Michou

I have spent several pleasurable evenings reading these memories of Frog kits. Yes, I remember kits in bicycle shops and there was an iron mongers in Kings Lynn which had Aurora kits in plastic bags displayed on a rack. I had no problems finding Frog models in the south of London. There was Law's in Sutton and BMW was not far away. I recollect that it was in Merton High Street before moving to Haydons Road, or was that another shop? Some very old Frog kits which have survived the passage of time and a few changes of address. They were most likely built shortly after their release (The "stash" had yet to be invented ) and so they are over 60 years old. The Venom dates from 1955 and I have vague memories of the paint coming in black and yellow tubes and purchased in a bicycle shop. The Sea Hawk is also a 1955 vintage. Frog Zero. I remember nothing of building this kit but Scalemates informs me that it came out in 1959 and, hey! it has engraved panel lines. Mike

There is a very small 3-view in Putnam's "Shorts Aircraft since 1900" by C H Barnes. Have you tried asking on Bryan Ribbans' site, http://www.seawings.co.uk/ ? Mike

A Dewoitine D.26 built under licence by the Eidg. Konstruktions-Werkstätte (K + W) at Thun,Switzerland. Photgraphs taken at Prangins in 1989. Look up the registration HB-RAI on the Web and you will find that it is a Dewoitine D.26. The data plate on the aircraft shows D.27 WR. Why? What does WR mean? Mike

"Post your latest photos here", it says. These are my earliest - is that permitted? The Goodyear Trophy at Shoreham in 1954. I don't remember too much about it and haven't a clue as to the camera I used. The negatives are 6 x 9 cm ad not very sharp. However, there is one thing that I clearly recollect. Back then I read that jet aircraft were slow to accelerate and there is a great difference between reading and actually seeing. It was a handicap race and the Mew Gull took off a few moments after the Sparrow Jet and overtook it while the Sparrow Jet was still on the runway! Miles Sparrowjet Percival Mew Gull Mike

Thanks, Mike, The photo is of Swansea Bay and I am using Piwigo as recommended by Jeroen for hosting. Mike (another one!)

A test to see if I can post a photo.

The bombs in the Airfix kit appear to have been inspired by a drawing in the AP. Unfortunately the drawing is merely a diagram to show how the bombs are arranged in the bomb bay. It is just a bomb "shape" and does not have the profile of any real weapon. Mike

Martin, that is just one beautiful model of a very elegant aircraft! A little bit of background information concerning the kit. Philippe de Lespinay was a designer at Heller and was mostly responsible for their car kits, but he also designed the LeO 45 - his first aircraft kit! Scroll down to the bottom of the page to read about it. https://www.tsrfcars.com/toys-heller.htm I think that M de Lespinay would be very happy to learn that this 55 year old kit is still giving pleasure to modellers. Something I have noticed about the 1980 boxing of the model - it is labelled, incorrectly, Léo 451. The influence, subconsciously or otherwise, of the founder of Heller, Léo Jahiel? Mike

It's looking good, Martin. You are nearly there! Mike

Hi Martin, I have been watching the progress of this LeO since the beginning and am itching to see the final result. But! please don't rush it because of a deadline. I can curb my impatience . Mike

I found this one: https://www.csplane.com/single-engine-aircrafts/product/max-holste-broussard-1521-7978-223 A one-off modification? Mike

Thanks, Roadrunner, M Dumerc also remembers the date and December 1924 was after the aircraft took the world speed record. It is also after the time during which the aircraft received numerous modifications. Jean Liron also quotes a date - 6 November 1924 - when the light blue Bernard V-2 unsuccessfully attempted to break the world speed record but did create a French record. It seems to me that the aircraft was blue for the first record flight, the airframe modified, and then alu for the world record flight. Liron also writes that the aircraft on display at the Salon de l'Aviation was a replica, incorrectly called "V-2 No. 01", and nowhere does he describe the real aircraft as "No. 02". Mike

I am not an expert on Bernard aircraft and just quoted from a book by Jean Liron who is looked upon as a specialist in pre-war French aviation. He states that the aircraft was light blue when it took the French speed record. What is the source of the bare metal and alu dope information? Prior to the attempt on the world speed record the wings were cropped, the cockpit raised and moved forward, the fuselage lengthened and the oil radiator removed. And the aircraft repainted? Whatever, a beautiful model of a very elegant aircraft. Mike

It was light blue (teinte bleu clair) according to "Les Avions Bernard" by Jean Liron, Éditions Larivière,1990. Mike

