FROG Fairey Delta 2

FROG 333P Fairey Delta 2 World Speed Record-Breaker, International Model Aircraft Ltd, 1958-1964

initial release, 1958

"Had a cleverly designed drooping nose and somewhat better detailing than previous kits." 333P 1957-1964 C2 } (30000) 1xRAF F333 1964-1965 C2 1xRAF FROG model aircraft 1932-1976, R. Lines, L. Hellstrom	Trade Notes Also added to the other, more detailed FROG range of 1/72nd types is a super Fairey Delta 2 kit, with droop snoot too, at 6s. 6d. AeroModeller 1958-05

1959-1960s

Tri-ang 333P Fairey Delta 2, Lines Freres SA Calais, 1962

FROG F333 Fairey Delta 2 World Speed Record-Breaker, International Model Aircraft Ltd, 1964

Air Lines 7908 Fairey Delta 2, Lines Bros Inc., 1964

FROG F333 Fairey Delta - Research Aircraft with Gold Tokens, International Model Aircraft ltd, 1965-66

Unbranded bagged W37 Fairey Delta 2, Rovex Industries Ltd, 1968-70

W37 Fairey Delta 2 - одна из восьми моделей, выпущенных в серии W, предназначенной, главным образом, для продажи в больших оптовых магазинах. IMA, а впоследствии Rovex, традиционно опирались на сеть небольших частных специализированных магазинов. Такой способ организации продаж позволял поддерживать относительно высокий ценник для конечного покупателя и, соответственно, хорошую прибыльность для продавца. Тем не менее, владельца бренда FROG, компанию Rovex Ltd, не могли не заинтересовать значительные объемы продаж магазинов оптовой торговли, выторговывавших специальные условия у производителя под закупки больших партий товаров. Чтобы не уничтожить существовавшую сеть продаж моделей, для продаж через магазины оптовой торговли была запущена новая серия моделей без указания бренда. Упрощенная упаковка моделей в пакете, отсутствие подставки и экономия на печати отдельной инструкции позволяли заметно снизить цену на прилавке для продукции FROG. Выпуск моделей W37 в этой специальной серии с 1968 по 1970 годы составил 20000шт.

New kits and models
OLD TIMERS

ERNEST BERWICK Ltd, 11a Newland Street, Kettering, Northants, have sent us two old Frog kits not widely available now, but of which they still have stocks. First is the Fairey FD 2, one time air speed record-holder and worth a place in any collection of representative British aircraft. This is a simple kit, neatly moulded though with rather a lot of flash. Price is 4s 3d and this may be your last chance to get this now discontinued kit.
C.O.E."

Airfix Magazine, April 1970

NOVO F333 Fairey Delta - Research Aircraft, NOVO Toys Ltd Cat.No.76058, 1978-1979

The molds for manufacturing the Fairey Delta 2 kit were sent to the Naro-Fominsk Plastics Factory. Only two kits were in production there: the Fairey Delta 2 and the SEPECAT Jaguar. Unlike the SEPECAT Jaguar, which was never supplied to Britain for NOVO Toys Ltd, the Fairey Delta 2 was produced for export in huge quantities. A total of 160,000 units were supplied to Britain. Therefore a very small quantity of instructions, decals and boxes for this kits has got to the USSR after NOVO Toys Ltd closed down in 1981 and to collect such complete set at a similar price always was a difficult task. And in Britain kits of this model were never a rarity and the NOVO model can be easily found on ebay.

Сборная модель самолёта 263, Наро-фоминский завод пластических масс, 1981

1980-1981

When the kit was first launched for the domestic market, the Fairey Delta 2 was sold in bags with a quality-printed red header. A similar header was produced at the Naro-Fominsk plastics factory for the SEPECAT Jaguar. The quality of the mouldings was quite in line with models shipped to Britain for NOVO Toys Ltd quite recently. Flashes was minimal and surface detailing had very fine engraved panel lines and clearly visible on the model thin raised lines identifying RAF markings. In the absence of decals and a painting guide from the original NOVO packaging, these lines helped to position the RAF insignia correctly when finishing the model. The only drawback at the time was the overly hard grey polystyrene, the same polystyrene used to make the model for NOVO Toys Ltd. The use of this polystyrene led to more and more flashes over time, and the fine lines gradually disappeared. But soon another problem was added to this one.

1984-1990

At the XXVI-th Congress of the CPSU in 1981, Leonid Brezhnev stated: "The economy must be economical - such is the demand of the times". Alas, in many respects this fair comment was reflected in the Fairey Delta 2 in a most ugly way. It turned out that it was possible to save money on the printing ink too. A simple, but pretty picture, resembling greatly simplified boxart from FROG, Air Lines and NOVO boxes, turned into an ugly picture with an ugly checkered pattern around. Of course, no one kept the packaging from the models and often right after the purchase of the model sent it to the nearest trash bin. But it's a pity that the first version of the header from Naro-Fominsk factory quickly disappeared from sales and most Russian modelers remembered the model only by its ugly checkered picture. Another unpleasant consequence of the " economic economy" was a significant deterioration in the quality of the already worthless plastic. Since the beginning of sales the kit was moulded from light grey polystyrene. It became even harder, the flashes ate away the small parts which became very brittle and simply broke when were cutted out of the thick flashes. The panels lines had melted away. The shiny plastic surface of the parts had recently turned into a matt, rough surface.

The Fairey Delta 2, despite its widespread popularity in the UK due to the world speed record it set in 1954, was unknown to most modellers in the USSR. In order to make it clear to customers in the early 1980s, when the model was on sale, speculators called it by any other name - Delta Dart or Dagger. The Naro-Fominsk factory aggravated the situation. Unfamiliar to the majority of buyers, the names of the British aircraft were often replaced on the model boxes with indices corresponding to the FROG catalogue, the more so as these indices could also be found on the kit's sprues. With the Fairey Delta 2 there was a misunderstanding. On the back of the kit's header the name appeared: "Toy. Scale model of aircraft 263". According to the FROG catalogue, this index was assigned to the MiG-21 model, a repacked model of the Hasegawa. What was the reason for this designation of the model at the Naro-Fominsk factory is anyone's guess. Surprisingly, despite the discrepancy in the index, which was absent on the sprues, the picture on the Naro-Fominsk header was quite consistent with the model.

With the arrival of the economic changes in the USSR nothing has changed for the kit, although at all times it has remained a non-alternative. Apparently the kit did not enjoy wide popularity with modellers and the co-operatives and the small private manufacturers of scale kits accessories, who appeared in Russia like the mushrooms after a rain, did not sell any decals or aftermarket for the model.

Сборная модель Maquette Fairey F.D.-2 Самолёт Дельта-2, MQ-7223, 2000-е годы

In the early 2000s the kit briefly appeared on sale in «Maquette» packaging. The mold was badly worn and only the most intrepid, experienced and patient modeler could assemble the model from the «Maquette» kit. The decal from the set repeated all the mistakes of the decals from the Frog and Novo kits. Moreover, the process of «correcting» the Novo decals by Anna&Co artists only showed these mistakes in the most exaggerated form. Nevertheless, the small run of this kit was quickly sold out and it never appeared on sale again.

Unfortunately, in the late 90's and early 2000's such low-priced kits of the former FROG were usually purchased by novice modelers. Despite a small quantity of parts, because of heavy wear of molds an assembly of such kits was an impossible task for the inexperienced enthusiast and, most likely, only deterred beginners. It is a pity if most of the Fairey Delta 2 models have possibly found their last resting place in garbage cans.