Tamiya 1/48 Fairey Swordfish Mk.II Kit #61099 MSRP: $73.00 I am a member of the IPMS Reviewer Corps and built this as an IPMS Review. I would like to thank Tamiya and IPMS/USA for providing the review kit and allowing me to review it. Bottom Line Up Front Great kit of an improbably great aircraft -- every real aircraft modeler ought to build at least one of these for their collection just because it adds so much class. Background I think when Tamiya released the Swordfish Mk.I back in 1999, there was a great rending of the force in the modeling world!!! A mainstream company not only released a kit of a decidedly non-mainstream aircraft but also put a great deal of effort into producing one of the best plastic kits of the era. The 109 folks probably still haven't forgiven them. They followed that with a float version and a see-through, but only the float version was notable. Anyway, a bit of history. The Swordfish, obsolete at the start of WW2, became possibly the most famous and effective torpedo bomber of all time. Taranto, Bismarck, anti-sub, anti-shipping, convoy escort, the list goes on. It had great range, outstanding carrying capacity (thus the nickname "Stringbag"), robust construction, and the ability to land and take-off in short order. Yeah, slow, fabric-covered, open-cockpit, etc ... didn't matter ... and only the British could carry this off. As the war proceeded, at least in Europe, the need for torpedo bombers declined rapidly while the anti-submarine role and other support roles kept growing and the Swordfish proved an ideal platform. The MK.II had a larger engine and most notably, metal covering on the undersurface of the lower wing to enable rockets to be carried and fired, flame and fabric not being a great idea. Other changes were a larger oil cooler, a noise/flame dampening exhaust, ASV radar, and other little items. To anyone who spent time inside the original kit, it was obvious that a Mk.II or later was in the works. In addition to the Mk.I parts there was a long list of "not used" parts such as a cowl, exhaust, rockets and rails, etc. I know that I got some photos and plans and fully intended to build a rocket-laden Mk.II, but never got around to it. Well, it took Tamiya about 8 years, but finally we have the Mk.II and I'm now happy. I can do the version I wanted and my MK.I kit can go back in the queue to come out as a pre-war scheme, maybe the RN Historic Flight scheme. These aircraft are from 816 Sqn which was "seconded" to Coastal Command for Channel operations prior to and during D-Day. 816 was disbanded in August 1944. There were several other squadrons involved but the only pictures I have with invasion stripes are of 816 aircraft. To date, I have only been able to confirm one aircraft letter/serial pairing -- S/NF243 -- but am still researching this. I think it interesting to note that lower wing placement of the invasion stripes is different on all three aircraft, and all of 'em look hand-done .... The Kit 95% of the kit is the Mk.I kit -- you can see all those parts in the big-pile picture below. Sprue-G is the same except for the new lower wing undersurfaces. Sprue-K is new and contains the larger oil cooler, Yagi-aerials, aux fuel tank, and flare chutes, among others. Everything is high quality -- you don't have to worry that an 8-year old mold got fuzzy around the edges. The kit box is the same size as before; the parts are well protected being packed 2 sprues to a plastic bag.

There was, for the Mk.I, a separate Tamiya photo-etch set, #61069. Some Mk.I kits came with the photo-etch. The review sample I received did not have photo-etch but the instructions, as with the original, describe its' use. There does not appear to be any difference so the original can be used. The advantage to the photo-etch is the effort to portray the bracing wires. As all the original ordnance is included, you have many options to load up your aircraft. There is a decal sheet for 3 aircraft, a full size camouflage pattern that doubles as a stencil-decal guide, and an instruction booklet. The instruction booklet also has color/decal guides for the 3 aircraft portrayed. The instruction book is virtually identical to the original, deviating only for the changed/new parts and of course the 3 color schemes provided. There does not appear to be an error in lower wing drilling as with the Mk.I kit so no errata sheet is provided.

You have to pay attention to the instructions -- while well laid out they are dense. There are gray blocks for the 3 aircraft options, regular part numbers, photo-etch part numbers, paint paddles, decal circles, drilling marks, glue/not marks, wing fold/not marks, decals, and other call-outs -- very busy. Although they are certainly representative, I was disappointed in the 3 aircraft offered -- I thought an invasion-stripe scheme had been mentioned in pre-release info, I could be wrong. The 3 aircraft represented are all camouflaged, 2 with white undersurfaces, one with sky. The construction variations are minor.

