The advent of the war put a halt on the growth of the company and after the war new uses were sought for the company’s skills. In 1948 Airfix was commissioned to produce a promotional replica of Ferguson’s newest tractor design.

The budget was insufficient to assemble the model in its entirety, so a compromise was agreed and the models, moulded in Acetate rather than Styrene, were delivered in kit form. Mr Kove was so pleased with his kits he decided to make kits of the Ferguson tractor available for sale to the general public.

The tractor proved an enormous success; however, it took another 4 years before the first true construction kit was produced in 1952. This kit was the Golden Hind, Sir Francis Drake’s famous ship in which he set off round the world in 1577. The Golden Hind was another triumph and Airfix quickly followed with more models of miniature ships.

In 1953 the company was being run by two gentlemen, John Grey and Ralph Ehrmann, between them they decided that the next kit should be an aircraft and the obvious choice should be a Spitfire. This, amazingly, proved highly controversial and Mr Kove, who still owned the company, insisted that they had the then staggering cost of £1000 for the tooling, docked from their wages if the venture failed.