In early 1939 the Astral Aero Model Company entered the model kit market just before the commencement of the war, its models being direct competitors to more traditional games. Based at Dixon Lane Road in Leeds, the company had hoped to manufacture a wide range of high-end model planes but soon found themselves facing wartime economy restrictions. Rethinking their business model, the company brought out a series of ‘solid state’ British model warplanes from Spitfire fighters to Stirling bombers which could be used as standalone models or for ‘war games’. The aircraft ranged from small, pocket-money models to large and more expensive ‘giant four engined bombers’ and were all marketed as ‘British Planes for British Youth’.
The ‘Astral Solids’ model range was the company’s way of trying to survive the war years and the severe restrictions placed on it about the materials they could use. The models consisted of kits made from blocks of balsa wood, the larger kits also containing wire, rubber bands, small metal components and decals which were water-slide transfers. The larger kits were very complex with detailed instructions and required a lot of pieces to be cut out or shaped, often from irregular blocks or very thin sheets of balsa. As a result, many of the kits were only partially built or never started.
After introducing their initial range of notable British warplanes, the company soon began to run short of materials. The larger models were initially designed to fly using propellers which were powered by rubber bands. However, following government restrictions they had to limit their use of rubber and use ever smaller and thinner pieces of balsa. So, from 1940, the company issued rubber vouchers with their four-engine bomber kits which read: ‘On account of the acute shortage of rubber, we are not now including this, as many modellers prefer to make these models more as showpieces. If, however, you wish to fly the model, please return this Voucher to us, and a good and sufficient supply of rubber will be forwarded.’ To address a shortage of balsa the company included a note which read: ‘In these difficult times we cannot always guarantee to supply balsa, and substitute woods are liable to split when being cut. We therefore suggest that before cutting, a piece of tissue be gummed at the back of the oriented wood.’
In early 1939 the Astral Aero Model Company brought out the ‘solid state’ Stirling bomber. It required a lot of pieces to be cut out or shaped so many kits were only partially built or never started.
Typical of the earlier kits was the Astral Stirling bomber designed by H. J. Towner, a prolific model maker and author. The kit was composed of well over 100 parts which had to be carefully cut out from balsa according to very detailed instructions. Also included was a roll of tissue paper to reinforce the very thin sheets of balsa. It was not just the fragility of the pieces which was a challenge to the model maker but also the complexity of them. The plans alone, produced by Towner to resemble aircraft technical drawings, took up two sides of A5 paper.16 When finished, the Stirling bomber was an impressive model, but the amount of work required to complete it prevented many from being started, let alone finished.
Towards the end of the war the kits became much simpler and consisted just of some crude blocks of wood, like this V-1 flying or ‘buzz bomb’, also known as the ‘doodlebug’.
Towards the end of the war the kits became much simpler and consisted just of some crude blocks of wood, like this V-1 flying or ‘buzz bomb’, also known as the ‘doodlebug’.
As the war progressed the number of kits offered by the Aero Model Company dwindled but amazingly, they still managed to keep producing new models. In late 1944 Astral produced a model of the V-1 flying bomb, ‘doodlebug’ or ‘buzz bomb’, one of Germany’s secret weapons which was meant to turn the tide of the war in their favour. As the number of V-1 bombs or ‘Vengeance Weapons’ hitting Britain increased in the autumn of 1944 so did children’s desire to learn more about them and in the case of many young boys that meant buying a model. However, by this stage wartime restrictions meant all Astral could include were four roughly shaped pieces of balsa to make the body, wings and tail of the rocket. These with a lot of woodwork and imagination could be crafted into something vaguely resembling the real thing. Despite the crude nature of the model, the company more than made up for it by producing a fact sheet of up-to-date information on the new secret weapon. This consisted of a 3D technical drawing of the V-1 together with a cutaway artist’s impression of the bomb showing its component parts and the latest technical specifications then available.
The leaflet accompanying the V-1 said: ‘On the morning of Tuesday, June 13, 1944, the first flying bomb crashed on English soil. Since then, many of these missiles have been directed against targets in England including the London area … Accurate information as to the construction of the missiles is limited to the tapered wing version.’ Models like the V-1 proved to be extremely popular with young boys and kept the company afloat financially until 1945. After the war Astral then finally became a high-profile kit manufacturer, producing both aircraft and ships as well as acting as a general distributor for other model companies during the early postwar period.