Kit – Fighting Toy Stories

Frog Aircraft Kits

The Underdog

We have already seen in these pages how FROG created some of the earliest plastic construction kits during the 1930s. Post-war they dropped the range, but in 1955 relaunched it using a new type of plastic, polystyrene. Between 1963 and 1976, the range underwent a dramatic expansion, with 84 kits produced to a common 1:72 scale. There was, unsurprisingly, a focus on British subjects, and on the WW2 era. During this era, FROG were in competition with Airfix, and very much the underdog. How did the two compare?

Matchbox Military Kits

Entering the Land War

We have already discussed in these pages the innovative Matchbox range of 1:72 aircraft kits, and you will know that I just love their colour and variety. Not surprisingly, Matchbox also turned their attention to other subjects (e.g. vehicles and warships). Were these kits as impressive? Let’s take a look.

Pola HO Buildings

New-Fangled Ideas

The Shock of the New

I have mentioned elsewhere in these pages that I was an Airfix child, and I think I must have tried a kit from every range that Airfix produced! This included their series of buildings intended for railway layouts, an example of which I have already described.

Revell Aircraft Kits

Worth Framing?

Revell

When I grew up I was an Airfix lad, for the simple reason that their kits were everywhere – in local newsagents, Woolworths, everywhere. The only other brands that I remember from my childhood were the UK maker FROG, and Revell, both of which I regarded with scepticism because, well, they weren’t Airfix!

Airfix Military Series – Buildings

Something to Fight For

Battlefield Structures

In addition to providing their range of 1:32 soft plastic figures with transport and combat vehicles, Airfix also made some kits of buildings that they could fight over. One of these was the Strongpoint, a damaged building that one might find on any European battlefield of WW2.

Airfix Blisters – Conversions

Starting Rather Than Ending Points

Catering for Modellers

No matter how many kits manufacturers produce, there will always be subjects – many subjects – that aren’t covered. This may be simply because they haven’t got round to it yet, but often it is because they judge there won’t be sufficient demand to warrant the production costs. This can be especially true where a subject has many variants. Having modelled the most common version, the appetite for producing others is very low.

Skybirds – Competition

The Plastic Revolution

The Material of the Future?

While Skybirds were building a superior and successful range of model aircraft kits, a quiet revolution was taking place – the advent of plastic. It is thus often assumed that the writing was on the wall for Skybirds from the earliest days, but was it? To examine the question, we need to consider the challenge posed by FROG, a near-contemporary challenger to the Skybirds crown.