Curtiss P-40E Warhawk (Kittyhawk IA) Fighter bomber |
FROG 391P Curtiss P-40E Kittyhawk, International Model Aircraft, 1959-64
|
|
Over the counter
FROG
In their 2s 9d range plastics, latest are the Thunderbolt, Typhoon, Kittyhawk and Fw190.
The plastic parts are moulded in the colour of the undersides of the respective aircraft so that only the upper surface need camouflage.
Future additions will include the Wellington, Hapmden, Spitfire, Lancaster, D.H.Rapide and Blenheim.
Model Aircraft april 1959
Trade Notes
The TRIANG Toy Fair included the range of International Model Aircraft and brought many new items to light, most impressive being the two versions of the new Frog 349 diesel, and the new range of World War II fighters to 1/72nd scale in plastic. Retailing at 2s. 9d., the W.W. II series includes the Kittyhawk, Typhoon, Thunderbolt, Focke Wulf 190 (radial version) and Zero. Each is moulded in the underside colour and will, we are sure, more than satisfy those who demand a high standard of accuracy in detail. Among new kits yet to appear under the FROG label is a fine 49s. 6d. Hawker Tempest control-line pre-fab 26*in. span model with plastic moulded pilot, nylon bellcrank, nylon spinner and scale wheels. Included in the projected range of plastics are: Fairey Rotodyne, Spitfire II, Blenheim I, Hampden, Wellington. Dragon Rapide, all to 1/72nd scale and the 1/96th scale Lancaster.
AeroModeller 1959-04
Model Talks
WHAT'S NEW IN THE SHOPS
A useful addition to the World War II fighters now available to plastic enthusiasts is made by Frog Kits with a new issue of no fewer than five famous fighters to 1/72nd-scale. They are the Curtiss Kittyhawk, Republic Thunderbolt, Hawker Typhoon, Mitsubishi Zero and Fw 190. Neat mouldings give the beginner a good start to a fine finish. Noteworthy feature is the separate prop-spinner which looks so much more realistic than the usual one-piece moulding for prop and spinner. (Frog. 2s. 9d. each.)
RAF Flying Review May 1959
| 391P | 1959-1964 | D | } (50000) | 1xUSAAC |
| F391 | 1964-1965 | D | 1xUSAAC |
FROG model aircraft 1932-1976, R. Lines, L. Hellstrom
|
|
|
Tri-ang 391P Curtiss P-40E Warhawk (Kittyhawk IA) Fighter bomber, Lines Freres - S.A.Calais, 1962
|
|
|
Tri-ang/Frog (France)
Lines Freres S.A., Route de Dunkerque, Calais, France (to mid-1964);
Meccano - Tri-ang Lines Freres S.A., 70-88 Avenue Henri Barbusse. 93 Bobigny. France (from mid-1964)
Period: 1962?-1972?
The French production was a very large operation, only surpassed by the Soviet activities of recent years. Despite this, very little has been known about it, never mind published.
The origins can be traced back to the founding of EEC in 1958. Since Great Britain was not a member state at the time, the Lines Bros, management wanted to get a foothold on the continent by establishing a branch in France. It needed to be close to the Channel coast in order to make the shipping of moulds back-and-forth as easy as possible. However, no suitable existing factory could be found so in the end a completely new facility was built on the outskirts of Calais.
The general idea was to send moulds over from England and having the actual production taking place in France -an EEC member - thus making the products duty-free when exported to other EEC countries. The production did not only include kits - indeed, this only accounted for some ten per cent of the capacity - but general toys as well.
At first, all kits produced were sold under the Tri-ang label, mainly in order to conform with the other French products. But no doubt the word Frog was also considered less suitable due to certain associations in British-French relations...
No production records have survived, but it seems likely that most contemporary Frog kits were produced in Calais as well. The Tri-ang boxes, decals and instruction sheets were all copied from the British originals and only showed minor changes. Plastic colours could differ from the normal Frog ones however, some startling combinations like red Scimitars being produced.
Kit numbers were the same as those used in Britain. However, many of the kits can be found with a C-prefix to this (e.g. C.334P). This was also used on other Lines products manufactured in France and stood for Calais. It seems to have been used up to mid-1963 or so and then deleted from future boxes printed. Some kits can therefore be found both with and without the C-prefix. When IMA changed from a suffix-P to a F-prefix in 1964 the French followed suit for a short period. Kits already in production were not changed, however.
Early in 1964 Lines Bros, bought the Meccano group and - almost as a bonus - also got control of their French branch. Meccano was already a well-established name in France - much more so than Tri-ang - and the two companies were therefore quickly integrated, the Meccano name being worked into the Tri-ang brand name on most products. The existing Meccano manager became the new managing director for France. He had no objection to the name Frog - indeed, he thought it a good joke! - and their kit range was thus renamed Frog/Tri-ang.
