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A NOSTALGIC TRIBUTE TO FROG MODEL KITS


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I thought that I would start this topic for all those of us that have fond memories of and love the FROG model kits.

 

In 1967 we came back to the UK from Singapore and moved into RAF Married Quarters in Alderton on the Suffolk coast. My father had been posted to the radar station at RAF Bawdsey.

 

In Alderton the village Post Office sold FROG model kits. This was the first time that I had seen FROG kits and over the next four years of living there I got to love these models.

 

FROG stood for Flies Right Of The Ground and the origins of FROG kits can be traced back to 1932 with Penguin models and flying models with elastic bands and small engines. The first FROG plastic kits appeared in the 1930s.

 

When I was first introduced to FROG kits they were all in boxes, with different size boxes to suit the size of the subject. They were grouped into Colour Series, so Black Series were the small aircraft such as fighters, trainers, Bleriot and Supermarine S6B, then there was Red Series with such as the Blackburn Shark, Stuka and Airspeed Oxford, then Green Series with such as Blenheim and Boston and so on. Orange and Yellow Series tended to be the larger Hasegawa kits repackaged by FROG at their factory at Margate in Kent.

 

I got to know the layout of the FROG models displayed in the Post Office window and I would make a note of it every time we passed it in the mini bus on our way to and from school in Bawdsey.

 

If I saw it had changed I would excitedly rush back to the Post Office as soon as I arrived home, wanting to see what new FROG kits had arrived.

 

Over the four years that we lived there I bought several FROG models from there, kits such as the Airspeed Oxford, Tupolev SB2 , Blackburn Shark, Westland Wessex, Hawker Tempest and HMS Hero. 

It was also useful to my brothers and sister who wanted present ideas for my Birthdays. My sister got me the FROG Spitfire XIV and Flying Bomb for my eleventh Birthday.

 

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Sometimes a model would disappear from the window and I would wonder who in the village had bought it. Then there would be a knock on our door and there would be one of my friends with a FROG kit that had disappeared from the shop window and he would ask me to build it for him. Or it might be one of my brothers who would surprise me with a FROG model from the shop window asking me to build it for them.

 

To start with there were the earlier Black and Red series boxes of the very British FROG classics such as the Vimy, Beaufort, Skua or Master and then later modern aircraft such as the Starfighter, Corsair, Mohawk, Bronco and Thunderchief started appearing. I did not know this at the time but these were Hasegawa kits reboxed by FROG.

 

If I wanted to see the larger FROG models such as the Avro Shackleton then I had to visit the model shop in Woodbridge when we went shopping.

 

 All of you who love FROG kits and have memories of them that you would like to share please feel free to contribute to this topic..............

 

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A selection of FROG kits which I have found on the web to get the topic rolling.

 

I do have a number of FROG kits and boxes in my collection which I will show as we go on.

 

regards, Adrian

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by adey m
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6d3ed962-f2e6-47fa-ba4b-8786767eb264.jpg

 

Image result for FROG Shackleton

 

This was the boxing that my Shackleton came in back in 1973.

 

 

 

The later 1970s box.

 

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My FROG Avro Shackleton MR3 which was a Christmas present from my father in 1973.

Edited by adey m
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Image result for FROG Whitley

 

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My FROG Armstrong Whitworth Whitley V which was a present from my father for Christmas 1973.

 

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I found these two FROG Whitleys built as intended from the box.

 

Edited by adey m
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Nice topic Adrian. I too did a lot of my early modelling on Frog kits & have a very soft spot for them. I still have a few in my stock & although some won't get made the Swordfish is one that will, still a nice kit & miles ahead of the Airfix one of similar era.

Steve.

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31 minutes ago, Head in the clouds. said:

Nice topic Adey and nice pics of the boxings, I assume you keep all your boxes after building the kit?

I currently have a Frog Stringbag but will never build it as it is not in my topic of choice now.

 

Regards

Gary

 

Thanks Gary,

 

I have started this topic off with pictures of FROG kits I have found on the internet.

 

I do have a number of built and unbuilt FROG kits and boxes I have saved over the many years which will feature here.

 

regards,  Adrian

 

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Hello adey m.

I think you just have described a good part of my childhood

in the 60ies and early 70ies.

The models were not sold at the Post office but in a (relatively) big store;

its name was Printania and years later Prisunic. It was a bit like the Woolworth or Tesco.

I can remember that me and my friends went every week to see if new models were issued.

This store sold only Frog and Airfix models.

But we had another store in the town, a toy retailer, who sold Revell models, but was very much expensive,

more that our pocket money could afford.

Oh ! nostalgia, those times have gone. In my region (Alsace, east of France, there is no more store which sells

model kits. The only solution left to us is to buy on Internet.

 

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Unrestored 1/72 FROG De Havilland 89 Dragon Rapide as given to me by a friend who built it many years ago.

 

This kit first appeared in 1959.

