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A NOSTALGIC TRIBUTE TO FROG MODEL KITS


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9 hours ago, FAAMAN said:

The pic is clearly reversed Adey. No confusion there. The under wing radio antenna is also on the wrong side for any '190 so fitted, it's under the left wing not the right.

The top pic posted by Troy has the intake clearly on the right hand side.

As I said don't trust pics of this Ta, it has several coats of paint on it as photographed, very little original paint can be seen (mostly on the underside).

So how's the Ta progressing? Did you go out and get the new(ish) Humbrol RLM colours? You need RLM-02, RLM-70, RLM-81, RLM-82 and RLM-76.

For my Ta's (Frog and Dragon) I'll be using Vallejo Acrylics.

Hi FAAMAN, the cockpit is complete and painted and I intend joining up the fuselage later after I have taken some photos.  I have used Humbrol 92 for the cockpit interior. My Humbrol RLM 02 seemed too light and rather greenish................or is RLM 02 supposed to be a greenish grey ? I don't trust Humbrol paints any more, they were great in the 1970s and 1980s and then some idiots who obviously had never painted a model with a paintbrush went and screwed the paint up. Their excuse was to make it more compatible with airbrushes. One colour can be fine and another just will not mix well when stirred.  Anyway, rant over, I will now just carry on.

 

Thanks again to you and Troy for sending me some very useful info, that front view of the Ta152 shows the undercarriage well ............ I just have to look at it in a mirror so it is the right way round.  If you look carefully you can see that all the grass is the wrong way round too ...........................

 

cheers,  adey

Edited by adey m
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That is coming along very nicely. Frog kits were often very nice, although some of the later offerings I thought were a bit 'heavy' looking which might have been due to the dark blue-grey plastic they were using. One of my favourites was a Novo DH60 the I built in 1978, as a DH60M J9107 with a lot of new bits added from stretched sprue and plastic card. Last model I finished before my first marriage broke up.

PS if that is not a control column that pilot is probably at risk of hypotension. 

Edited by Mr T
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Blast!! Hadn't noticed the grass :D

Excellent work so far, love the detail!!:D

The Airfix B-24/B-17/B-29 (please tick the right version ??) pilot looks great:D

RLM-02 is a green grey as per my finished landing gear pic above:smile:

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13 hours ago, adey m said:

  If you look carefully you can see that all the grass is the wrong way round too ...........................

cheers,  adey

Classic & dry like a Veuve Cliquot sec:D  Don't worry about the latest Humvbrol RLM02 (HU240) It may not paint out that well but the colour is spot on.

Steve.

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On 23/03/2018 at 03:56, FAAMAN said:

Blast!! Hadn't noticed the grass :D

Excellent work so far, love the detail!!:D

The Airfix B-24/B-17/B-29 (please tick the right version ??) pilot looks great:D

RLM-02 is a green grey as per my finished landing gear pic above:smile:

Hi Neil, the pilot is from a 1980s Humbrol issued Airfix Short Stirling moulded in light grey instead of the original black plastic.

 

regards, adey

Edited by adey m
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1960s FROG advert for their new design of model box that folded out into a modelling tray

 

resized_9bff6b27-2aca-4b59-8ea9-7386d76e

 

It was an interesting idea but not very practical

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THE FROG CADET KITS OF 1965

 

In the 1960s Heller produced a range of simple small scale kits ( about 1/100 scale ) of modern French aircraft which they sold as Heller Cadet kits.

 

f99c61ec-782c-4f4b-a7fa-8e5ca5ea7470.jpg

 

1/94 scale Heller Cadet Vautour IIA. The picture on the front is misleading as it shows a two seater whereas the model was of the single seater.

 

e2517e3b-0c97-4fcc-be45-45acdd0c7f03.jpg

 

Earlier boxed Heller Cadet Mystere in 1/101 scale

 

In 1965 FROG started selling these kits under the name of FROG Cadet.

 

322c6601-3581-4b2c-900d-207d47c9f9b3.jpg

 

The FROG Cadet range

 

a81e38a4-08eb-4451-8eec-3887a6138819.jpg

 

2b070a60-c877-4733-b173-037f39b1bfc9.JPG

 

1/110 scale Trident II

 

46af74b1-6e8d-4bf4-b627-0649fc171aec.JPG

 

1/101 scale Mystere B2

 

07991912-4d73-4cd2-b810-fe0f9917b062.jpg

 

2402d9e8-584e-45e8-b182-fe4114b0a77d.JPG

 

FROG Cadet Fiat G91 in 1/79 scale

 

6de9a96a-1bb3-4734-911b-a3f31a27e7c9.jpg

 

1/101 scale Alize

 

8579dd48-06eb-4710-8ff1-22ff2dfcdd49.jpg

 

