Built in 1899 to Midland Railway design 2b, the Grade II listed signal box at Oakham in Rutland achieved fame as the prototype for the Airfix plastic kit, now made by Dapol (catalogue no.C006).

On 22 August 1999 I happened to be passing through Oakham, and I stopped off to take some photos of the signal box. Jim Filby has kindly supplied some photos of the interior, taken in 2004.

The June 2001 issue of Railway Modeller magazine had an article on detailing the Airfix/Dapol 4 mm/ft scale kit to resemble the real box more closely.

Inside Oakham signal box

Some interior photos by Jim Filby in 2004.

Village church

The Airfix/Dapol village church kit (Dapol catalogue no. C029) is based on the Old St Boniface church at Bonchurch, near Ventnor on the Isle of Wight.

Windmill

The Airfix windmill kit might be based on Outwood windmill in Surrey.

Other

I would be interested to know the locations of the prototypes (if any) which the other Airfix building kits were based on.