BOOK: The history of FROG Penguin modelkits 1936-1950

[petervanlune]

Hi!
I wanted to let all of you know that a five+ year work on a book about the history of FROG Penguin model kits is turning into reality... The past decade or so you and I have seen publications of several books on Airfix (of course...), Monogram, Heller, Revell, Matchbox, etc. For years I have been working to fill a gap - a book about the range that started it all way back in 1936.
Some have responded that all there is to know about the Penguin kits has already been described by Lines/Hellström in their excellent book in 1989. They did a fine job indeed, but I was happy to discover a lot more, enough new material that deserves a new book, entirely devoted to the Penguin kits.
I know the amount of kit modellers that remember building these kits are few compared to the ranges that made our hobby popular, but still... All of them owe a great deal to the initiators of plastic kit modelling, Charles and John Wilmot along with Joe Mansour.
I have been able to get the cooperation of Richard Lines and many collectors, modellers, etc. around the world, who all were willing to share their experience, knowledge, information, photos, etc. so anyone interested in our hobby can read about how it all started.
I have spent a huge amount of time and effort to make my dream become reality and I will keep you updated on my project.
Regards,
Peter van Lune
The Netherlands

[Eric Mc]

Should be good - but why stop at 1950?

I would suggest that Frog's post 1950 period (1950 to 1976) was their golden era and there are far more people around today (like me ) who remember building those models. Indeed, as you can see from this forum - we still build them.

Maybe that can be your second book.

[petervanlune]

Why stop at 1950...

The last Penguin kit to be released was in January 1947 and some of the last stock may well have lasted until 1950-52. By 1947-48 IMA decided to quit the Penguin range and around 1955 their new polysterene range was started, the first of the more popular kits that lasted well into the 1970's.
One has to draw a line... The Penguin range has a definate beginning and ending, has certain specifics (as well as limitations...) and history. One that definately ended around 1950. It was the range that started it all - all manufacturers after this date owe a great deal to the work FROG did between 1936-50...
Many of these manufacturers have been documented in the past decade or so, including the entire FROG range in the excellent work of Lines/Hellström - but a seperate book on the Penguin range was still missing...
I discovered that I had enough material that would deserve just that kind of book - many more details, photos, information, the relationship between the Penguin range and all the kits that followed, etc. etc. to justify the publication of a book solely focussed on the Penguin kits.
From other collectors I know that much more can be told about the FROG post-1955 range, apart from what L/H have written, but I leave that to those who wish to embark on that journey - I just wanted to do what I am interested in most, that is the Penguins...
After reading it, I am convinced you will understand why I did it

[Eric Mc]

I wish your book well - but I fear that the market will be rather limited due to the fact that the number of people who remember buying and buiding the early pre-war plastic kits is now a relatively small (and declining) group.

Let us know when it comes out and how to obtain it.

[petervanlune]

