FROG F243 Chance Vought Corsair F4U-1D

NEW AND IN VIEW

Although we had no information other than that generally released to the public on new items from Frog, our local stockist has recently received supplies of their latest releases, the Heinkel III H1/H6 and Chance Vought Corsair F4U-1D.

We purchased one of each to see what was what and the result is rather mixed feelings.

Taking the Corsair first this is one of the 21p. packet series like the Hellcat, moulded in grey plastic and with the card assembly instructions and colouring details. Dimensionally and 'shapewise' the kit checks out well and is quite accurate.. . the purist will shave one or two slivers here and there to get it just so, but it is fairly good except for a fair bit of flash. When I open Frogs more recent offerings I have a distinct impression that the job was started by someone who knew what he was doing and was really interested, but finally finished up with the all too often met, couldn't care less bod, who wanted to finish it before finishing time on Friday. Surface detail is nicely scribed, but Frog's trade mark of clumsy, thick trailing edges once again is there. The method of splitting the mould for the wing top and bottom should give a knife sharp T/E like the Japs obtain, but instead we get the thick edge and compound it with a horrid gap as gap between the wings and control surfaces. It would just about be possible to trap your foot in the gap scaled to full size). Rather than mould a wing root integral with the fuselage Frog have tried to produce a complex compound curve at the wing end to match the fuselage - it almost comes off, but the effort was too much and the result is the slot for the stbd. wing has to be re-cut and the whole wing realigned, otherwise it sits lower on the fuselage than the port wing. I found the best way to handle this problem was to attach the port wing to the fus, strap it to a flat length of wood with dihedral/anhedral set correctly, and fit the stbd wing strapping this down also with correct setting. A little twisting and the fus could be set to dry mounted with the fin truly vertical. The result needs a fair amount of fille. The tail plane is similary mis-set and needs realigning.

The transfers are good standard, but will cause controversy with the darker shade or the Pacific theatre blue. This was correct on a fresh painted aircraft but paint rapidly weathered so if you wish to finish the model as well-weathered use faded decals from another source. I do rather question the dark outline on the decals as I consider this should be the same shade of blue as the roundal.

The IPMS magazine, JUNE 1972. Vol. 9 No. 6

Model Enthusiast
A pair of "standards" from Frog

One of the more remarkable aspects of the modelling scene is the fact that, despite the proliferation of kits of World War IPs "standards", some of the true immortals of that conflict are still represented by only one kit, or by kits that are so inaccurate that they are simply not worth purchasing.

Frog's other "standard" is a l/72nd scale kit of the F4U Corsair which makes up into a really good, accurate, and finely-detailed model which is easy to assemble providing some care is taken with the wing root joint. Decals are provided for a Corsair IV of No 1842 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, and for an F4U-1D of the Royal New Zealand Air Force, and the usual excellent colour scheme drawing is provided. It is certainly good value at its UK price of 21p, and our only reservation is engendered by doubts concerning a sizeable market for a l/72nd kit of this aircraft, as most modellers who want to include this war-plane in their collections will surely have already made it. After all, there have been so many kits of the Corsair available for so long.

Air Enthusiast 1972-08 Vol3 No2

Modelling world
New Frog kits

A VERY happy event for modellers has recently taken place with the first releases of new kits from Frog after its troubles. Although I have harshly criticised certain aspects of individual Frog kits, as well as given praise where due, I for one would have been extremely sorry if the name of Frog had disappeared from the shelves of our model shops. Frog was the pioneer of the plastic kit, with its far-sighted pre-war Penguin series, and its demise would have been a tragedy. Frog has always deserved praise for its choice of kit subjects, which in the past have included many interesting, if possibly less-popular subjects instead of concentrating only on "dead-cert" commercial lines. These have included such kits as the Wyvern, Tupolev SB-2, Vimy, Vampire FB5, Southern Cross (Fokker FVII-3m), Ta-152, etc, which were not likely to have been produced by the majority of manufacturers. Frog has shown commendable courage in some of its kit subjects and I hope that modellers will give it the support it deserves. On the other side of the coin I hope that Frog will continue to produce kits of the more unusual aviation subjects as well as the more commercial types, and ensure the accuracy and moulding quality of its kits.

