Wiking Modellbau

Wiking was founded in 1932 by Friedrich Karl Peltzer who had built ships from cigar boxes in his youth. Wiking's beginnings were in producing ship models in 1:1,250 scale. Before and during World War II these models, made of lead based zamac, were used by the German military for training and tactical planning. They were usually marked "Wiking Modell" on their bases. The ships were accompanied by Modell-Hafen (Model Harbors) which were wood representations of piers, buildings and oil facilities to assist in attack training. The military also used new plane models in 1:200 scale beginning in 1934-35, and the so-called Wehrmachtsmodelle (1937–38) of military vehicles and artillery, were issued in 1:200 scale. Beginning in 1938, the planes and some of the ships were made of plastic.

Based on the Wehrmachtsmodelle, Wiking also made some civilian vehicles whose production ceased at the beginning of World War II.

War years

During the war, Wiking mostly produced models for the military for training in the identification of planes and ships, an important need during war time. Reportedly, the company employed forced labor, for example; workers from the USSR.