Herpa Miniaturmodelle GMBH (or simply Herpa, an acronym for "Hergenröther und Patente”, the original name of the firm), is a German manufacturing company that produces die-cast

scale model A scale model is a physical model that is geometrically similar to an object (known as the ''prototype''). Scale models are generally smaller than large prototypes such as vehicles, buildings, or people; but may be larger than small protot ...

aircraft An aircraft ( aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, i ...

(under the "

Herpa Wings Herpa Wings is a brand that identifies the die-cast toy, die-cast model aircraft line of Germany, German company Herpa. The collection includes 250 airlines under 17 different aircraft manufacturers in 1:200 scale. The mainstay of Herpa Wings is i ...

" trademark) and

plastic model image:South-Goodwin.jpg, 300px, A young boy starts painting an assembled plastic model of the South Goodwin Lightship A plastic model kit, (wikt:plamodel, plamo in Eastern world, Eastern influenced parlance), is a consumer-grade plastic scale mo ...

cars A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

and trucks under the "Herpa Cars & Trucks" trademark. The mainstay of the Herpa Wings range is in the 1/500 scale, although models have also been produced in the 1/400, 1/200, and 1/1000 scales as well. The Herpa Cars & Trucks range is mainly produced in the 1:87 scale, although 1:120 and 1:160 scales are also offered. Herpa also produces magazines for car & truck enthusiasts and model aircraft enthusiasts, known as ''Der Maßstab'' and ''WingsWorld'' respectively.

History

The company was founded in

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

by inventor and patent holder Wilhelm Hergenröther to produce accessories for

model railways Railway modelling (UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland) or model railroading (US and Canada) is a hobby in which rail transport systems are Model building, modelled at a reduced Scale (ratio), scale. The scale models include locomotives ...

. In 1978,

model car A model car, or toy car, is a Physical model, miniature representation of an automobile. Other miniature motor vehicles, such as trucks, buses, or even All-terrain vehicle, ATVs, etc. are often included in this general category. Because many mi ...

s made in 1:87 scale were presented at the International Toy Fair in

. Herpa continued to extend this product line. Every following car model was put on the market using

snap-fit A snap-fit is an assembly method used to attach flexible parts, usually plastic, to form the final product by pushing the parts' interlocking components together. There are a number of variations in snap-fits, including cantilever, torsional and an ...

construction (without any necessary gluing). In 1980, Herpa presented the first model trucks. Following that, in 1981, Herpa's truck models sport tipping cabins revealing an exact reproduction of an engine within. Industrial customers also start to use Herpa’s car models as an advertising instrument with their own company’s imprinting. The first issue of ''Der Maßstab'' was released in 1982. Herpa launched the HIGH-TECH series in the 1:87 scale in 1986, with the first model in the series a

Ferrari Testarossa The Ferrari Testarossa (Type F110) is a 12-cylinder mid-engine sports car manufactured by Ferrari, which went into production in 1984 as the successor to the Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer. The Pininfarina-designed car was originally produced from ...

consisting of 22 pieces, an opening hood and technical features such as a 12-cylinder motor and wheels with separate suspension. In 1987, the first plastic samples of

model aircraft A model aircraft is a physical model of an existing or imagined aircraft, and is built typically for display, research, or amusement. Model aircraft are divided into two basic groups: flying and non-flying. Non-flying models are also termed s ...

Boeing 747-200 The Boeing 747 is a long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2023. After the introduction of the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, ...

s in the 1:500 scale are produced. These models were presented to

Lufthansa Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), trading as the Lufthansa Group, is a German aviation group. Its major and founding subsidiary airline Lufthansa German Airlines, branded as Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. It ranks List of largest airlin ...

at an initiation ceremony for a

Boeing 737-300 The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft. Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Febru ...

Nuremberg Airport Nuremberg Airport ( ) is an international airport of the Franconian metropolitan area of Nuremberg and the second-busiest airport in Bavaria after Munich Airport. The year 2018, with 4.5 million, was the year with the highest passenger volume t ...

then orders the production of the Lufthansa Model-Edition in the 1/200 scale exclusively for the airline. Herpa then launches the Lufthansa Model-Edition in 1988 with a replica of the

. In 1992, the

series of airplane models in the 1:500 scale were launched in

. These models came with rolling

landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for taxiing, takeoff or landing. For aircraft, it is generally needed for all three of these. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, s ...

