This list contains the names of significant contributors to the history and development of the scale-model and model-kit industry, including engineers, artists, designers, draftsmen, tool-makers, executives, historians and promoters. This list does not include people primarily notable for the competitive operation of a scale-model vehicle, unless they have a notable career as designers or executives or outside of the hobby industry such as car designers.

A

* Steve Adams: founder of Adams Models * Harold Alden: early aircraft modeler and industry promoter * John Allen: influential model railroader * John Amendola: kit-box artist * Mel Anderson: gas engine designer (for flying scale aircraft) * John Andrews: artist, kit designer and marketer for

Hawk Hawks are bird of prey, birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. Th ...

* Ray Arden: inventor of the Glo-Plug * William Atwood: engine designer (for flying scale aircraft)

B

* Charlie Bauer: flying aircraft kit designer * Adrien Bertin: R/C car glowplug engine designer * Edward Beshar: early model designer and builder * Jack Besser: co-founder of

Monogram Models Monogram is an American brand and former manufacturing company of scale plastic models of cars, aircraft, spacecraft, ships, and military vehicles since the early 1950s. The company was formed by two former employees of Comet Kits, Jack Besser a ...

* Maxwell Basset: gas-powered model pioneer * Pieter Bervoets: co-founder of

Serpent Serpent or The Serpent may refer to: * Snake, a carnivorous reptile of the suborder Serpentes Mythology and religion * Sea serpent, a monstrous ocean creature * Serpent (symbolism), the snake in religious rites and mythological contexts * Serp ...

* Dick Branstner: co-founder of MPC, kit designer, creator of the 'Color Me Gone' dragsters * William Brown IV: created first successful gas engine for mass-marketed flying aircraft

C

* Bill Campbell: illustrator, kit-box art designer/painter; creator of the

Weird-Ohs ''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 ...

and Silly Surfers series for

* Tom Carter: industry executive * Bill Coulter: writer; builder; kit-developer * James "Jim" Petit Cox (1910-1993): illustrator, kit-box art designer/painter. Notably associated with

Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

* John Cuomo (1901-1971): first salesman for

Bill Cushenbery Bill Cushenbery (March 22, 1933 – December 12, 1998) was an American car customizer, show car builder, and model kit designer. Cushenbery was a major influence on the look of custom cars and the customizing industry in general. In addition t ...

: custom kit designer, notably associated with

AMT Amt is a type of administrative division governing a group of municipalities, today only in Germany, but formerly also common in other countries of Northern Europe. Its size and functions differ by country and the term is roughly equivalent to ...

Roger Curtis Admiral Sir Roger Curtis, 1st Baronet, GCB (4 June 1746 – 14 November 1816) was an officer of the British Royal Navy, who saw action in several battles during an extensive career that was punctuated by a number of highly controversial incide ...

: Co-founder of

Associated Electrics Associated Electrics, Incorporated of Lake Forest, California is one of the world's leading manufacturers of radio controlled car, radio controlled cars, trucks and accessories. Associated Electrics is now owned by Thunder Tiger Corporation from T ...

and R/C car designer (RC10,

RC12 Team Associated RC12 is an electric 1/12 scale Radio Control vehicle made by Associated Electrics. The car was debuted in 1978 and has won many IFMAR world championships and Remotely Operated Auto Racers Remotely Operated Auto Racers (formerly kno ...

)

D

* Tom Daniel: kit-designer of custom and caricature subjects for

* Bruce Devlin: Laboratory Manager of wind tunnel testing and engineering flow modeling company

Airflow Sciences Corporation {{Short description, Organization Airflow Sciences Corporation (ASC) is an engineering consulting company based in Livonia, Michigan, USA that specializes in the design and optimization of equipment and processes involving flow, heat transfer, comb ...

E

* Billy Easton: R/C car designer for

(and previously

Team Durango A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to infor ...

) * Scott Eidson: kit-box artist * Fred Ertl, Sr.: founder of the

Ertl Company Ertl (formerly, the Ertl Company) is an American former manufacturing company and current brand of toys, best known for its die-cast metal alloy collectible replicas (or scale models) of agricultural machinery. Other products manufactured by Ertl ...

