krogers grocery store for about a $1 a piece. My memory seems off, but
I swear the box had the name USAirfix on it instead of plain 'ol Airfix.
Does anyone remember this brand?

'Remember' is not the correct word (only normal Airfix here in The
Netherlands), but yes, they definately existed. If you search eBay for
item 3148954700 you'll find one of their kits that I recently won.
Maybe the box will ring a bell. Airfix kits were also sold under the
MPC label in the US.

Rob

[Greg Heilers]

Post by MANDO VILLARREAL
As a kid 0f 10 years old I remember buying a kit a week from my local
Krogers grocery store for about a $1 a piece. My memory seems off, but
I swear the box had the name USAirfix on it instead of plain 'ol Airfix.
Does anyone remember this brand?
PS My 1st kit was a (US?)Airfix P40 in 1/48 scale. Finished it in one
night using only a tube of yellow contact cement and a toothpick.

Yep...they were located just north of Austin, TX...in Waco (You know...
the Branch Davidians.....THAT Waco....lol).

I have a friend who worked for them back then, doing the models for the
box-art. He said they paid him in "whatever he could carry out in his
arms, from the warehouse"...lol.

If you have the 1/72nd Banshee.....take a close look at the photo on the
box. He explained to me how they left his model under the lights WAY too
long. Check out the trailing edges of the wings!!

:o)

[R. Vick]

AVA International was based in Hewitt, Texas, not Waco, Texas. I would be interested to know who your friend was that told you he was paid in product, rather than a pay check. If that was the case, it was the way he wanted it. I also knew modelers who provided completed model kits for the USAirfix box art and they were paid US dollars as independent contractors. AVA International was a very tight ship and very well run

[Martin]

Post by MANDO VILLARREAL
My memory seems off, but
I swear the box had the name USAirfix on it instead of plain 'ol Airfix.
Does anyone remember this brand?

USAirfix operated out of Waco, Texas in the late '70s and early '80s.
My impression is that they were importers of Airfix kits and packaged
them in the USA. It seems that USAirfix ended operations around 1982
when MPC picked up the reboxing of Airfix kits.

To quote "Sir" Charles Barkley: "I could be wrong, but I doubt it"

Martin

[Milton Bell]

Post by Martin
USAirfix operated out of Waco, Texas in the late '70s and early '80s.
My impression is that they were importers of Airfix kits and packaged
them in the USA. It seems that USAirfix ended operations around 1982
when MPC picked up the reboxing of Airfix kits.
To quote "Sir" Charles Barkley: "I could be wrong, but I doubt it"
Martin

Sort of. I visited the the operation with a friend who did models for their
box art. They had imported the tools and sent them to a facility in Dallas
where the actual injection/molding was done. I remember they did a lot of
cars but also had a number of aircraft. It looked like a gigantic warehouse
operation at first with bins and barrels of parts. At the time I visited
they were working with the runners for a B-29, trying to get it to a size to
fit a new box. The only kit I have left of USAirfix is a Mossie.

Milton

[R. Vick]

The USAirfix line was manufactured in Jacksonville, Texas by Nichols Kusan

[R. Vick]

A major retail buyer once told the USAirfix management that the retailer didn't sell product, they sold packaging. As such, in order to command as much retail space as possible, USAirfix would import the kits sans packaging. They would arrive in poly bags and they would be repackaged in the Texas warehouse with the USAirfix brand. The kits that were not economically viable to import or that were exclusives for certain retailers required the molds to be shipped from Liverpool or points east to the manufacturer in Jacksonville, Texas. It is my recollection that was the case with Big Orange: The Braniff Airlines Boeing 747

[Rob Gronovius]

I have the instructions from my old USAirfix Mosquito, kit #30040. The back
page advertises the following kits:
50030 B-24 Liberator
50040 PBY Catalina
40010 Mitchell B-25
50010 AC-47 Gunship
20010 P-38 Lightning
50020 Lancaster

I also seem to recall building an IL-(?) twin engine bomber called the
"Beagel".

