| Hawk Model Company | |
| Fate: | Acquired by Testors in 1970, then defunct, became a brand |
| Predecessors: | --> |
| Successors: | --> |
| Founded: | in Chicago |
| Founder: | Dick Mates Phil Mates |
| Defunct: | 1970s |
| Hq Location City: | Chicago |
| Hq Location Country: | U.S. |
| Areas Served: | --> |
| Products: | Scale model aircraft, ships, figures |
| Owner: | Round 2 |
The Hawk Model Company is an American brand and former manufacturing company of scale model airplanes, ships, and figures, established in 1928. Headquartered in Chicago, Hawk was one of the first American manufacturers of injection-molded plastic model kits.
After some attempts to revive the brand, rights to Hawk Model were finally acquired by Round 2.[1]
"Hawk Model Airplanes" was established in 1928 by brothers Dick (Sr.) and Phil Mates in Chicago, Illinois. Promoted as "America's Oldest Model Company", the company was purchased by the Testor Corporation in 1970.[2] [3] The Hawk Company assets were later acquired by J. Lloyd International, Inc. of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, which, in turn, sold them to Round 2 LLC of South Bend, Indiana in 2013.[4]
From its inception in 1928 to the early 1950s, the company manufactured a successful line of solid-wood aircraft models, which eventually included injection-molded generic plastic propellers.[5] The Mates brothers exhibited built-up and painted plastic models at the Chicago World's Fair in 1934.[6] During World War II, Hawk helped to supply plastic identification models for use in military training.[7]
In 1946, Hawk produced one of the first all-plastic model kits, the Curtiss R3C-1 racer.[8] Four additional kits (all classic 1930s racers) were added in 1948; the Gee Bee, Howard Ike, Laird Solution and Supermarine S6B. These early kits were molded in acetate plastic, but from 1949 Hawk employed polystyrene in its injection-molding process.[9] The kits were advertised as "1/4 scale", meaning NaNinches equals 1 scale foot or 1/48 scale. Additionally, increasingly sophisticated tooling was developed in the 1960s. By the time of its sale to Testor Corp. in 1970, the company's catalog included a wide range of realistic scale replicas of aircraft, ships, missiles, vehicles and conceptual subjects in 1:48, 1:72, 1:96, 1:144, and smaller scales.
Among Hawk's most notable releases are:
Many of these original Hawk kits have been reissued periodically using the original molds. They have been reboxed by Testor or its successors and continue to be available.
One of Hawk's best selling kit lines was the "Weird-ohs Car-icky-tures", dragster and hot rod caricatures (along with the related "Frantics", and "Silly Surfers" series), based on concepts and art created by their often-used freelance illustrator Bill Campbell.[10] This model line serve as the inspiration for the 1999-2000 CGI cartoon series Weird-Oh's.