F

* Jacque Fresco (1916–): co-founder of

Revell Revell GmbH is an American-origin manufacturer of plastic scale models, currently based in Bünde. The original Revell company merged with Monogram in 1986, becoming "Revell-Monogram". The business operated until 2007, when American Revell was ...

G

* West Gallogly: founder of

Lorenzo Ghiglieri Lorenzo Ghiglieri (November 25, 1931 – January 25, 2020) was an American painter and sculptor. The Portland, Oregon, newspaper ''Willamette Week'' referred to Ghiglieri as "one of the Northwest's best-recognized and most prolific bronze sculpto ...

: kit-box artist * Joseph E. Giammarino (1916–1992): co-founder of

Aurora Plastics Corporation The Aurora Plastics Corporation was an American toy and hobby manufacturing company. It is known primarily for its production of plastic scale models of cars, airplanes, and TV and movie figures in the 1960s. Its principal competition in modelin ...

* "Dirty Donny" Gillies: kit-box artist * Lewis H. Glaser (1917-1972): co-founder of

* Walt Good: considered "the father of remote-control aircraft modeling" * Carl Goldberg: model aircraft designer and industry executive * Kevin Gowland, John Gowland and Jack Gowland: co-founders of Gowland and Gowland; the company's Highway Pioneers line of early car model kits was marketed by

in the early '50s, and was instrumental in the early growth of the scale model hobby in the US. * Paul K. Guillows: founder of GHQ Model Airplane Company (later known as Guillows) * Leonardo Garofali: co-founder of SG Racing Cars and Blitz Model Technica * Jaures Garofali: founder of Super Tigre Saturno micromecanica

H

* Scott T. Hards: entrepreneur, founder of Hobby Link Japan * John Hanley: tool and die maker; founder of

Jo-Han Jo-Han was a manufacturer of plastic scale promotional model cars and kits originally based in Detroit. The company was founded in 1947 by tool and die maker John Hanley a year before West Gallogly's competing company AMT was formed and about th ...

* Suguro Hasegawa: founder of Hasegawa Corporation * Roger Harney: industry executive * Don Holthaus: founder of Modelhaus * Juraj Hudy: founder of

XRAY An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 ...

and Hudy *

Gene Husting In biology, the word gene (from , ; "...Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian inheritance#History, Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanin ...

(1927-2014): executive of

I

* Takashi Ishii, founder/owner of Studio 27/ Gilles Company

J

Dean Jeffries Edward Dean Jeffries (February 25, 1933 – May 5, 2013) was an American custom car designer and fabricator, as well as stuntman and stunt coordinator for motion pictures and television programs based in Los Angeles, California. Early life Je ...

: kit designer, auto customizer, notably associated with MPC * Bob Johnson: industry executive

K

* Al Kalmbach: founder of

Model Railroader ''Model Railroader'' (''MR'') is an American magazine about the hobby of model railroading. Founded in 1934 by Al C. Kalmbach, it is published monthly by Kalmbach Media of Waukesha, Wisconsin. Commonly found on newsstands and in libraries, it pr ...

magazine and

Kalmbach Publishing Kalmbach Media (formerly Kalmbach Publishing Co.) is an American publisher of books and magazines, many of them railroad-related, located in Waukesha, Wisconsin. History The company's first publication was ''The Model Railroader'', which be ...

, early industry promoter * Yuichi Kanai: radio-controlled car designer, significantly for

Kyosho is a Japanese company based in Tokyo, which operates internationally under the name KYOSHO. The company's main office is located in Chiyoda, and the production headquarters are located in Atsugi, Kanagawa. Established in October 1963, Kyosho cr ...

(

Inferno Inferno may refer to: * Hell, an afterlife place of suffering * Conflagration, a large uncontrolled fire Film * ''L'Inferno'', a 1911 Italian film * Inferno (1953 film), ''Inferno'' (1953 film), a film noir by Roy Ward Baker * Inferno (1973 fi ...

