Jump to content

Bristol Britannia B.O.A.C ancient FROG kit in 1/96


Recommended Posts

I was fortunate to find this old FROG kit of the elegant Britannia a few years ago for a bargain.

The kit was still like new,only the decal set had yellowed considerably over those 50+ years.

 

After some research I found a new set from BS-Modelle in Kiew,which are quite nicely done.Some minor fitting issues are evident but nothing too distracting.

The golden outlines for the blue cheatline are printed on a separate sheet and of superb quality,but as they have to be applied individually,its also iffy to get them on seamless.The window decals are too dark,so there I had to cut out each cabin window individually from the original decal set and apply them over the new ones.

The eyebrow windows are taken from a 1/100 Boeing 727 decal set and the cockpit windows are sealed with "Future" 

The kit itself has no cabin windows on the fuselage,so decals are the only option.

 

As for the FROG kit itself,the build is without issues.The fit is actually superb considering the kit age and its also quite accurate in the overall shape.

They even considered the different gauge of the front wheels on the main landing gear.A feature not apparent on the Roden kit.

 

As the fit of the parts is so well,the wings as well as the landing gear didn't need to be glued and are simply attached and can be easily removed for transportation.

The finished model is huge and also quite heavy.

The instructions point out to put in "some" weight in the nose if the model is to stand on its wheels but even nearly 100 gramms ! of clay didn't keep it from becoming a tail sitter.So for the photoshoot I had to back it up to prevent it sitting on its tail...

It will later be placed on its swivel base that is included in the box.

 Apart from the new decals,the kit is build OOB and it was really fun to work on this ancient model.

 

I painted the model with Tamyia pure white from a spray can,the rest is a mix of Testors,Revell and Humbrol enamel metallics

The bottom of the fuselage is a mix of silver,aluminium and gunmetal and the wings are painted individually with silver,matte aluminium,iron and steel to give it more life.

Sealed was the model with Colour protection spray from MediaRange.

Its actually for protecting printed discs,photos or colour prints and prevents scratches,and yellowing.

It gives the model an even and nice shine and overall finish and doesn't attack the paint or the decals.

 

The original FROG kit is very hard to find nowadays ,but Eastern Express offers the Britannia also in this scale.I don't know if they used the original molds or just ripped off the kit somehow,so I can't say anything about its quality.

 

 

Hope you like the good old FROG Britannia

 

Cheers

 

The original boxart 

 

20170921_111200.jpg

 

20170921_110234.jpg

 

20170921_110308.jpg

 

20170921_110407.jpg

 

20170921_110444.jpg

 

20170921_110500.jpg

 

20170921_110530.jpg

 

20170921_110550.jpg

 

20170921_110612.jpg

 

20170921_110848.jpg

 

20170921_110859.jpg

 

 

20170921_110912.jpg

 

20170921_111052.jpg

  • Like 33
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Very nice!   I used to have one in the same box complete with glue and the plastic parts wrapped in tissue. About 20 yrs ago I fell on hard times briefly so sold it. I got £100.00 for it.   Not bad considering I only paid £1.00 for it in 1972.

 

But its good to see one built here. Well done. 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's nice. Good find.Got the correct wing tips too. That decal fixing sounded a bit tricky, you did a good job of it too. I remember the first BOAC Brits but this one I remember logging when BKS had it .It's sister ship with BOAC 'NBG was re registered to 'PLL (IIRC) because a woman in the office that deals with these things, think the Queen or Queen Mother was flying on it decided NBG meant No Bloody Good !

Can't say that about your model !

Well done, thanks for showing, love it!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I do like this, I recall building one about eleventy years ago, I've been attracted to Britannias ever since. I've still got the original decals for it, I didn't do paint & "transfers" in those days. :)  I don't think mine are especially yellowed, pity I didn't know you were doing this build.

Steve.

Edited by stevehnz
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Having the Eastern Express kit in the stash, which seems pretty basic, this looks an amazing build.  I really like the treatment of the stand as well, which is reminiscent of the models one used to see in travel agents.  It's a shame 1/96th scale never really caught on.  I build the Lindberg Victor some years back and it's quite a handy scale for larger aircraft.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I went to find my decals & upon seeing them thought, "no way are they big enough for a Frog Britannia", some googling suggests they are from a Lincoln Britannia, 1/166 scale & thinking about it, quite a few of our early kits were Lincoln. They're pretty much the right length for a 1/166 Britannia, sorry for the bum steer.

Steve.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cracking result there, can see that a lot of work has gone into achieving a really nicely finished Britannia, 

 

Not sure if it was an Eastern Express, but I had one of the Eastern Bloc moldings, and it was shocking, easily the worst of the reboxed Frog/Novos that I've encountered.

I think it was even boxed as an IL-18!

It is based on the Frog molds but the plastic was like nothing I've seen, almost like Bakelite - I did build it though.

I had a Frog Comet at the same time, and in comparison that built really well and was straightforward to work with.

