A NOSTALGIC TRIBUTE TO FROG MODEL KITS

[keefr22]

I don't recall seeing Frog kits in any local newsagents, but they all seemed to sell the Matchbox range when they were at their height , I  well recall rotating racks of all the lowest priced kits, with bigger, more expensive ones being on shelves, usually out of the reach of my grubby fingers! As I  said earlier, I recall at least two of the local model selling cycle shops having Frogs, and I think all the 'proper' model shops in town had them.

 

Happy days!

Keith

 

 

[adey m]

9 hours ago, polo1112 said:

Yes Adey you are right, the De Havilland 110 was not (yet?) a Sea Vixen.

I can remember, as a child, that this model was very tough and rather heavy.

It was built by my father.

 

 

Yes Polo the model does look rather heavy...........

 

Adey

Edited March 17, 2017 by adey m

[Whofan]

4 hours ago, Troy Smith said:

It's been making me think about all the places that used to sell kits,  especially the odd things that would turn up in newsagents is my main memory.

 

Toyshops were fairly consistent,  but newsagents used have oddities.

 

Maybe needs a new thread, where I used to buy models,

 

Interesting points. I can vividly remember the newsagents where I bought kits pre 1961- I'm sure it was run by Mr. &  Mrs. Peach, on the Cowbridge Road in Cardiff, and post 1961 when we moved it was the ubiquitous Woolworths and another newsagents, this time near to my grandparents (again in Cardiff).

 

Oh, the memories this thread evokes .............

[Paul J]

On 16/03/2017 at 18:12, adey m said:

 

Here you are Meatbox................

 

 

 

cheers,  Adrian

 

 

I always wanted one those...... gimme...

 

Meanwhile a couple instruction sheets from FROG:

 

 

 

 

[Des]

5 hours ago, keefr22 said:

.......... I recall at least two of the local model selling cycle shops having Frogs, and I think all the 'proper' model shops in town had them.

 

Happy days!

Keith

 

 

Wonder what the thing was about Cycle Shops , there was one in Stenhousemuir near Falkirk in the 1960s that sold mainly Series One Airfix but also a few FROG kits as well which is where I got my first Wessex and Fw190 , they always got the latest catalogue when it was issued which highlighted how big the range was compared to how few of the kits ever seemed to be easily found.

[KevinK]

2 hours ago, Des said:

Wonder what the thing was about Cycle Shops

 

I would guess that, in those days, every boy of kit-making age had a bike, so they were selling both to the same demographic. Bet they didn't call it a demographic back then, though!

Edited March 18, 2017 by KevinK
To make some sense!

[old thumper]

I don't remember bike shops selling kits, but I do remember them being sold by those shops in shopping parades that sold all bits and bobs like costume jewelry, wool and sewing gear etc, toys, wrapping paper, gifts and ornaments like those little wade wimsy things. There was a name for those sort of shops, can't think what it was now though, perhaps it was a haberdashers or something. 

[wyverns4]

Dunstable had, (IIRC), one toy shop, in the Quadrant and a bicycle shop, (Cole's?, it had a Pennyfarthing sign outside), selling Frog and other assorted manufacturers, plus the post office at the top of Byron Road that had one of the biggest collections of Frog kits I have ever seen.

 

Luton had at least three, one behind the town hall, one near Luton Town Football Club and one close to New Bedford Road, plus two toy shops, (Arndale and Westside Centers) and a bicycle shop at the top of the long hill leaving Luton on Dunstable Road.

 

Bedford, just a 20 mile cycle away -easy peasy!- had one model shop which had a central display cabinet full of models that I used to dribble over.

 

Vague memories of somewhere in St Albans, 12 mile cycle ride...

 

Also with visiting family in Stanmore, Harrow, Pinner and Chelsea every other Saturday meant regular access to  Seagulls' Models, (near the Natural History Museum), Harrow Model Shop, others that I can barely remember now, (much due to ), not forgetting toy shops and post offices. Not forgetting the RAF Museum!

 

All now, I believe, gone bar Bedford and the RAF Museum.

 

Seem to remember that Frog and other brands where everywhere; it would be unusual if a post office, hardware shop, corner shop, newsagents or toy shop did not have at least a few on a shelf. In terms of availability and impact, it probably was a 'Golden Age'.

 

Christian, exiled to a land without models... apart from my stash

[KevinK]

On the subject of where we bought Frog kits: in the early-mid '60s there seemed to be two main sources, other than the small 'corner shop' type stores.

