Skybirds

Skybirds was the brand name of a series of 1:72 scale wood and metal aircraft model kits produced by A. J. Holladay & Co. in the United Kingdom during the 1930s and 1940s.

These kits were designed by James Hay Stevens and comprised shaped wooden blanks with cast metal detail parts. These were the first model aircraft kits in the world made to a constant scale of 1:72. This scale was later adopted by many other model manufacturers, such as Frog and Airfix.

Around 80 different Skybirds kits were released from 1932 onwards. Subjects ranged from First World War to Second World War military aircraft, plus a number of inter-war period civilian types. Manufacture ceased in 1942, and in 1945 the company closed but was soon relaunched under new management. However the Skybirds range did not survive the company's acquisition by Zang shortly afterwards.

References

• Avia Mini News Book Review: Skybird Notes by A G Sinclair
• The Frog Penguin website: In the beginning...