verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . january 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message frog was a well known british brand of flying model aircraft and scale model construction kits from the 1930s to the 1970s . the company s first model an interceptor mk . 4 was launched in 1932 followed in 1936 by a range of 1 72 scale model aircraft kits made from cellulose acetate which were the world s first . polystyrene models were introduced in 1955 that offered kits of aircraft ships and cars in various scales . by the 1970s frog s catalogue included a large number of lesser known aircraft types manufactured only by the company as well as a number of ship kits . the last frog branded kits were produced in 1976 . contents 1 history 1.1 demise 2 model kit product ranges 3 in popular culture 4 see also 5 references 5.1 notes 5.2 bibliography 6 external links history edit founded in 1931 by charles wilmot and joe mansour international model aircraft ltd. ima originally used the frog brand name said to stand for flies right off the ground on the interceptor mk .4 semi scale rubber band powered flying model launched the following year . also in 1932 a marketing partnership with the toy company lines bros ltd. was formed and other frog brand flying models followed . in 1936 a range of 1 72 scale aircraft models in kit or pre built form moulded in cellulose acetate was launched under the frog penguin name alluding to the non flying nature of these models . these were the world s first plastic model construction kits . an early release was the no. 21p empire flying boat issued in 1938 . during the second world war the company produced flying models for target purposes and 1 72 scale aircraft recognition models . the penguin range was dropped in 1949 but a new range of frog polystyrene kits was introduced in 1955 . a wide variety of aircraft ship and car subjects in various scales were issued during the 1950s and 60s 1 72 scale being standardised on from 1963 onwards for aircraft models . production of scale and non scale flying models continued into the early 1960s . frog s 1 72 lineup by the 1970s including a large number of lesser known aircraft types that were not available from any other manufacturer at the time such as the avro shackleton martin baltimore and maryland vultee vengeance curtiss tomahawk blackburn shark and skua bristol 138 and beaufort tupolev sb2 supermarine attacker and scimitar armstrong whitworth whitley gloster javelin de havilland vampire hornet and dh 110 dewoitine d. 520 macchi mc202 folgore fokker d21 hawker sea fury and tempest fairey gannet barracuda and firefly general aircraft hotspur focke wulf ta 152h messerschmitt me 410 arado ar 234 heinkel he 162 dornier do 335 heinkel he 219 gloster e. 28 39 north american mustang ii vickers vimy ryan nyp spirit of st louis de havilland gypsy moth jason and the westland wallace . frog also produced a line of larger sized aircraft as 1 96 scale models subjects including the bristol britannia douglas dc 7 vickers valiant avro vulcan handley page victor de havilland comet and the vickers viscount . a lone airship model was of the r100 . in addition to aircraft models frog also produced a number of ship kits four examples being the mv shell welder coastal oil tanker the thlv south goodwin lightship hms tiger and an rnli lifeboat . from 1968 frog issued around thirty ex hasegawa kits mostly 1 72 scale modern jet fighters some 1 32 scale ww ii era fighters and 1 450 scale battleships . 1 in france due to cultural disquiet over the word frog these kits were sold and marketed under the tri ang brand whilst in north america for similar reasons the frog name was thought unacceptable and the kits were re packaged as air lines a clever allusion to lines brothers ltd the founders of ima tri ang . demise edit in 1971 ima s parent company now rovex tri ang entered receivership and was acquired by dunbee combex marx the following year . during the mid 1970s some of the frog kit moulds were transferred to various factories in the soviet union and the kits began to re appear under the novo brand name . moulds of second world war axis powers subjects were acquired by revell around 1977 the axis types having been declined by novo . the last frog branded kits were produced in 1976 . in more recent years some ex frog novo kits have been re issued by revell and various east european manufacturers . model kit product ranges edit this section needs expansion . you can help by adding to it . january 2014 model subjects produced by frog over the years include aircraft 1 72 1 96 and other scales covering aircraft from world war i to cold war era . famous warships various scales mostly world war ii era . in popular culture edit on 9 december 2008 on the bbc2 programme flog it a child s walking aid toy namely a teddy bear on tri ang wheels was shown being auctioned at calder valley auction house for the sum of 85.00 . on the left flank of the bear is sewn a label stating that it was manufactured by international model aircraft ltd. see also edit airfix aurora esci hasegawa heller italeri matchbox monogram revell tamiya skybirds references edit notes edit john w. burns the collectors value guide for scale model plastic kits sixth edition 1994 bibliography edit lines richard and hellstr m leif . frog model aircraft 1932 1976 . london new cavendish books 1989 . isbn 0 904568 63 6 . external links edit the frog penguin website the frog kit collector s site wayback machine archive the path to jetex igor krasnoselski s frog aircraft models list novo kits website russian a 1937 flight advertisement for frog flying scale models a 1939 advertisement for frog penguins models a frog 1960 flying models catalogue retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title frog models & oldid 738414291 categories model manufacturersdefunct companies of the united kingdomdefunct toy manufacturerscompanies established in 1931toy companies of the united kingdommodel aircrafthidden categories articles needing additional references from january 2014all articles needing additional referencesarticles to be expanded from january 2014all articles to be expandedarticles using small message boxesarticles with russian language external links navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages espa olitaliano edit links this page was last modified on 8 september 2016 at 20 29 . text 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