FROG F277, Boeing B-47E Strato-jet, Rovex industries ltd, 1969
The IPMS magazine, APRIL 1969 VOL. 6 No.4
NEW AND IN VIEW New Aircraft Kits
HASEGAWA. Boeing B-47E. 1/72 scale. Price 1000 yen (Japan)
This is a very good model indeed, and makes an excellent companion for Monogram's B-52.
The parts are very neatly pressed in silver plastic of good quality. They fit together well, but great care must be taken with their assembly, as a number of the locating pins fit slackly in their holes, and it is therefore easy to misalign such items as the fuselage halves and engine pods. If this happens, the model will be spoilt.
The parts must also be cut, not broken, from their sprues. The gates by which they are attached are thick, and if care is not taken, damage will be caused to the smaller components.
The straight-line surface detail is very fine, and a great deal of detail is also provided in the cockpit and bomb bays. Rather surprisingly, the bomb doors have to be cemented into place in either the open or closed positions, and neither does the undercarriage retract. Happily, the model's design is such that these parts can be made to operate with the minimum of difficulty, especially as the bomb bay and undercarriage doors fit with extreme precision.
The decal sheet is simple and well-printed and the instructions, though in Japanese, easy to follow.
Provided that proper care is taken, this kit will assemble into an excellent model of this important warplane of the immediate past. Though not cheap, it is well worth its price.
***
Modelling world
by James Goulding
Recent Frog/Hasegawa releases
Boeing B-47E
This impressive model of the famous American jet-bomber is l/72nd scale, and is one of the largest available. For all its size it is really quite simple and straightforward, and will not cause even inexperienced modellers any undue difficulty. Basically, it consists of fuselage, wing and tail-plane halves, and parts for the engine pods and pylons. The most detailed and complicated parts of the model are the two undercarriage bays in the fuselage and the bomb bay. The latter is fully stocked with twenty-four 5001b bombs. These are of the short, World War II type, and are stowed one above the other in a similar manner to those in American World War II bombers. This makes an interesting comparison with the Valiant, Vulcan and Victor all of which have bomb bays of great length and large volume, with retractable doors. The Valiant and Vulcan can stow an internal bomb load of twenty-one 1 0001b bombs, and the Victor no less than thirty-five 1 0001b bombs. In view of the short length of the bomb bay of the B-47E, it must be presumed that the largest American nuclear bombs of this period were short and fat. In the kit, separate bomb-bay doors are provided, and a crew entrance ladder adds a touch of realism.
Generally, this is a fine model. It is accurate in outline and in detail. The moulding of the compressor blading in the intakes is particularly noteworthy, although on my sample kit there was quite a lot of "flash" on the moulding. Transfers—well up to the high standard always expected in Frog kits these days—give modellers the choice of making their B-47 represent an aircraft from either the 301st or 380th Bombardment Wings of Strategic Air Command.
Hasegawa is to be congratulated for having the courage to produce a kit of this bomber in l/72nd scale. May I put forward my own personal plea to the firm to produce kits of the Victor and Vulcan (and Valiant, too, if possible!). A Victor tanker would make a companion model for such types as the Phantom, Harrier, Lightning and Buccaneer. Price of the B-47 kit is 49s 6d.
AIRCRAFT Illustrated, September 1969
FROM FROG
THREE new kits from Frog, all to 1:72 scale, feature the Tupolev SB-2 bomber, the Douglas Boston (a re-issue), and the RA-5C Vigilante. Of these, perhaps the SB-2 holds most interest as kits of Russian aircraft arc few and far between. The SB-2 will obviously be snapped up by many enthusiasts, so it's unfortunate then that the SB-2 falls well below Frog's recent high standards. The clue to this may lie in the transfer sheet which shows evidence of the Frog style of two or three years ago and has a supplementary sheet included, with additional markings missing from the main sheet. The kit itself has more flash than we've seen in a kit for some time, and some of the parts (in our sample at least) were poorly moulded with the two halves of parts like propcllors not matching up at all. In many cases, too, the fit of the parts is not good and it needs considerable work with file and craft knife to get an acceptable model. However, the SB-2 is an unusual and attractive model, and the kit includes optional ski undercarriage and optional propellors—though no indication of which version has which. Transfers and colour art arc provided for Soviet, German, Spanish Nationalist, and Czech aircraft. Priced at 6s, the kit is still a 'good buy' despite its faults.
Second kit is the old Frog Boston III, now re-boxed and given new transfers and presentation. From memory of the original issue, there also appears to have been an attempt to iron out an inaccurate bump from the belly of the fuselage. New and attractive transfers are provided for a RAAF Boston III of 22 Sqn with an optional set for a Havoc Intruder of 418 Sqn RCAF. Particularly with the new transfers, this kit is definitely worthwhile as far as available Boston kits go. Price is 6s.
Finally a magnificent kit, ex-Hasegawa, of the RA-5C Vigilante. In the best Hase-gawa tradition this is a nicely moulded kit with all the parts fitting together very neatly. Priced at 15s, it is quite a monster compared with the other two models, and comes complete with a choice of two sets of markings and appropriate colour art on the box. The standard is comparable to that of the recent Frog B-47 kit. All our samples were supplied by Jones Bros of Chiswick, who hold stocks of these and all other Frog kits. C.O.E.
Airfix Magazine, 1970-03, Vol.11 No.07
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