Airfix 1/72 Fairey Swordfish

AIRFIX 1:72 FAIREY SWORDFISH

Reviewer: Tim Beales (rec.models.scale)
Kit Review submitted: 18 October 2003

Kit Details:

Fairey Swordfish Mk 2 in 1/72 by Airfix

The Aircraft:

The Fairey Swordfish first flew in prototype form in the early 1930s. After airframe improvements to the prototype, the Swordfish quickly became the major front line torpedo bomber of the UK's Fleet Air Arm, even though it barely showed any technical improvement on its predecessor, the Vickers Vildebeest. The Swordfish was obsolete by the start of WW2, but nevertheless, it served in all the major campaigns of the war, including D-Day. The Swordfish played a large part in removing the Italian navy as a military threat during the very early part of WW2, in particular in its famous torpedo attacks at Taranto and the Battle of Cape Matapan. The Swordfish also sunk many German and Japanese ships between 1939 and 1940. A Sworfish torpedo was responsible for crippling the German battleship, the Bismarck (the most feared axis warship in WW2), damaging its rudder so that it travelled helplessly in circles in the Atlantic until caught up by the Royal Navy, and then was sunk in a dreadfully violent battle.

The Kit:

This is a very old kit from the Airfix stable, and has been reissued many times. It is truly a plastic kit classic. The parts are cast in the light grey plastic that we know and love from Airfix. The age of the kit means that it does not have any highly detailed features that a modern kit would offer, but I found the airframe detail to be adequate. The instructions sheet is comprised of an A4 booklet. Sheets 1 and 2 are taken up with a short history in 10 languages and modelling instructions in 12 languages, respectively. Sheets 3, 4, and 5 cover the constructions stages, Sheets 6 and 7 show four-view painting profiles, and Sheet 8 is blank for "notes". The colours are all in the Humbrol codes.

As a curious sidenote, I have had this kit for some time, and under severe psychological pressure from the better half to reduce the loft insulation, I decided to make it. To my horror, on examining the contents, I found that the top half of the upper wing was missing. I wrote to Airfix explaining the situation and that I had no receipt, as I bought it some time ago from, "I don't know where". Airfix promptly sent me a complete Swordfish kit (non-boxed and with decals!). So, I now have a second Fairey Swordfish kit sans a top upper wing. I know Airfix have an exemplary customer care service as far as replacements are concerned, but I could have been lying. Airfix could have either ignored my request or charged me, (I have experience of other modelling companies that have simply not answered some letters I have sent about faulty products - even when sent in on their own returns slip). However, Airfix sent me an entire spare kit: no questions asked or thoughts implied, so thumbs up to them!

Construction:

The cockpit assembly is beginning of the construction, and this comprises of a shaped cabin floor, onto which the pilot's seat attaches at the front, followed by a what looks like a stool, and the gunner/ observers seat. The pilot and observer/gunner figures are provided, and these cement onto their appropriate seat positions. The pilot's hands are arranged to clasp the rudimentary joystick, which is cemented between his legs, while the gunner is poised to grasp the rear machine gun, which is cemented if front of him. The paint colour guide specifies brown flying suits and helmets (H29), flesh face and hands (H61), yellow Mae Wests (H24), and black boots (H33). The interior is recommended as "Interior Green", i.e., H78, and after spraying the inner parts of both fuselages this colour, I attached the front control panel (H33/ silver dials (H11)), the rear Lewis (?) gun (H55), and the cockpit assembly onto the starboard fuselage half. The two fuselage sides were then glued together. The fit was very good, and the joint along the fuselage only needed minimum attention.

The next stage was to fit the one-piece tailplane section, which fits into a recess at the rear of the fuselage, the four tailplane support struts, and the rudder, which locates via two pins into two holes in the tailplane unit. There was a bit of extra room in siting the tailplane unit, so the alignment had to keep being rechecked as the glue dried. Some filler was needed in the little gap at the fuselage join. One thing to look out for is that if one gets the tailplane alignment wrong, then the rudder unit will be askew. Some filler was needed at the bottom of the rudder, and the locating holes for the struts were a little large, so some filling was needed here too. Two ejector pin marks needed care on the lower tailplane unit.

