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A NOSTALGIC TRIBUTE TO FROG MODEL KITS


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24 minutes ago, JosephLalor said:

Bottom left beside the Valiant has me stumped. MC202 at top right was my first FROG kit in 1971.

 

PS: Ah, looked at pics above. He115?

Here you are Joseph,  enjoy the memory

 

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cheers,  adey

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For those of you who have ended up on here by mistake here is something for you .........

 

Kung Fu frog

 

c92ca347-c184-4f60-9475-cd8d0a8ea1fd.jpg

 

sorry,      adey

Edited by adey m
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15 hours ago, adey m said:

Another mystery for me which has just been solved are the strange protrusions sticking out of the rear of the FROG engine nacelles, these were remotely operated defensive guns which were fitted to the C version.

Mmmm, I had forgotten about this. I used tiny injection needles to make the machine gun barrels (I sanded out the original FROG protrusions).

Edited by Convair
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5 hours ago, adey m said:

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FROG Tribute Group Build ?  Which one shall I build ?   mmmmmm .......

I'm OK with all of these except the one on the left above the He115 fuselage, whats that?  I'm well prepared to deal self a smack on forehead when it is revealed as something I should have picked.

Steve.

Cracked it I think, Tupolev SB-2?

Edited by stevehnz
Seeing the light.!
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4 hours ago, stevehnz said:

I'm OK with all of these except the one on the left above the He115 fuselage, whats that?  I'm well prepared to deal self a smack on forehead when it is revealed as something I should have picked.

Steve.

Cracked it I think, Tupolev SB-2?

You are correct steve, it is indeed the Tupolev SB-2. I am looking forward to building this as I have an idea which version I want and what improvements I can make.

 

regards,  adey

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The SB2 as I remember was pretty good except for the oversized canopies. Looking at the wonderful collection of fusalage's and although it is not in the picture, FROG managed to give us both the Baltimore and the Maryland. Interestingly, I thought the Baltimore being the older kit by some margin was a better quality than the Maryland. 

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12 hours ago, Britman said:

The SB2 as I remember was pretty good except for the oversized canopies. Looking at the wonderful collection of fusalage's and although it is not in the picture, FROG managed to give us both the Baltimore and the Maryland. Interestingly, I thought the Baltimore being the older kit by some margin was a better quality than the Maryland. 

Yes I agree with you Britman, the Baltimore mouldings are quite fine whereas the Maryland is quite clunky.

 

d5c77c73-a30e-4597-bda8-289f7dae23bd.jpg

 

I found this FROG Maryland on the web, a nicely built and painted example displayed on its FROG stand as FROG intended.

 

 

adey

Edited by adey m
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The FROG kit complaints slip

 

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There were genuine occasions of missing parts when I had to fill in and send off these slips to the Rovex Service Department and about two weeks later those nice people at Margate would send me the parts I needed.

But there where also times when I would be a bit cheeky. I built the FROG Tupolev SB-2 from the box on its skis and applied the decals over its grey unpainted plastic when I was ten. Then later on somebody gave me a tin of green and a tin of blue enamel paint. I painted my SB-2 in these paints not very well. Later on I discovered Humbrol paints and decided to repaint my SB-2. At the same time I removed the badly glued and painted cockpit,nose and gunners transparencies so I could add a gunner in the nose and paint the crew. I then needed some replacement transparencies and decals so I cheekily sent off the complaint slip to Margate and back came a new set of transparencies and a new decal sheet.

 

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This is the FROG kits listing from the mid 1960s. This slip came with my FROG Lysander.

 

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This is the kits list on the reverse of the late 1960s slip. The new FROG Hasegawa kits have now been added to the list. This slip came with my FROG Grumman Mohawk.

 

I think stevej60 is going to be very busy  ..............

 

 

Edited by adey m
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Good to see this getting built. Will you enhance it with bits from the spares box? Looking at those kit lists, theirs not many "monsters" in there . If I were describe most of the FROG range, I would suggest that they were high class vacforms without the need to cut and sand.

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Why have you the completely inaccurate Airfix Dora header card on the bench? It can't be for reference as it's completely wrong and Airfix's original kit's far worse than wrong.

The kit needs MASSES of work to make good it's problems, just check out mine from 1969 (rebuilt in 1978, my oldest surviving model);

35894504176_291b402385_o.jpgDSC06827s by Neil, on Flickr

Don't be frightened, it's boxed and can't get out.

