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

[CDW]

1 hour ago, lmagna said:

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! 

The thing about the modeling clay: it stays soft and pliable/workable for 3 hours. It easily bends and conforms to whatever shape you want to put it in...and after the decals have been applied to it. It does not try to go back to it's original shape like "blister pack plastic" would try to do because of its memory. 

In other modeling scenarios where you might want to form a fold or other position, it does so readily with no problem, no resistance. In future build threads I do, you'll get a much better view of why I prefer this method.

[lmagna]

8 hours ago, CDW said:

In future build threads I do, you'll get a much better view of why I prefer this method.

Thanks, that's why I keep following you guys around. Pick a crumb here and there.

[popeye the sailor]

never thought of doing it that way........pretty ingenious  

[CDW]

43 minutes ago, popeye the sailor said:

never thought of doing it that way........pretty ingenious  

I learned it from others, Denis. Not an original idea I came up with all on my own, but I tried it and liked it and continued using the method. One can also quite easily make their own seatbelts with it and paint them rather than using decals.

[John Allen]

Craig,

 

You have me going in a second direction. When I visited the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola they had several bi and a tri wing bombers WWI. Really impressed me. I haven't done plastic since I was a kid then mostly airplanes. You posted a model plane you purchased from what you said was a premier model company approx. month ago it was very large and expensive but you stated the quality was fantastic I wrote it down the name but as usual I put it in a place so I could find it and can't remember where that was. 

After following this build and seeing how far they have come (with PE and precision moldings) want to order one and build. This looks like it is going to be a good ride will follow.

[CDW]

If you're going to get back into aircraft modeling or just give it another try after a long time since you last built one, just about any aircraft model made by Tamiya I can highly recommend. Their models are very well engineered and one will have very few if any fit issues at all. Tamiya covers many WW2 and some modern aircraft.

If you want to get into WW1 models, Wingnut Wings have a large range of 1:32 scale WW1 offerings. Theirs are also very well engineered. There are many Youtube build videos to reference for the Wingnut Wings kits. 

[CDW]

Cockpit assembly and painting is done. Cockpit area inside fuselage is done. Added observation windows and forward firing machine gun inside fuselage, then joined fuselage halves. 

Going to try to have the basic aircraft assembly done by the end of the weekend , then begin finish painting.

 

Paint colors used inside fuselage halves was the Sky, Green, and Gray mix; then Sand Yellow. All paints are Tamiya. Used Tamiya and Mr Color washes (brown and black)

[gerty]

Very nice work - & and always fun watching work being done on a beautiful Tamiya kit.  Look forward to following along.

Edited February 21, 2019 by gerty

[vossiewulf]

6 hours ago, John Allen said:

When I visited the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola they had several bi and a tri wing bombers WWI. Really impressed me.

If you want to do WWI, you need to visit Wingnut Wings. They are not cheap but IMO they make the finest plastic models available today, perfectly molded and engineered and designed by people who definitely know what they are talking about (my first love is WWI aviation), I have more than a few WW models sitting in a closet waiting for the right time.

[Old Collingwood]

She is looking excellent  and that centerline join even dry fitted looks bang on.

 

OC.

[jct]

On 2/19/2019 at 6:56 PM, Louie da fly said:

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

Read that one years back...pretty good read, super job on the cockpit

[CDW]

Thanks for all your likes, comments, and encouragement. 

if it seems like I am rushing through this just a bit, I am. There is an IPMS regional event locally within the next two months and I am trying to get a few things ready to take along. The finished models will all be for sale at the show by the way. I enjoy the build much more than I do collecting finished models. Typically, they sell rather quickly and that helps keep my kit build supply funded.

[CDW]

35 minutes ago, Old Collingwood said:

She is looking excellent  and that centerline join even dry fitted looks bang on.

 

OC.

This one took a little shaving and sanding for a good fuselage halves fit. There is a cross member on each side of the cockpit tub/tubing that sticks out a bit too far for the halves to close properly. No big deal, just a part of the dry-fit and adjustment process. 

[popeye the sailor]

look'in fabulous......cockpit looks awesome   

[CDW]

The 750 HP Pegasus radial engine. 

Paint used: Tamiya semi gloss black for engine and attached parts, Mr Metal Color Iron for dry brushing engine, Mr Metal Color Chrome on intake manifold.

 

Completed cowling with radial engine attached inside

 

Paint used: Tamiya Flat White for main cowl ring; a mix of Tamiya Metallic Gray + Red on the forward cowl ring; Tamiya Titan Gold for the exhaust shroud on forward cowl ring; Tamiya semi gloss black on insides of both cowl pieces/rings

 

[CDW]

Here are the results of this weekend's labor. Masking and painting all the main pieces. With a few unexpected interruptions, was unable to get as far along as I wanted. Over the course of this week, want to get the remainder of the model finished. We shall see.

The colors used are Tamiya flat white; Tamiya gray violet (gray + a dash of purple); Tamiya dark green (IJN green + green); Tamiya rubber black

The color call outs call for Tamiya rattle can colors for the gray violet and dark green (AS4 and AS9) but I detest rattle cans, so I mixed it by eye to my own until I was satisfied with it. The wing roots are not finished. Flat black walkways need to be masked and painted on.

v

[Old Collingwood]

She is looking Superb craig   great painting also.

