NEW AND IN VIEW
FROG Sea Venom F.A.W. 21/53. Blue series.
Another release from Frog of an often asked for prototype, the Sea venom is neatly moulded in grey plastic. The method of assembly is conventional but alas the match of some of the parts is not what can be provided with modern techniques. When you think of the number of kits available today where it is possible to virtually 'dry assemble' and the parts fit with little or no filler, it is disappointing to find that the nose, cap shape does not match the fuselage, the wing roots need a fair amount of filling, the wing-tip" tanks do not match tops to bottoms, and the tail booms need fitting at the joint position. . .even the two wing halves need putty and of course the trailing edge is too thick. . .this is rapidly becoming a Frog trademark. However when all the rather frustrating work is finished, the result is quite accurate and a good model of the prototype. The decals are very good in finish and register but mine needed some glue to hold them on. For those with patience a fair start to a very good model, for the stick them together brigade. . .just another model, but then we ARE supposed to be MODELLERS. . .so I expect to see a fair number on the display tables., .still good value pricewise.
The IPMS magazine, august 1973
KIT COMMENT
USEFUL SEA VENOM
Now almost completely phased out of Royal Navy service, the Sea Venom has become an aircraft in which there is a lot of interest amongst aircraft enthusiasts. The timely arrival of the Frog kit of this aircraft is therefore all the more welcome. Modellers will not be disappointed in what they find in the 24pbag as we are pleased to say that this is one of the best of the Frog Navy bunch in the traditions of the Gannet, Firefly, Avenger, Corsair and Hellcat.
The model is accurate and fits well together. It does, however, suffer from one of Frog's usual problems in having thick trailing edges to the wing and an almost square leading edge. Also in common with others in this manufacturer's range, the undercarriage doors are well above scale thickness and there is far too little detail in the undercarriage legs and wheels themselves.
Frog have adopted the same method of fixing the twin booms of the Sea Venom as they did with their earlier Vampire kit. This involves breaking the boom just aft of the trailing edge in a place most difficult to get at with the usual rubbing down methods and therefore a rather prominent joint line appears. In our model we filled this with Greenstuff and used a narrow file to get rid of the joint, but it would have been much better if wet and dry sanding could have been used instead.
As usual the decal sheet provides alternative sets of marking and it is to a very high standard. We chose the HAW) Mk.53 of the Royal Australian Navy, represented by an aircraft of No 724 Sqdn on HMAS Melbourne as our subject, although equally attractive are the Royal Navy markings for a Sea Venom of No 891 Sqdn when serving on HMS Ark Royal. The large squadron badge that appears on the fuselage side of this aircraft is most attractive and well reproduced in the decal sheet.
Aviation News Vol 2 Num 8 31 August - 13 September 1973
MODEL ENTHUSIAST
Nautical poison
From Frog we have received a surprise but most welcome kit of the de Havilland Sea Venom FAW 21 which usefully augments the catalogue of 1/72nd scale kits in which the Royal Navy is at last getting a fair showing. Accurate in outline and with fine raised line surface detail (no rivets), this kit is well up to the normal Frog standard — not super-detailed but a good basic model upon which the true enthusiast can practice his art and at the very attractive (UK) price of only 24p. There are 45 component parts to the kit, including two crew figures and separate ejector seats, but more detail needs to be added to the interior of the cockpit as the canopy — if a bit on the thick side — is large and very clear. Four pairs of rocket projectiles are provided. Incidentally, the undercarriage doors are too thick and call for thinning down or replacement by new doors cut from plastic card.
The decal sheet is first class and includes markings for a Sea Venom FAW Mk 21 of the Royal Navy's No 891 Squadron aboard HMS Ark Royal in 1955, with a very good rendition of the unit badge, and an alternative set for a Sea Venom FAW Mk 53 of the Royal Australian Navy embarked aboard HMAS Melbourne in 1962. For once Frog has omitted the traditional stand and we feel sure that most modellers will be delighted if this heralds the demise of that traditional appendage.
F J HENDERSON
Air Enthusiast 1973-11 vol.05 no.05
Modelling world
FROG has released a very welcome 1/72 kit of the de Havilland Sea Venom FAW 21/53 two-seat night and all-weather fighter. Kits of British aircraft of this period are rare, although there are indications that more kits of aircraft from the 1950s and 1960s are to be expected in the future. Naval aircraft are also rather rare.
Naturally, any generally accurate kit of the Sea Venom is nice to have, but I am rather disappointed that Frog did not take a little more care with the fuselage shape of this model. Aircraft which are developed from earlier types through progressive stages usually exhibit marked signs on the major parts of the aircraft. The first steps towards the Venom were the installation of the Ghost engine in a Vampire I (TG278). To accommodate the larger Ghost engine the contours of the aft part of the fuselage nacelle were altered, with a straighter under-line and a more abrupt curve up to the larger jet pipe. The straightening of the lower fuselage contour was made to maintain the maximum diameter of the fuselage to a point further aft than on the Vampire in order to accommodate the larger diameter of the de Havillad Ghost engine. The upper surface contours were similarly altered, but on the Sea Venom this is less apparent because of the arrester hook fairing. On Frogs' model the rear fuselage curves up gradually and elegantly, but uncharacteristically.
The two-seat night fighter Venom was evolved from the two-seat Vampire NF.10 (originally developed for an Italian order, but taken over by the RAF), having similar fuselage and radome contours. The Venom NF3 and its counterpart, the Sea Venom FAW21 had a larger and longer radome which did not match the existing fuselage contours. There was, therefore, a slight imperfection in the radome fuselage intersection.
Frog's Venom has a rather blunt radome which is smoothly faired into the fuselage, again missing a vital characteristic of the subject aircraft. The model would look better if a new radome, less rounded and bulbous and possibly made from the front of a large model drop tank if available, was used in place of the one in the kit. It would be better if a slightly smaller diameter radome was made, cemented in a new position in line with the fuselage upper contour, and the lower fuselage filed upwards to join the new radome. This would give the small amount of "kink" necessary to give the right impression. In order to fit the radome in line with the upper contours of the fuselage it is necessary to remove the inner locating flange, on to which the kit radome is normally cemented. It would, of course, be possible to file down the existing radome, but this would seem to be more trouble than making a new one.
The rest of the model is accurate, although the main wheels look a little small.
This is a model that requires a lot of weight in the nose to achieve a balance on the wheels. This is best installed inside the radome before cementing. A large fishing weight held in. place by plasticine is a satisfactory method.
Items for installation under the wings include eight 60lb rockets or empty rocket rails. Bombs or drop tanks are not included in the kit, but these can easily be adapted from some other model. The rockets, on their tier mountings, look very realistic. The jet pipe does not look authentic, due to the extremely thick pipe. The small inner hole needs enlarging to leave a very thin pipe.
The transfers are, as is usual with Frog kits, of excellent standard. Two sets of markings are provided: one is for an FAW 21 of 891 Squadron, based on HMS Ark Royal, and the other is for an FAW 53 of 724 Squadron, HMAS Melbourne. Royal Australian Navy.
Frog's Sea Venom is not up to the same standard as its Vampire for overall accuracy, but nevertheless it is easily capable of being made into a nice little model. It costs 23p.
James Goulding
AIRCRAFT ILLUSTRATED 1974-04
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