Coming Soon: The Golden Years of Matchbox Art

By John Freeman on July 8, 2020

The Golden Years of Matchbox Art By Roy Huxley

Soon to be published by Red Kite, The Golden Years of Matchbox Art features the Matchbox kits artwork of Roy Huxley and will sit very nicely with 2009’s Vintage Years of Airfix Box Art from Crowood Press featuring Roy Cross‘ equivalent artwork.

Back in 1973, an exciting new range of ‘pocket money’ model kits was launched in the UK, much to the delight of schoolboys up and down the country. These Matchbox kits were cheap, simple to make and moulded in two or three different coloured plastics so that the younger modellers didn’t even need to paint them.

The most memorable thing about them however, wasn’t the multi-coloured plastic or the slightly eccentric choice of subjects, it was the dynamic and action packed box-art, painted almost exclusively by Roy Huxley.

Roy’s style was part comic book and part aerospace illustration which perfectly captured the imagination (and the pocket money), of thousands of schoolboys around the world.

As the boys grew, so did the kits, with ever bigger and more ambitious projects including four engined bombers and ultimately a huge 1/72 corvette, HMS Bluebell.

Now, nearly 50 years after those first kits were created and the first bits of artboard painted, The Golden Years of Matchbox Art – due for release on 15th July 2020 – brings together Roy’s exciting paintings for the very first time.

Remarkably, although many of the original paintings were lost over the years, Roy managed to keep a very comprehensive transparency archive of his work, allowing Red Kite to reproduce his classic pieces of box-art in the vibrant colours last seen in the 1970s.

The Golden Years of Matchbox Art By Roy Huxley Sample Pages

Featuring over 100 large paintings and many more smaller illustrations, this book is a long overdue journey down memory lane, not just for those long lost schoolboys but also for any fan of military art.

The Golden Years of Matchbox Art goes on sale from Red Kite on 15th July 2020 – and in addition to the regular release for £40, you can also pre-order a signed copy for £65, including a print and certificate of authenticity, here.

Roy Huxley was born in Bedfordshire in 1940. He left school at 17 with an obvious talent for art and searched the London art studios for a job. Through a contact he was fortunate to get work with a leading Art Agency specialising in brochures for big car and truck companies and remained there for several years developing his skills.

In 1969, he turned freelance and shortly afterwards was approached by the Tudor Art Agency to create some paintings for a new series of aircraft model kits under the brand ‘Matchbox’.

Roy produced paintings for Matchbox for nearly 20 years making him one of the most recognised box-artists in the world.

After the demise of Matchbox, he worked for several leading companies such as British Airways, Marconi, The Bradford Exchange and Rothmans. His work is renowned for its detail and accuracy, especially his aviation subjects, which has resulted in him being the three times winner of the coveted Guild of Aviation Artists “Aviation Painting of the Year” award.

Roy and his wife Sue have always been keen sailors and would go to their sailing yacht in France to unwind whenever time allowed. Although their sailing days are now over, they still travel extensively from their home in a quiet Kent village.

• The Golden Years of Matchbox Art goes on sale from Red Kite on 15th July 2020 – and in addition to the regular release for £40, you can also pre-order a signed copy for £65, including a print and certificate of authenticity, here

• Buy The Golden Years of Matchbox Art from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)

• Buy 1973-2010 The Story of Matchbox Kits by Jean-Christophe Carbonel from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)

• Buy Vintage Years of Airfix Box Art from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)

• Roy Huxley – Box Art and Illustration Facebook Group

• The Roy Huxley Files – a collection of Roy Huxley art on Flickr

With thanks to Jeremy Briggs

About the Author
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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.