 

OC.

[CDW]

Thanks OC

I was doing some reading on the Swordfish this weekend. As you probably know, she came into the war an outdated old bird, but she stayed in service during the entire duration of WW2. She served in the North Atlantic under severe conditions, doing anti submarine duty. While often times weather was too severe for the more modern aircraft to even be on the flight deck, the Swordfish was airborne, doing her thing. She was radar equipped, too.

[Old Collingwood]

3 minutes ago, CDW said:

Thanks OC

I was doing some reading on the Swordfish this weekend. As you probably know, she came into the war an outdated old bird, but she stayed in service during the entire duration of WW2. She served in the North Atlantic under severe conditions, doing anti submarine duty. While often times weather was too severe for the more modern aircraft to even be on the flight deck, the Swordfish was airborne, doing her thing. She was radar equipped, too.

Such a strong plane  and so versatile   no wonder they carried on for so many years.

 

OC.

[popeye the sailor]

plane's com'in along real sharp !  the camo looks super      

[CDW]

A dry fit along the way to the finish of the Swordfish construction. 

Many modelers have said this is the finest fitting, best engineered kit Tamiya had made. Those comments came a decade ago. Perhaps there are even better kits from Tamiya today, but I can vouch for the engineering and fit of this model. Goes together very well indeed.

[lmagna]

Very nice work Craig. I am amazed at your progress in these builds. I would still probably be at the cockpit stage and you are already starting to run out of parts!

[CDW]

Thanks Lou. Right now, the flying wires (photo etched) are taking me a little longer than I anticipated.

Tamiya provides a little punch tool on the photo etch fret for pre opening the holes in the wings and fuselage where the photo etch wires will attach (slide in fit). The tool doesn't actually give quite enough of an opening, resulting in fiddling around later trying to get the wires to fit. It wouldn't be a problem if I had anticipated it ahead of time, but I didn't. So far, that's my only little hang-up with this kit. But all things considered, flying wires from ez line or similar thread is not a quick proposition either. But I do feel a little more comfortable with thread than I do the photo etch though. This is my first biplane rigged with photo etch flying wires.

[CDW]

On 2/25/2019 at 5:19 AM, popeye the sailor said:

plane's com'in along real sharp !  the camo looks super      

Thanks Denis. Tamiya provides a 1:1 drawing of the finished airplane and camo scheme in the kit. I photo copy the drawing, then cut it apart to create my painting masks. Makes it quick and easy to get the almost identical paint/camo scheme as is shown on the plans. This plane did have some tricky masking that had to be done on small areas in various places.

[popeye the sailor]

sounds like PE makes doing the truss cables a lot easier..........I use regular thread.   that can lead to a four armed process!   really coming together now.....she looks awesome!

[Baker]

Great work.

[CDW]

Thanks Patrick

 

Swordfish now has legs. Rigging is finished. More fiddly bits to add tomorrow. Decals soon.

[Richmond]

On 2/25/2019 at 1:02 PM, CDW said:

The color call outs call for Tamiya rattle can colors for the gray violet and dark green (AS4 and AS9) but I detest rattle cans, so I mixed it by eye to my own until I was satisfied with it.

 I like to purchase the rattle cans and decant into the large Tamiya 81042 50ml spare paint jars. They come in packs of 6 and cost around 8  AUD from Hobby Link - of course you have PP on top of this. There are some good videos on Youtube on how to decant the rattle cans. It is especially useful where you have large surface areas such as hulls to paint. 

 

Do you have any links to tips on dry brushing?

 

Do you have any links on the Tamiya and Mr Colour washes (I had never heard of them) - I would assume these differ markedly from the Flory washes?

 

Nice work by the way.

 

 

Edited February 27, 2019 by Richmond

[Richmond]

John

 

A good website for looking at different plastic models before you buy is scalemates.com, it has places to buy and what other have done with it 

 

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/tamiya-61099-fairey-swordfish-mkii--102642 

 

Never the easiest site to navigate however 

Edited February 28, 2019 by Richmond

[CDW]

8 hours ago, Richmond said:

Do you have any links to tips on dry brushing?

 

Do you have any links on the Tamiya and Mr Colour washes (I had never heard of them) - I would assume these differ markedly from the Flory washes?

 

Nice work by the way.

Thanks for the comments, Richmond.

If you go to Flory Models on Youtube, you can see tons of good examples of dry brushing techniques from Flory. He's a great modeler.

Tamiya and Mr Hobby actually make panel line washes. They are much different than the Flory clay pigment washes. To be honest, they are little more than the "old school" washes we used long ago from Turpentine (or Turpenoid) with a dash of artist oil paint of your choice. I believe they have mixed in some naptha to help it dry faster. The down side to the old school wash of turpenoid and artist oil was a slow drying time. Also you have to take some extra care with that type of wash as it (turpentine) will soften the underlying paint.