VEB Plasticart

VEB Plasticart was a toy manufacturer established in 1958 in Zschopau, East Germany.

The old VEB Plasticart produced 40 different kits and a few games (e.g. the mancala game "Badari") made of plastic. Most kits were static models and used scale 1/100 for airliners, 1/50 and later 1/72 for smaller aircraft. They also produced a model of the Soviet spaceship Vostok (scaled 1/25) and the Energia rocket with the Soviet space shuttle Buran (1/288). Many of them are today valued collector items.

THE COMPANIES: VEB Plasticart was established in 1958 in Zschopau, East Germany. VEB was a Communist-era designation, meaning Volkseigener Betrieb - "company owned by the people". The company was called KVZ (for "Kunststoff-Verarbeitung Zschopau") from 1958–1969, MPKAB (for "VEB Modell -und Plastspielwaren Kombinat Annaberg-Buchholz") from 1969–1973, VEB Plasticart Zschopau from 1973–1989 and Mastermodell GmbH from 1989-1991. After a two-years break the company was sold in 1993 by the German Treuhand (an organization which privatized state owned enterprises of the GDR) to Manfred Wader. It is today called Plasticart. In 1993 the company had only 37 workers left. A new factory was constructed in Elterlein, Saxony, and now the company counts over 70 workers. They no longer make kits, but playthings for toddlers.

The “VEB” title was applied to a range of small semi-autonomous businesses in the GDR that made goods especially for export. The GDR needed to export as much as possible to earn foreign “hard” currency as its own “soft” Ostmark was not freely convertible and could only be obtained and used within the GDR. Consequently, VEB PlasticArt was able to sell cheap, but well designed, plastic construction kits to the Western countries in exchange for much-needed Western currencies.

The factory had an official address as follows:

VEB PLASTICART Zschopau, August-Bebel Strasse 2, 936 Zschopau, German Democratic Republic

For a long time the name "VEB" has stood with model collectors for plastic construction kits from the former Soviet Union or East Germany. This VEB enterprise had three official names during the late 50s to late 80s:

CPC: This name lasted until 1969 and is translated as “Plastic Processing Zschopau”. The kits had very nice packaging, usually made of thicker cardboard and a great cover image. The company logo was at that time the snake. If a snake is seen on the package, then it points to that kit must be from before 1969/70.

MPKAB: This very long name was used from 1969-1973 and stands for “VEB model and plastic toys combine Annaberg-Buchholz”. The kits of this period, were packed in the classic familiar blue standard boxes, but, no company logo.

Plasticart Zschopau: That was the last name from 1973 to 1989, the packaging was the same as from 1969/70 but from 1973 they then received a company logo.. From 1987, some kits appeared in a very novel black box, with a picture of a poorly constructed model on the cover.

MASTER MODEL: From 1989 to 1991 they were produced as a limited company under that name.

In addition to these Company Names, two more brand names were used on the later issue boxes: "Playfix" from the mid-1980s and "NuBee" from the early 1990s.

THE MODELS:

Starting in a modest way with a stalwart Antanov AN-2 biplane in HO scale, then dabbling in the odd 1/40th scale for an Aero 45 twin engine low wing monoplane Plasticart soon progressed to something more ambitious, a scale model of the first jet turbine airliner to be produced by the GDR. This was the extraordinary Dresden Baade 152, the last development in a line of aircraft that sprung from the former Junkers works in Leipzig and Dresden (both then in the GDR). A strong contender for “Ugliest Passenger Jet Ever Built”, the two prototypes were both unsuccessful and were quietly broken up in 1962, Interflug choosing Soviet tried and tested jet designs instead. The kit disappeared around the same time, the much heralded Dresden 152 proving to be a monumental embarrassment to the Communist leadership.

Next up was the stalwart of Interflug’s European network, the four-engined Ilyushin IL-18 piston prop. This aircraft was configured similarly to the Douglas DC-7C, Lockheed Electra and the Bristol Britannia. They were a common site across the communist bloc, operated by Interflug from Berlin Schonefeld and Leipzig, the type was also in service with LOT Polish Airlines, Tarom of Romania, Malev in Hungary and CSA (Československé Státní Aerolinie)in Czechoslovakia.