A new box style and new artwork was adapted for new releases. For reasons unknown, these also reverted to the old suffix-P. Kits already in production were not changed, apart from getting a sticker indicating the colour series when appropriate (red for the Attacker etc.). There is no known example of an old kit being given a new box. The fact that the Britannia was released in this style is admittedly confusing, but probably only indicates that it was never issued in the early style for some reason.
It should be pointed out that Tri-ang did by no means handle all sales to the continent. Managers of the continental Lines Bros, selling branches did, of course, buy where the price was lowest and Tri-ang prices were often higher than those of IMA. Lines Bros. (Holland) NV did, for example, mainly buy British-made kits.
By 1966, kit production was becoming uneconomical and was consequently terminated before long. This was partly caused by poor sales and partly due to problems in planning the mould swapping programmes. In early 1967 some 50000 standard Frog boxes were sent over from Britain and most remaining Tri-ang stocks reboxed - in some cases this was done by simply putting a new box over the existing one. But for certain kits, such as the ships, airliners and small-scale WWII bombers, no new boxes were available and old stocks of these were still sold as Tri-ang in the early 1970s.
Although not yet positively proved, it is believed that the moulds for the Rapide, Rotodyne and small-scale Blenheim, Hampden and Wellington were left behind in France and eventually scrapped there.
Some special issues are also worth a mention. In 1968 an ex-Heller Mirage IIIC was released under the Frog/ Meccano-Tri-ang label and this was joined by another three ex-Heller kits in 1971. These are the only kits known to have used the Frog name without ever having been produced by either IMA or Rovex. For some reason, some of these kits were also sold as Meccano-Tri-ang kits as well, without reference to Frog. Possibly this was after the Airfix take-over.
In the early 1970s Meccano was bought by Airfix and it is an ironic fact that from 1982 the former Lines Bros, factory in Calais produced all Airfix kits intended for the European market...
It is possible, but not very likely, that the ex-Renwal AFV and ship kits sold as Frog in England were also sold as Tri-ang. Since they are not really ex-Frog kits, nor used the name Frog in France, they have been excluded from the list.
"Old" Style
| * | 391P | Curtiss P-40E Warhawk (Kittyhawk) |
FROG model aircraft 1932-1976, R. Lines, L. Hellstrom
|
|
|
FROG Black series with Gold Token F391 Curtiss P-40E Warhawk (Kittyhawk IA) Fighter bomber,, Rovex Industries Ltd, 1964-65
|
FROG F391 Curtiss P-40E Warhawk (Kittyhawk IA) Fighter bomber, Black series, Rovex Industries Ltd, 1966-68
|
Air Lines 5902 Curtiss P-40E Warhawk (Kittyhawk IA), Lines Bros Inc., 1966
Air Lines
Lines Bros., Inc., 1107 Broadway, New York, NY, USA.
Period: 1964-1966
The first U.S. distributor of Frog kits was H. Hudson Dobson in New York, who sold the pre-war Penguin kits. When plastic kits were re-introduced in the 1950s, distribution was handled by Lines Bros., Inc., and also by Continental Models, Inc., in Brooklyn, New York. Incidentally, Continental also handled most of the Airfix imports. However, all imports of plastic kits were subjected to high customs tariffs and sales were therefore relatively low. It was to cure this situation that Air Lines were born.
Air Lines was the brain-child of Alan Ginsburg, the local Lines Bros, manager. His suggestion was to have all the kits moulded in the U.S.A., thus avoiding the tariffs. He eventually persuaded the management in London that this was a sound proposition and an initial range of 24 kits was selected. After visiting a number of potential candidates -bringing a sample Frog mould in the car boot - an agreement was reached with Pyro in New Jersey to mould the kits.
Most Frog kits at the time had a line drawing rather than dramatic artwork on the box and this was felt to be unsuitable for the U.S. market. The artist Jo Kotula was therefore commissioned to paint new art for Air Lines, many of his paintings later being used on Frog kits as well.
All decals were printed in England and, apart from the new ones for the USAAF B-25 and B-26, the same as in the contemporary Frog issues.
Instead of the normal U.S. practice of adding the price after the kit number. Air Lines incorporated it in the number itself. Kit 3901 thus cost 39 cents, and so on.
It should be noted that the Vimy was never sold with radial engines, although shown thus in the Air Lines leaflet.
The first kits appeared in 1964 and a further five kits (7908, 9803, 9804, 12903 and 12904) were added in 1965. The last kits to be released were the 59 cent range in spring, 1966. However, by now it was apparent that the whole scheme was in fact uneconomic and Air Lines was terminated later in that year, an additional five kits planned for August never being produced.
