Scalpel! Glue! Paint! Coffee?

In the last few years the revitalised plastic kit manufacturer Airfix has been re-releasing some of their classic kits in addition to creating new ones on such modern subjects as Wallace And Gromit and new Doctor Who. After some years in foreign hands Airfix is now owned by Hornby which also owns other well known British hobby brands Scalextric, Humbrol and Corgi.

Traditionally Airfix used paintings on their box covers to illustrate the subject of the kit and one of their hardest working artists was Roy Cross. Back in the 1960s Roy Cross worked for Eagle and Swift comics as one of the cutaway artists on Eagle and as a cover artist on Swift signing his work mainly as Cross. His box art for Airfix includes images so familiar to model kit enthusiasts as the B-17 Flying Fortress "A Bit O' Lace" (named for a 1944 Milt Caniff illustration) dropping bombs over Germany or Polish ace Jan Zumbach's Spitfire Vb taking off from a grass airfield.

After many of his Airfix illustrations were included in the excellent art book Celebration Of Flight: The Aviation Art Of Roy Cross, Airfix have begun producing drinks coasters with many Cross paintings included in their slowly expanding range. Cross subjects include a Short Stirling heavy bomber and a Messerschmitt Me-163 Komet rocket fighter as well as both the B-17 and Spitfire mentioned above. These coasters cost £2.50 from the Airfix web shop which currently has a buy four get one free deal running on them.

A full list of the coasters available can be found on the Airfix website.

Celebration Of Flight: The Aviation Art Of Roy Cross is available from Amazon.