Then, the two parts of each of the upper and lower wings were glued together. There was no problem here. This was followed by attaching the propeller pin through the one-piece engine and cowling unit and into a hole at the back of the three-bladed propeller. The starboard side of the engine cowling has a slot cut into it to accept an exhaust. For those options with a torpedo (Mk 1 from 1941 and the 1996 Mk 2), the torpedo was made from two halves, and attached to the fuselage via two clamps that glue into holes in the top of the torpedo.

The next stage is where the difficulties came in for me, albeit rather minor ones. These centered around fixing the wings together with the interplane struts. The bottom wing attaches to a recess in the bottom of the fusalage, just below the cockpit. This needed minor filler, but was really no problem. The main difficulty arises from attachment of the outer slot and bar-type struts. The slots in the upper and lower wings are far too large, with the result that the slot and bar-type struts sank deep into the slots in both wings, covering the bar. In addition, there was so much play that they could almost fall over. Ample filling and sanding was required to overcome this. Another problem was that the outer and inner single struts were a tad too long and had to be trimmed. The way I handled the situation was to fix all the struts on the lower wing, adding sequentially, and dry-fitting the top wing as a check at each stage. There were two struts that attached the fuselage to the lower wing. I had no trouble with these. I did however, have trouble with the two short front struts. There are two parts that are supposed to attach and locate into a hole in the bottom part of the upper wing. The first thing I did was to locate these in the top wing, as this locating hole was also too short. Second problem was that one of the struts was too short, and needed replacing with Evergreen rod.

The engine assembly was next. This was composed of a single-piece cowling with the engine cylinders moulded in the front. A propeller pin passes through this and locates in the single piece three-bladed propleor. A hedgehog-type exhaust fits into a groove on the starboard side. This entire assembly glues directly on to the front of the fusalage, with a small locating pin ensuring that the exhaust is placed in the correct place.

The undercarriage is very simple, being port and starboard units composed of a vee-leg with an attached axcle pin that passes through a second support leg and into a single-piece wheel (watch out for the correct angle of the wheels).

The model is finished off by attaching the rear tailwheel and either fitting the torpedo for the Mk I or eight underwing rockets for the Mk II. I finished my kit with Aeroclub stretch thread for rigging

Decals:

Decals are provided for two aircraft. A Swordfish Mk 2 of "L" Flight, No. 836 NAS, Fleet Air Arm based on the Merchant Aircraft Carrier "Rapana" in 1943 and preserved in the Royal Navy Historic Flight at RNAS Yeovilton in 1996, and a Swordfish Mk 1 of No. 810 NAS, Fleet Air Arm, HMS Ark Royal, North Atlantic from 1941. Both aircraft have the dark green (H102) and sea grey (H79) upper wings with the shadow-compensated lower wing and fuselage of slate grey (H27) and dark grey (H31). The Mk 2 aircraft has matt white fuselage sides (H34) and gloss white undersides (H22). The Mk 1 aircraft has RAF sky undersides (H90). decals for both aircraft are well printed and in register.

Accuracy:

The dimensions of the Swordfish were span = 13.92 m, length = 11.12 m. In 1/72 scale these are 19.33 cm and 15.44 cm, respectively. My kit measures at 19.4 cm and 15.4 cm, so as good as it gets!

Other Comments:

Aside from the struts/gap filling, there really is very little to go wrong with the construction of this kit. Once rigged, it reveals the "attractive ugliness" of the Swordfish that makes it such a perennial modelling favourite. The Airfix kit is a simple and basic kit, and I think the only Mk II and Royal Navy Historic Flight version. There are other 1/72 Swordfish kits for sale, e.g. MPM, that are more detailed, and there are the old Frog moulds doing the rounds either as Frog or as Novo or a Russian brand. Revell have just reissued the old Matchbox Swordfish kit, which has decals for the same Mk I as this kit and for a Mk III. This kit is suitable for a biplane beginner. For the more experienced modeller, it would be a good weekend bash or relief from AMS.

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