1/48 Tamiya Fairey Swordfish Mk. I

by Bill Lachance

--------------------

 

I built Tamiya's Swordfish kit using their photoetched parts, which I didn't care for at all. They are just flat shapes, with no relief detail, sane for eyelets on the ends of the rigging. They had a "springy" quality to them, making sharp creases at 90 degree angles nearly impossible. The rigging had a tendancy to pop out of it's locators. I noticed after I took the photos that one of the wires on the right wing came loose.

The method they chose for the wing struts, connecting them in a "U" shape, makes alignment easy for beginners, but filling the gaps in the top wing without marring the surface is impossible. I would have preferred separate struts, even if it's more difficult to align. The strut design also means that the top and bottom wings must be joined before painting, so that the gaps can be filled.

The control cables for the rudder and elevator were made using fine copper wire. These were not included with the kit, but they are shown on the side of the box.

Everything about this kit seemed to be geared towards simplicity. I don't have much fun when a company engineers all of the work out of a build. I'm not a fan of Tamiya's kits.

Click on images below to see larger images

Believe it or not, the painting guide suggests RAF Dark Green and RLM 75 Gray Violet (!) over Medium Sea Gray. Fleet Air Arm aircraft of this period were painted Dark Slate Gray and Extra Dark Sea Gray over Sky Type "S." I used Model Master enamels and Gunze acrylic for the freehand camouflage scheme. The front cowling ring was painted with Alcad Copper, and the torpedo is Alcad Dark Aluminum, with a light overspray of Alcad Steel.

With the U.S. cost of this kit, it would seem to be geared toward experienced modelers. This is not a difficult kit to build, however. If you like them easy, and can get it on sale, you may enjoy it.

Bill

Visit my website to see other models of mine, I also build models on commission.  http://www.pix.prettyneatinc.com/

Photos and text © by Bill Lachance