Edited by adey m
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I can remember coveting a Frog Shack for what now seems like years, but was probably more likely a few weeks! It was in the window of a bicycle shop in Neath that also sold models - which seems now to be an unlikely combination, but I can remember at least 4 similar shops in the local area at the time! I dropped countless hints to my mother every time we passed the shop about how I'd like it for Christmas, but it never happened! I seem to remember that Frog kits were in a higher price bracket than Airfix ones, so it meant if I wanted one I'd have to save my pocket money for a few weeks & miss the weekly Saturday purchase of an Airfix kit from Woolies - that wasn't going to happen! 

 

So, the only Frog kit I can actually remember buying was the P-61 Black Widow, which I bought from the shop on the now late lamented roof gardens on the Queens Building at Heathrow, where we'd gone on a school trip !

 

I don't have many original Frog's in the stash now, off the top of my head there's a Canberra, Hunter, Hornet & Wyvern. I actually sold a Swordfish at Telford last year!

 

Great nostalgic thread Adrian!

 

Keith

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On 02/03/2017 at 21:15, keefr22 said:

I can remember coveting a Frog Shack for what now seems like years, but was probably more likely a few weeks! It was in the window of a bicycle shop in Neath that also sold models - which seems now to be an unlikely combination, but I can remember at least 4 similar shops in the local area at the time! I dropped countless hints to my mother every time we passed the shop about how I'd like it for Christmas, but it never happened! I seem to remember that Frog kits were in a higher price bracket than Airfix ones, so it meant if I wanted one I'd have to save my pocket money for a few weeks & miss the weekly Saturday purchase of an Airfix kit from Woolies - that wasn't going to happen! 

 

s Building at Heathrow, where we'd gone onSo, the only Frog kit I can actually remember buying was the P-61 Black Widow, which I bought from the shop on the now late lamented roof gardens on the Queen a school trip !

 

I don't have many original Frog's in the stash now, off the top of my head there's a Canberra, Hunter, Hornet & Wyvern. I actually sold a Swordfish at Telford last year!

 

Great nostalgic thread Adrian!

 

Keith

the only Frog kit I can actually remember buying was the P-61 Black Widow, which I bought from the shop on the now late lamented roof gardens on the Queens Building at Heathrow, where we'd gone on a school trip !

 

Ah Keith, that would have been Double Trouble.............great memories..........thanks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

cheers, Adrian

 

 

Edited by adey m
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Adey , I predate you . During the war years I built quite a few of the Frog wood kits where you

just got band sawn blanks of the wings , fuselage and tailplane at their maximum thickness ,

a plan and a basic transfer sheet ( not decals ).

The other makes , that time were Airyda and Workraft . It was only after the war that we

started to see Frog Penguin plastics ,but at eight to ten bob each they had to be saved up for.

I was told they were introduced pre war but I`m not sure of that. At least we got to paint them

in real dope , the problem was it came in glass tubes about three inches long with a cork in either

end ( remember inches ?), it didn`t have a long shelf life . The strange thing about Penguin kits

was Frog only had one size in prop blades , they were okay on Spitfires and Mosquito`s but

didn`t look right on kites like P47s and 51s .They all had retracting undercarts though ,

but rather weak .The only thing I have left from those days is the instruction sheet for the Spit 12 .

They got me started on plastics and at nearly 82 I`m still building them , but in 1/32nd now .

The development of the industry from then to now is incredible .

 

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Perhaps i'm a bit older, but my memories are of the mid to late 1950s 1/72nd range. EE Canberra (PR7?) DH110 and Javelin (both of which you have already illustrated), Supermarine N113 (prototype Scimitar), EE P1A (WG760), Hawker Hunter, Hawker Sea Hawk, NA Sabre, Supermarine Attacker.

All aircraft seen at the annual Farnborough displays in the 1950s (what nostalgia!).

Of the 1/96th scale (what a strange scale!) I remember Vulcan, Victor, Valiant, Bristol Britannia, Lancaster, VC10.

ISTR some of the models having the outlines of the roundels moulded on the wings and fuselage. No cockpit interiors, only a head and maybe a bit of shoullder to represent a pilot. No wheel wells, but a little plastic gel container of glue that always squirted everywhere when one pierced the neck to get at the glue. And yes, lead weights to stop nosewheel tailsitters!

But a great range, and rather like you Adey, great excitement when one spotted a new Frog model in the model shop window (Kays in Torquay).The inside of the shop was a cornucopia piled high with Keil Kraft, Veron, Mick Allen and Frog flying models, ED, Mercury and Frog (again) diesel engines and Frog plastic models. There was an exciting aroma of model a/c engine diesel fuel, dope, balsa glue and lots of racks of balsa wood sheet and strips. One could still buy Veron and KeilKraft solid balsa 1/72nd scale "kits". Little more than a block of balsa, a few bits of balsa sheet, a bit of wire a yellowed canopy and a 3 view drawing. Ahhhhhh....yesterday leave me alone. Such nostalgia.

Looking forward to hearing memories from other folks.