) * Shigeru Kawada: radio-controlled car designer and founder-owner of Kawada Model * Jim Keeler: industry executive *

Levon Kemalyan Levon John Kemalyan (24 February 1907 Fresno, California – 2 November 1976 Fresno, California) was a model railroading entrepreneur. He founded Kemtron Corporation, a manufacturer of model railway cars, locomotives, parts (especially for scratchb ...

(1907–1976): manufacturer, founder of Kemtron * Richard Kishady: kit-box artist * Akira Kogawa: radio-controlled car designer, significantly for

(Optima, Scorpion) and Hobby Products International ( Baja 5B and 5T) *

Shigeru Komatsuzaki Shigeru (written: , , , in hiragana or in katakana) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, a Japanese architect *, a Japanese voice actor *, Japanese karateka *, Japanese sport wrestler *, Japanese socialist ...

: science-fiction illustrator; kit-box artist * Jo Kotula: aviation illustrator; kit-box artist * Dick Korda: award-winning model airplane designer and flyer *

Nicholas Kove Nicholas Kove (born Miklós Klein 1891 in Anarcs, Szabolcs County, Kingdom of Hungary – died 17 March 1958 in London) was a Hungarian-British businessman best known for founding the Airfix plastic toy company. Biography His birth name was Kl ...

(1891-1958): founder of

Airfix Airfix is a British brand and former manufacturing company which produced injection-moulded plastic scale model kits. In the U.K., the name 'Airfix' is synonymous with plastic models of this type, often simply referred to as "an airfix kit" even ...

* Oscar Koveleski: CanAm racing pioneer; founder of Auto World; promoter of

slot car racing Slot car racing (also called slotcar racing or slot racing) is the competitive hobby of racing with powered miniature autos (or other vehicles) which are guided by grooves or slots in the track on which they run. Slot cars are usually models o ...

, model building, and RC racing and building *

Mort Künstler Mort Künstler (born August 28, 1927) is an American artist known for his illustrative paintings of historical events, especially of the American Civil War. He was a child prodigy, who, with encouragement from his parents, became a skilled artis ...

: kit-box artist, notably associated with

in the 1960s.

L

* Jürgen Lautenbach: founder of

LRP Electronic LRP can refer to: * Lateralized readiness potential, an electrophysiological brain response * Layerwise Relevance Propagation, a method for understanding how artificial neural networks work * Lead replacement petrol * League for the Revolutionary P ...

Cliff Lett Clifton Bradley Lett (born September 18, 1957) is an American retired radio-controlled racer and former president (corporate title), president of Associated Electrics, where he began his R/C career in 1985. A former motorcross mechanic for Yamaha ...

: R/C car designer and president of

* William M. "Bill" Lester (1908-2005): founder of

Pyro Plastics Corporation The Pyro Plastics Corporation was an American manufacturing company based in Union Township, Union County, New Jersey, Union Township, NJ and popular during the 1950s and 1960s that produced toys and plastic model, plastic scale model, model kits ...

, pioneer in the development of

injection molding Injection moulding (U.S. spelling: injection molding) is a manufacturing process for producing parts by injecting molten material into a mould, or mold. Injection moulding can be performed with a host of materials mainly including metals (for ...

* Paul Lindberg: founder of Lindberg Products, Inc. * William, Walter and Arthur Lines: co-founders of

Frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely Carnivore, carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order (biology), order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-f ...

Dick Locher Richard Earl Locher (June 4, 1929 – August 6, 2017) was an American syndicated cartoonist. Early life and career Locher was born in Dubuque, Iowa. After high school, he began studying art at the University of Iowa and the Chicago Academy of ...

: kit-box artist *

Ted Longshaw Oswald Edgar "Ted" Longshaw (13 April 1926 – 6 September 2011) was a British businessman who is best known for his involvement in radio-controlled car racing and the foundation of governing bodies for the sport, IFMAR (international), EFRA (E ...