The first of the famous Soviet airliner series to appear, in 1963, was the Tupolev Tu-104, the first medium haul jet aircraft to go into regular sustained airline service. The early Plasticart Tu-104 set the standard for all the kits that followed. It was scaled at 1:100 which whilst not common for aircraft kits at the time, was close to FROG models’ 1:96 scale and matched well with contemporary East German TT trains such as Berliner Bahn. In addition, the kit set a standard for being simple to assemble, with a minimal number of parts, sturdy landing gear and a full decal sheet. Instructions were a let-down though – often printed in German, Russian, Polish and Czech, these were aimed squarely at consumers in the Comecon countries, were Plasticart kits were both affordable and plentiful. There was an exploded diagram, but no English instructions. Because the drawings were easy to obtain, Plasticart began to introduce a comprehensive range of detailed models of Soviet airliners and other Warsaw Pact aircraft. Whilst the Tu-104 had only been available with Aeroflot markings, the new introductions mostly came with Interflug decals – markings of the state airline of the GDR.

The latest airliners soon made it into the range, including the Tupolev Tu-134 (Replacement for the Tu-104), Tu-154 (similar to Boeing’s 727 tri-jet), Ilyushin’s IL-62 long range airliner, which resembled the Vickers VC-10, the Antanov design bureau’s AN-24 twin engine short hauled feeder-liner, based on the Fokker F27 / Handley Page Dart Herald configuration and the Czech-built Let L-410 Turbolet twin prop commuter aircraft. Later additions included the remarkable Yakevlov Yak-40 tri-jet short-haul “hot & high” jet which could offer jet service from a grass runway and the awesome Tu-144 supersonic jet, known by NATO as the Charger, but by the rest of the World as “Concordski”, the first supersonic airliner to fly and the very last supersonic passenger plane in service (NASA/Boeing used a Tu-144LL Flying Laboratory for high-speed research. The aircraft was finally withdrawn in 2006 and is preserved in Russia.). A very interesting mix of Soviet fighter aircraft and especially, helicopters, was also produced including the giant Mil Mi-8 flying crane and the famous Mig-21 “Fishbed” (1/100th) and Sukhoi Su-7 “Fitter” fighters (1/72nd scale.)

But it is the Western airliners that are most sought after by collectors today. These had to be scaled from other manufacturer’s models, photographs and measurements made on their rare visits to East German airports, as drawings were not available to Plasticart. The eclectic choice commenced with a very large kit indeed, the Douglas DC-8-54 series. The DC-8 was in early KLM stripes livery and is today very sought after. It was subsequently re-issued with an updated KLM decal sheet, although by then, KLM were phasing out their DC-8s in favour of the wide-bodied DC-10-30 series. One of the most pleasing box arts was completed for the De Haviland DH106 Comet 4 airliner, depicted departing from Hong Kong Kai Tak airport, as a junk is seen in the Harbour. Full BOAC decals are included which when built make this kit almost identical to the contemporary FROG model.

Then the Boeing 727-100 got the Plasticart treatment with good box art in Pan-Am colours. This was an easy choice as these aircraft operated into Berlin Tegel airport down the designated air corridors set up by the Potsdam Agreement in 1945. Since the Agreement only allowed the Occupying Powers to fly commercial flights into Berlin over GDR territory, the flights had to be operated by USA, UK and French airlines. So it was that Plasticart then added the HS 121 Trident (by then part of Hawker Siddeley and serving with British Airways and in the Warsaw Pact arena with CAAC Civil Aviation Administration of China) and the Dassault Mercure of French airline Air Inter (a bizarre choice, as only 10 were ever built of this proposed challenger to the Boeing 737). The SE210 Caravelle was a much better choice to fly the flag for France, having been widely exported and operating into the Soviet bloc with Finnair, Scandinavian Airine System (SAS), Alitalia, Air France and Swissair.

Later models, such as the 1/72 scale Junkers G23/24 tri-motor corrugated aluminium airliner were detailed and well moulded. Western fighter jets also made an appearance with the introduction of the delta-wing Saab Draken in 1/100 to complement the Mig 21. What a pity nobody thought to combine these two classic cold war jets into a “Dogfight Double” like Airfix! VEB Plasticart produced in all 40 different kits and a few games also made of plastic. Although most kits were scale 1/100 for airliners and later 1/72 for smaller aircraft, they also produced a model of the Soviet spaceship Vostok 3K (scaled 1/25) and the Energia rocket with the Soviet space shuttle Buran (1/288). The Vostok kit, being the world’s first manned space ship and featuring a nicely detailed figure of Yuri Gagarin, was later taken on and re-issued by Revell Inc. It retained the Plasticart artwork, but with Revell branding added.

See also