FROG F178 FROG Messerschmitt Me410A

SCALE COMMENTARY
by J. D. McHARD
Editor of Meccano Magazine

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.

AeroModeller APRIL 1966 Vol.XXXI No.363

NEW AND IN VIEW
FROG Messerschmitt Me410A Scale l/72nd. Price 3/8d.
NEW AND IN VIEW

This is a disappointing model; it is just not up to the standard expected of this Company, The panel and rivet detail is far too heavy; in particular the detail on the wings needs considerable filing to reduce it to anywhere near scale appearance, and the framwork on the cockpit canopy is to the same standards. The undercarriage door, tailplane and wing mouldings all fit badly, the spinners are too pointed and the crew-figures, the usual emaciated pilot and navigator, are ludicrous.

The box-art, however, is exceptionally good and shows schemes for both the variants which can be made from the basic kit, the standard Me410 A—1 and the Me410A-1/U4. These differ in that the former is a fighter-bomber while the latter is a bomber-destroyer with a 57mm cannon mounted in the bomb bay. The nose section of the Me4l0 is rather peculiar, and Frog have overcome this by using transparent windows which can be left as they are for the fighter/bomber but require some painting for the cannon-armed version. The decals are also very pleasing, being matt and accurate for each sub-type; we were particularly pleased to see that swastikas have also been included.

This is not a kit we would enthuse over, and is one which requires considerable work to obtain an accurate reproduction of the full-scale original from it. The basic shape is, however, good enough to permit this being done by a skilled modeller.

The IPMS magazine, december 1966

MODELLING
W. R. MATTHEWS
A LUFTWAFFE PAIR

It is seldom that two kits of the same aircraft type to the same scale appear on the market in the same country simultaneously, but such is the case with the Heinkel He 219 Uhu recently issued to 1/72nd scale by both Frog and Revell. The two manufacturers have adopted totally different approaches to the production of their kits. Frog's kit, which sells in the UK at four shillings and sixpence, is a simple model without rivet detail or other elaborations, while Revell's kit, at eight shillings and sixpence, features a mass of fine detail, opening cowlings revealing the engines, appreciably more cockpit detail, and so on. The latter manufacturer's kit is also the more accurate of the two—the wing chord of the Frog model is too narrow, and the shapes of the nose and cabin are less realistic than those of the Revell model.

The component parts of both kits are cleanly pressed and assemble well. Revell has adopted some unusual assembly features, such as splitting the fuselage horizontally rather than vertically, and plugging the inner and outer wing sections into the engine nacelles instead of attaching the latter to the wings in the fashion chosen by Frog. These innovations are worthwhile in the hands of the skilled modeller for, while rendering the kit rather more difficult to assemble, they do result in a superior model. Both kits contain good instruction and transfer sheets, and, a point in its favour, Frog's includes swastikas. One error in the description of the colour scheme for both kits—He 219s were finished in the standard night fighter scheme of the later war period of light grey with a darker grey mottle, and not light blue with a grey mottle. The choice between the two He 219 models will depend on the modeller's requirements and skill, for both are good value for money at their respective prices.

Messerschmitt's Me 410 Hornisse seems to have suffered an even unluckier career in miniature than that it suffered at full-scale. Some time ago we severely criticised the first kit of the Hornisse to appear on the market, and the second attempt, by Frog to 1/72nd scale, while better than its predecessor, is still of a standard that would hardly have won prizes ten years ago. It is reasonably accurate in outline, although the marked taper break on the wing trailing edge is suspect to say the least, and some cleaning up of nacelles and spinners will improve its appearance considerably. Detail is of a hamfisted standard that we had hoped had become extinct years ago, and this is the more surprising in view of the generally good record in this respect enjoyed by Frog. The fit of the component parts is so poor that some, notably the undercarriage doors, fit only where they touch. This disappointing kit's best features are undoubtedly the transfer sheet and the box art. Parts are included in the kit to enable the modeller to assemble either the Me 410A-1 fighter-bomber version of the Hornisse or the Me 410A-1/U4 bomber destroyer with the 50-mm BK 5 cannon, and markings for both versions are included on the transfer sheet which is accurate, beautifully printed, and matt finished. The box itself provides excellent four-view colour drawings displaying the colour scheme clearly and accurately. Lacking anything better, those wishing to include the Hornisse in their collections will have to purchase this second-rate model which, even at the very reasonable UK price of three shillings and eightpence, could be a great deal better than it is.

RAF Flying Review February, 1967, Vol. 22, No. 65

HONG KONG COMMENT - 19.5.68.

Hasegawa have released the Frog P-38, Gannet and Me410 retailing at ¥250.
Colin Bramwell

The IPMS magazine, Vol.5 No.6, JUNE 1968

HONG KONG COMMENT 12.6.68 by Colin Bramwell

Also to hand today is the Frog/Hasegawa Me.410 kit, which appears to have been moulded in U.K. w'ith the instruction sheet, stand, cement and decal sheet made and packed in Japan.

The IPMS magazine, Vol.5 No.7, JULY 1968

Revell

Ex Frog kits reissued. 1/72nd scale. Prices vary.

ALTHOUGH the Russian manufacturer Novo has re-issued many of the Frog kits, it has refused to touch models of anything connected with Germany, Italy or Japan. Happily this state of affairs has improved of late as Revell has released eleven of the old Frog kits under their banner. These include two kits that Frog never generally released to our knowledge, the Nakajima Zero RUFE floatplane and the Heinkel He115C-1 both quite good kits and to form the subject of larger reviews in a forthcoming issue.