(1926-2011): hobby shop owner and founder of BRCA,

EFRA The Europäische Föderation Radiogesteuerter Automodelle (EFRA), better known in English as the European Federation of Radio Operated Model Automobiles, is the governing body of radio-controlled car racing in Europe. History Setup in May 197 ...

and

IFMAR The International Federation of Model Auto Racing (IFMAR) is the world governing body of professional radio controlled car racing. The organization was created in 1979 by professional racer and RC model entrepreneur Ted Longshaw. At that time, ...

* Gil Losi: founder of Losi, former owner of Ranch Pit Shop

M

* Joe Mansour: co-founder of

* Tom Marshall: founder of Buggleskelly Station * Dick Mates Sr. and Phil Mates (brothers): co-founders of

Hawk Model Company The Hawk Model Company is an American brand and former manufacturing company of scale model aeroplanes, ships, and figures, established in 1928. Headquartered in Chicago, Hawk was one of the first American manufacturers of injection-molded plast ...

* Dick Mates Jr.: executive at

* Bob McCleod: industry executive * Fred Megow: founder of Megow Models (Philadelphia, 1920s) * Tom Morgan: kit-box artist, most notably associated with

in the 1960s, as well as

Monogram A monogram is a motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbols or logos. A series o ...

* Robert Mudry: President of wind tunnel testing and engineering flow modeling company

* John Mueller: directed product and mold design and technical illustration groups for

N

* Philippe Neidhart: founder of

Team Orion A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to info ...

, CEO of Neidhart SA * Kody Numedahl: radio-controlled car designer for

Team Associated Associated Electrics, Incorporated of Lake Forest, California is one of the world's leading manufacturers of radio controlled car, radio controlled cars, trucks and accessories. Associated Electrics is now owned by Thunder Tiger Corporation from T ...

O

Jack Odell John William Odell, OBE (19 March 1920 – 7 July 2007) was the English inventor of Matchbox toys and the engineer responsible for their unique design. He joined with partners Leslie Smith and Rodney Smith to form Lesney Products. The company i ...

: co-founder of

Lesney Products Lesney Products & Co. Ltd. was a British manufacturing company responsible for the conception, manufacture, and distribution of die-cast toys under the "Matchbox" name. The company existed from 1947 until 1982. History Lesney was founded on 19 J ...

and founder of

Lledo Lledo was a British manufacturing company founded in 1982 by Matchbox (brand), Matchbox co-founder Jack Odell, and Burt Russell, and based in Enfield, London, Enfield. The factory produced mainly die-cast toy, die-cast scale model model commercia ...

* Irwin G. Ohlsson: gas engine designer and manufacturer (flying model aircraft)

P

* Keith Plested: founder of PB Racing and co-founder of BRCA * Irwin S. Polk and Nathan J. Polk: owners of Polk Hobbies; promoters of the scale model hobby * Ernest Provetti: founder of Trinity Products *

Tarquinio Provini Tarquinio Provini (29 May 1933 – 6 January 2005) was an Italian professional Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He was a two-time world champion in road racing. Provini was also a four-time Isle of Man TT winner and won 13 Italian national ch ...

: founder of Protar

Q

* Joseph Quagraine: designer/founder of JQ Products

R

* Bob Reder: co-founder of

Mike Reedy Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and document ...

(1941 - 2011): founder of Reedy and creator of Reedy International Race of Champions * F. Lee Renaud (-1983): founder of Airtronics * Bob Rule (businessman), founder of BoLink

S

* Franco Sabatini: designer and co-founder of SG Racing Cars * Michael Salven: executive of

, designer (Impact, Vector) * Koji Sanada: R/C car designer, president and CEO of

Mugen Seiki is a Japanese manufacturer of high-end, premium radio-controlled cars based in Funabashi, Chiba, Japan. Mugen means ''unlimited'', Seiki means ''machinery works''. Mugen Seiki currently manufactures a 1/8 scale buggy and truggy as well as a 1/8 ...

, formerly of

Aoyagi Metals Company (commonly known as Ayk in America and Aoyagi in Japan) was a Japanese company that became notable in the 1980s for its radio-controlled cars. The company began in the 1960s manufacturing metal chassis for slotcar racing; 1978 saw the introduct ...

