The Hawk Model Company is an American brand and former manufacturing company of

scale model A scale model is a physical model which is geometrically similar to an object (known as the prototype). Scale models are generally smaller than large prototypes such as vehicles, buildings, or people; but may be larger than small prototypes ...

aeroplanes,

ships A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...

, 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.

History

"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. The Hawk Company assets were later acquired by J. Lloyd International, Inc. of

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids () is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County, Iowa, Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River (Iowa River), Cedar River, north of Iowa City, Iowa, Iowa City and north ...

, which, in turn, sold them to

Round 2 LLC Round 2 is an American manufacturing company which produces scale models including die-cast, plastic, slot cars, and other hobby products. The company is based in South Bend, Indiana. The company was founded in 2005 by Thomas E. Lowe who previous ...

of South Bend, Indiana in 2013. 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. The Mates brothers exhibited built-up and painted plastic models at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1934. During World War II, Hawk helped to supply plastic identification models for use in military training. In 1946, Hawk produced one of the first all-plastic model kits, the Curtis R3C-1 racer. Four additional kits (all classic 1930s racers) were added in 1948; the Gee Bee, Howard Ike,

Laird Solution The Laird Solution, also called the Laird LC-DW Solution, Laird LC-DW300 Super Solution and Laird LC-DW500 Super Solution, was touted as being the "solution" to the problem of the Travel Air Mystery Ship. The Solution won the 1930 Thompson T ...

and

Supermarine S6B The Supermarine S.6B is a British racing seaplane developed by R.J. Mitchell for the Supermarine company to take part in the Schneider Trophy competition of 1931. The S.6B marked the culmination of Mitchell's quest to "perfect the design of th ...

. These early kits were molded in

acetate An acetate is a salt (chemistry), salt formed by the combination of acetic acid with a base (e.g. Alkali metal, alkaline, Alkaline earth metal, earthy, Transition metal, metallic, nonmetallic or radical Radical (chemistry), base). "Acetate" als ...

plastic, but from 1949 Hawk employed

polystyrene Polystyrene (PS) is a synthetic polymer made from monomers of the aromatic hydrocarbon styrene. Polystyrene can be solid or foamed. General-purpose polystyrene is clear, hard, and brittle. It is an inexpensive resin per unit weight. It is a ...

in its injection-molding process. The kits were advertised as “1/4 scale”, meaning equals 1 scale foot or 1/48 scale. Additional, increasingly sophisticated tooling was developed into 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,

, missiles, vehicles and conceptual subjects in 1:48, 1:72, 1:96, 1:144, and smaller scales. Among Hawk's most notable releases are: * LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin * Lockheed Constellation * Lockheed U-2 * Spirit of St. Louis 1:72 * Messerschmitt Me 163 * Gee Bee * Spad XIII *

Mister Mulligan The Howard DGA-6 was a pioneer racing plane, nicknamed "Mister Mulligan". It was the only airplane ever designed for the specific purpose of winning the Bendix Trophy. The plane was designed and developed by Ben Howard (aviator), Ben Howard and G ...

* Travelaire Mystery Ship racer *

Grumman F8F Bearcat The Grumman F8F Bearcat is an American single-engine carrier-based fighter aircraft introduced in late World War II. It served during the mid-20th century in the United States Navy, the United States Marine Corps, and the air forces of other n ...

* North American P-51 Mustang * Vickers Viscount * Manned Orbiting Laboratory * 3 Rocket-Powered Guided Missiles 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.

Weird-ohs

One of Hawk's best selling kit lines was the "Weird-ohs Car-icky-tures", dragster and

hot rod Hot rods are typically American cars that might be old, classic, or modern and that have been rebuilt or modified with large engines optimised for speed and acceleration. One definition is: "a car that's been stripped down, souped up and made ...

caricatures (along with the related "Frantics", and "Silly Surfers" series), based on concepts and art created by their often-used

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

illustrator Bill Campbell. This model line serve as the inspiration for the 1999-2000 CGI cartoon series ''

Weird-Oh's ''Weird-Ohs'' is a computer-animated television series produced by Decode Entertainment, Mainframe Entertainment and EM.TV in association with the Testors Corporation. The show was originally aired in 1999 until 2000 on Fox Family (now Freeform ...

''.

Weird-ohs characters

* Daddy - The Way Out Suburbanite (racer; aka. "the Swingin' Suburbanite"), also known as Toilway Daddy; issued in the UK by Airfix under license * Davey - The Way Out Cyclist ( outlaw motorcycle club rider: ''"He's a Psycho cyclist! This cat's a terror on the road ..."'') * Digger - The Dragster (racer) * Drag Hag - The Bonny, Blastin' Babe (racer) * Endsville Eddie - The Shortstop Stupe (racer) * Freddy Flameout - The Way Out Jet Jockey (test pilot), issued in the UK by Airfix under license * Huey's Hut Rod - The Way Outhouse Bomb (racer) * Sling Rave Curvette - The Way Out Spectator (race fan) * Wade A. Minut* - The Wild Starter (race 'official'; aka. The Timeless Timekeeper) * Francis the Foul - The Way Out Dribbler (basketball player) * Killer McBash - The Dazzling Decimator (football player) * Leaky Boat Louie - The Vulgar Boatman (motorboater)

Silly Surfers characters

* Beach Bunny (''" Beach Bunny Catchin' Rays"'') * Hodad Makin' the Scene (''"Hodad Makin' the Scene With a Six Pack - Detailed Personable Pelican and Crusty Crab, Insect Pests, Sand Crawlers, Etc., included"'') * Hot Dogger Hangin' Ten * Riding Tandem (''"Hot Dogger and Surf Bunny Riding Tandem - The Dazzling Duo of the Surf - Goony Gull, Crusty Crab & Friendly Fish included"'') * Woodie on a Surfari

Frantics characters

*Frantic Banana (drummer: ''"Frantic Banana Punishing The Skins - car plugs not included in this kit"'') *Frantic Cats (dancers: ''"Shifty Snuffling at its best - This is the Livin' end!"'') *Steel Pluckers (guitarists: ''"Bopped out Steel Pluckers having A Bash - the twangin' and sangin' stars of the Sappy Swingin Sixties"'') *Totally Fab (guitarist & groupie: ''"...Screamin' Meemies Two Legged Model of Fort Knox & Security Guard"'')

Notes

References

External links

*
Early plastic model kit development in the USA

History of the Hawk “Weird-Ohs” Plastic Model Kits at Old Model Kits.com

Official Weird-Ohs web site
Classic 60s model kits reissued
J. Lloyd International, Inc. web site
{{scale model brands Model manufacturers of the United States Manufacturing companies based in Chicago