Airframes
Benevolens Magister
I've just seen, in the latest 'Hot News' e- mail from Hannant's, that French model manufacturing company Heller have been declared bankrupt and, as yet, no buyer has come forward.
Based in Trun, France, Heller have been around since the 1950s, and were, at one time, part of the Airfix company, when that company was owned by the Borden Group.
It'll be interesting to see what happens here, as there has been quite a bit of 'mould sharing' between Airfix and Heller in the past, and some Airfix kits were produced at the Trun factory at one time. Kits such as the 1/48th scale Sepecat Jaguar GR1/GR3, originally an Airifx release, have been re-released in the past couple of years under the Heller label, and ex-Heller kits, such as the Super Etendard, have been released under the Aikrfix label.
It would be logical for Airfix (Hornby) to 'claim' the mould tools for kits in this category, but whether they're in a position to acquire the company as a whole, given the recent announcement regarding a 60% drop in profits with the Hornby group, is another matter.
With an established brand name, and a fairly good catalogue of products, I would assume that there'd be some interest among other manufacturers, such as Revell, so hopefully the brand, or at least the kits, won't totally disappear.
Based in Trun, France, Heller have been around since the 1950s, and were, at one time, part of the Airfix company, when that company was owned by the Borden Group.
It'll be interesting to see what happens here, as there has been quite a bit of 'mould sharing' between Airfix and Heller in the past, and some Airfix kits were produced at the Trun factory at one time. Kits such as the 1/48th scale Sepecat Jaguar GR1/GR3, originally an Airifx release, have been re-released in the past couple of years under the Heller label, and ex-Heller kits, such as the Super Etendard, have been released under the Aikrfix label.
It would be logical for Airfix (Hornby) to 'claim' the mould tools for kits in this category, but whether they're in a position to acquire the company as a whole, given the recent announcement regarding a 60% drop in profits with the Hornby group, is another matter.
With an established brand name, and a fairly good catalogue of products, I would assume that there'd be some interest among other manufacturers, such as Revell, so hopefully the brand, or at least the kits, won't totally disappear.
