Die Bausätze sind in alphabetischer
Sortierung nach der Bezeichnung des Herstellers aufgelistet.
• 4-Kits Pack
Red Star Model Kits
Beinhaltet:
Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3,
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3,
Jakowlew Jak-3,
Anatra Anasal DSS
#RS1/4 aus 1983 (Erste Auflage)
Maßstab 1:72
Entwickelt 1977 von
FROG-Rovex, jedoch durch Konkurs von FROG und geplatzem NOVOEXPORT Deal
nicht realisiert, erst 1983 durch RED STAR auf den Markt gekommen. Die ganze
verworrene Geschichte um diese Bausätze kann man in diesem ›Artikel
nachlesen.
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• Einzelausgaben im Plastikbeutel/Headercard
Anatra Anasal DSAnatra Anasal DSS
#RS201 aus 1984 (Erste
Auflage 1983 #RS1/4
im 4er-Set)
Maßstab 1:72, 47 Teile
Entwickelt im November 1977 von FROG-Rovex, geplant als #F312.
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Lavochkin Lagg 3Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3
#RS102
aus 1984 (Erste Auflage 1983 #RS1/4
im 4er-Set)
Maßstab 1:72, 29 Teile
Entwickelt im Juli 1977 von FROG-Rovex, geplant als #F310.
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Mikoyan Gurevich MiG 3Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3
#RS101 aus
1984 (Erste Auflage 1983 #RS1/4
im 4er-Set)
Maßstab 1:72, 28 Teile
Entwickelt im April 1977 von FROG-Rovex, geplant als #F308.
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schließen...
Yakovlev Yak 3Jakowlew Jak-3
#RS103 aus 1984 (Erste
Auflage 1983 #RS1/4
im 4er-Set)
Maßstab 1:72, 27 Teile
Entwickelt im Oktober 1977 von FROG-Rovex, geplant als #F311.
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›
schließen...
The Red Star Story
''FROG Model Aircraft 1932-1976, Richard Lines & Leif Hellström''
Red Star RS1/4
Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3, Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3, Jakowlew Jak-3,
Anatra Anasal DSS, scale 1:72
Red Star Model Kits Ltd, distributed by CMS Marketing International, 1983,
four kits pack
Red Star Model Kits Ltd., 16 Whitecroft Road, Beckenham, Kent, England BR3
3AG
Of the 169
FROG moulds completed from 1955 to 1977, only six are believed still to
remain in Great Britain. Two of these (the
Dennis Ambulance and
Firefly Dinghy moulds) are with Hornby Hobbies and the other four with
Red Star.
These four are the so-called "Russian" moulds completed by Rovex
specifically for use in the USSR, but in the end never sent there. After
several attempts to sell them to established kit producers, the
NOVO receivers finally found a buyer in the Red Star company; a small
firm with a rather unusual story behind it.
The story of Red Star goes back to 1982 when Jim Chapman - the subsequent
founder of Red Star - took a holiday in the Soviet Union.
Before departure he made enquiries to discover where he might be able to
purchase kits for his own use. Before he left he heard from the relevant
Soviet authority, who also advised him that the possibility of importing a
range of ex-Frog kits to the West was under active consideration.
On his return home, he contacted the Soviet import agency with a view to
offer advice on the proposed import project. The initial advice took the
form of a review of the alternative kits available.
This led to further meetings where it became obvious that the agents had
rather vague ideas on the choice of suitable kit subjects and not much
practical knowledge on matters such as packaging and decals (at one point a
peel-off/stick-on type of markings was seriously considered, and some test
sheets on white backing paper were printed!). The question of finding a
suitable distributor was also pending, but in the end the agents choose
Capital Models Supply (CMS)...[
See Novoexport for more details of this
operation]...
During his enquiries for the CMS import project, Jim discovered the
existence of the four moulds later acquired by Red Star. Initially he was
asked to cost a scheme to acquire and market these moulds as an ancillary
project to the main import scheme. Although his report showed this to be
feasible, the Soviets did not wish to proceed until the main scheme was well
under way.
As by this time he had invested a considerable amount of effort in the
project, Jim Chapman was however reluctant to see the moulds disappear to
Eastern Europe. He therefore put forward a proposal to a number of people to
see if a consortium could be put together to handle the moulds without
Soviet involvement.
After a number of false starts and changes in the expected participants, a
company was arranged to handle the scheme. This was Glenprime Ltd., but the
name was soon changed to Red Star Model Kits Ltd. By July 1983 they were
ready to go into production and on October 31st CMS - who had been appointed
sole distributor - took delivery of the first 3,000 of the 7.000
four-kit sets ordered by them. In the event, only about 2.000 of these
were sold as sets, the balance being repacked singly in polythene bags with
header cards, mainly to meet US orders received by CMS in the spring of
1984. Most sets had a red and white label, but a few of the last ones sold
after October 1984 had this replaced by a photocopy.
After CMS went into receivership in August 1984, attempts to get the
intended backers of CMS' Soviet import scheme to continue were unsuccessful.
Jim then put forward various schemes whereby the Soviets could act as their
own distributors for at least a limited scheme. When none of these proposals
had elicited much of a response by March 1985, Red Star offered to run such
a project on behalf of the Soviets and - to ensure that there was no
financial risk to the Soviets - offered to surrender Red Star's moulds as
payment.
This scheme was initially accepted but then the Soviets changed their mind
and progress stopped. Other proposals covered an exchange of moulds to
enable production to take place in England but this was also turned down.
Finally a simple offer to purchase kits for cash was put forward. This was
accepted in December 1985 and an initial range of nine kits (all from the
DFI factory) was agreed upon. Of these, the
Maryland was subsequently dropped as a small mould defect was found.
It was hoped that a further sixteen types (including the
Sea Venom and
Whitley) would follow later. In addition, the Soviets offered delivery
of 1,000
Shackletons from existing stocks. But nothing has happened since and Red
Star are still waiting for their kits.
Apparently the Soviets developed cold feet at the last moment and the future
of the deal is somewhat uncertain. It is possible that the recent large
exports to Eastern bloc countries (to pay for food imports to the nuclear
stricken Ukraine) has taken up much of the available capacity. There are two
hopeful signs, however. The first is the Soviets' undeniable interest in
acquiring the Red Star moulds.
The second is the recent changes in Soviet hierarchy. Fresh approaches have
recently been made so there is still hope. In anticipation of the first
Soviet deliveries, Red Star commissioned new artwork for the
Skua,
Vengeance and
Ventura. In addition, new decals were designed for the Skua and Ventura.
This work was done by Dick Ward of Modeldecal, who also did the previous Red
Star decals. Meanwhile, production of the first four kits was (temporarily)
suspended in March 1987.
By then, total production was as follows:
MiG-3 12,500,
LaGG-3 11,500,
Anatra 9,500 and
Yak-3 8,500 pieces.
Mould problems have necessitated a few small adjustments, as can be seen
when comparing with samples produced by Rovex. A small batch of review
samples was made in translucent white and bulk production in medium grey.
