Hornby gives crowd-funding platform green light

Model-maker Hornby is jumping aboard the crowd-funding bandwagon with a scheme that could see classic Airfix kits re-introduced.

Picture: Getty

The firm’s in-house funding platform – KitStarter – will allow consumers to choose which models are redeveloped, with a commitment to pre-order the product. When support has built to a level to make it viable, Hornby will pledge to manufacture the kit.

Successful projects will be manufactured in a facility in the UK, and despatched in a KitStarter box containing the plastic components needed to complete the model.

Airfix was founded in 1939 and acquired by Hornby in 2006.

Unveling the KitStarter initiative yesterday, said it had received requests from enthusiasts to consider re-launching some older ranges, which cover subject matters from historical figures like Oliver Cromwell to common garden birds such as robins and woodpeckers, not just wartime aircraft.

Boss Richard Ames said: “This is a really exciting initiative for Airfix.”