Production quantities are not known but must have been substantial for most kits, judging by the numbers still around.
| | 5902 | Curtiss P-40E Warhawk (Kittyhawk) |
FROG model aircraft 1932-1976, R. Lines, L. Hellstrom
|
|
FROG F218F Curtiss P-40E Warhawk (Kittyhawk IA) Fighter bomber, Black series, 1969-71
|
|
NEW AND IN VIEW NEW AIRCRAFT KITS
For some little time now rumour has had it that Frog were revising and updating many of their older kits, and at the Brighton Toy Fair rumour became fact with the release of those described below. Retailing at 3/- each in a new clear plastic pack, complete with coloured dramatic art on the front and the now very popular Profile style drawings on the back of the display card, these will certainly catch the eye in any model shop display.
Each kit has had all traces of the original surface detail removed and replaced by fine and accurate new detail. Unfortunately, costs have prevented full corrections, and such refinements as cut-out wheel wells are still omitted. Cockpit canopies have received attention where necessary and are far better than in the original kits, while completely new markings and insignia are given, two alternatives being provided for each type as follows :-
The very high standard of decals common to all Frog kits of recent months is maintained in these 'packaged' kits. AII are matt or semi-gloss with excellent register, and the minute detailing, such as that on 'kill' markings or the MC 202 insignia, is clearly readable if one uses a magnifying glass.
It is to be hoped that other kits from the Frog range will be upgraded similarly as time goes by, and we look forward to these in due course.
The IPMS magazine, February 1969
| F218F | 1969-1974 | J2(K) | 200000 | 1xRAF & 1xRCAF |
The original heavy surface detailing was re-engraved while
the mould was with AMT in 1968. This was done after the
earlier decision to discontinue the kit during 1968 had been
changed.
FROG model aircraft 1932-1976, R. Lines, L. Hellstrom
|
|
|
FROG F391 Curtiss P-40E Warhawk (Kittyhawk IA) Fighter bomber, Blue series, Rovex Hobbies & Models, 1974-75
|
NOVO F391 Curtiss P-40E Warhawk (Kittyhawk IA) Fighter bomber, Cat.No.76010, 1977-1978
|
Индекс 391 Самолёт Р-40Е, ДФИ, Донецк, 1979-1980
Index 391, Samoliot P-40E, Donetskaya Fabrika Igrushek, USSR, 1980
1980
1991
InformationThe Donetsk Toy Factory has once again start making a kit of an American World War II fighter Curtiss P-40d "Kittyhawk". The kit comes with a colorful box, two-variant decal, a bottle with cement included in the package. The state price of the model - 37 kopecks (data as of 1.02.91).
E. Zudov, Nikolaev. Stand, Baku, № 4/90 г. —1/91 г.
|
FROG Spawn
Frog (Germany)
Bienengraber & Co. GmbH, Kronsaalsweg 29, D-2000 Hamburg 54, West Germany
Period: 1969?-1974?
Bienengraber were the agents for Rovex for a number of years and, as such, imported standard Frog kits for sale in Germany. However, they did add new outer boxes to the black series bagged kits, presumably because the bagged Airfix kits were similarly reboxed by Plasty. A common box was used for all the kits, with the kit number added with a pen on the side of the box. The main colour of the box was yellow and all text was in German.
| | F218F | Curtiss P-40D Warhawk (Kittyhawk] |
FROG model aircraft 1932-1976, R. Lines, L. Hellstrom
|
Frog/Roly
Roly Toys Ind. e Com. de Brinquedos S.A., Rua de Gamboa 279, Guanabara, Rio de Janeiro, ZC14, Brazil
Period: 1974-1979?
These kits owed their existence to the lack of foreign currency in Brazil. Imports were restricted and getting a licence for non-essentials like kits was very difficult.
To get round this, Roly leased six moulds from Rovex and had the kits produced locally, moulding them in bright colours. Packaging was of the blister type (similar to Airfix) with instructions on the back. Decals and artwork were identical to the Frog issues. A small tube of "Roly-Fix" cement was also provided.
These six kits were intended as a trial run, to be followed by several other kits. But the events at Rovex and Novo caused this to be cancelled. Roly apparently still had some stocks left in the late 1970s since they placed an order with Novo in 1978 for additional clear parts for all kits.
| F.391 | Curtiss P-40E Warhawk (Kittyhawk) |
FROG model aircraft 1932-1976, R. Lines, L. Hellstrom
|
|
Сборная модель Maquette Curtiss P-40E Kittyhawk IA, MQ-7225, 2000-е годы
|
|
04.04.Z0ZZ
|
