Sources of Information
I have found useful the following sources of information on Airfix plastic kits :

• Humbrol Limited. The current owners of the Airfix marque and range of products. Humbrol took over Airfix in the mid 1980's, and have a Customer Services Department at the following address:
  Humbrol Limited
  Marfleet
  Hull
  England
  HU9 5NE
  Telephone : (+44)-1482-701191
  E-mail addresses : parts@airfix.com, corporate@airfix.com, sales@airfix.com and enquiries@airfix.com
  Web site : www.airfix.com
  The Customer Services Administrator at Humbrol is Ms. Liz Murray

• The Airfix Collectors Guide- Volume 1 : the Early Years (1949-1980) and Volume 2 : the Palitoy and Humbrol 80s (1981-1990). A complete list of all the Airfix kits produced from the very first Ferguson Tractor up to 1990 (over 800 kits). The lists are in Microsoft Excel spreadsheet format. Information provided includes - kit description, kit catalogue number, first release date, scarcity or rarity indication, re-release dates and catalogue re-numberings. Many kit entries have additional comments. The spreadsheets are constructed with space for the collector to add notes and to "tick-off" kits in their collections. Available from the Webmaster - click here for ordering information. A small charge is made for production, a CD-ROM and mailing. The CD-ROM also includes this complete web-site, plus 1300+ extra Airfix vintage kit pictures. Click here for a screen-shot of a sample page from the spreadsheet.

• Airfix by Arthur Ward. Subtitled - "Celebrating 50 years of the greatest plastic kits in the world". A 1999 follow-on to his earlier 1980s book (see next). Nearly 200 full colour pages of absolute Airfix nostalgia, mostly re-told through interviews with Airfix employees and former managers. Lots of very good pictures of rare kits, plus many Roy Cross original artworks. This book is the only place that I have ever seen a photograph of the SS Southern Cross kit. It also provides some information on the Airfix toy ranges. If you expecting definitive lists, tables and description of all the kits, packaging types etc you will be disappointed. This book certainly is a "must have" for all those who enjoy Airfix, but it only skims the surface. Great pictures, though! Published by HarperCollins. ISBN 0-00-472327-9, price 19.99 UK pounds.

• The Model World of Airfix by Arthur Ward. This book was released as a set in the mid-80's with two kits - Heracles HP42 airliner and Kamov helicopter. It was written at a time when the owners of Airfix were Palitoy, part of the American General Mills Toy Group. It is no longer in print, although copies often appear at trade fairs etc. Current price (if you can find one) is approx 10 UK pounds. It was written when Arthur Ward was 24.
  This book was announced in the June 1984 edition of the Airfix Magazine, with the following words: ".....and what about the book? For a start, it's something rather more than a book. Included in the package will be two specially-produced kits: at the moment the choice is settling on the Heracles and the Kamov helicopter. Arthur's text will, he assures us, be 'as complete as it can be'. There will certainly, for instance, be a complete list of production details. But the emphasis of the book is on its personal content: not only the author's involvement in Airfix modelling from an early age, but that of other well-known names in the hobby. Arthur has been talking to fellow-enthusiasts - Chris Ellis, Roy Dilley - as well as old Airfix employees, obtaining their views on the development of the brand. For a product history the book is surprisingly idiosyncratic. There is a long section on how to get the best out of your modelling - which sounds suspiciously like the sort of thing we attempt in Constructor - and a complete indication of how kits are made, from the initial design idea, through the construction of moulds, production, and the final appearance in the shops. The approach is predominantly a visual one: 'lots of photographs - from the first colour bagged models to the classic car kits'. But Arthur stresses that this is in many ways a personal history. He wants to highlight a few past oddities - that Boy Scout we mentioned earlier - talk about his personal favourites: 'I don't intend to ramble on and bore everyone'. The result, kits and all, promises to be diverting..."
  Not bad for a 24-year-old!
  It is a 48 page book containing many good photographs, and its chapters cover the Airfix history from 1939 to 1983, how kits are researched and manufactured, collecting and rarities and a production list of the plastic kits. Recommended!

  

• Classic Kits by Arthur Ward. Subtitled - "Collecting the Greatest Model Kits in the World, from Airfix to Tamiya". Published by Collins in 2004, 192 pages of kits and manufacturers. Airfix has a chapter to itself, with many new kit photogrpahs and previously unseen artwork. Another magical book from Arthur Ward, and like his others there is a lot of space devoted to the real people in the kit and kit collecting world. ISBN is 0-00-717695-3 and the price was GBP 20.00 in early 2005.

• Let's Stick Together by Stephen Knight. See Old Home page. Excellent book. Price is 14 UK pounds, plus mailing. Copies are available from either the Kitmaster Collectors Club (see links page) or directly from the author at steve@kitmaster.freeserve.co.uk. Don't be misled into thinking this book covers only Kitmaster or just railways. It is a thoroughly good reference for any Airfix enthusiast.

• The Enthusiasts Guide to Airfix Models by Pat Lewarne. This book was published in 1987 and is still available from:
  Collectakit
  35 Chapel Avenue
  Addlestone
  Surrey
  England
  KT15 1UH
  Price around 10 UK pounds. An excellent publication, some good black & white pictures, but it is acknowledged to contain a few errors.