There's also a coupon to send for a USAirfix or Airfix catalog. The
instructions are dated 1979. The address is AVA International, Inc., Hewitt,
Texas.
Rob Gronovius
Visit my motor pool in the www.armorama.com gallery

[Bill Banaszak]

Post by Rob Gronovius
I have the instructions from my old USAirfix Mosquito, kit #30040. The back
50030 B-24 Liberator
50040 PBY Catalina
40010 Mitchell B-25
50010 AC-47 Gunship
20010 P-38 Lightning
50020 Lancaster
I also seem to recall building an IL-(?) twin engine bomber called the
"Beagel".
There's also a coupon to send for a USAirfix or Airfix catalog. The
instructions are dated 1979. The address is AVA International, Inc., Hewitt,
Texas.
Rob Gronovius
Visit my motor pool in the www.armorama.com gallery

Add the Douglas F4D, 1/144 DC-9 and the AlphaJet. I thought this
USAirfix deal was in some way connected to Squadron?

Bill Banaszak, MFE

[Patrick]

Hi

Yes it's around.I have 2 or 3 in the basement including an alphajet 1/72.

Patrick

Post by MANDO VILLARREAL
As a kid 0f 10 years old I remember buying a kit a week from my local
Krogers grocery store for about a $1 a piece. My memory seems off, but
I swear the box had the name USAirfix on it instead of plain 'ol Airfix.
Does anyone remember this brand?

[Eyeball2002308]

They also show up,rather cheaply,at shows and on ebay.I have a land rover and
an Me262 in usairfix boxes.

[EmilA1944]

The Craftmaster Corporation (best known in the 50's and 60's for their
paint-by-number kits of famed masterpieces) imported Airfix kits in the
early-mid 1960's (remember the co-branding well from my days working in a hobby
shop through my college years). Craftmaster acquired MPC sometime about
1967-68, followed by Craftmaster's being swallowed up by one of the
quintiscential 60's "conglomerate corporations", General Mills of cereal fame.
After this series of mergers, MPC offered numerous Airfix 1:72 scale aircraft
kits complete with "customizing parts" (nothing like a Helldiver with optional
chrome-plated prop and bombs!), which continued to the middle 1970's.

In reverse, Airfix packaged MPC kits for sale in England and I believe Europe,
which arrangement I think went on until the early 1980's.

USAirfix, as others mentioned, packaged Airfix kits for sale in the US, in
addition to having some of their own made (the Camaro Kammback station wagon,
for example), which I don't think came from any other source.

AA

[MANDO VILLARREAL]

Thanks to all for the info, I found it interesting.
One thing though...I wonder if my 1st USAirfix P40 *WAS* in fact 1/72
instead of 1/48. In my mind's eye I picture myself as a 10 year old boy
holding that Warhawk. 1/72 would've looked bigger in those smalll
hands.

[Al Superczynski]

Post by MANDO VILLARREAL
...I wonder if my 1st USAirfix P40 *WAS* in fact 1/72
instead of 1/48.

It was definitely 1/72. The Airfix reboxing of the Otaki/ARII
1/48 P-40E came *long* after the demise of USAirfix.

[allenx3]

looking in my closet i see several unopened BAC-111 kits with mohawk
airways decals. The kits are airfix made in USA .The side of the box shows
artwork for air force 1 taking off , i wonder if that kit ever happened
Ken

[f***@webtv.net]

One thing I remember about darn near every USAirfix (maybe a half dozen
or so) kit I got had at least 1 missing part. They were good about
replacing the parts, tho, but it got old. I think the last kit I got was
the Il-28 missing an aileron half. I sent them a nasty letter & that was
also the last USAirfix kit I ever got. I still don't even go for
second-hand ones on eBay.

[Bill Banaszak]

Post by allenx3
looking in my closet i see several unopened BAC-111 kits with mohawk
airways decals. The kits are airfix made in USA .The side of the box shows
artwork for air force 1 taking off , i wonder if that kit ever happened
Ken

It probably was the same old Boeing 707-420 that Craftmaster/Airfix used
to peddle as Air Force 1 but I'll bet the decals were better.

Bill Banaszak, MFE

[Martin]

Post by allenx3
The side of the box shows
artwork for air force 1 taking off , i wonder if that kit ever happened

Yes Ken, this kit was issued in the US in the very early '70s. Saw it
on the hobby shop shelves but never have seen the contents. I assume
it was the Conway-powered 707 with AF1 decals.

Martin