The other kits will be more familiar to our readers and they are the Heinkel He162A-2, Focke Wulf Ta152H, Fiat G55, Messerschmitt Me Bf110G-4, Messerschmitt Me410 A-1/U-4, Arado Ar234 "Blitz", Heinkel He111 H-1 and Dornier Do17Z.

No attempt has been made at cleaning up the models as far as we can gather; decals - remain the same and the poor box art is also retained, which could have been improved upon. Gone too, lamentably, is the familiar Frog full colour painting guide but these are well laid out on the detailed instruction leaflets which are indeed an improvement on the originals.

Reviews of most of the reissued kits have already appeared in post issues of SM so we resist the temptation to reiterate. These modellers to whom the kits will be new may care to look up the following references. We reviewed the Ta152 in the February 1971 issue, the Do17Z in the October 1971 issue, the Me110 in the September 1971 issue, the Heinkel He111 in the September 1972 issue and the Do335 in the July 1975 issue. Current prices range from 40p for the He162, Ta152, Rufe and Fiat G55, 80p for the Me110G-4, Me410, and Do335 to £1.15 for the Ar234, He111, He115and Do17Z. Interesting to reflect that the He111 was 81p six years ago, so the enthusiast has little to grumble about.

Someday, someone will sit down and write the history of the Frog kit right from its inception, via Penguins and up to the seventies- and it will make fascinating reading ...
ED

Scale Models Vol. 9 No. 101 February 1978

NEW AND IN VIEW

LINDBERG Me 410 and Arado 234 both to l/72nd scale, Hot yet available in the U.K., U.S. price 50 cents.

It is unfortunate that neither of these kits compares in either detail or accuracy with contemporary models from other manufacturers. The panel and rivet detail is kept to a minimum and the quality of the green plastic is quite good, but outline shapes are very suspect; the Ar234 is the more accurate of the two. The cockpit canopies are moulded in two halves which means that on the Ar234 the one-piece nose-canopy moulding is spoiled by a very obvious joint-line which is virtually impossible to camouflage or disguise. That on the 410 is similarly split into two halves and although we feel that this may have been felt to be necessary to obtain the correct bulged effect of the rear of the canopy sides, in fact they are not bulged at all! Again one has the thankless task of trying to disguise this obvious joint line. The instructions on the 410 are in error, in that the completed model illustrated has been incorrectly assembled with the wheel covers attached to the nacelles along their sides, whereas in fact they were hinged along their forward edges, and the wheels have been put on the outsides of the oleos; they should of course be on the inside, facing inwards. The characteristic angle of the wheels has also been omitted; these were not parallel to the oleo in front view but at quite a sharp angle to it. Though the average modeller could correct these faults, the errors in the wing shape, the spacing of the engines and the shapes of the spinners and tailplane are so great as to render this kit beyond redemption, especially in view of the imminent release by Frog of an Me 410. The Ar234 is worth getting, as no-one is producing a kit of this aircraft; with a good deal of work in tidying up the shapes of wings and cowlings it would be possible to make a fair representation of the original. We recommend that the drawing in "Famous Bombers of the Second World War" Vol.II be used for reference. From this, both the errors in the shapes of the parts and omissions from the transfer sheet will be apparent.

I.P.M.S. MAGAZINE, Vol.3 No.9, SEPTEMBER 1966

NEW TO YOU?
MATCHBOX' Messerschmitt Me 410. 1/72nd scale. Price 55p.

THE rather underrated Messerschmitt Me 410 made its operational debut over British shores during June 1943. A development of the earlier (and unsuccessful) Me 210 which it closely resembled, the 410 was said to have fine handling characteristics and an excellent performance.

The Me 410 A-1 made up the first production batch. These aircraft were fitted with an internal bay that could accommodate a wide range of weapons. The 410 A2/U4 (one of the variants in the kit) was designed as a bomber/destroyer and consequently armed with a BK5, 50mm cannon mounted beneath the nose. This carried 21 rounds in a circular breech. The unique remote controlled lateral MG131 machine guns mounted in their streamlined barbettes were a standard fixture.

Comparison with scale drawings (MAP Plan Pack 2890) indicates a slightly stretched, though not noticeably so, wing-span, but overall the model checks out to scale very well indeed. Of particular note is the more restrained panel detailing and very fine trailing edges, although quite a lot of detailing could be added. The circular inspection plates on the wing (from 5 thou polycard) for example, and the addition of mass balances to the ailerons from sprue.

Airscrew blades are a little narrow in chord and the wheels appear to be a 1/32 in. too narrow in section. Nevertheless this is definitely one of Matchbox's better kits and coupled with an excellent decal sheet is extremely good value.

Fit of parts is reasonable, although some filler is required around such areas as wing and tail roots, nose transparency and nacelle halves. The decals enable the modeller to finish his kit in the markings of a Me 410 A-2/4 of 5/2G 26 'Horst Wesse!' or an Me 410 B-1 of 1/KG 51 'Edelweiss'.

Not a popular subject with manufacturers this new 'Hornisse' should prove to be a welcome addition to any representative collection of German Luftwaffe types. An example of the full size aircraft is on display at the RAF Museum, Hendon.for six months in the special German Exhibition. MAP Plan Pack in two scales costs 35p including postage and packing.
S.L.A.

Scale Models Vol 7 No 77 FEBRUARY 1976