Bristol Britannia. The Whispering Giant

Over the counter

"First " giant " plastic solid to be made in this country is the Frog Britannia. Following it quite shortly —probably in early February—will be another B.O.A.C, " giant " also to 1/96 srale. This is the Douglas D.C.7 Seven Seas, another collectors' item."

Model Aircraft, february 1957 года"

Over the counter

"International Model Aircraft are by no means sitting back and letting the grass grow under their feet, having launched their range of polystyrene plastic models. The Britannia and D.C.7 have been held up at the tooling stage in getting things just right, but there are lots of other prototypes queueing up to follow on the production line.

Model Aircraft, апрель 1957 года"

Trade notes

"Under course of construction we also have Messrs. Frog's two super plastic assembly kits, the "Britannia" and the DC-7C both of which retail at 17s. 6d. These really are luxury kits with full sets of transfers, fully illustrated instructions, plastic cement and paint and precision moulding of the highest quality.

Latest of the Frog plastic models to reach the market are the Fairey Gannet and English Electric P.1A, price 8s. 6d. und 6s. 9d. respectively. Both are right in the top class of plastic moulding, only criticism being the scale pilot size, especially on the Gannet."

AeroModeller, October 1957

International Model Aircraft are by no means sitting back and letting the grass grow under their feet, having launched their range of polystyrene plastic models. The Britannia and D.C.7 have been held up at the tooling stage in getting things just right, but there are lots of other prototypes queueing up to follow on the production line.

Model aircraft, april 1957

Plastikiticism

"- Airliners without transparent cabin windows are inexcusable... Frog spoil the otherwise excellent Britannia and DC.7c this way...-W. R. Matthews"

"- This method was adopted because of the great difficulty in achieving satisfactory results by any other way, bearing in mind that these models were also factory-built in large numbers for B.O.A.C., and the only practical method of applying the transfers is after the fuselage halves are assembled and painted.—FROG."

A critical comment by reader W. R. Matthews, with kit manufacturers' observations
Aero Modeller May, 1960

BRITANNIA REVIVED

THE 1:96 scale kit of the Bristol Britannia put out by Frog about ten years ago has recently come to light again in new markings in an 'unbranded' package. This time it has Royal Air Force Transport Command insignia for aircraft XL637 of No 99 Squadron.

In its day, this kit was by any standards one of the best on the market. Its detailing was superbly clean and, although there were minor inaccuracies it made up into an excellent model along with a Comet 4, Caravelle, Vulcan and Victor in the same range. Unfortunately the model depicted in the kit is not the same as that used by Transport Command. This version has a longer fuselage which becomes evident when looking at the transfer sheet with the revised model as the number of fuselage windows is wrong.

It is a pity that the manufacturers have not taken into consideration these simple points. Basically the kit is a very good one and at 10s 9d is good value, but discerning modellers will not be able to use the good transfers supplied and will need to find a finish applicable to a short fuselage Britannia. Our sample came from Ernest Berwick Ltd, 11a Newland Street, Kettering.
Alan W.Hall

Airfix Magazine april 1969

Over the counter

Additions to the Lincoln range, coming along shortly, are the Bristol Britannia (ready some time March), Handley Page Victor, Vickers Valiant and Boeing 707—same price again.

Starting in May, Guiterman's will also be getting in the first of the Lincoln-Hawk plastics (the American Hawk designs manufactured in Hong Kong by Lincoln).

LINCOLN PLASTIC KITS

THE Lincoln series of plastics are Empire made—actually produced in Hong Kong where labour and tooling costs are very much lower than in this country or America. Thus these kits can be manufactured and imported at a highly competitive price. British distributors are Guiterman and Co., of Soho Square, London, W.I.

The first model to appear in this series was the Lockheed Starfire, 8½ in. span and fully detailed in the American manner. The original price was 3s. 11d., subsequently increased to 4s. 11d., re-boxed and including a plastic stand, this price being maintained for the four additional models in the range. These others are the Canberra (8 in. span) and three airliners—the D.C.7 (9¼ in. span); the Constellation (10½ in. span); and the Vickers Viscount (9¼ in. span).

All these models are extremely easy to build. The Starfire is probably the easiest, and makes a most impressive first model. The airliners have a sparsity of detail, but this is in keeping with their reduced scale, and they still look most attractive when finished.

The detail lines are somewhat coarser than some of the contemporary plastic models, and the fits perhaps a little less accurate in one or two places. On the Viscount, for instance, one side of the tailplane has an exaggerated dihedral angle, but this can be taken up. But for the price, they represent extremely good value. All the airliners have nicely moulded airscrews, mounted on pins in the engine cowlings (trim off the ends of the pins before fitting the cowlings in place). The decals are printed on cellophane and must be cut out and stuck on with a rubber solution, which is perhaps a little more tedious than transfers. But again, the results are generally good, with care.

These models will undoubtedly have most appeal to the younger enthusiast and their price makes it possible for him to build up a collection, rather than having to invest his " capital" in a limited number of more elaborate kits. For the youngster, too, the smaller number of parts in the kit will be a further advantage.

Model aircraft, april 1957 года, No.190, Vol.16