FROG F175 Fokker Southern Cross

FROG have just released their latest 1/72nd 'Trailblazer' — a Fokker F VII-3M, 'Southern Cross'. This comes complete with two beautifully sculpted standing figures representing Kingsford Smith and George Ulm. This is quite an impressive model and will be eagerly pounced upon by the plastic surgeons who have a host of potential conversions in this kit. It costs 6s.

Next 'Trailblazer' will be the Gloster E 28/39 'Whittle' at 2s 6d. Later this year, Frog will release a Messerschmitt Me 410. This kit will contain parts to enable two versions to be built, price 3s 6d. Next in the 5s range will be the Heinkel He 219 night fighter, which, according to the box illustration, will now contain swastikas for the fins. This is a point that will be greatly appreciated by collectors.

Nearly all the Frog plastics are to be re-boxed and the new box art is first-class.

AIRFIX follow their big B 29 with the minute ' Wasp' helicopter. The Fairey Firefly II and Grumman "Avenger" should be available by the time you read this. Further Airfix releases are shrouded in mystery at present, but there are some exciting ones on the way; including the Northrop F5 as on last month's inside back cover. Production delays have disturbed the release date of this one.

These companies are, of course, firmly established in the highly competitive plastic field and it's nice to see a newcomer to the ranks, especially when his opening shots are so original and well produced. The name to watch is INPACT and their first six models are largely based on "Mag Men" prototypes. Three first ones are a Bleriot XII, Deperdussin, and Antoinette type 'Martin Handasyde'. Very shortly these will be joined by a Bristol 'Boxkite\ Avro 'Triplane' and Avro 'Biplane'. All are to 1/72nd scale and cost a very reasonable 5s 6d each. They are moulded in a light buff coloured plastic and fabric surfaces are quite beautifully 'textured'. An original touch is the moulding of the 'spoked' wheels in crystal clear plastic with 'solid' centres and spokes moulded on. The finished effect can be highly effective if you've a steady hand and a good 00 sable brush! Other good points are the engines, which are really complete; the lifelike pilots—each one different; the general accuracy of the models which can only be the result of much painstaking research—{some other manufacturers please note).

Richard Kohnstam (RIKO) are importing, among other good things, the interesting and expanding range of U.P.C. kits. These models, that owe a lot to the pioneering Marusan series, will tempt the 1/50th scale enthusiasts. All the models are to be sold at the standard price of 8s 11d and the first three, now out are the Mitsubishi Jake twin float seaplane complete with folding wings and beaching trolley Republic P-47N, and the Mitsubishi Babs. This machine is, of course, the one that made the epic Tokyo - London hop in 1937. Those shortly to appear include the F86D Sabre, Hunter, Lightning, Starfighter, and Messerschmitt Me 262. The only 1/72nd model in the range is the impressive Martin Bomber. A twin engined biplane of pre-war vintage. Still at the Riko exhibition—there was a tantalising glimpse of a whole heap of those magnificent Tamiya kits. No firm plans yet, but some of them are likely to become available through Riko later this year.

Комментарии к масштабу
Дж. Д. МакХард
редактор Meccano Magazine

Компания FROG только что выпустила свой последний 1/72nd "Trailblazer" - Fokker F VII-3M, "Southern Cross". Он поставляется в комплекте с двумя прекрасно выполненными фигурами, изображающими Кингсфорда Смита и Джорджа Ульма. Это довольно впечатляющая модель, и на неё с готовностью набросятся пластические хирурги, которым эта модель даст множество потенциальных конверсий этого набора. Её стоимость составляет 6 с.

Следующей моделью "Trailblazer" будет Gloster E 28/39 "Whittle" по цене 2s 6d. Позже в этом году Frog выпустит Messerschmitt Me 410. Этот набор будет содержать детали для сборки двух версий, цена 3s 6d. Следующим в линейке 5s будет ночной истребитель Heinkel He 219, который, согласно иллюстрации на коробке, теперь будет содержать свастики на киле. Этот момент будет высоко оценен коллекционерами.

Почти все пластиковые модели Frog будут заново перепакованы в новые коробки, а новый бокс-арт - первоклассный.

AeroModeller 1966-04

Aircraft Illustrated 1971-11
Modelling world
New Frog kits

Five new Frog kits are now available, the de Havilland Vampire FB5, Messerschmitt Bf 110G, McDonnell Douglas Skyhawk, Dornier Do 17Z-2 and Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat 1. All are in 1/72 scale. Unfortunately, space will only permit me to review two of these this month — in order of being received from the manufacturer.

Frog recently brought out a kit of the de Havilland Hornet, which was very disappointing from an accuracy point of view. Now it has produced the Hornet's stable-mate and contemporary, the Vampire, in its FB5 version. This is a much better kit than the Hornet in most respects. It makes up into a delightful little replica of DH's fine, nimble, single-jet fighter. The outline accuracy of the model is excellent, and it looks right from all points of view. Unfortunately the moulding is poor and the fit of such parts as the tail booms to the fuselage needs a lot of care to ensure the correct tailplane angle, and to prevent tailplane twist. The fit of the two wing halves was poor on my sample, which resulted in considerable sinkagc on the underside and, in consequence, required much filling. It is a pity that such a nice little model should be marred by moulding standards. The moulding of the canopy, however, is very good and the result is a splendid representation of the "blown" hood used on this type.

