An imaginary view of Roy Cross working on another terrific Airfox box top!
ROY CROSS
March 2023
It was rare in the 1970s to know anything about a plastic model kit before you purchased it and opened the box when you got home.
The size of the box would give a basic indication as to whether the kit was going to be complicated or easy to build. The bigger the box, the more parts. The manufacturer’s name could usually be relied upon to deliver either accuracy, or gimmicky features and moving parts, or a lot of detail and optional parts. But it was the artwork on the box that was the key to whether you were going to buy the kit or not. Great box-art would tell you what you needed to know to persuade you to buy the kit.
Painted artwork was the norm for model kit boxes in the 1960s and 70s. There were fewer manufacturers available here in the UK. Frog would show the subject in a very accomplished, yet matter of fact fashion. Tamiya boxes featured excellent paintings of the vehicle – usually a tank - against a white background. (They are still using this format today. Classy). Revell always had an urgency and atmosphere on their boxes, and Aurora favoured a vivid, almost Technicolor or comic-book feel to their box tops. All mouth-watering stuff.
The box art of Airfix kits always managed to capture the unique quality of the subject and showed an exciting moment, captured in glorious colourful brushstrokes, with a level of detail that put you right there. ROY CROSS was the artist behind so many of these terrific paintings.
If you ask anyone who grew up in the 1960s or 70s, they will know his work for Airfix. They will almost certainly recall at least one of the memorable paintings that were the hallmark of the Airfix kits.
Some truly iconic images that for me, and probably many others, defined what a model kit box should look like.
The Short Stirling standing ready at the airfield on a sunny afternoon as the bomb trolley (famously included as part of this kit!) is delivering the payload.
The Junkers 88 diving down to attack a navy destroyer.
The Westland Lysander on the ground, at dusk with the engine running as an undercover agent, or spy, climbs aboard.
The Avro Lancaster bomber returning from a night raid, coming into land with one engine on fire.
The B-17 Flying Fortress in a clear blue sky, dropping its bombs with all guns blazing at the attacking enemy fighters.
The Saturn V rocket blasting off for the latest Apollo mission.
The B-29 Superfortress carrying out a high-altitude daylight bombing raid.
The history-making SR-N1 hovercraft, charging from the ocean up onto the land. Excellent!
There was always action. But more than that, the subjects were always shown in the thick of it, performing their specialised tasks and carrying out their missions heroically. They were shown off in their best light. It made you not only want to buy the kit, but to know more. These pictures capture the imagination.
The Airfix box art by ROY CROSS had it all - superb draftsman ship and painting (the B-26 Marauder is a particular favourite of mine - a real knockout – a pure work-of-art) and feature terrific compositions.
Incredible when you consider that this was ‘just’ the packaging. This was a great era to be a kid making models.
Gazing at the rows and rows of model kits I did not know what many of them were. What was a Blohm & Voss BV 141 – what a bizarre looking aircraft with an off-centre cockpit nacelle on one wing, and the single engine on the fuselage boom. Possibly the oddest aircraft ever built. Kudos to Airfix for making such a variety of kits, and so many.
In the mid-1970s their line included over 200 aircraft including bi-planes. WW2 fighters and bombers, jet fighters and airliners. Not to mention battleships, tall ships, cars, tanks, motorcycles, railway structures, famous historical figures and miniature figures ranging from Roman soldiers to NASA Astronauts!
Perhaps ironically, ROY CROSS is primarily a marine artist – and this can be seen in some of the Airfix scenes on the ocean. Prior to this he provided several excellent cutaway drawings for Eagle comic, starring DAN DARE.
Airfix are currently issuing some of the older kits as ‘vintage classic’ and these are packaged with the original Roy Cross artwork. Artists and model builders alike continue to be inspired by his work.
His work will live forever.
Roy Cross is 98 years old and will celebrate his 99th Birthday on April 23rd 2023.