verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . june 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message a 1 72 scale model of a dewoitine d. 510 from heller heller is a french brand of plastic scale model kits of aircraft tanks cars and ships . 1 contents 1 history 2 ownership history 3 founder leo jahiel 4 product range 4.1 aircraft 4.2 spacecraft 4.3 ships 4.4 vehicles 4.5 figures 4.6 monuments 4.7 junior range 5 see also 6 references 6.1 notes 6.2 bibliography 7 external links history edit heller was founded in paris in 1957 by l o heller jahiel and its first model kit was a 1 100 scale sud aviation caravelle produced the following year . 2 in 1963 a production facility was established in trun orne . in 1972 heller joined with solido a die cast toy car maker jouef an ho scale train maker and delacoste maker of balloons and toys to form le jouet fran ais . 3 in 1980 the company went into liquidation and was in court directed administration in may 1981 . the company was broken up majorette bought solido vullierme bought delacoste and jouef was bought back by a subsidiary company of the ceji group compagnie g n rale du jouet . 4 heller was acquired in 1981 by the hobby products group of borden owners of british model company humbrol . in 1986 airfix also joined the group . production of airfix kits already in calais would subsequently move to the heller factory in trun . heller with the rest of the group was acquired by an irish investment company allen mcguire & partners in 1994 and received 31 million francs of investment . 5 in 1999 heller re branded as heller sa and acquired together with the thirion group french toy manufacturer joustra . in 2005 heller sa was acquired by french buyers but in 2006 once again the company went into administration . 6 in july 2006 the company was put into receivership and in november hornby plc bought sister brands airfix and humbrol but not heller or its factory . by january 2007 heller sa was transferred to la soci t manop manufacture d objet pr cieux under the direction benjamin leneman and over the next 7 years slowly returned to profitability selling model kits . 7 heller sa yet again found itself in trouble in 2016 . it was in a situation of non financial return due to cash flow problems and a decline consumption related to the november attacks . 8 the commercial court of argentan on 11 march approved the acquisition of heller joustra heller sa by maped following six weeks of administration . maped in partnership with entrepreneur alain bernard of the new york finance innovation of paris france had invested 3.5 million euros in heller joustra . 9 10 ownership history edit period owner comments 1957 1972 leo heller jahiel via heller sa france first kit made in 1958 1972 1981 merges with jouef solido and delacoste to form the french toys group the french toys group falls into administration in 1981 . borden inc acquires heller . 1981 1994 borden inc usa via humbrol ltd uk humbrol had manufactured paints for heller since 1977 . heller also moulded airfix kits for humbrol from 1986 2006 . 1994 2005 allen & maguire ireland via humbrol ltd uk allen & maguire were venture capitalists . the purchase of humbrol included a lot of debt and allen & maguire lost control to the royal bank of scotland in 2005 . 2005 2006 heller sa france management buy out of heller sa from humbrol ltd. company fell into administration in july 2006 and hornby plc acquires airfix and humbrol . 2007 2015 manop a french jewellery manufacturer buys the business for 200k . now trades as heller joustra sa . heller joustra sa falls into administration in 2015 . 2016 maped sa an international french stationery and craft company buys heller joustra for 1.5 m. maped is well known in the uk for its helix mathematical instruments brand . founder leo jahiel edit leo jahiel born in lyon founded heller in 1957 . he had previously worked at somap a plastics company and set up company headquarters on rue de paradis in the 10th arrondissement of paris with a production facility in trun orne . on june 9 1977 he was made a member of the l gion d honneur by president val ry giscard d estaing for his years of professional activity . 11 product range edit this section is written like a personal reflection or opinion essay that states the wikipedia editor s personal feelings about a topic rather than the opinions of experts . please help improve it by rewriting it in an encyclopedic style . november 2009 learn how and when to remove this template message this section needs expansion . you can help by adding to it . january 2014 aircraft edit the early heller aircraft line in a mix of scales 1 100 1 72 1 50 and 1 40 were rather crude with large rivets thick canopies and low level of detailing . during the 1970s they concentrated on 1 72 and 1 50 and the quality improved rapidly kits from the end of that decade were often very well detailed and sophisticated . the heller line included many types of aircraft that couldn t be found elsewhere like the bloch and potez twins dassault ouragan and dassault myst re saabs tunnan j21 and safir and the big french transports the noratlas and the transall . notable who later kits were the pzl 23 the morane saulnier 230 and the sbc helldiver biplane . still later heller s constellations dc 4s citation needed and dc 6s were welcome additions to the 1 72 multi engine flight line along with the striking canadair 215 a purpose built fire bomber . the early 1 50 helicopters were crude and questionable as to scale fidelity citation needed but here again they were unique subjects frelon puma alouette gazelle llama etc. it s like a french aurora kit quipped a seasoned modeler who in 1969 examining the alouette for the first time . citation needed spacecraft edit heller made a set apollo kits which included the command service module and the lunar module . it was well detailed for its time however the kit represented the block i configuration of the apollo hardware which was not flown during the manned missions and was only used for early low earth orbit test flights . heller also made a kit of the ariane v in 1 125 scale . the international space station was also made in the same scale as the ariane v. they also made an ariane iv in 1 288 scale . ships edit and there were ships again unique as to subject . a large sophisticated kit of hms victory is arguably the centerpiece of the ship line . vehicles edit heller made kits of the citro n 11cv the wwii era front wheel drive sedan in 1 43 1 24 and 1 8 scales . there was a series of 1 24 old cars and small trucks including golden age european types delahaye delage certain bugattis the 4.5 liter blower bentley and others that were not and have not yet been kitted by other manufacturers in that scale . citation needed these were sophisticated kits for their time . citation needed heller contributed to the vast universe of 1 35 armor lend lease jeeps and deuce and a halves a panhard armored car and a squad of chasseurs alpins . heller also produced a grand 1 35 super frelon one of the first aircraft kits scaled to support the armor culture . figures edit this section is empty . you can help by adding to it . january 2014 monuments edit this section is empty . you can help by adding to it . january 2014 junior range edit composed by the cadet series of kits . see also edit airfix aurora esci frog italeri hasegawa matchbox monogram revell tamiya references edit notes edit http www.scalemodelnews.com 2011 12 exhibition of box art from french.html modelisme heller jouef compagny history historique de la firme jouef brook jermey 60 years of airfix models the crowood press uk february 2 2016 short history of heller a requiem heller joustra retrouve son lustre d antan le journal de l orne 19 09 2014 maped rach te heller joustra maped rach te heller joustra le figaro 21 03 2016 les jouets heller joustra tombent dans l escarcelle de maped le monde 21.03.2016 new york finance innovation heller joustra leo jahiel the founder bibliography edit this section is empty . you can help by adding to it . january 2014 external links edit heller homepage joustra homepage history of airfix also mentions heller v t e scale modeling 1 6 scale modeling architectural models building models brass models diecast models dioramas dollhouse gundam model matchstick models miniature arts miniature wargaming model aircraft model cars model commercial vehicles model construction vehicles model figures model horses model military vehicles model robots model rockets model ships model trains room box list of scale model kit manufacturers retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title heller sa & oldid 730050512 categories companies of francemodel manufacturersmodel aircrafttoy soldier manufacturing companieshidden categories articles needing additional references from june 2016all articles needing 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