The future of Airfix is looking as fragile as one of its model Spitfires after its parent company went into administration.

The plastic kits of Lancaster bombers and Hurricanes have been painstakingly assembled in British bedrooms for nearly 60 years, leading Airfix fans to declare yesterday a sad day for British youth.

Humbrol, Airfix's owner, went into adminstration due to "severe cash flow pressures" and a disruption in supplies from its main manufacturer in France.

Jeremy Brook, secretary of the Airfix Collectors Club, said the plastic models probably saved countless marriages in their heyday because "husbands were too busy building their airfix kits to go out and chase women". It was a sad day for men who grew up in the 60s and 70s, he added. "If you talk to anybody over 40 they will have memories from their youth of making Airfix kits."

However, the administrator charged with rescuing Airfix said the brand could be revived under a new owner. Keith Hinds of accountancy firm Grant Thornton has laid off three-quarters of Humbrol's 41 staff and has put the Airfix brand up for sale, with several expressions of interest lodged already.

Airfix was founded in 1939 by Hungarian-born businessman Nicholas Kove, who sold cheap rubber toys filled with air. It switched to model kits with a Ferguson tractor in 1948 and introduced its trademark Spitfire in 1953, triggering a surge in sales that saw the company launch its own magazine in 1960 and acquire toy manufacturing rivals such as Meccano.

Sales began to decline in the early 80s and the company went into receivership before its rescue by Humbrol in 1986.