Not quite. FROG ceased producing kits in 1976/77 due to the collapse of the group of which they were a part. The moulds were sold by the receiver to the government of the Soviet Union in 1977. The Soviets could not pay for the moulds because they did not have hard currency. An arrangement was made that the initial batches of each kit from Russian production would be sold through a UK operation branded as "Novo". All packaging, instructions etc originated in the UK. These kits were sold into the UK market in Novo packaging until such time as the sale price of each mould was met. Once that had been achieved, the relevant model would no longer appear as a Novo kit. In fact, usually that meant that the kit disappeared from sale in the UK as all future production would be for the internal market of the Soviet Union.CementNotGlue wrote:Lovely job!
Novo took over the Frog mould in the 80s.
Most of kits packaged under Novo branding had disappeared by 1983/84. After that date, all kits destined for the Soviet markets, with much cruder packaging and poorer quality plastic and decals. Sometimes, small number of these poorly packaged models did find their way to the UK. I have a few in my stash even now.