• The Airfix annual catalogues. These began in the early 1960's and were issued every year. The catalogues are now very collectable and, inevitably, demand high prices. I've seen prices of 50 UK pounds, and above. I have a collection of most of the catalogues which I found in either specialist plastic model shops or at trade fairs. There were also supplemental Price Lists (see right hand picture below) - these often listed kits which did not make it to the Catalogues. For a complete list of Airfix catalogues - click here.

• The Insert Slip. Early Airfix kits, both bagged and boxed, contained an "insert slip". This was a complaint slip, whereby you could write to Airfix if you found, for example, a piece was missing. On the reverse side of the complaint slip was a listing of the current Airfix range. This list is useful if you want to date your kit. By comparing what Airfix was listing as its range with the annual catalogues or the kit release dates (available from Ward's or Lewarne's books) you can reasonably accurately find the age of your kit. The listing on the insert slip was kept up to date by Airfix, often more than once a year.

• The Airfix Magazine. There are still articles in this magazine which could well be of interest to today's modellers - especially the guides to conversions. From the collectors point of view, I find the old advertisements of most interest. Produced in large numbers beginning in the early 1960's, there are many magazines still available. They are easily obtained at low prices. There was also an Airfix Magazine Annual - of the same format, but without adverts, letters and reviews.

• The Collectors Value Guide (or CVG) by John W. Burns. The seventh edition (CVG-7) was available in 1999 and I'm not sure if there is now an 8th Edition? This guide covers all plastic kits and has a listing for Airfix. CVG-7 has 456 pages of kit data, company histories and the current market value for 33,500 kits of all kinds. Over 350 box-art photos are also included. The price for air-mail to the UK is currently $50. John doesn't take credit cards. A wonderful book and a recommended read !John can be contacted at 3213 Hardy Drive, Edmond, OK 73013, USA or e-mail cheersjb@swbell.net. John also runs the KCC. The Kit Collector's Clearinghouse (KCC) is a bi-monthly publication of the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Scale Model Kit Collecting (SPESMKC) which has been serving serious kit collectors and model builders since 1974. Annual subscriptions are $15 for the US/Canada and $20 for all other countries.

• Ramsay's British Model Train catalogue, 2nd Edition. Edited by Pat Hammond. This 272 page catalogue produced by Swapmeet Publications provides an excellent insight into British model railways - Hornby, Tri-ang and the rest. There are chapters on Kitmaster, Airfix and Dapol. The Airfix information is comprehensive and price guides are provided for the locomotives. This book unravels the complex relationships between Kitmaster, Palitoy Mainline, Airfix Railway System, Airfix GMR, Dapol, Hornby and Bachmann (yes, they are all linked!). Price (April 2001) was £17.95 plus postage. ISBN 0-9528352-5-8. Order from info@swapmeet.co.uk

• Encyclopaedia of 1/72 Scale Models (or ESM72). This catalogue is produced by Tom and Lynne Young and has been available for many years - it is now in its 8th Volume. Volume 8 , Number 2 was available in March 2005. For subscription details contact Tom at Model Aire International, 38 Prince Royal Passage, Corte Madera, CA 94925, USA. Cost is $30.00 for all four issues of Volume 8. Also, Tom Young is a regular contributor to the newsgroup rec.models.scale (see below), and can be contacted via this route.

• The Internet. In addition to the web site links I've provided, you could try the rec.models.scale newsgroup. This newsgroup is used mostly by modellers, rather than collectors, but the contributors are very knowledgeable about plastic kits and may be able to answer specific questions concerning particular models.

• The Airfix Collectors Club in the UK. The club was set up in 1994 and covers the whole spectrum of Airfix. They are supported by Humbrol Ltd., and they produce a newsletter called 'Constant Scale'. Their president is Roy Cross, who was the artist responsible for so much of the famous Airfix boxtop artwork. Currently about 200 members.
  Inquiries to:
  Jeremy Brook
  29 Elley Green
  Neston
  Corsham
  Wiltshire, England SN13 9TX
  e-mail: jezbrook@btinternet.com
  For more information - go to the Airfix Collectors Club page on this site - click here.
  

• The Frog & Airfix Model Aircraft Society (FAMAS) group. This club has an annual subscription of 7.50 UK pounds for which you receive a bi-monthly newsletter. Although aimed only at aircraft kits, the articles in the FAMAS newsletters are of a great deal of interest to Airfix kit collectors. Formed in May 1995, with a growing worldwide membership.
  Update February 2006 - FAMAS is now considered disbanded and no longer exists

• "Celebration of Flight - The Aviation Art of Roy Cross" by Arthur Ward. 128 pages, 113 colour plates, 69 black and white illustrations, Price £25.00. This book is a selection of Roy's best sketches, paintings and technical drawings, gathered together in chronological order.

• The above list is inevitably UK-biased. If anybody knows of other sources of Airfix plastic kit information, please e-mail me and I'll gladly add them to this list !