 

One type was the department stores, like Boswell's in Oxford, Russell Hillsdon's in Chichester, which always seemed to carry a good selection of Frog & Revell, as Woolworth's had the Airfix distribution. Boswell's basement model section was like Aladdin's cave - there were brands we'd never seen before, like Faller, and kits we'd never seen elsewhere, like the Revell Allison engine. That one fascinated me but it was way out of my price range & I didn't get one until 25 years later as a reissue. One I did buy was the Frog 1/16th motorized E-type Jag - every boy's aspirational car.

 

The other source was model shops - Abingdon had a good one which seemed to have a lot in a very small space. In the late '60's & '70's my brother and I used to frequent the wonderful Modeltoys in Portsmouth. The proprietor, Mike Silk, was always informative & helpful. We used to go there on most Saturdays: on one occasion, there was a stack of Frog V-bombers on the counter. I hadn't seen these for many years and even at that time they were semi-mythical! This was around the time of Frog's demise, as I recall, and apparently, these few kits had been held back at Tri-ang/Rovex to be the source of spare parts; I suppose that with Mike Silk's industry connections he had snaffled them up. I bought a Vulcan and my brother bought a Valiant.

 

Here's the Vulcan: it was built and painted decades ago, but with so many house moves over the years, it never got the pointy, breakable bits added. I've still got them, so it's a work-in-progress!

 

 

Happy days!

Edited March 19, 2017 by KevinK
Added photo

[adey m]

Thanks KevinK for your wonderful recollections of modelling times past.

 

And your FROG Vulcan is wonderful too......................

 

cheers, Adrian

Edited March 19, 2017 by adey m

[adey m]

1/96 FROG de Havilland Comet C.4

 

 

 

 

A beautiful 1/96 Novo FROG de Havilland Comet C.4 built by David on the Airfix Tribute Forum...............wonderful.................

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 18, 2020 by adey m

[adey m]

1/96 FROG Avro Lancaster B.1  ( produced 1959 to 1969 )

 

 

I remember peering into the Alderton Post Office window at the age of eight and being fascinated by the picture on the FROG Lancaster box.

 

It was years before I realised that this model was not 1/72 but 1/96 scale.

 

 

 

1977 Novo reissue.

 

 

 

The original 1959 FROG artwork.

 

 

 

 

 

Eastern Express issue of the FROG 1/96 Avro Lancaster.

Edited December 16, 2020 by adey m

[adey m]

1/72 FROG Avro Lancaster B.1  ( produced 1976 )

 

 

 

The 1/72 scale FROG Avro Lancaster B.1 was one of the last FROG kits to be produced.

 

It was moulded in the dark blue plastic of all the later FROG models and included a Tallboy bomb and the bulged type of bomb doors. The dorsal turret was terrible, it was square instead of being bulged.

 

In late 1976 I saw FROG Lancasters advertised in a magazine and ordered one. It arrived with no box with the parts, instructions and decal sheet sealed in a clear plastic bag.

 

Edited June 18, 2020 by adey m

[adey m]

1/72 FROG Gloster Meteor F. Mk. IV  ( produced 1970 - 1977 )

 

 

A lovely example posted on the internet.

 

 

Another lovely example posted on the internet.

 

Thankyou to those who posted these FROG Meteors.

Edited December 16, 2020 by adey m

[wyverns4]

Nice to see the Lanc and meatbox. Amongst several Frog and eastern European spawning's I have one of those in the stash, with a sheet of Aerocalas decals for an Argentinian display team!

Hmmm, might have to get that out...

 

Christian, exiled to africa

Edited March 19, 2017 by wyverns4
I'm blaming the kitten

[stevej60]

I like the look of the Meteor,better wheel arrangement than Airfix's offering I think now this thread has grown to the extent it has we have

to formally prepare our case for a Frog GB,it seems lot's of members have them in the stash and are looking for an excuse to build them

and for those like me without they are still readily available at very good prices from £3:99 for the Hellcat over at King Kit(other pre-owned

seller's are out available).

[Horatio Gruntfuttock]

Just loving this thread so I thought I would throw in some of my builds from FROG and Frog-spawn.

first is the ancient Hunter F1 in its latest iteration from Eastern Express - still has the wee chap's head moulded in place!

and here are two shots of the Lockheed Ventura number F240, which is in a sealed bag and I got it in a plain box without instructions or decals

 

 

 

I'm not sure what is happening to make these images so small - aarrgghh! - in fact no images have appeared.

