In 1961 the first Armoured Fighting Vehicles appeared in the
ever-expanding range of Airfix kits. The 1960s and 1970s are considered
by many as the golden age of kit building and the enthusiastic
schoolboys and young men building these kits became known as the Airfix
Generation. The hobby went into decline in the 1990s as plastic kits
gave way to video games, but the hobby has recently undergone a revival
as the original members of the Airfix Generation, now at the end of
careers and family commitments, take a nostalgic look back at their
childhoods. Some, like the author, will become once again absorbed by
the hobby, but many will be content to buy a few old kits - others are
coming to the hobby from an entirely new perspective. All will be
delighted to find a new book that tells the early days of the hobby from
a model tank perspective. Here, Tom Cole concentrates on the kits from
Britain's Airfix and Matchbox and looks at the early imports from Japan,
in the form of Fujimi and Nitto, and the European Esci.