The Supermarine 525 had the fin with the broader chord when it appeared in a cream finish at the 1954 SBAC show at Farnborough. Source - "British Experimental Turbojet Aircraft" by Barry Jones. Mike

Hobbyshop.cz has decals to replace those "old, yellowish and not very nice decals". They stock a reprint of the Matchbox Siskin decal sheet - Reference: APCR72030. Mike

I do not remember where I found this discussion of Do X colours but it is a summary and translation of pages 92 and 93 of Behr’s book. The colour for German registration markings of the period was black. Very rarely white was used (when the underlying surface colour was dark). Sorry, no fancy colours. The answer to the colour of the lower hull is: it depends. The Do X was repainted several times during its career. I´ll try to make a long story short: 1. Test flights in Altenrhein 1929: all metal parts covered in primer. The primer was a mixture of clear boat lacquer and yellow greenish anticorrosive. Imagine it as a very thin mixture of yellow and cockpit green over natural metal. All fabric covered parts doped in red, varnished in aluminium. 2. Fall 1929 in Altenrhein: Hull above waterline painted silver, Hull below waterline primered in diamond grey and painted silver. This seems to have resulted in a dark grey colour. 3. Spring 1931 in Las Palmas: Hull below waterline painted over in silver. 3. July 1931 in Rio de Janeiro: Hull below waterline: old paint removed and repainted in red anticorrosive paint. 4. Spring 1932 in New York: Hull below waterline painted over with tar paint (presumably black). 5. August 1932 in Travemünde: Hull below waterline repainted with bitumine paint (glossy black). 6. Spring 1933 in Altenrhein: bitumine paint renewed. Wing reskinned as above. All paints that were used deteriorated rather quickly, becoming dull and flaky. The aluminium varnish of the fabric covered parts wore off down to the red dope, so those parts had to be revarnished periodically. (Source: Volker A. Behr, Dornier Do X, ISBN 978-3-613-00329-0). There is one thing I want to add: it appears to me that the sponsons and the wing struts were left unpainted (only primered with that yellow-greenish mixture) until the Do X returned to Altenrhein late in 1932. *** Over the past couple of years there has been much discussion about the colors of the DO X on the 'Wings of Peace' Yahoo group. Agreement is that the Volker A. Behr, Dornier Do X book is nearly correct as to colors. This book contains a short chapter about the colors of the Do X. The author cites a summary written in 1934 by the DO´s flight engineer. Judging from contemporary photos, the group believes that the book's summary is incorrect on two points, which are... 1. The tailplane remained unpainted at least until the engine change from Siemens Jupiters to Curtiss Conquerors in August 1930. 2. The sponsons and the struts leading from the sponsons to the hull and to the wing apparently remained unpainted until the return to Germany in 1932. (which agrees with schulz_hl thoughts above).

Martin, I think that the "cable" along the fuselage is a handrail to aid entry. I have a photo captioned "Accès au LeO 453" and you can see from the shadow that it is slightly proud of the fuselage surface and it follows the profile of the walkway on the wing root. I shall send the photo - check your email. Mike

It is the insignia of the AIA (Atelier Industriel de l'Air) at Maison-Blanche. Mike

Mike West of Lone Star Models now has the Cobra moulds. https://lonestarmodels.com/ Mike

Many years ago I took a small flake of paint from a blue/grey Mirage IIIC based at Creil. When I examined it at home I was surprised at how dark the colour appeared. Scale effect - I suppose. The chip is identical to the PRU Blue No. 636 in my copy of British Standard 381C : 1964. Mike

A reproduction of the drawing from the AP reproduced in the Aerofax book by Eric Morgan shows 72in by 24in. Mike

The only MATRA rocket pod which carried just six 68mm rockets which I have been able to find is the model LR F2. This seems to be the same as the pod on the Finnish Fouga Magisters. There is a very good photo in the Wikipedia - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fouga_CM_170_Magister_(FM-45)_Keski-Suomen_ilmailumuseo_Matra_rocket_pod.JPG Dimensions of the pod are: length - 1450mm, diameter - 246mm Mike

Hi Derek, From the same book - ...two underwing French-made rocket pods, each pod capable of carrying six 68mm Matra rockets. Mike

According to "Shadows, Airlift and Airwar in Biafra and Nigeria", Michael Draper,Hikoki Publications 1999 - On arriving in Gabon the Minicons were fitted with an auxiliary fuel tank in the cockpit's right-hand seat, Matra rocket pods, and received an overall glossy two-tone green camouflage using locally purchased Valspar paints. Mike