Thanks - much appreciated. You are correct to state that the market may be limited - of all the brand names Penguin stands out because it predates all the others. But I aim not only to those who are interested because of (childhood) memories, but also to those who are interested in reading about how and why our beloved hobby once started - perhaps while waiting for paint to dry or a book to read before sleeping ...
Plastic modelling has a relative young history - many of the firsthand witnesses and workers are gone or have reached respectable ages by now. My account is not just a list of facts and figures, but is mingled with personal stories, sometimes moving to read. The Penguins emerged just as a toy for boys (and boys a little older...), but soon found themselves used as instruments to recognize friend from foe in a country at war. IMA used state-of-the-art techniques to make models with unheard of detailing in a world when usually wood or metal was used for models. They incorporated features that many manufacturers copied later on and made mistakes so others learned from it...
I was able to get the cooperation of fellow collectors from the USA, UK, France and Japan, and writers, museums, etc. from many other countries. I corresponded with Richard Lines (co-author of the well known book on FROG/1989) for several years and was happy to discover he was willing to share many memories, detail, documents, etc. Several other accounts can be found from modellers, now in their 80's (or even 90's...) - explaining how they built and loved their Penguin kits. Every reader will discover nothing has changed - the same ecstatic feelings when building and finishing a model kit still exist today...
My book is food for thoughts for collectors and modellers alike, a museum curator may finally find a complete picture of all there is to find at this moment about the Penguin range (much more than in L/H's book... rest assured...), an honest and reliable price guide in included, how to recognize a Penguin kit (or parts) when found at a street market, how to restore them to former glory, a description of the historical context 1939-45, their relation with the first other manufacturers like Varney and Hawk in the USA and Airfix in the UK, a new look at how exactly we ended up with the 1/72 scale...
Also included (although for some perhaps a little off-topic): IMA's involvement in products manufactured for the Ministry of War during 1939-45 and all I could find on how Charles & John Wilmot and Joe Mansour not only started IMA/FROG, but were involved in several other aeronautical projects - even deserved to be named as contributors to the first British post war rocket program.
Since I have been working on it for several years I kept a low profile for it, but now wish to tell others about it - so decided to let others on this forum know about it as well. Will keep you updated...

[MerlinJones]

I think the 'need' for such a book is emphasised by Eric's question...missing the 'Penguin' part of your title!
One suggestion would be to ensure that the 1950 cut-off doesn't appear in the title, as many might be put off by this.
The materials used with the Penguin kits and techniques would merit some inclusion. It was from those times that various fillers, adhesives and finishes were explored and developed, or cast aside.
In this world of extreme aftermarket, a reminder of more homely (and economical) methods could be useful.

Looking forward to getting a copy and congratulations on the hard work.

Regards,
Bruce

[petervanlune]

I think the 'need' for such a book is emphasised by Eric's question...missing the 'Penguin' part of your title!
One suggestion would be to ensure that the 1950 cut-off doesn't appear in the title, as many might be put off by this.
The materials used with the Penguin kits and techniques would merit some inclusion. It was from those times that various fillers, adhesives and finishes were explored and developed, or cast aside.
In this world of extreme aftermarket, a reminder of more homely (and economical) methods could be useful.

Looking forward to getting a copy and congratulations on the hard work.

Regards,
Bruce

Hope to understand correctly, if you hint at leaving out that the books focuses on the Penguin range and does stop at 1950... If so, then the answer is 'no', since I wish to explain in the title what the correct contents of the book are. The correct title will be "FROG Penguin - plastic model kits 1936-1950". Of course the wooden 1945 Penguin Series 9 are included, as well as a little sidestep to the other Penguin toys (cars, boats and toys).
L/H did a marvelous job with their epic work from 1989 and my book is meant as an indepth study of the page they devoted to the Penguin range. My aim is to dig deeper into one subject, instead of a broader (and more general) study of FROG post-1955. I think there are many others around who know a great deal more about that subject - I am a Penguin fan .
Would appreciate if you explain little more about the "The materials.... etc."...

[Eric Mc]

I like the idea that you are using personal anectdotes to tell the story. That's what makes a book readable - in my opinion. Too many books on model companies become a chronological listing of events and production schedules. Human interest is important when telling a story.

[petervanlune]

Thank you... That was just the idea I had in mind with this project. Of course it holds facts and figures, but I wanted it to be a reading book interesting for a wider audience, although has to be interested in plastic kits however ....

[MerlinJones]

...Would appreciate if you explain little more about the "The materials.... etc."...

Hi Peter,
Misunderstanding, upon misunderstanding.
My concern was that, by placing the 1950 date, you might put off potential buyers...especially those who didn't start their modelling until the 60's. Many will see the "FROG" and not the "Penguin". Those of us who are aware of CBK's would not make the error, but we are a smaller group in the greater population of modellers.