Chris

 

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I have never built a Frog kit,but I built more than my fare share of NOVO kits,and I think a lot of their kits were Frog in origin.My fave was the Barracuda,such an ugly plane but I must of built a hangar full or should that a carrier full.:smirk:

Edited by celt
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2 minutes ago, Chris Royle said:

... DH110 and Javelin .... Supermarine Attacker.

 

Shows how bad my memory is getting, your mention of those Chris has reminded me I have a DH110 waiting for repair & refurbishment, & unbuilt examples of a Javelin & Attacker lurking somewhere too!

 

Keith

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Image result for FROG Marauder

 

I remember being fascinated by the exciting picture on the front of this kit when it appeared in the shop window...............then one day it was gone............

 

Then a day or two later a friend brought it out of his house after his dad had built it.......I remember being disappointed that the only interior was two pilots and seats which were attached to tabs on each fuselage half.

 

The model was moulded in a sort of sandy coloured plastic..........FROG varied the plastic colour from time to time or batch to batch........so you wouldn't know what colour plastic your kit would be in until you got the box home and opened it...............

 

 

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Image result for FROG Marauder

Image result for FROG Marauder

 

 

 

Edited by adey m
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0ba2fc5e-e265-42bc-a795-84ac4443d464.JPG

 

One of the few model ships that I have built. I could not resist this kit's presentation when I saw it in Alderton Post Office on a lovely morning during a school holiday.

 

I bought it just after the shop opened, ran home with it and started building it straight away. Then I built another one for a friend.

 

 

 

 

Edited by adey m
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Great thread Adrian. Again, nostalgic memories of childhood.

 

Your Whitley and Shackleton are fantastic; 1973 was a great year and it looks like a good year for you too, for those lovely gifts.

 

I hadn't realised that FROG did a Dragon Rapide; it looks really good! In some ways better than the Airfix/Heller one (the sunken windows and top fuselage/wing join on the latter kits are a little frustrating for me).

 

My childhood was spent between the UK and Oz. In the UK quite a bit of time was spent in Sheffield. In the 1970's it had what seemed to be a huge toy shop in the city centre called 'Redgates'. 

 

This place was heaven for me as a child, probably hell for my mother!

 

It had the Corgi toy cars with 'diamond headlights', windows, suspension and so on. The Matchbox (and 'King Size') range, Hornby and Märklin trains, Jigsaws, Waddingtons board games, Subbuteo, Airfix road racing and Scalextric sets, Keil Kraft balsa aircraft and boats, OS Max engines, Hot Wheels (including 'Sizzlers; I still have some), the full original Action Man range, Britains farm sets, and of course, Airfix and FROG kits.

 

With all that there was no need for computer games. We were lucky to have such wonderful things available, often extremely well made. All good 

 

It was perhaps the only place I saw the FROG kits; Woolworths had Airfix and the local newsagents normally stocked the excellent Matchbox kits.

 

I would try to buy a FROG one with my pocket money, each time I visited Redgates. I loved the box art. I read the Victor comic and Commando books at the time and the box art reminded me of the art in those, and on the covers.

 

They always went together easily and felt very solid. I liked the Martin Maryland a lot, and of course, the old Spitfire with the V1 in the box too :).

 

I'm just going through the 'home stash' having recently moved. I only have two Frog kits here, I've quicky taken photos.

 

Here is the B-17. I've had it as long as I can remember and it shows, the box is in poor condition. The transfers look as if they still might be usable. I've just been discussing this one; I think I'm going to put it on a 'priority pile' to finally be built:

 

FROG kits

 

FROG kits

 

The other one is the Hawker Typhoon, in very nice condition. I'm not sure if I should build this or keep it as it is:

 

FROG kits

 

FROG kits

 

All the best

TonyT

 

PS: Would the 56 sqn. aircraft really have 'sky' stripes on the upper wings? Great colour scheme if so!

Edited by TonyTiger66
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What a good thread,.......loads of nostalgia and kits from my past!

Here are some of my Frog kits,......

Vampire in 26 Sqn markings,.....made for the pilot of the real aircraft;

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A pair of Shackleton`s using the Aeroclub conversion;

shack_zps6fwljxup.jpg

AEW%202%20Shack_NEW_zpswlgzbro0.jpg

 

Looking forward to seeing lots more,.....

Cheers

          Tony

 

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Great topic Adey,I never built many Frog kits when I was  a kid we had a hardware store selling Airfix and a news agent selling Revell

Frog kits were only available in the model shop in Newcastle I do remember buying the Canberra and staring in awe at the Whitley

box art which still look's great today so who's going to propose a Frog GB? OK I will then anyone else interested?

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What a great thread. I remember FROG had a promotion here in Australia for a while, where if you took in a certain number of box ends you got a free kit . Of course each box has two ends so my mates and I shared box tops.  I got myself the Martin Marauder. At the time I never realised the RAF used them. I Aldo did the Michell. I far preferred it to the airfix one because the frog one had invasion stripes and RAF markings. To this day, I usually do my yank aircraft in British markings

bruce

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