I find Frog kits are a very nice blank canvas, they look reasonably accurate and build well, but also provide plenty of scope for adding detail.

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, bzn20 said:

That's nice. Good find.Got the correct wing tips too. That decal fixing sounded a bit tricky, you did a good job of it too. I remember the first BOAC Brits but this one I remember logging when BKS had it .It's sister ship with BOAC 'NBG was re registered to 'PLL (IIRC) because a woman in the office that deals with these things, think the Queen or Queen Mother was flying on it decided NBG meant No Bloody Good !

Can't say that about your model !

Well done, thanks for showing, love it!

Thank you very much.

Interesting backstory as well.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, stevehnz said:

I went to find my decals & upon seeing them thought, "no way are they big enough for a Frog Britannia", some googling suggests they are from a Lincoln Britannia, 1/166 scale & thinking about it, quite a few of our early kits were Lincoln. They're pretty much the right length for a 1/166 Britannia, sorry for the bum steer.

Steve.

 

No problem at all.But thank you for looking .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, 71chally said:

Cracking result there, can see that a lot of work has gone into achieving a really nicely finished Britannia, 

 

Not sure if it was an Eastern Express, but I had one of the Eastern Bloc moldings, and it was shocking, easily the worst of the reboxed Frog/Novos that I've encountered.

I think it was even boxed as an IL-18!

It is based on the Frog molds but the plastic was like nothing I've seen, almost like Bakelite - I did build it though.

I had a Frog Comet at the same time, and in comparison that built really well and was straightforward to work with.

I find Frog kits are a very nice blank canvas, they look reasonably accurate and build well, but also provide plenty of scope for adding detail.

Thank you very much.

Thats interesting about the Eastern Express kits.So I will avoid these kits in future.

Too bad that the FROG kits are so rare and expensive nowadays.I really like them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, 71chally said:

Cracking result there, can see that a lot of work has gone into achieving a really nicely finished Britannia, 

 

Not sure if it was an Eastern Express, but I had one of the Eastern Bloc moldings, and it was shocking, easily the worst of the reboxed Frog/Novos that I've encountered.

I think it was even boxed as an IL-18!

It is based on the Frog molds but the plastic was like nothing I've seen, almost like Bakelite - I did build it though.

I had a Frog Comet at the same time, and in comparison that built really well and was straightforward to work with.

I find Frog kits are a very nice blank canvas, they look reasonably accurate and build well, but also provide plenty of scope for adding detail.

Now that I've worked out my decals weren't for a Frog kit, I can avoid the horrors of buying an EE version or frustration of trying to mind a Frog kit. I'll stick to plan A, the Roden kit.

Steve.

Edited by stevehnz
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, stevehnz said:

I went to find my decals & upon seeing them thought, "no way are they big enough for a Frog Britannia", some googling suggests they are from a Lincoln Britannia, 1/166 scale & thinking about it, quite a few of our early kits were Lincoln. They're pretty much the right length for a 1/166 Britannia, sorry for the bum steer.

Steve.

 

Am I right in thinking Lincoln was a Kiwi outfit Steve?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, Meatbox8 said:

Am I right in thinking Lincoln was a Kiwi outfit Steve?

From what I can see yes, though their stuff was molded in Hong Kong I think. I think the molds were used by Kader afterwards, I found a thumbnail of a Kader Britannia & DC.6 on ebay, no longer current , which had identical decals to the ones I have still. I think they were molded without U/C, I was struggling with the U/C in Alex's lovely job, I couldn't recall such in the one I had, they did come with a stand with a teardrop shaped base though. I think there was a Lancaster & Sunderland & I have a dim memory of a Me 163 as well but that may well have been another brand. :unsure:

Steve.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Before I put anyone off the Eastern Express entirely, the kit I had was this one,

http://www.oldmodelkits.com/index.php?detail=8151

 

Eastern Express may have used a better plastic.  I always try and build from Frog, but can be difficult to source and / or afford! frog got the main gears right which I understand Roden didn't.

 

The Britannia is well suited to 96th, and as you can see from @Alex1978 excellent result above, well worth the effort!

Edited by 71chally
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lincoln apparently were always Kader products, the name being dropped for some reason.  I wasn't aware of any Kiwi connection.  There's a longer discussion on these kits here 

 

which includes a comment that the Britannia has not been confirmed - it has now - but the DC-6 was a DC-7 (which is what I remember).  I suspect a fuller list of the original releases can be extracted from the first (all kits so far) booklet originally produced by Scale Models magazine way back when, and presumably in later books since.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, 71chally said:

Before I put anyone off the Eastern Express entirely, the kit I had was this one,

http://www.oldmodelkits.com/index.php?detail=8151

 

Eastern Express may have used a better plastic.  I always try and build from Frog, but can be difficult to source and / or afford! frog got the main gears right which I understand Roden didn't.

 

The Britannia is well suited to 96th, and as you can see from @Alex1978 excellent result above, well worth the effort!

This is a very interesting story about the Soviet kit.Thank you very much for sharing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...