Airfix 1/72 Fairey Swordfish Mk3

[1275GT]

Hi there. Those with a long enough memory may remember thisfrom a while back (there’s a bit of a build thread somewhere! ), but after along and protracted struggle, this is finally finished.

It is, as the title suggests, an Airfix 1/72 Swordfish, theold version, converted from a Mk1/2 to a Mk3 as used by 119 Sqn in RAF servicesometime in early 1945, using parts from the again old Matchbox kit.

The parts used from that were the radome, rockets/rails,Lewis gun, tail wheel and arrestor hook( Airfix had no representation of this at all ! ). An Aires PE set was used forsome interior & exterior detail, along with a resin engine & exhaust,oil cooler and vent pipes (?) and a liberal sprinkling of scratch-built items. The rigging is elastic thread and the controlwires are from my very own head!

The only real problem I had were with the decals, ( thesquadron/aircraft codes and serial numbers) which don’t look too bad on thepics, but aren’t up to much in the flesh and I can live with them. But overallI’m very happy with it.

Any and all comments gratefully received.

Cheers, Neil.

PS Having put on my Xmas list “Any 1/72 or 1/48 militaryaircraft kit” have a guess what I unwrapped from SWIMBO……………………? Only the newAirfix Swordfish!! What are the chances……

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[mobear]

ooOOoo i love it different coloured one as well,a 5* build me thinks.

as for the airfix one u lucky sod lol

mobear

 

[Ian M]

Well It took you long enough!! LOL.

Joking aside you have done a fantastic job on that Old stringbag, and you haven't just settled with the rigging but all the control cables as well!! Brilliant!

five stars from me!

Ian M

 

[michaelm]

Great job Neil, love it!

 

[1275GT]

Thanks chaps. It has been a bit of a long time coming. I'm very happy with it, but it's good to get it off the board and onto the shelf ! Thanks for spotting the control wires Ian, I was in two minds as to doing them or not - they wern't as bad to do as I thought they were going to be and I'm glad I made the effort with them.

Now I believe there's a Phantom somewhere with my name on it..........

Cheers, Neil

 

[AJay]

Looks great in this colour. Great job on the rigging too....

 

[papa 695]

A great job Neil

 

[flyjoe180]

Neil! Super work mate, for a hard slog you have come out the other side with a fantastic looking Swordfish. Top work, look forward to seeing your Phantom build evolve further now this is out of the way.

 

[yak face]

WOW! that looks superb Neil! It just shows that with a lot of patience and skill a beautiful result can be got from a very old kit , The rigging looks perfect and the black scheme really makes it stand out . Top marks for the conversion work too , i wish i could give more than 5 stars but here they are anyway , cheers tony

 

[AlanG]

Looks great Neil

 

[1275GT]

Thanks for the kind comments, guys It's gonna be a bit strange working on something without a prop....!

Cheers, Neil

 

[colin m]

Brilliant job. A bi-plane with a radar ! Talk about old and new.