This is a model that requires a great deal of weight in the nose to ensure the correct balance on its wheels. On my model I packed the nose with fishing lead shot and plasticine up to the instrument panel line and then only just got correct balance. A lead pilot figure would help in cases like this! The tail booms are moulded in one piece and this does add a lot of weight aft. The-full size Vampire also benefits from the weight of the 20mm gun installation being located forward of the centre of gravity, which on such a small aircraft accounts for quite a high proportion of the forward weight. It is interesting to note that both of our first generation jet fighters, the Meteor and Vampire, require excessive noseweight when produced in model form.

The only underwing stores included in this kit arc two 500lb bombs, but it would not be difficult to adapt rockets from the Hornet kit, or drop-tanks from some other kit— with suitably modified fairings. The bombs are moulded integrally with their fairings and racks, presumably on account of cost, although personally I prefer to have them moulded as separate items. Moulded in this way, they never look realistic.

The transfers are for two models: one set is for an FB5 from 502 Squadron stationed at Aldergrove, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, during 1956, while the other set is for an FB50 (J-28B) of the 3rd Squadron, Flygflottilj 15, of the Royal Swedish Air Force, based at Soderhamn.

The cost of this excellent model of the Vampire is 20p.

Another of Frog's recent releases is a kit of the Messerschmitt Bf 110G-2 and Bf 110G-4. This is an excellent choice of version as good kits of the Bf 100C variant already exist in 1/72 scale, by Airfix and Monogram. This first kit of the specialised night fighter variant of Messerschmitt's famous twin-engined fighter suffers from a number of inaccuracies in the outline — although fortunately none are sufficiently disastrous to spoil the finished model completely. As it is they prevent the model from being as good as it could have been. One of the worst aspects of the model lies in the moulding, which again is poor.

The nose is too symmetrical in side view, and too blunt. It also does not look long enough from the windscreen to the extreme nose, but this may be due to the windscreen armoured front panel being too deep. The shape of the Bfll0's nose is subtle, and strict attention has to be paid to getting the curves correct if it is to look right. Unfortunately, this Bfll0 just misses that correct shape, but if the massive aerial array is mounted around the nose these inaccuracies are not too apparent. The canopy tapers in plan view, which is not evident from photographs or any general arrangement drawings. The nacelle shape is not correct, having a peculiar hump on top. Certainly the Bfll0G did have bulges at a central point on the upper cowling, unlike earlier versions of Messerschmitt's twin-engined fighter, but they were not as depicted in the kit. These nacelles, look rather too tapered and it seems unlikely that there would be room for the DB 605B engine inside, especially in plan view. The shape of the spinners is also not blunt enough. The trailing edges of the wings are thick, and the aerial array looks clumsy, both the result of indifferent moulding. If one has the patience it is better to reconstruct the latter items from stretched sprue or to use the aerials from the Frog Heinkel He 219 kit. The drop tanks and installation look very convincing, as do the engine exhaust flame-damper units. If a Bf 110G day fighter is being modelled the individual exhaust stubs are cut off the flame dampers and cemented on to the engines, twenty-four separate parts in all.

This model correctly retains the underfuselage bomb rack fairing and has the increased area rudders.

Despite all these criticisms the finished Frog Bf 110G is an eye-catching model, with sufficient external detail to distract from the shortcomings in overall accuracy.

Two versions are depicted on the splendid transfer sheet. One is the Bf 110G-4 night fighter flown by Major Heinz Wolfgang Schnaufer the Kommodore of NJG 4, which carries 105 victory markings on the fin. The other is a Bf 110G-2 day fighter of 5 Staffel/11 Gruppe, NJG 200, a night-fighter unit using this aircraft for daylight operations. The cost of the Messerschmitt Bf 110G kit is 37p

AIRCRAFT ILLUSTRATED 1971-11

RAF Flying Review April, 1966, Vol. XXI, No. 8

MODELLING
W. R. MATTHEWS

BLACK WIDOW AND SOUTHERN CROSS FROM FROG

No two consecutive releases could display greater contrast than the Northrop P-61 Black Widow night fighter which saw service during the closing stages of World War II, and the famous old Fokker trimotor 'Southern Cross' in which the late Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith made so many noteworthy pioneering flights, yet this pair make the latest offerings to be received from Frog.

The P-61 Black Widow is, in some respects, a disappointment. Although cleanly-pressed and well-detailed in Frog's familiar and attractive straight-line style, it is not above criticism on the grounds of accuracy, particularly with regard to the engine cowlings which are too sharply tapered. It is also unfortunate that Frog specifically state on the box-lid that the model features a retractable undercarriage, as, in fact, the undercarriage doors have to be cemented in place. We would also expect, in a kit retailing at six shillings in the UK, a certain amount of interior detail, not simply two crew members poised on benches. Nevertheless, despite its faults, Frog's Black Widow is a good representation of a warplane hitherto unrepresented among plastic kits, but it could be a little cheaper.

The Southern Cross suffers none of the shortcomings of the Black Widow and may be unreservedly recommended. The surface detail is particularly good, and the fit of the component parts perfect. The transfer sheet, which provides the aircraft's early markings with US registration, is accurate and well-printed. It is, of course, a simple matter to modify this kit to represent the widely-used Fokker F.VIIb/3m airliner which carried so many different liveries. At six shillings in the UK this kit is excellent value for money.

NEW KITS (latest review copies received)

RAF Flying Review April, 1966, Vol. XXI, No. 8