 

The Frog Ta is superb in comparison even when broken,

40803321061_f2a0d6b376_o.jpgDSC09689cropS by Neil, on Flickr

My Frog Ta 152 needs rebuild as it's in bits, the only thing that was not in the original kit was the stand in yours, mine had the blue one you could pose and hang on the wall like this snippet of a pic from my room in May1979, with a Frog stand supporting a Frog P-61 (my second, needs rebuilding now),

40761462312_bbddd43445_o.jpgMe @ 16 newspaper photo No.2 Frog P-61sml 28Apr1979 by Neil, on Flickr

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On 13.03.2018 at 11:51 AM, Britman said:

The SB2 as I remember was pretty good except for the oversized canopies.

No, it not absolutely so.
The set certainly is similar to SB, but I observed construction and communicated with the author of the SB, that model of a photo of which I brought earlier, at SB FROG there are a lot of problems in geometry. In principle it is enough to compare SB FROG to ICM which is considered rather exact to see all errors of SB FROG.

 

With the FROG of SB I have connected very bright children's reminiscence. You wrote about sets the FROG which to imitate flight. I have made the system imitating flight itself, in the wing collected by me to drill I also have passed a hole throughout a strong rope have received the flying wire model. From where I knew what to do? By that moment I already went to an airmodel club for children and built the flying models of planes. Naturally I didn't paint SB. SB propellers rotating very pleasantly sounded.
..... to be continued...

 

B.R.

Serge

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8 hours ago, FAAMAN said:

Why have you the completely inaccurate Airfix Dora header card on the bench? It can't be for reference as it's completely wrong and Airfix's original kit's far worse than wrong.

The kit needs MASSES of work to make good it's problems, just check out mine from 1969 (rebuilt in 1978, my oldest surviving model);

35894504176_291b402385_o.jpgDSC06827s by Neil, on Flickr

Don't be frightened, it's boxed and can't get out.

 

The Frog Ta is superb in comparison even when broken,

40803321061_f2a0d6b376_o.jpgDSC09689cropS by Neil, on Flickr

My Frog Ta 152 needs rebuild as it's in bits, the only thing that was not in the original kit was the stand in yours, mine had the blue one you could pose and hang on the wall like this snippet of a pic from my room in May1979, with a Frog stand supporting a Frog P-61 (my second, needs rebuilding now),

40761462312_bbddd43445_o.jpgMe @ 16 newspaper photo No.2 Frog P-61sml 28Apr1979 by Neil, on Flickr

Why have you the completely inaccurate Airfix Dora header card on the bench? It can't be for reference as it's completely wrong and Airfix's original kit's far worse than wrong.

 

Hi FAAMAN, you are very observant. I was using the AIRFIX Fw 190D header to reference the colour scheme but also there is something in the detail that has been puzzling me for many years which I wonder if any one here might be able to answer.

 

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The pilot appears to be wearing a bone dome. Did German pilots wear bone domes during the war ? I cannot find anything on the internet.

I fancy giving the pilot of my Ta 152 a bone done anyway as it looks great in this picture. Is it possible that pilots of the Heinkel 219s and Dornier 335s which were equipped with ejector seats wore a type of bone dome ?

Edited by adey m
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Does anyone remember a FROG promotion back in the 1970s offering a flight in a preserved Lancaster?

 

I think it was along the lines of having to collect a certain number of tokens and write a letter explaining why you thought you deserved to win the prize.

 

I seem to remember not having enough tokens as FROG kits weren't easy to come by where I lived and enclosing a note to that effect.

 

Needless to say, I heard nothing!

Edited by tomkil
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On ‎13‎.‎03‎.‎2018 at 9:51 AM, Britman said:

The SB2 as I remember was pretty good except for the oversized canopies. Looking at the wonderful collection of fusalage's and although it is not in the picture, FROG managed to give us both the Baltimore and the Maryland. Interestingly, I thought the Baltimore being the older kit by some margin was a better quality than the Maryland. 

The Maryland is from Frog's chunky period - the Baltimore, as attractive as I've always found this forgotten bomber, is merely an approximation of the original. Which may be due to the fact it's the forgotten bomber, and there are few references for it, and probably much fewer when the kit came out. The best I've seen so far is a Greek publication by, IIRC Mikhail Solanakos (or phonetically similar).