Edited March 20, 2017 by Horatio Gruntfuttock
checking photo embedding

[adey m]

1 hour ago, Horatio Gruntfuttock said:

Just loving this thread so I thought I would throw in some of my builds from FROG and Frog-spawn.

first is the ancient Hunter F1 in its latest iteration from Eastern Express - still has the wee chap's head moulded in place!

 

and here are two shots of the Lockheed Ventura number F240, which is in a sealed bag and I got it in a plain box without instructions or decals

 

 

 

I'm not sure what is happening to make these images so small - aarrgghh! - in fact no images have appeared.

 

Hi there Horatio, hopefully your pictures will appear.

 

I was not able to copy and paste last night.......it just stopped working, I wonder if there is a problem with the site.

 

regards,  Adrian

[keefr22]

I couldn't tell you why, but the original box art for the Meatbox is one of my all time favourites! Shame they went & cropped it!

 

Keith

[adey m]

6 hours ago, keefr22 said:

I couldn't tell you why, but the original box art for the Meatbox is one of my all time favourites! Shame they went & cropped it!

 

Keith

 

Yes Keith, I think the late 60s early 70s was the best period for FROG artwork...........Eric Carless was the artist responsible for so many of those atmospheric pictures on the front of the boxes..........what he may have lacked in the technical detail of the Airfix artist Roy Cross he more than made up for in the movement, excitement and mood of the moment he captured.

 

And he also portrayed the aircraft in a realistic setting for that particular subject.

 

I too like the Royal Netherlands Air Force Meteors patrolling over the flooded Holland scenery.

 

regards,   Adrian

[adey m]

 

Kits, kits, kits....................is that a Novo 1/96 Lancaster I can see ?...............and FROGs in the distance ?

 

Regular pre-owned kits trader at Scale Model World.

[jean]

Adrian,

I've never been to a modeling event where traders are as thick as ticks on a jackal. And am I glad I haven't!

The photo you have just posted is pretty much how I visualize Hell... Bankruptcy would be my fate for sure.

In France one could never find Frog models in newsagents... Shame.

But in the late 70s in my home town, a small model shop had a fair selection of Frog kits, and I did buy as many as I could with what was left after I had paid for my gliding hours... 

Then I found out that they were in high demand in my university town, and started a brisk business in contraband plastic kits! Shame on me!

 

So Frog and Heller kits, far more than Airfix and Matchbox, were my staple diet. And I loved every single one of them.

 

Steve has a got a point: a Frog GB would go down a treat!

JR

[Pete in Lincs]

On ‎3‎/‎19‎/‎2017 at 9:53 AM, adey m said:

It was years before I realised that this model was not 1/72 but 1/96 scale.

I remember buying this Lancaster kit from a shop

in Margate around 1969 while we were on holiday.

When I got it home I couldn't figure out why it was

smaller than my Airfix Lancaster!

(BTW I went to see the Battle of Britain at the cinema

at least twice on that holiday)

 

[Horatio Gruntfuttock]

Just loving this thread so I thought I would throw in some of my builds from FROG and Frog-spawn.

first is the ancient Hunter F1 in its latest iteration from Eastern Express - still has the wee chap's head moulded in place!

Looks like it has worked this afternoon, so here are some more shots.

This is my FROG Ventura, still sealed in its plastic bag, no instructions or decals came with it in a plain cardboard box

and here are some of my FROG and Frogspawn build over the years.

aarghh - nothing!!

OK - Photobucket does not seem to want to co-operate so we will stop there.

[Horatio Gruntfuttock]

Alright, I'm trying another approach to getting images up, so here is one of my Miles Masters, converted into a Martinet

and two more, one a Mark III as per the kit , and a MkII conversion with a new engine and rockets for trials

a Typhoon built as a 12-gunner

FD2 

Hornet and Sea Venom

Gannet COD 

The Blenheim converted into a Type 142 

Wyvern and Firefly FR2

DH88 with Airfix decals

Meteor F4 converted into a U15

and here is its operator! heh heh!

Not many of these left - the original PR7 - found in a $5 box of bits at a garage sale a few years ago - along witha complete Airfix Southern Cross!! yummo!

MS406

Gloster Pioneer/ Whittle, with scratch built engine

Javelin - what a chunk of plastic that is!

Another Blenheim, this time a night fighter

and finally a Firefly, the well-known Yeovilton 'Evelyn Tensions'

Hope these aren't too boring but it was fun to get them out, dust off the accumulated dust and wobcebs and look at them again.

Cheers from the Antipodes.