, an industry first that has not been duplicated. Tamp printing was used to create highly detailed replicas of their originals. Several airlines placed orders with Herpa for the production of airplane models in their respective liveries. In 1993, Herpa created the first

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

in the 1:87 scale. A licensing contract with plane manufacturer

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

was also signed in 1995. The first set of airport accessories was produced in 1996. Herpa received the

ISO 9001 The ISO 9000 family is a set of international standards for quality management systems. It was developed in March 1987 by International Organization for Standardization. The goal of these standards is to help organizations ensure that they meet ...

certificate from the Bavarian Trade and Business Institute for the upholding of a quality management system that meets the highest

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an norms. In 1997,

magazine ''WingsWorld'' was launched, alongside the first model aircraft in the 1:200 scale. The Herpa Wings Club was launched in 1999 in conjunction with Herpa's 50th anniversary. 2001 marked the start of the retailer initiative Herpa eXtra. The combined online/offline distribution concept was received by fifty initial retailers in various European countries. A Herpa Wings Christmas model was also produced for the first time. In 2004, the first Herpa Wings 1/1000 model was released, and more followed soon after. Also, a

DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper ...

was flown in company colours at various air-shows across the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The DC-3 flown was also available in the

collection in a scale of 1:200. The 'Scenix' range was also launched in 2006. In 2007, Herpa took on the Minitanks brand and product line of military vehicles from Austrian manufacturer, Roco.

Products

Herpa Wings

Herpa Wings produces

in scales of 1/200, 1/400, 1/500, 1/600 and 1/1000. Approximately 4,000 different versions of 300 airlines in 19 different aircraft types have been released since its founding in 1992. Many airlines such as

Cathay Pacific Cathay Pacific Airways Limited, or simply Cathay Pacific, is the flag carrier of Hong Kong, with its head office and main airline hub, hub located at Hong Kong International Airport. The airline's operations and its subsidiaries have schedule ...

and

Singapore Airlines Singapore Airlines (abbreviation: SIA or SQ) is the flag carrier of Singapore with its Airline hub, hub located at Changi Airport. Considered to be one of the world's best carriers, the airline is ranked as a 5-star airline as well as ranked ...

stock Wings models as part of their on-board

duty-free A duty-free shop or store is a retail outlet whose goods are exempt from the payment of certain local or national taxes and duties, on the requirement that the goods will be sold to travelers who will take them out of the country, who will ...

catalogues. These exclusive models are sold by the airlines onboard and aren't available in the regular collection.

Herpa Cars & Trucks

Herpa Cars & Trucks releases model

car A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people rather than cargo. There are around one billio ...

s and

truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport freight, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construct ...

s in the 1/87

H0 scale HO or H0 is a rail transport modelling scale using a 1:87 scale (3.5 mm to 1 foot). It is the most popular scale of model railway in the world. The rails are spaced apart for modelling standard gauge tracks and trains in HO. The ...

, but also in the 1/160 and 1/220 scales. Since 1978, 37 different types in 200 liveries have been produced, with many used by industrial customers.

Minitanks

On October 1, 2007, Herpa took on the worldwide distribution of the Minitanks product line from Austrian manufacturer,

Roco Roco may refer to: * Roco (model railroads), an Austrian manufacturer of model railway equipment * Roco (surname), surname * Roco Sandu Roco Sandu (born 30 July 1966) is a former Romanian professional footballer. He was part of one of the bes ...

(Modelleisenbahn GmbH). This military series has been in production since 1960 and produces vehicles from a variety of eras in both N and H0 scale.

Scenix

Although the first Scenix

Mercedes-Benz Actros The Mercedes-Benz Actros is a heavy-duty truck introduced by Mercedes-Benz at the 1996 Commercial Vehicle IAA in Hannover, Germany, as the replacement for the SK. It is normally used for long-distance haulage, heavy-duty distribution haula ...

"Black Edition" model was already available in December 2005, the SCENIX series was officially launched in 2006. The series is made up of models presented in a PC box that personifies truck models with light and sound. Also, Scenix comprises Herpa Wings accessories. Entire airport dioramas can be assembled, with many airport accessories also available to supplement these dioramas. Features such as runway lights have also been added in recent times. Airport buildings and accessories are mainly available in the 1/500 scale, with a few exceptions in the 1/400 scale.

Publications

''Der Maßstab'' and ''WingsWorld'' are the two magazines produced by Herpa for car and truck enthusiasts and

enthusiasts. Initiated in 1986 and 1997, respectively, these magazines were only made available to Herpa Cars Club and Herpa Wings Club members. However, these magazines are now available via subscription to non-members, with Club members still receiving these magazines as part of their membership. Herpa also releases annual catalogues for the Herpa Wings and Herpa Cars & Trucks collection, which highlight the various products for the year. New-release brochures are also available to Club members.

References

External links

*
Herpa Museum
on Diecast.aero website {{Scale model brands Toy brands Model manufacturers of Germany