23 hours ago, FAAMAN said:

Why have you the completely inaccurate Airfix Dora header card on the bench? It can't be for reference as it's completely wrong and Airfix's original kit's far worse than wrong.

Because he wanted a decent piece of box art on his bench after all those Frogs.

:coat:

Seriously, I know it's riddled with errors just like the kit, and Young's (I think) Ta painting is really one of the Frogs I like best. Going slightly o/t here but staying on the D-9, I always wondered why Airfix was so specific with the subtype, giving it as a D-13 initially, and then not even being able to include a correct-format Stammkennzeichen (based on a creative repaint of one of the FE- machines, perhaps ?), apart from all other errors, and apart from the fact that it more likely would not have gone on ops retaining the Stammkennzeichen. Mind you, they also managed to misinterpret the Verandskennzeichen on the original Stuka...

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On 3/14/2018 at 7:59 AM, adey m said:

Well after all this talking about FROG kits I have decided to finally get on and build one.

 

This is the one that I have chosen to get the ball rolling, a 1970 vintage Fw Ta152 which I bought at the recent model show at Huddersfield with the intention of building it. At last a small model that can be built quickly without it taking up all my modelling desk like the Stratojet did.

 

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This model is what I would have bought on a Sunday morning at the Whitby Parade post office when I was thirteen, and I would have had it built and painted and possibly decalled by bed time. If only  ............

 

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I wonder which one I will do ?

 

 

 

 

Beautifully crisp and cleanly moulded parts are making me excited with anticipation.

 

 

 

I wonder if I can have it built in a week .......... or a fortnight

 

 

 

Okay, I have the references, spares bits and the paints, there are no excuses now

Did II/JG3 really fly the Ta152?  I thought only one staffel from JG301 ever operated the type.

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On ‎23‎/‎02‎/‎2018 at 10:23 PM, adey m said:

 

Looks like someone has gone and loosed one off   

Harrumph!  No more curried eggs for me!

 

I didn't realise Frog did a Bloodhound!  Was it better than the Airfix one?  I never saw one.

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@ Meatbox8, only units with Ta 152H's are I/JG301 and Stab/JG11 (test and eval versions pressed into service).

I can find no refs for II/JG3 flying the Ta.

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3 hours ago, Chillidragon said:

Harrumph!  No more curried eggs for me!

 

I didn't realise Frog did a Bloodhound!  Was it better than the Airfix one?  I never saw one.

If you can get one for less than £1000 you have a bargain...................the last empty box went for £98 on Ebay

Check out details from this link

 

https://modelkitcollecting.com/frog-bloodhound-ebay-thread-t549-s10.html

 

 

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5 hours ago, NAVY870 said:

I'm quite sure nobody will be surprised by these B)

 

B4op7Bm.jpg

No, I not surprised, but I am think what  something have too:

20180315_175925.jpg

!

;):)

 

B.R.

Serge

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8 hours ago, FAAMAN said:

Don't use the Airfix artwork for any reference as it's wrong, not the only thing though, the Stammkennzeichen code (factory radio code ) on the side "TD+X1" does not exist, "TD+XI" may but there is no record of this call sign issued by Focke Wulf.

AdeyM there were no Luftwaffe pilot bone domes as they did not exist until the late 1940's.

Luftwaffe head gear was leather and fabric or all leather.

This is my 1/72 civilian test pilot for a prototype Fw 190 I've been building for the past few years, he's a modified Matchbox figure with the correct Hi-altitude headgear and oxygen mask, hope it helps,

26791100858_60eeb32aea_o.jpg185. Pilot by Neil, on Flickr

Enjoy your build, I'll be watching, you've got me carefully going over my "wreck" to access what needs to be done. If you'd like I can send you some info for correct paint schemes used by Ta 152's

Cheers :D

Neil B)B)

 

That pilot is fantastic Neil and thank you for the interest and corrections you have given me. So no bone dome then.

 

Regarding Ta152 colour schemes there are loads of varieties to choose from on the web. But the question I have is how do we know what all these colours were when all the photos of operational machines are black and white. There are photos of a preserved fuselage which appears to be painted in shades of green.

 

Regarding that photo of your old Fw 190D I think it needs a Parental Guidance Warning attached to it  ...........  it certainly frightened me

 

regards,  adey

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