Calder Craft

Calder Craft was set up as a division of Hinchliffe in 1979 to ”introduce the world of military modelling to a far wider audience”. They produced mainly historical miniatures, with a small fantasy range, before transferring to high end model boat kits following the sale of Hinchliffe in 1984.

Note: 1984 is likely the end of the manufacturing of the miniature ranges.

History

In 1979 Hinchliffe formed Calder Craft as a separate division to be run completely independent of the parent company. According to the first Calder Craft Catalogue this was done to ”introduce the world of military modelling to a far wider audience”. The objective was to introduce a compact range of figures and equipment in better packaging (blisters and full colour boxes) as well as booklets ”explaining historical detail, specific painting instructions, hints and tips and how to play uncomplicated games”. [2]

The name Calder is taken from a river approx. 10 miles to the north of where Hinchliffe were based.

It is assumed that the rights to the ranges were transferred back to Hinchliffe in 1984 when it was sold to Skytrex.

Frank Hinchliffe retained the Calder Craft brand to produce detailed scale model kits of boats and ships using materials including fibre glass, wood (ply), vac-formed plastic, brass and metal components. Some of these kits included metal crew figures. The manufacturing and distribution of the boats were transferred to JoTika Ltd in 1992.

Associated Companies

• Hinchliffe

Addresses

• Calder Craft, Station Street, Meltham, Huddersfield, HD7 3NX, England, UK

References

• [1], unfashionablyshiny, "The Frank Hinchliffe Story" (2011-05-23)
• [2], Calder Craft Catalogue