FROG Type colour guide

 

9e686f5c-94d2-41e2-a488-b374a9bdd426.jpge111cf19-20d9-4481-aece-4a973141c42a.jpg

 

f332bccc-80da-47aa-89ca-e04be80c0a13.jpg

 

FROG Cadet Frelon

Spoiler
Spoiler

How do I get rid of these damn things

Spoiler

 

 

 

730d5616-4b60-41e1-a854-ab29427c363c.jpg

 

Heller Cadet  Frelon appears to be based on prototype machine

 

dd23d1ac-0ca6-48d2-b7bf-9cd104320fcc.JPG

 

6d83b025-bb78-416e-9fe7-75375fdf8ef4.jpgb6af07a2-923d-4b3e-a1a0-10a1234e2399.jpg

 

1/94 scale Vautour IIA

 

A number of years ago I built the Heller reissue of the Vautour. I have found three photos I took at the time with my 35mm camera.

 

85281b61-df0a-4d36-b481-d1058ecbbea0.jpg

 

Dramatic artwork on the box of the one I built

 

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The mould was obviously well worn as the fit of the parts was very poor. Plenty of filler was employed and it looks like a balsa wood fairing behind the cockpit.

Suitable wheels were found in my spares box. I installed a small scale pilot and ejector seat in the cockpit.

 

resized_eef1a2ae-4963-4095-9a92-7fc09c89

 

Plastic card wing fences and filling piece

 

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My completed Vautour IIA. Halfords Acrylic Aluminium spray and the kit supplied decals. Hand painted tail tricolour.

 

 

Edited by adey m
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Great work, that landing gear's coming along very well B)

Did you notice on the artwork for the Vatour you built that it's strafing Tiger tanks!!! Very nicely done by the wayB)

I'm slowly working my way through The Tamiya 1/100 series, mostly they're all horror stories but the worst, the F-104 will be last of all :worry:

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7 hours ago, FAAMAN said:

Great work, that landing gear's coming along very well B)

Did you notice on the artwork for the Vatour you built that it's strafing Tiger tanks!!! Very nicely done by the wayB)

I'm slowly working my way through The Tamiya 1/100 series, mostly they're all horror stories but the worst, the F-104 will be last of all :worry:

Hi Neil, yes if you look at the Tiger tank it has no gun, must be a target tank on a target range.

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I remember building a Trident and maybe an Alize.

I thought they were in a larger scale?

But it was a long time ago and my hands were smaller.

I do remember they were cheaper than other kits at the time

which probably explains why I bought them. Times were hard!

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In the early sixties Heller made an Alizé in 1/50 scale and a Trident, I think in a scale fitting to the box, about between 1/40 and 1/50.

With my Dad we built the Alizé; this model was rather complicated, the radome being made mobile with the help of rubber bands !

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13 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said:

I remember building a Trident and maybe an Alize.

I thought they were in a larger scale?

But it was a long time ago and my hands were smaller.

I do remember they were cheaper than other kits at the time

which probably explains why I bought them. Times were hard!

Hi Pete, the FROG Cadet Heller kits were definately about 1/100 scale  ............  it's just that you were 1/2 scale then  .................

 

I was given a built up Alize by my uncle and this and the Vautour which I built were both about 1/100 scale.

 

They sold for 1/9 ( one shilling and nine pence ) which I suppose was quite expensive back in 1965.

 

regards,  adey

Edited by adey m
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I just remembered, why I thought they were cheap.

One of our local toy/model shops shut down and I think

everything went for half price. I really wanted an Airfix

B-17 but couldn't afford it, even at half price.

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22 hours ago, polo1112 said:

In the early sixties Heller made an Alizé in 1/50 scale and a Trident, I think in a scale fitting to the box, about between 1/40 and 1/50.

With my Dad we built the Alizé; this model was rather complicated, the radome being made mobile with the help of rubber bands !

Hi polo, I found photos on the web of a Heller 1/50 scale Frelon which had working rotors powered by a small motor.............. the box art is similar to the 1/100 scale Frelon which caused me some confusion. These larger kits were marketed as Heller Sprint models.

 

ba4b24b2-619d-41cc-81f8-72a975f3f0df.jpg

 

regards,  adey

Edited by adey m
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4 hours ago, Neil.C said:

Hi Adey, 

 

interesting stuff about the Frog rebranded Hellers.

 

Did this happen a lot and what is the story behind it?

Hi Neil

 

The loan of six Heller kits to FROG in 1965 was only a one off aggreement. It came about because Triang acquired the Meccano factory in Paris and Heller were worried that the Triang-Meccano merger would threaten their model market in France. The loan of the six kits was a sort of getting to know you.

 

However the FROG Cadet kits did not sell well in the UK. They were crude, odd scales and quite expensive at one shilling and nine pence.