* Pierre Scerri: model engineer * Gary Schmidt: industry executive * Cyril Schumacher: founder of

Schumacher Racing Products Schumacher Racing Products (or just Schumacher) is a British manufacturer of radio-controlled cars and accessories with a primary focus on high-end racing products. History Foundation The founder, Cecil Schumacher, was a Cosworth transmis ...

* Leon Shulman: aircraft kit designer * Abe Shikes (1908–1997): co-founder of

* George Siposs (1931-1995): radio controlled car racing pioneer and founder of ROAR * Victor Stanzel: flying aircraft model designer *

James Hay Stevens James Hay Stevens ''Air pictorial: journal of the Air League'' (1973), Volume 35 (page 146) (10 November 1913 – 1973) was an aviation journalist, editor of ''Aircraft Engineering'' (1945-1957) magazine, illustrator and pilot. He created the Skyb ...

(1913 -1973): aircraft kit designer, notably associated with

* John Steel: kit-box artist * Henry Struck: aircraft kit designer * Hisashi Suzuki (1936-2010): radio controlled car racing pioneer (in Japan), founder of

and JMRCA * Masayuki Suzuki: former president of

T

* Fumito Taki: radio-controlled car designer, significantly for Tamiya (famous works:

Sand Scorcher {{unreferenced, date=September 2013 The Tamiya Sand Scorcher was the sixteenth 1/10-scale electric radio controlled car kit released by Japanese model manufacturer Tamiya Corporation. First introduced on December 15, 1979, its high level of detail ...

) * Yoshio Tamiya (1905 - 1988): founder of Tamiya * Masayuki Tamiya (c1957/1958 - 2017): president of Tamiya * Shunsaku Tamiya: chairman of Tamiya * Nils F. Testor: founder of

Testors Testor Corporation (or Testors) is an American manufacturer of tools and accessories for scale model kits. The business is based in Rockford, Illinois, and is part of RPM International. It was founded in 1929 and its products are made in the US a ...

* George A. Toteff Jr. (1925-2011): founder of MPC, inventor of the AMT 3-in-1 kit; innovator of one-piece body car-model tooling.

U

*Yukijiro Umino: designer for

Yokomo is a Japanese company from Adachi, Tokyo that specialize in radio-controlled cars, it was one of the first manufacturers in Japan to build RC cars and it also invented the RTR (Ready To Run) cars, but most notable of all is their long-running ...

( Yokomo MR4TC BDx)

V

* Dave Vander Wal: industry executive * Gordon Varney: founder of

Varney Scale Models Varney Scale Models was founded in 1936 by Gordon Varney, an early pioneer in manufacturing HO scale model trains. The development of a reliable 6-volt motor made it possible to produce model locomotives capable of pulling long trains. The company ...

, developer of early injection molded plastic kits * Norm Veber: industry executive * Peter Vetri: Founder and President of Atlantis Toy and Hobby and Current President of the HMA (Hobby Manufacturers Association)

W

* Jim Walker: inventor of U-Control Line Flying (scale aircraft) * Jairus Watson: graphic designer, automotive conceptual artist, kit-box illustrator. * Dick Wellman: kit-box artist * Tom West: industry executive * Linn H. Westcott: long-time editor of

, hobby industry promoter * Charles Wilmot: co-founder of

* John Wilmot: co-founder of

, pioneer of plastic scale kit models * Gerald Wingrove: model engineer

X

Y

*Tomoaki "Tom" Yokobori: founder of

and

Yatabe Arena Yatabe (written: or ) is a common Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese screenwriter, anime director and sound director *, Japanese rugby union player *, Japanese botanist See also * Yatabe Domain, a former feud ...

Z

References

Notes

Bibliography

{{empty section, date=April 2014

External links

* Hobby Manufacturers Association (HMA); https://www.hmahobby.org * Plastics Academy Hall of Fame; https://archive.today/20130705001947/http://www.plasticsacademy.org/swp/articles.php?articleId=89 Scale modeling Model aircraft Model boats