Fairey Swordfish Mk II by CDW - FINISHED - Tamiya - 1:48 Scale - Plastic

[CDW]

This is my build thread for the 1:48 scale Fairey Swordfish Mk. II by Tamiya. The model will be enhanced by an Eduard and Tamiya photo etch sets. 

 

The Fairey Swordfish Mk. I was introduced in 1934, but by the time WW2 broke out, it was already outdated. In May of 1941, Fairey Swordfish Mk. I torpedo bombers participated and were instrumental in the sinking of the Bismarck. In the attack on German battlecruisers during the Channel Dash in 1942, all the participating Swordfish torpedo bombers were lost in combat. As a result, the Swordfish was redeployed to anti-submarine warfare duties. The Mk. II variant was introduced in 1943 with a more powerful 750 h.p. Bristol Pegasus engine, metal lower wings that would allow the use of 10, 3 in. wing mounted rocket armament.

 

Here, I have pictured the kit box and the photo etch sheets that will be used in this project. I particularly like the Eduard pre-painted cockpit etch as the detail painting of each instrument is quite nice and adds a lot to the finished look of the cockpit. The actual flying wires of the Swordfish were flat, not round, so the Tamiya photo etch set captures that flat look quite nicely and I would be unable (obviously) to recreate the flat flying wires with thread.

[CDW]

Here is a look at the model parts inside the box

 

Here we have the instruction sheet to give a preview of the steps ahead to complete the construction of the Swordfish:

[popeye the sailor]

now that's what I call a detailed kit     I love biplanes.........should be a very fun project!

[lmagna]

Looks like this one will take a little more than a week! Think I will bring my more comfortable chair.

[Old Collingwood]

This is gonna be good  -  I'll bring me hammock,   you cant beat a stringbag  I saw the last flying uk one a few times at airshows  LS-326 and a couple in museums over here  like FAAM Yeovilton.

 

OC.

[Old Collingwood]

Curtosy of the net  LS-326   - 

 

OC.

[CDW]

17 minutes ago, lmagna said:

Looks like this one will take a little more than a week! Think I will bring my more comfortable chair.

Just a little maybe. 😵 But to be totally honest, I don't plan on more than two weeks. We shall see. Tamiya is a shake 'n bake kit. They are so well engineered, they almost literally fall together. They are at the pinnacle of plastic scale modeling as far as quality and engineering is concerned. They are not quite as prolific as the Chinese kit makers, but far more precise. Fanatically so. This is the result of the ownership, the old man, Shunsaku Tamiya (the son of the Tamiya Corp. founder).

[CDW]

9 minutes ago, Old Collingwood said:

This is gonna be good  -  I'll bring me hammock,   you cant beat a stringbag  I saw the last flying uk one a few times at airshows  LS-326 and a couple in museums over here  like FAAM Yeovilton.

 

OC.

Thanks OC!

You will be my go-to guy when I need specific info on the Swordfish. I figured you might have an interest in a model of the stringbag.

[Old Collingwood]

2 minutes ago, CDW said:

Thanks OC!

You will be my go-to guy when I need specific info on the Swordfish. I figured you might have an interest in a model of the stringbag.

Yep, I have seen 326  about  10 times at different airshows  she always used to display that flag,  still quite a sight even allowing for more exotic types,  I used to have pics from my old film slr days  but alas all my old film folders were destroyed  years back along with all my spotting logs and folders.

 

OC.

[lmagna]

31 minutes ago, CDW said:

They are so well engineered, they almost literally fall together.

It's not the assembly so much that I follow. I can throw together a kit. It is watching you guys work with your painting and even more so with your shading and weathering that fascinates me. I have not done much of one, and none of the other in my years of modeling, and I pick up something in every one of your builds. Most of the time I feel like a mechanic hanging out with designers and artists. A little out of my element and possibly just a bit jealous.

[dvm27]

Holy cow...that photoetched instrument panel makes me want to take up aircraft model making again! But I'd miss that Testors liquid cement with the pleasants side effects (it would craze the plastic, stick your fingers together and make you high as a kite). I'm guessing that's no longer available.

[CDW]

Here is the beginning of the cockpit construction and painting.

Paint colors are Tamiya RAF Cockpit Green (made by mixing Sky 3x, Green 1x, and Field Gray 1x), Flat Brown, Flat Rubber Black, and Flat Aluminum.

I tried my flash on the last 3 photos and they came out rather weird looking. 

[vossiewulf]

STRINGBAG! That's what the crews called them. Famous for the Attack on Tarranto and more so for damaging Bismarck's rudders, making it impossible for her to make Brest and escape her pursuers. By far the best version of the whole Bismarck adventure is the Dogfights episode. Look for the part about the Stringbags' attack and the interview with the pilot that hit the Bismarck's rudders.

 

Very nice kit, should build into something nice to have on the shelf.

[ccoyle]

Whoa! Were those instrument panel bits partially prefabricated on the fret??

[Canute]

Yeah, modern AA gunnery directors couldn't handle the slow speeds of the Stringbags.

 

Greg, that glue is still around, although packaged differently. It still smells. I've been using the Tamiya Extra Thin glue, with the green cap. It's acetone based, to boot. I try and keep the lid on that.

 

CDW, if it's a wingy thingy, I'm in for the duration.

[CDW]

1 hour ago, ccoyle said:

Whoa! Were those instrument panel bits partially prefabricated on the fret??

Yes they are...that's their selling feature. Even when my eyes were 40 years younger, I could not have achieved that level of detail. Pretty amazing, isn't it?

