Kitmaster Collectors Club

Kitmaster/Airfix/Dapol Reference


Kimaster and Airfix "Schools" box detail

This is an example of the Kitmaster "Battle of Britain" kit packaging and the re-issued Airfix kit. Rosebud Kitmaster Ltd. was liquidated during 1962, and Airfix bought up the remains of the company. Airfix had originally planned to incorporate at least some of the models into their already successful Rolling Stock range. In the end though, only nine of the 36 rolling stock models were re-issued.

Rocket Kitmaster No 1
Schools Kitmaster No. 5
Pug Kitmaster No. 6
Prairie Kitmaster No. 7
Battle of Britain Kitmaster No. 11
Evening Star Kitmaster No. 22
City of Truro Kitmaster No. 24
J94 Kitmaster No. 26
Mogul Kitmaster No. 30

PLUS

Ariel Arrow Kitmaster No. 60

(In Kitmaster kit No order. Kits were not released in this order)

In most cases Airfix took the opportunity to add extra detail such as rivet detail, steps and vacuum hoses. And of course the unique Kitmaster couplings required changing to the NMRA buckeye coupling that Airfix had adopted for its own rolling Stock range. This re-tooling meant that it was some time before all of the re-issued models returned to the market. Detailed  information about the Airfix kits may be obtained from the Club. The life membership fee is only £3.00 and the annual subscription to "Signal" the house journal of the Club is only £4.50. You can also visit our Airfix Rolling Stock and Trackside Accessories page by clicking the Airfix Logo below.

Other Variations

You will be surprised at the variations there are for you to collect. The Club materials will arm you with all of the information required to search out those kits and variations and help you decide what type of collection to build! Dapol subsequently acquired a number of the Kitmaster/Airfix moulds during the Spring of 1981 and followed this by later acquiring the moulds for the Airfix Trackside Accessory range. Most of these kits can still be purchased today direct from Dapol or from the many specialist railway dealers who stock their range. For example, the Battle of Britain Class locomotive shown above, is still available as Dapol Kit no. C048 and priced at only £6.50.

Dapol/Kitmaster Cross Reference

Dapol No Dapol Name Kit No Kitmaster Name
C46 Stephenson's Rocket 01 "Rocket"
C26 LMS Pug 06 Saddle Tank
C62 Prairie 07 Prairie Tank
C9 Deltic Diesel 10 Deltic Diesel
C48 Battle of Britain 11 Battle of Britain Class
C49 Evening Star 22 Class 92000
C61 City of Truro 24 City of Truro
C59 BR Mogul 30 BR 3MT Mogul Class 7600


The Dapol reissue of Deltic.

If you require more information regarding Dapol kit availability, why not visit the DAPOL website? Have a look at our links page when you are finished here. This diversity of kit variants means that as a model kit builder, you can still get the model and build it for your display collection, if kit building is your thing.  Whilst the collector can still get hold of either Airfix or Kitmaster originals for their mint and boxed collections. Once again, detailed  information about the Airfix and Dapol kits and hints & tips on starting your collection may be obtained from the Club. So why not join?