I see three discrepancies. Many Mk.II-IV aircraft had the nose-gun and fairing removed, yet the kit retains it in all 3 model versions -- I am not going to worry about it in my build. The second is that while Yagi aerials are included, no ASV set for the observer position is included. Last, they did not correct a previous omission of the control cables to the tail surfaces. I'm not sure about all the color references. There were several schemes for biplanes in general and Swordfish specifically during the war. The instructions do not cite the 4-colour "counter-shading" for the upper surfaces for any of the three aircraft and I am not sure that is correct in all cases. They also specify AS-4 and AS-9 for the upper surfaces and I'm not sure they are the best matches. I suggest research to confirm the markings you select. Getting Ready As I mentioned above, the instructions are busy. I recommend you go through them carefully to decide on your aircraft and options -- make a little list. Then go back through again, carefully, and mark each and every hole to be drilled, slot to be opened, etc, and X-out those not -- then go back and check your work. Then go back again and actually open each hole/slot, mark each optional piece, etc, before you start building. Be careful of their notation, etc. If you do as I did, fold only one wing, you can be doubly confused. All this will pay off in the long run. This kit is very well engineered and produced -- all parts fit closely and tightly. I don't think I used any filler -- if I did, it wasn't but a tiny bit. The issue is that pins fit exactly into holes and tabs fit exactly into slots and so on -- there is little to no room for paint. Other than the markings and the inclusion of the Tamiya photo-etch, my build will be pretty much OOB. I acquired the Eduard #48308 photo-etch set for the Mk.I kit and was going to use it, but ended up only using a couple pieces. The set could be useful, I just decided not to bother for this build. I am using the Tamiya photo-etch set, #61069, for the engine detail and the rigging. Painting & Decals I am going to start here because this is one of those kits you have to paint in sub-assemblies, so it pays to have a plan. From what I could tell of my chosen aircraft, a four-color counter-shading scheme in the standard Air Ministry pattern for biplanes would be more correct than the Tamiya schemes. I decided to emulate hand-painted invasion stripes -- probably a bit overdone, but a valiant effort regardless. Photos show a thin black line as a border between the normal white camo and the white stripe on most aircraft. I used Mister Kit acrylics for the 6 main colors and had great success with them. I used various Tamiya acrylic and ModelMaster enamel paints for detail and touch-up. I used the kit decals for the national insignia. They are a bit thick but lay down nicely with Micro-Set/Sol. I had to give the fuselage roundels a second coat of Micro-Sol to get them to lay down over the detail. The letter "N" came from my stash. My reference picture indicates the aircraft serial was painted over so I didn't bother with one (I don't know what it is anyway), nor did I bother with all the little detail decals Tamiya provides. I don't weather my models, but I did a little panel definition with a pencil. Handle a white model long enough and it'll look weathered. Cockpit (Steps 1-5) A little jewel on its' own. It all assembles nicely and you can have a field day painting and highlighting. Do be careful while assembling the cockpit, test fitting into the closed fuselage halves -- the fit is very tight. I did not make the crew but one could have a great model of the cockpit and crew alone. Unfortunately, as noted in part 1, Tamiya failed to include the ASV radar set and if important to you, you will have to cobble one together and figure how to incorporate it into the cockpit build -- I chose not to. Fuselage (Steps 6-8) I originally said I was going to ignore the machine gun, usually not fitted to the Mk.II -- well, I decided to eliminate it then found it is key to mounting the instrument panel in the fuselage. I ended up jury rigging a few pieces of plastic to accomplish the same thing. I then "faired over" the machine gun trough. The instructions say to paint the interior fabric XF-59 Desert Yellow. British machines used a red oxide primer on the outside of the aircraft, applied in several coats starting very thin to allow it to soak into the fabric and increasing in thickness. The net was to produce a streaky red look on the inside. My method to emulate this is to paint fabric XF-55 Deck Tan (XF-59 would be OK), then dry-brush X-27 Clear Red overtop. Really doesn't matter because you can't see much when the fuselage is closed up. If you got the cockpit assembled right, the fuselage will fit right together -- no filler and very little seam clean-up required. The fitting of the tail plane struts is very tight. I chose to run control wires to the rudder and elevator, those are not supplied or in the instructions. In the first picture you can see my ever present memory aid ...