[CDW]

1 hour ago, Canute said:

Yeah, modern AA gunnery directors couldn't handle the slow speeds of the Stringbags.

 

Greg, that glue is still around, although packaged differently. It still smells. I've been using the Tamiya Extra Thin glue, with the green cap. It's acetone based, to boot. I try and keep the lid on that.

 

CDW, if it's a wingy thingy, I'm in for the duration.

Glad you're aboard, Ken.

[CDW]

4 hours ago, vossiewulf said:

STRINGBAG! That's what the crews called them.

They were fabricated from tubing and covered with fabric, much like their WW1 ancestors.

[thibaultron]

I'm on board too! I have the "visible" 1/48th version kit, with the clear skin. I'm looking forward to your build!

 

As a side note to you cat lovers: One of the German "crewmen" rescued from the Bismark, was the ship's cat. He was adopted by the British ships crew. Later that ship was sunk, but the cat once again survived. He was then the ship's cat of a British merchant ship, that was also later sunk. He once again was amoung the surviving crewmen. After this he was moved to an old sailor's home, where he lived out his days. They called him Unsinkable Sam. (Yes, this is a true story, he was quite famous in Britain.)

[CDW]

3 minutes ago, thibaultron said:

They called him Unsinkable Sam. (Yes, this is a true story, he was quite famous in Britain.)

🤯🤯

[CDW]

7 hours ago, thibaultron said:

As a side note to you cat lovers: One of the German "crewmen" rescued from the Bismark, was the ship's cat.

When I was growing up here in Tampa, there was a barge converted to living quarters that was anchored at the mouth of the Hillsborough River in Tampa Bay. The owner was known as "the Cat Man", because he had dozens of cats running around his boat. A really weird guy, he was a hermit of sorts and rarely would one see him off the boat and on shore. He lived there for many years and finally died. Rumor had it the guy died on the boat and the cats feasted on his carcass. Don't know if there was any truth to the disposition of his dead body, but I saw him many times over the years on his boat with all the cats running around.

[mtaylor]

8 hours ago, thibaultron said:

I'm on board too! I have the "visible" 1/48th version kit, with the clear skin. I'm looking forward to your build!

 

As a side note to you cat lovers: One of the German "crewmen" rescued from the Bismark, was the ship's cat. He was adopted by the British ships crew. Later that ship was sunk, but the cat once again survived. He was then the ship's cat of a British merchant ship, that was also later sunk. He once again was amoung the surviving crewmen. After this he was moved to an old sailor's home, where he lived out his days. They called him Unsinkable Sam. (Yes, this is a true story, he was quite famous in Britain.)

I'm surprised they didn't call him "Jinx" as every ship he was on was sunk.  Or maybe he should have been named "Lucky"????

 

 

[Old Collingwood]

Can you adjust the intensity  of the flash  perhaps by half?

 

OC.

[popeye the sailor]

the cockpit looks awesome     I never use flash for any of my pictures......

[Louie da fly]

I'm in the middle of a book called "War in a Stringbag" by the pilot who was the last to land on Glorious just before it was torpedoed and sunk, redeployed to Illustrious, took part in the Taranto raid, was in the air when Illustrious was heavily damaged by Stukas (which also  tried to shoot him down) and had to fly to Malta to land, then the desert campaign and then Greece. That's as far as I've got so far, but fascinating reading.

 

Steven

Edited February 20, 2019 by Louie da fly

[CDW]

The Tamiya instrument panel is a very decently molded item. The kit supplies instrument decals that will greatly enhance the panel and looks great that way, but in this case I have the Eduard pre-painted panel face I'll be using instead.

 

To prepare the kit instrument panel for the Eduard photo etch, all the raised detail must be filed and sanded away from the kit supplied panel.

 

Other cockpit items must be prepared in the same way

 

 

But the end result is worth the time and effort.

 

 

[CDW]

My Eduard detail sets did not come with seat belts/shoulder harnesses. I used the kit supplied decals for these. I don't like using the decals alone as they lack depth and don't respond well for me trying to place them. I use a two-part sculpting putty called Pro Create and fashion it into a very thin layer, almost paper thin. Then I cut out my kit decals from the water slide paper after carefully trimming around them with my scalpel. The decals are then placed on the thin layer of putty. After allowing an hour or so for the putty to begin setting (but still pliable) and the decals to set, I carefully trim the putty all around the decal. Then I place these onto the seats. At this point, the putty is still pliable and can easily be conformed to the shape of the seat. When completely set (about 3 hours), the seat belts have become part of the seat itself.

 

I should add...if you try this method, be sure to moisten a glass surface with water on which you will place your thin layer of sculpting putty. This will prevent your putty from sticking to the glass.

[lmagna]

Totally dumb question Craig. (But you just need to consider the source)

 

Would it not just be easier to cut out the decals with your scalpel and just install them paper and all? or stick them to an old blister pack cover and after dry cut them out and again install in place? 

 

I do agree though that the results of your method do look nice.

Edited February 20, 2019 by lmagna

[CDW]

7 minutes ago, lmagna said:

Totally dumb question Craig. (But you just need to consider the source)

 

Would it not just be easier to cut out the decals with your scalpel and just install them paper and all? or stick them to an old blister pack cover and after dry cut them out and again install in place? 

 

I do agree though that the results of your method do look nice.

No, it's not easier or better. Just my opinion and preference of course. Your mileage may vary. 🙂

[lmagna]

Like so many other things in modern day plastic model building I have never worked with sculpting clay so I thought I would ask. No mileage for reference on my part at all!