 

Later on there were the Hasegawa kits rebranded by FROG and FROG kits rebranded by Hasegawa.

 

regards,  adey

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This may help your Ta 152's mottling, this is a pic of a balsa Catajet model I built for my son years ago, it's a manned Fieseler Fi-103R flying bomb.

The mottle was produced with a small dia. round stiff brush, the paint dry brushed until the correct colour density was built up, came out ok and yes it still flies after many repair sessions.

Keep it up mate, you're going well B)

5062480162_83843f84a8_o.jpgFi-103R Finished d 05Sep10 by Neil, on Flickr

Edited by FAAMAN
missed the pic
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On 30/03/2018 at 19:22, Pete in Lincs said:

I remember building a Trident and maybe an Alize.

I thought they were in a larger scale?

But it was a long time ago and my hands were smaller.

I do remember they were cheaper than other kits at the time

which probably explains why I bought them. Times were hard!

Hi Pete

 

I wonder if you actually built the Heller 1/50 scale kits like this one

 

da2a6beb-4599-42d7-a262-2f17d3963ed4.jpg

 

ac618f2e-700d-47d0-92f2-05f833540e2a.JPG

 

1/50 scale Heller Trident

 

 

 

And maybe you also built this, the 1/50 scale Heller Alize which is the one that polo remembers building with his dad.

 

bc7c209f-5852-48f3-b709-2dfd26f575fd.JPG

 

5012b515-5bbe-4945-bad5-8ce13cfcde01.jpg

 

These Heller 1/50 scale were marketed as Heller Sprint kits. And just as polo remembers you can see that the radome went up and down as well as other working features.

 

I feel a Heller models Topic coming on ................   I love Heller kits too

 

regards,  adey

 

 

 

 

Edited by adey m
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They look a bit too expensive for my pocket money.

I was trying to recall anything I could about them last night.

I think you were right with the Cadet kits, and in plastic bags too.

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19 hours ago, adey m said:

Hi Neil

 

The loan of six Heller kits to FROG in 1965 was only a one off aggreement. It came about because Triang acquired the Meccano factory in Paris and Heller were worried that the Triang-Meccano merger would threaten their model market in France. The loan of the six kits was a sort of getting to know you.

 

However the FROG Cadet kits did not sell well in the UK. They were crude, odd scales and quite expensive at one shilling and nine pence.

 

Later on there were the Hasegawa kits rebranded by FROG and FROG kits rebranded by Hasegawa.

 

regards,  adey

Thanks Adey, nice history lesson. I love that sort of stuff. 

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On 30/03/2018 at 19:39, Pete in Lincs said:

I just remembered, why I thought they were cheap.

One of our local toy/model shops shut down and I think

everything went for half price. I really wanted an Airfix

B-17 but couldn't afford it, even at half price.

Hi Pete

 

Did you ever get an Airfix B-17 ?

 

I saved up my pocket money when I was 13 and bought one from a model shop in Whitby for 65p.

 

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It did survive an attack on its airfield by the monster cat in 1973

 

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Because there it is lurking in the distance twenty years later.

 

Also on the table can be seen a number of FROGs, a DH Hornet F1, a DH Sea Hornet night fighter conversion of mine, two Shackletons, Whitley, Attacker and my Vampire NF10 conversion from the FB5.

 

The Thunderchief was my Hasegawa one which was also sold as a FROG kit.

 

Also my Matchbox Wellington T 10 conversion. Other classics on the table are my Monogram B-36, Airfix Halifax, Dominie and Jet Provost.

 

cheers,  adey

Edited by adey m
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I've stripped out all the Ta.152 content and put it here, so that this discussion of RFI from times gone by can continue.  Please comment on the ongoing build in that sub-forum :)

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Side track . . . .

Although one of Airfix's highest selling kits and my favourite Airfix kit (built 4, two in the stash) the B-17G suffered from some poor choices as OOB you cannot build"Miss Lace".

The aircraft portrayed"Bit O' Lace" (or more commonly known as "Miss Lace") a B-17G-40-VE 4297976 "976-D" 709thBS, 447thBG Rattlesden UK, and when built by Lockheed Vega had the original B-17 tail gun position and waist gun positions beside each other of earlier Forts. At a modification centre the tail gun was replaced with a Cheyenne tail as per the kit.

Airfix must've assumed "Miss Lace" also had the staggered waist gun positions too so the kit came out as a later B-17G variant, needs a fair bit of work to actually make "Miss Lace". Any how wrong scheme, and for some reason wrong Bomb Wing colour in the original boxings, should be Dk.Blue chevrons, green fuse stripes, rudder and elevator, not purple!! Airfix also missed the heavily weathered replacement port outer wing still in OD/Neutral Grey.

Back to Frog . . . .

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