There are many hundreds of companies in the world who have produced plastic construction kits, but as with Hoover in the world of vacuum cleaners, 'Airfix' has become the generic name for an entire category, a name in the vocabulary of millions. The history of this British company, its products, its changing fortunes over the years, and its links with popular culture forms a fascinating tale. An idea for a free promotional gift for a tractor manufacturer led to a series of Golden Hinds, Spitfires, and Harriers, where the imaginary world had licence to touch the real. Aircraft, ships, vehicles and figures in wonderfully illustrated boxes have been stacked high in toy and model shops for decades and made up with the aid of stringy glue and scalpel-sliced fingers, they have turned display cabinets and young people's bedrooms into mini museums, or tiny battlegrounds. Airfix is still going strong in the twenty-first century and this nostalgic history makes it clear why this should be.