For the materials and techniques, I am aware that the modelling we do today, in terms of technique and material, was pioneered by those modellers of Penguin kits. Such modellers experimented with glues, paints and finishing methods. Obviously, there was no aftermarket and they worked with materials to hand, such as talc and dope.
Wanting more from their kits, the first vacforms were made, using Penguin kits as starting points.
Details were added by scratchbuilding, again, using whatever was to hand; card, paper, staples and paperclips, fusewire and Sellotape, tin cans and wood. The likes of Alan Hall and Bryan Phillpott cut their modelling teeth on Penguin kits.

Our extensive aftermarket owes its existence to those pioneers, inventors and obsessively mad modellers. Likewise, our modelling technique books and magazines.

Regardless, I for one will be looking forward to buying a copy of your book.

Regards,
Bruce

[petervanlune]

...Would appreciate if you explain little more about the "The materials.... etc."...

Hi Peter,
Misunderstanding, upon misunderstanding.
My concern was that, by placing the 1950 date, you might put off potential buyers...especially those who didn't start their modelling until the 60's. Many will see the "FROG" and not the "Penguin". Those of us who are aware of CBK's would not make the error, but we are a smaller group in the greater population of modellers.

For the materials and techniques, I am aware that the modelling we do today, in terms of technique and material, was pioneered by those modellers of Penguin kits. Such modellers experimented with glues, paints and finishing methods. Obviously, there was no aftermarket and they worked with materials to hand, such as talc and dope.
Wanting more from their kits, the first vacforms were made, using Penguin kits as starting points.
Details were added by scratchbuilding, again, using whatever was to hand; card, paper, staples and paperclips, fusewire and Sellotape, tin cans and wood. The likes of Alan Hall and Bryan Phillpott cut their modelling teeth on Penguin kits.

Our extensive aftermarket owes its existence to those pioneers, inventors and obsessively mad modellers. Likewise, our modelling technique books and magazines.

Regardless, I for one will be looking forward to buying a copy of your book.

Regards,
Bruce

Ok - guess title misunderstanding is now solved .

Re- materials: I have added a section "restoration" and describe several methods used by modellers with expertise (but also some honest disastrous mistakes...). I do not elaborate on any of the scratchbuilding techniques however, more the "straight-from-the-box" approach. I am afraid I do not know Alan Hall or Bryan Phillpott, maybe you can fill me in on this .

[Eric Mc]

Alan Hall and Bryan Phillpott (both now deceased) are iconic figures in the British plastic kit world.

They were both keen modellers (of course) but their main claim to fame was their willingness to write about their hobby and take steps to have their writings published.
Hall, in particular, almost single handedly, established the plastic scale model magazine in the UK, initially as editor of the (then) new “Airfix Magazine”. Later, he founded an aviation newspaper. Published every two weeks, “Aviation News”, which although essentially a newspaper covering "real" aircraft and aviation events, had a strong modelling element to it - particularly a set of centre spread 1/72 plans in every issue and also a kit review column.
Hall became well known for popularising the notion of converting kits rather than building them straight from the box.

In 1978, he went on to found “Scale Aircraft Modelling” as the first magazine devoted entirely to scale model aircraft building. From "Aviation News" and "Scale Aircraft Modelling", came the “Warpaint” series of monographs - which are still going strong.

Bryan Phillpott was another modeller who cut his teeth on the original “Airfix Magazine” and he went on to be involved in the "how to" guides which were published by Patrick Stephens Limited, often under the "Airfix" banner. He also wrote many non-modelling aviation titles.

[petervanlune]

Yes - do remember Alan Hall now, reading this - "Collegue" of David Farrar?

[Eric Mc]

I wouldn't know - but he worked with people like Richard Ward (of Modeldecals fame), Mike McEvoy and the late Ian Huntley.

[MerlinJones]

Back in the day, so few were the real modelling pioneers and so small the aftermarket and modelling-related publishing industry, I got the impression that they all got to know each other and it's well worth seeking out that generation for info. Ted Taylor is another chap who was there and, thankfully, still is!

Regards,
Bruce