Martin A-30A Baltimore B.IV

Over the counter
FROG

Plastic kit of the month from FROG is the Martin Marauder... The box, with its rather dubious colour scheme top, provides a glimpse of forthcoming additions to the range including a Martin Baltimore and a Miles Master II.

Model Aircraft june 1963

Trade Notes

New plastics this month include a Miles Master at 2s. and the Martin Baltimore at 4s. 6d. from International Model Aircraft in the Frog range, — two more unusual subjects which have been a distinct appeal.

AeroModeller NOVEMBER 1963 Vol.XXVIII No.334

Trade Notes

Four recent additions to the Frog 1/72nd plastic range, the Miles Master III, Martin Baltimore (which we have decorated as famous "Wacky Wabbit" which made 174 operational flights with 21 Squadron S.A.A.F.), Hawker Sea Fury, which can have folding wings and Airspeed Oxford. Scale criticisms are of minor nature though still not excusable in view of production costs, but we'd like to see more attention given to Frog airscrew hubs.

AeroModeller JANUARY 1964 Vol.XXIX No.336

Over the counter
FROG

The FROG Martin Baltimore V, with two exceptions, goes together well and results in a very pleasant and unusual model. The most glaring error is the poor lining up of the top and between engine nacelle halves. This results in an almost V.T.O. thrust line requiring a tapered disc 3/32 in. thick at the top, placed behind the cowling to return the engine to a sensible positions!

The assembly of the undercarriage radius rod is anybody's guess, the correct location being achieved by cementing one edge of the end baseplate to the edge of the nacelle u/c cut out, so that the plate is horizontal and the rod meets the oleo leg at an oblique angle in all planes.

This mods are well within the capability of most modellers and once done the model will grace any collection. Price is 4s 6d.

No such simple solutuion can be recommended to bring the FROG Boston III up to scratch. This model has obviously been prepared from inaccurate drawings, without sufficient reference to photographs. If the components are laid over Boston drawings in "Aircraft of the Fighting Powers" they will found to much exactly! All the imperfections of this very bad drawing have been faithfully reproduced. For bistancer the lower fuselage line has a step of 1/16 in. half way along, which was never there and the nose canopy is much too bulbous. The engine cowls have too much taper and the rear nacelle fairings slope down from the wing trailing edge, whereas they should overlap the wing for above half its chord. Not shown on the drawings are mysterious pumps on each side of the lower engine nacelles forward of the exhaust pipe outlets, the origin of which has yet to be established. Like the Baltimor, the Boston costs 4s 6d.

Other plastic models recently released include the SM406c and Macchi 202 from FROG, and Airfix contributed the magnificent Liberator and Hudson kits plus a Boston III, which is not to be compared with the FROG effort - altough I suppose that one should be able to take a half fuselage from each kit and - bamm!

Model Aircraft march 1964

Fabrika "Tashigrushka" ("Tashtoys" Factory), Ul. Karasarajskaya 336, Tashkent, USSR

This is another major producer of ex-Frog kits. Most of the kits come in bags with simple header cards inside the bags, although a few (particularly the larger ones) are boxed. Artwork is clearly based on the Frog originals and of fair quality.

As can be seen below, the numbering is a bit chaotic Most kits have no numbers on the packaging itself, instead it appears on a small paper slip which is often missing. It seems likely that the factory has some trouble putting the right slip with the right kit!

All kits found to date have been moulded in a pale grey colour.

** Existence possible, information uncertain

FROG model aircraft 1932-1976, R. Lines, L. Hellstrom