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A NOSTALGIC TRIBUTE TO FROG MODEL KITS


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1 hour ago, adey m said:

This Revell boxing of the He111 is actually the FROG one. Does the artwork look familiar ?

That must be from the period when they removed guns firing and bombs being dropped or in this case, a torpedo.

 

I forgot to mention the bagged kit without any label is a Wyvern.

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Only slightly off topic, and I may have mentioned this before but I am sure I remember Revell running a competition back in the 70s to win a flight in a Lancaster.  It was the usual 'collect the ends of box-tops' kind of thing.  In my part of Birmingham, Revell kits were as rare as Frog so I couldn't collect the required number by the deadline but I sent in my entry anyway together with a pleading letter explaining my situation.  Unsurprisingly I never heard anything back...

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1 hour ago, tomkil said:

Only slightly off topic, and I may have mentioned this before but I am sure I remember Revell running a competition back in the 70s to win a flight in a Lancaster.  It was the usual 'collect the ends of box-tops' kind of thing.  In my part of Birmingham, Revell kits were as rare as Frog so I couldn't collect the required number by the deadline but I sent in my entry anyway together with a pleading letter explaining my situation.  Unsurprisingly I never heard anything back...

Yep, I got nowhere in the Sugar Puffs "win a real dalek" competition too, most disappointed ! :)

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I have just re-discovered my 1/32 scale FROG BF 109E.....

 

I plan to build this as RAF DG200,  originally  Serial 4101 / Black 12’ of 21 year old Leutnant Wolfgang Teumer from 2/JG51, repaired and extensively tested in RAF markings, the only question is the under surface colour. Some say Trainer Yellow, others Sky Blue. 

Does anyone know for certain? 

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On 3/20/2021 at 4:23 PM, JosephLalor said:

Now that I think of it, AZ kitted the Mk XIV in low and high back versions, as well as a Mk XVIII.

 

Oh, and Fujimi as well, though not the XVIII as I recall.

Sword have done the Mk XIV.  High and low back.

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I'd like to share my good ol' friend's build of Westland Lysander, Novo/Frog kit. He made a video about the whole process.

Music in the video is written and recorded by me.
 

 

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Recently found this site, so a new member. I Appreciate the topic is mainly Frog aircraft with the occasional mention of ships and cars, but regarding anything Frog related, I wish to highlight the

"Frog De-Luxe M series".

These were models of USA military tanks, guns and missiles as shown on page 159 in the book of Frog Model Aircraft 1932-1976.

They were produced by the American Company "Renwall" but were sold in the UK in the late 1950's under the Frog De-Luxe brand to a scale of 3/8in to 1 foot.

The M series consisted of the following;- M550 - Nike Anti Aircraft Guided Missile. M551 - 8 inch Self Propelled Howitzer. M552 - Skysweeper 75mm Anti Aircraft Gun.  M553 - M65 280mm Atomic Cannon.

M554 - Walker Bulldog Tank.  M555 - Twin Forty 40mm Anti Aircraft Tracked Vehicle.  M557 - Ontos Multiple 106mm Recoilless Rifles Tracked Vehicle.

I am now 73 years old and I still have all these models, which I built when I was a lad so they are over 60 years old. Over the years they have been damaged, broken and pieces lost, but during the Covid lock down 

they have been repaired, reassembled and repainted back to reasonable display conditions, along with the original Frog adverts from the 1950's Meccano Magazines stating the model prices in old shillings and pence.

If there is anyone out there that remembers or still have any of these models then please reply. I look forward to your comments.

JH (The Barton Vulnerable)

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1 hour ago, john harries said:

If there is anyone out there that remembers or still have any of these models then please reply. I look forward to your comments.

JH (The Barton Vulnerable)

Thank you John for bringing our attention to another interesting aspect of FROG models.

 

I do not remember them but it is possible I have seen them but not realised they were FROGs.

 

I would love to see them, so probably would many others too, so you are most welcome to post them here if you would like to.

 

regards,  adey

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On 3/26/2021 at 5:05 PM, adey m said:

Thank you John for bringing our attention to another interesting aspect of FROG models.

 

I do not remember them but it is possible I have seen them but not realised they were FROGs.

 

I would love to see them, so probably would many others too, so you are most welcome to post them here if you would like to.

 

regards,  adey

Hi Adey, many thanks for responding to my recent post. I intend to have my collection professionally photographed in the near future, now that Covid restrictions are hopefully nearing the end.  Once I have my photo's, I will post them on this site.

Regards,

John

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On 23/03/2021 at 19:08, 224 Peter said:

I have just re-discovered my 1/32 scale FROG BF 109E.....

 

I plan to build this as RAF DG200,  originally  Serial 4101 / Black 12’ of 21 year old Leutnant Wolfgang Teumer from 2/JG51, repaired and extensively tested in RAF markings, the only question is the under surface colour. Some say Trainer Yellow, others Sky Blue. 

Does anyone know for certain? 

Yellow.  Standard for prototypes and also on captured types.   

