The author of the ABC models Vyškovský has died, entertaining generations of children

Prague – At the age of 90, the author of paper models from the magazine ABC, Richard Vyškovský, passed away on Thursday, who entertained generations of children and probably even adults with his works. The name of architect Vyškovský is probably best known in modeling circles. However, his models, such as the spaceship Galaxia based on the comic of the same name in ABC or the functional camera Dirkon, have adorned and continue to adorn the rooms of many children from the late 1960s to the present day.

Vyškovský studied architecture and later worked at the State Institute for the Reconstruction of Heritage Cities and Objects. His relationship with heritage sites was also reflected in his work, as many models depicted folk architecture, castles, fortresses, or historic houses. However, the range of models he was able to create was much broader. The first of these was a model of a historical car created in 1968 as a result of a bet. Vyškovský bet with his colleagues from work that he could create a model made only from paper inspired by the then scarce toy cars known as Matchbox.

Photographs of the mentioned model by Vyškovský and his colleague Pavel Blechy found their way into the newspapers, where, according to Blesk.cz, the then editor-in-chief of ABC, Vlastislav Toman, noticed them. "As editor-in-chief, I received daily newspapers on my desk. And one day I found a report about two gentlemen from some institute for the reconstruction of heritage sites who were building toy car models. That immediately caught my eye, so I picked up the phone and started finding out how to contact them. I got to them, invited them to the editorial office, we talked, and I handed them over to our colleagues who were working on the supplements," Toman had previously told Blesk.

Vyškovský’s hand-drawn models were published in ABC for decades and since 1997 also by the ERKOtyp publishing house, of which Vyškovský's son Richard is a co-owner and manager. Among the models that Vyškovský created over the half-century are heritage sites, cars, ships, airplanes, moving machines, figurines, and panoramas. Collections of his works have also been published in book form.