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FROG ENGINES!

VINTAGE CHATTER! PART 20

AUTHOR: DAVID WIGGINS GREAT BRITAIN

H

i there, last month we checked out the small 1.46 cc

Hornet diesel from E.D. Ltd and discussed its suitability for

an Aerokits Sea Scout previously described. This month

I move on to slightly bigger fare in the form of a perhaps better

known 3.5 cc class engine from Frog (an AA Hales trademark/

brand part of the big Lines Brothers group of toy companies).

The Frog 349 I’m featuring this time was a pretty powerful

engine in the medium sized diesel class and sat near to the top

of the comprehensive Frog engine range. By the 1960s a 3.5

had become a hugely popular class of marine engine being ideally

suited to big selling, medium sized boat kits like the H.M.M.

Wavemaster, the Aerokits Sea Commander or Veron Marlin as

well as the many popular 34" loa cabin cruiser plans designed by

Vic Smeed. It competed directly against the very popular E.D.

Hunter and the Amco 3.5 cc in both ball and plain bearing versions

and with other British engines.

As you see Hales went to the trouble of manufacturing a decent

quality brass water jacket and flywheel set for the marine version

of this big, single ball raced, medium sized diesel and they were

consequently rewarded with good sales among the boat men of

the period whether favouring radio or free running. Together with

its 2.5 cc brother it remained a popular choice well into the early

seventies.

SOME HISTORY

Frog had already earned itself a pedigree in model engine

design being among Britain’s very first manufacturers of

miniature, compression ignition/diesel aero engines during the

1940s with its first Frog 100 (1 cc). There’s no doubt that a

proven track record like that was a big plus for Hales as model

making gradually emerged from the doldrums of World War 2

with expanding sales as well as exciting new advances like radio

control during the early to mid-1950s. By the late ‘50s and with

a few more pennies spare in many people’s pockets, as a result

of the relaxation of various post war government restrictions,

together with an increased choice of attractive products coming

to the market it was set to be ‘all systems go’ for the British

model industries. Thus by 1960 or so it became a golden era for

modelling especially as radio became more attainable.

22 APRIL 2015 http://www.marinemodelmagazine.com

My own example of

the popular Frog 349

marine diesel

The very first (1940s)

Frog model engine – the

Frog 100 (1 cc) diesel

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