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When is a Frog not a Frog? When it's F214 Vickers Wellington


bristol boy

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I bought this at a car boot for £5, not realising it's the Frog kit that never saw the light of day and re-appeared in various Russian boxes and Maquette.

The basics are pretty good although there is no geodesic pattern on the wings, possibly a good thing as it rarely shows in photos! I know I may have just started something by saying that but it is completely over done in the Matchbox version and dare I say even on the new Airfix one?

I have a few bits to improve things, wheels, exhausts etc and a set of Falcon canopies, the kit ones are not exactly transparent.

More as soon as its allowed.

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Well done that man, another Frog was/wasn't type of kit. I dare say it looks as if you've inherited some revised Airfix Wellington III instructions with that lot, so make sure you check things over carefully. It's hard to imagine this kit not selling by the bucket load and pulling Frog out of the mire it must have been in back then. It's only now that we have a good OOB Mk. 1A Welly, that we often forget that Frog was first on to it back in 1976. We will all watch on to see how you get on with this kit and all those lovely AM bits. 

 

Cheers and best of luck.. Dave. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
1 hour ago, JOCKNEY said:

Hi BB

Who doesn't like a Wellington, especially with the history behind this kit.

Had you managed to make a start yet ?

cheers Pat

Hi Pat,

Next week I hope, keep looking at it and then doing some figure modelling, heresy I know but suddenly started Airfix 54mm Waterloo stuff! Must focus next week!

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Subtle hint from Pat to get on with it and stop fiddling with an Airfix 54mm Lancer...they are great though those kits but seemingly not very popular...anyway must think Frog so.....

Here's Frog's Wellington fuselage next to the new super detailed Airfix one and I have to say Frog have got it pretty spot on size and profile wise, assuming of course that the Airfix new tool is based on the two surviving examples.

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And when dry assembled and compared to the Warpaint drawing it's also a good fit

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Final shot

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Now back to that lancer, his pupils need re-doing with a pin dipped in paint..

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I like the Cyrillic, Vikers "Vellington"  (the 'B' is the Cyrillic 'V' BTW

 

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59 minutes ago, bristol boy said:

stop fiddling with an Airfix 54mm Lancer...they are great though those kits but seemingly not very popular...

I think they were reasonably popular in their day,  their unavailability easily these day doesn't help,  shame that 2015, the 200th of Waterloo didn't warrant a repop of some of them.

@Ratch regularly does them though.

 

Wellington look good.

 

cheers

T

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2 hours ago, Troy Smith said:

 

I like the Cyrillic, Vikers "Vellington"  (the 'B' is the Cyrillic 'V' BTW

 

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I think they were reasonably popular in their day,  their unavailability easily these day doesn't help,  shame that 2015, the 200th of Waterloo didn't warrant a repop of some of them.

@Ratch regularly does them though.

 

Wellington look good.

 

cheers

T

Didn’t spot the cyrillic Vellington! 

Plenty of 54mm Waterloo figures on eBay but they never made a Wellington!

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At last some glue and paint! One step forward but possibly two back?

I want to stick with as many original parts as possible so that the essence is still that of a Frog kit, as there's little interior detail I decided just to paint it black so nothing is seen. The side glazing is cast in something that's wobbly and not very see through so I've attempted to pick out the framing internally but there's no consistency in the casting. Can't decide whether to keep it or start again with my own internal framing and a sheet of something transparent cut to size.

 

 

 

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I seem to have lost all my like buttons ,how do I get them back?

 

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Great progress BB,it does look a cracking kit even by Frog standard's,love also the Airfix 54mm range they're still reasonably priced with the pre-owned dealer's

I've got a few of the infantry figure's to do.

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3 hours ago, stevej60 said:

Great progress BB,it does look a cracking kit even by Frog standard's,love also the Airfix 54mm range they're still reasonably priced with the pre-owned dealer's

I've got a few of the infantry figure's to do.

Airfix 54mm rule! Brought a few recently on Ebay, amazes me how under used the figure section of BM is....will have to start contributing.

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3 hours ago, bentwaters81tfw said:

I bought  a Frogspawn version in a clear bag for £2. Ended up moving it on. Biggest problem is the fin is undersize, so you will have to do a bit more work there.

Will have to check the fin out, keep comparing things to the new Airfix kit in the belief it’s right!

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9 hours ago, bristol boy said:

Airfix 54mm rule! Brought a few recently on Ebay, amazes me how under used the figure section of BM is....will have to start contributing.

Agree totally I did make a start on a WIP but lost the photo's in the PB debacle,posted a Tamiya 1/16 figure a couple of week's ago built for the Blitzbuild GB,

now there's a range I'd like to see expanded.

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I've got one of these in a bag somewhere, moulded in a hard translucent white plastic. 

I've been planning on building T2508 for a number of years and I got this as the most representative Mk1 at the time. I was prepared for a lot of work, knowing what Eastern European Frogspawn kits can be like. Before I got started. MPM announced their Wellington range and I decided one of those would be an easier project. It wasn't ; carving a representative model out of a block of balsa would have been easier than building the MPM kit. 

I should have stuck with this one. 

 

John 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Decided to keep to the original kit as much as possible so the windows and framing are staying, I have rubbed down and repolished the outer face to remove creases which has helped.

The tail fin is undersize so to correct it some extra plastic has been glued on then filled and profiled.

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The nacelles are pretty poor and the front should look like this.

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With a sort of domed bin lid with odd shaped holes, sadly Frog thought this on the left was good enough, I beg to differ. I have removed the centre from the exhaust ring on the one on the right as below.

 

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Crash moulded some domey buts..

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and cut some holes to mimic the real thing

 

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Still needs a bit of neatening up but definitely better, may scour the spares box to see if I can find some engines to go behind them but then again they are not really seen.

More soon

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I have to agree, those new engine fronts do look so much better than what the kit provides. I just love these types of homemade enhancements, they cost next to nothing and leave a unique and personal factor to the finished model. Well done and keep going. 

 

Cheers.. Dave

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  • 3 weeks later...

Apologies for lack of update, it has been progressing!

Nacelles completed with new gills, someone showed a formula a while ago for working out the correct radii to achieve the 'flare' on the gills but frankly I didn't understand it so cut round a saucer rim and a can of tuna, as it was slightly smaller!

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Scoring the individual gills.

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Decided to go for R for Robert as the decals will be spare from my Airfix kit which means it's now a 1a rather than 1c, there seems to be no visible difference.

Got some paint on over the weekend too.

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Forgot to say the Falcon canopy doesn't fit as it is intended for the Matchbox kit, luckily Airfix provide three with their new kit and with a bit of persuasion they fit the Frog one!

Decals tonight and weathering...then the turrets etc.

 

 

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