Frog's second release is another kit of the Chance Vought Corsair F4U-1D (the World War II naval fighter, not to be confused with the present day Corsair II). To me, it is a pity that kit manufacturers continually bring out new kits of aircraft types that are already well catered for by excellent existing models. I am all for replacing an existing kit of dubious quality by one of high accuracy and improved standards and to adding a new kit of some type that has been neglected in the past. There are a number of well-known types that are still only represented in 1/72 scale by largely inaccurate and indifferent quality kits, and replacement of these would be welcomed by modellers. Even such types as the Fw190A, Spitfire, Hurricane, Wellington, Junkers Ju88, and Mosquito have yet to be produced accurately in 1 /72 scale, and there are still many other well-known aircraft that could be the subject of additional kits. There have been so many cases where several manufacturers have produced a kit of some well-known type—even the same mark— and for another manufacturer to release yet another kit of the same type. Frog's Corsair is at least the third kit of the type in 1/72 scale and all are of the F4U-1D version. To be fair, if Frog felt it was necessary to add the Corsair to its range there was little else it could do but choose this version again. The earlier "flat top" type would have been nice to have, but commercially probably less attractive.

All this said and done, Frog's Corsair is an outstanding kit and probably the best in most respects of any Corsair produced so far. The moulding is clean and the fit of parts good. Many of the smaller components are beautifully reproduced and delicate—many in fact requiring care not to break them when removing from the sprue. This model scores over other kits of this fighter particularly in jespect of radiator detailing, main undercarriage units and wheels, and the tail whee1/ arrester hook assembly, all of which look very convincing. The general outline is accurate. Care must be exercised in setting the correct wing dihedral.

Transfers are provided for two aircraft— a Corsair IV of 1842 Squadron operating from HMS Formidable in July 1945, and a F4U-1 D Corsair of 2 Support Unit Wing of the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1945.

Cost of this excellent kit is 21 p.

Aircraft Illustrated 1972-08

NEW TO YOU ?

SINCE OUR announcements of Trade Fair kits last month, some have started to trickle through already, like the Corsair A7D from MATCHBOX (see page 279 this month). More Matchbox goodies have since arrived, the Me Bf109E, and an earlier Corsair, an F4U4 of the U.S.M.C.

There are many 1/72nd versions of this aircraft, and the Matchbox kit, if a few things are corrected, stands up as one of the better reproductions of this machine.

Moulded in dark and light blue plastic the kit embodies fine engraved detail, and this is much better than the earlier attempts, though the use of this to emulate fabric covering on the wings is a mistake, the toolmaker would have done better to use the same technique as on the rudder.

The kit assembles easily but like the other Corsair the cockpit area is neglected, only a bulkhead and seat being provided. We built up a floor and instrument panel from plastic card, added a new seat and harness from adhesive tape just to fill the space. Interior is Humbrol Chromate Green.

The model contains a few anomalies. For a start (although unimportant) the instruction sheet shows a three-bladed airscrew, where in reality it should be a four-blader (as provided), four wing guns are included but the box art and other references show six internally mounted guns, so the wing should be assembled and the slots filled with putty. Radio antennae is not included for the forward fuselage, although this is shown on box art and photos of the full size, but stretched sprue can easily cure this.

There are few parts, but this Corsair really looks the part, although other items such as u/c doors may need replacing, and also the rather crude arrestor hook.

The undercarriage, wheels especially, is well detailed and the power-plant likewise, and thin trailing edges are some of the kit's good points.

Decals are colourful and provide a choice of markings, although the small 8 for the cowling of the VMF-211 version was missing from our sheet.

The blue portion is best cut away from the insignia and the stars and bars applied to the blue finish of the aircraft. Decals are rather thin, i.e. the blue tends to show through the white areas somewhat.

But don't be too put off by our remarks, the faults we mentioned are of that not too important kind that doubtless the manufacturer will correct in future production runs. The Corsair is reasonably priced at 26p in the UK and is available now.