 

This is AE479, captured earlier,  in the USA (I've seen another pic before, but this is new too me)

ecfcd5e7fcd670dd4ac288707ef80dda.jpg

 

there are some other colour images of other Rafwaffe examples here

http://falkeeins.blogspot.com/2010/09/captured-luftwaffe-types-1.html

 

All have yellow undersides.

 

HTH

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@Troy Smith I’ve never seen a colour photo of AE479 before - thanks!

 

I would add that the underside was very oil stained, at least whilst with the RAF. The oil seals were obviously stuffed and no suitable replacements immediately available.

 

Trevor

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Thanks... nice oily yellow!

 

The stains could also be because German fuel and oil quality differed very much from RAF, so when filled with RAF standard fuel and lubricants the oil seals may not have coped. 

 

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2 hours ago, Max Headroom said:

@Troy Smith I’ve never seen a colour photo of AE479 before - thanks!

 

I would add that the underside was very oil stained, at least whilst with the RAF. The oil seals were obviously stuffed and no suitable replacements immediately available.

 

Trevor

A bit more searching about

clipboard01-jpg.129122

 

and this is the one I was thinking of

109clrbrit1-jpg.439461

 

 

The quality of the first shot implies to me these two exist in better resolution. 

maybe of interest to @224 Peter as well.

 

This is what AE479 looked like when captured

109fr-2x.jpg

 

 

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On 3/20/2021 at 5:34 PM, Retired Bob said:

That must be from the period when they removed guns firing and bombs being dropped or in this case, a torpedo.

 

I forgot to mention the bagged kit without any label is a Wyvern.

And the sudden appearance of the big black diamond tail markings on the German aircraft!

On 3/21/2021 at 9:02 AM, tomkil said:

Only slightly off topic, and I may have mentioned this before but I am sure I remember Revell running a competition back in the 70s to win a flight in a Lancaster.  It was the usual 'collect the ends of box-tops' kind of thing.  In my part of Birmingham, Revell kits were as rare as Frog so I couldn't collect the required number by the deadline but I sent in my entry anyway together with a pleading letter explaining my situation.  Unsurprisingly I never heard anything back...

Had the reverse here of course. Revell, Monogram, AMT, MPC, Lindburg, Renwal and Aurora were all over the place and cheap. Airfix, Frog, Heller, etc showed up now and then but were rare and expensive since the were imports. Only the rich kids got Bandi or Tamiya.

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On 26/03/2021 at 15:57, john harries said:

Recently found this site, so a new member. I Appreciate the topic is mainly Frog aircraft with the occasional mention of ships and cars, but regarding anything Frog related, I wish to highlight the

"Frog De-Luxe M series".

These were models of USA military tanks, guns and missiles as shown on page 159 in the book of Frog Model Aircraft 1932-1976.

They were produced by the American Company "Renwall" but were sold in the UK in the late 1950's under the Frog De-Luxe brand to a scale of 3/8in to 1 foot.

The M series consisted of the following;- M550 - Nike Anti Aircraft Guided Missile. M551 - 8 inch Self Propelled Howitzer. M552 - Skysweeper 75mm Anti Aircraft Gun.  M553 - M65 280mm Atomic Cannon.

M554 - Walker Bulldog Tank.  M555 - Twin Forty 40mm Anti Aircraft Tracked Vehicle.  M557 - Ontos Multiple 106mm Recoilless Rifles Tracked Vehicle.

I am now 73 years old and I still have all these models, which I built when I was a lad so they are over 60 years old. Over the years they have been damaged, broken and pieces lost, but during the Covid lock down 

they have been repaired, reassembled and repainted back to reasonable display conditions, along with the original Frog adverts from the 1950's Meccano Magazines stating the model prices in old shillings and pence.

If there is anyone out there that remembers or still have any of these models then please reply. I look forward to your comments.

JH (The Barton Vulnerable)

Not on your list, but I built the Renwall Lacrosse Missile back in the 1970s. Nice kit of a missile I had never heard off.

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On 3/29/2021 at 5:44 PM, 224 Peter said:

Thanks... nice oily yellow!

 

The stains could also be because German fuel and oil quality differed very much from RAF, so when filled with RAF standard fuel and lubricants the oil seals may not have coped. 

 

I wonder if that is because the germans used synthetic produced oils 🛢 whereas the allies because they had access to petroleum products used mineral oils🛢 .

These incidents still happen today.

 

Just a thought🤔

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On 26/03/2021 at 15:57, john harries said:

"Frog De-Luxe M series".

These were models of USA military tanks, guns and missiles as shown on page 159 in the book of Frog Model Aircraft 1932-1976.

I do not remember seeing any of these kits back in the 60s or 70s.  It will be interesting to see your photos John.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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.

20210404122052-3ac75f02-la.jpg

 

The Sea Hawk is also a 1955 vintage.

20210404122026-f7f7dc76-la.jpg

 

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.

20210328164401-0c2ebd54-la.jpg

 


Mike

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On 11/04/2021 at 16:36, Michou said:

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.

Thank you Michou for sharing your vintage FROGs with us, and your memories too.

 

FROG really captured the shape and character of the real aircraft all those years ago. That Zero looks like a Zero.

 

regards, adey

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