During final assembly, it is best for the fuselage and wings to be clean so they lay flat on the bench, so leave off the tailwheel and any other details that might get in the way of that. Engine & Fuselage (Step 9-11) It is a nice engine. I chose to defer mounting it until the end. The strut assembly (A18, A19, A23) is crucial to getting the upper wing center section on right. The other thing critical to getting the center section on right is recognizing that the windscreen (F1) is an integral part of the fuselage and MUST be mounted in step 11, and subsequently protected from damage, paint, etc. Every "Brit Modeller" has their own formula for the Bristol exhaust ring -- Tamiya provides a suggestion -- mine is a mix of Tamiya acrylics (5 pts X33 Bronze, 3 pts X34 Metallic Brown, 2 pts XF28 Dark Copper) then dry-brushed with ModelMaster enamel 1785 Rust. Wings (Steps 12-17) The only complaint is that the leading edge slats have been molded in. They are usually open on the ground and should have been an option in this kit. I elected to ignore the problem. I deferred mounting the center section to the strut assembly until later so I could match its' angle/attitude to the built-up wing cellules. First, ensure your rigging holes are still open after painting -- note the PE rigging should slide straight in on one side -- make sure they slide easily at the proper angle. Also know that gluing the inner struts on will probably re-close some of the holes and you'll have to reopen them. I suggest you mount the outer struts and rigging to the top wings and then clean up that join. Then assemble the rest of each cellule as shown, EXCEPT: -- leave the aileron rods and inner strut rigging off until the landing and flying wires are in place. -- install the landing/flying wires by gluing in the tabbed end and letting the straight end ride free in the hole. -- do not glue down the straight end until the wings are mounted in final assembly. I evidently clamped the right wing a bit too much and bowed the outer struts -- I tried to take it out with opposite pressure but failed -- really not sure how that happened unless I forced the PE rigging too far in. With the two wing cellules built, I then went back to step 14 to actually mount the upper-center section and here is where I had my only major difficulty. Part A10, the rear strut assembly, is supposed slide onto a notch at the rear of the center section and the legs fit neatly into two holes in the fuselage deck. I didn't mount the windscreen F1 in step 11, in fact didn't even look at it and so didn't know the two holes were there. I found two holes in the deck, but figured the legs were about 1/4" too far to the rear and wouldn't fit in the deck holes regardless. I looked at real pictures, looked at pictures of models I'd taken, etc, and just could not see what was wrong. The Tamiya instructions are perfectly clear, all other parts were assembled correctly. I finally decided to drill out the holes in the decking and apply a heated knife carefully to the two legs to bend them forward equally. I did so, it worked but they aren't perfectly straight any longer. It wasn't until much later, when trying to wedge the windscreen assembly in under the center section that I had my big Ah-Ha moment - I'm actually amazed the wings fit together. Having gotten past that problem, I test-fit the fuselage, center section, and wing cellules, lightly sanding the top/bottom of the locating arms to get the wing cellules to slide on easily, to balance/level the center section. Then I glued the center section down, keeping the wings on as a "jig". Ordnance (Steps 18-19,23) Another issue is the quality of the underwing stores. The rockets and rails are a single piece, with only the fins to be added. The fins are overly thick -- I spent a lot of time sanding them thin. The rocket bodies look right, but the rail is flat -- I filed a groove in the underside. As a positive, the fins mount to the body with a square pin -- no problem with alignment. The Small Bomb Carriers are also clunky. One option is to replace them with PE versions from the Eduard detail set #48367 for the Gavia Lysander. I elected to just sand them down a bit so I could save my Lysander PE for the next Walrus I do.

I left off the bomb racks and the torpedo, but did use the torpedo rack -- check your references, some aircraft retained them, some did not. Final Assembly I carefully test fit each wing, then went into what I call my "4-hour drill" -- that is do something then walk away for at least 4 hours to be sure I don't screw with it too early. So I glued on the straight wing and walked away. Came back, glued on the folded wing and walked away. Came back, glued on the landing gear and walked away, etc.

Unfortunately, I don't have quite enough dihedral in the spread wing as it appears to droop in the photos. Not sure how that happened either, as I was watching for this very issue. Possibly my perspective was off, doing one wing spread and the other folded.

With that done, it was a matter of adding all the little pieces and cleaning things up. At this point I knew my landing and flying wires were properly stressed so I went back and carefully put a little CA on each free end to lock them down and provide a bit more rigidity to the wing structure. This is also the point when I started being real careful when I picked it up, particularly of the folded wing.

Well, nuts -- the little stabilizer yoke for the folded wing doesn't exactly line up -- I'll just attach it and move on. (And note in some photos you'll see a tiny piece of toothpick in the lower wing joint, forcing the folded wing out a bit.) Summary This is a very well researched, engineered, and produced kit -- while it doesn't just "shake and bake", neither does it let you make too many errors -- I may be the exception. In the end, whichever kit and version you build, you will have a showpiece. Mine will never go to a contest, but it will still sit in place of honor.

Very highly recommended -- every real airplane modeler ought to build at least one of these ! The Tamiya photo-etch set is also highly recommended. Eduard has not, to my knowledge, produced a PE set for the MK.II but their MK.I set is nonetheless very handy, even though I didn't use much of it.

Again, thanks to Tamiya and IPMS/USA for the sample and allowing me to review it.

Supposedly ... During World War Two an American naval officer stared at a Swordfish for the first time. 'Where did that come from?' he asked. 'Fairey's', came the reply from a British naval officer standing nearby. The American stroked his chin thoughtfully. 'That figures', he replied.

References: The following list is not exhaustive, reflecting only books in my personal library, not considering general histories, which may address the aircraft and involved operations. Before we get to the technical stuff, which is in no particular order, let me recommend two of my favorite books from WW2. To War in a Stringbag, Commander Charles Lamb, Bantam 1980. This book covers the early days of the war, mostly in the Med (including Taranto) and is more appropriate to get in the mood to build a Mk.I, but it is such a classic it should be read by all. Bring Back My Stringbag, Lord Kilbracken, Pan Books, 1980. This book goes well with the Mk.II kit - the story covers convoy operations in the Atlantic and on the Murmansk runs, and the myriad duties the Swordfish was called on to perform in the mid to late war period. The Swordfish Story, Ray Sturtivant, Cassell & Co, 2000, ISBN 0304357111. Swordfish Special, W.A. Harrison, Ian Allan Ltd, 1977, ISBN: 071100742X. Fairey Swordfish Mk.I-IV, Profile #212, Ian G. Stott, Profile Publications Ltd. Fairey Swordfish, Warpaint #12, W.A. Harrison, Hall Park Books Ltd. Fairey Swordfish and Albacore, W.A. Harrison, Crowood Press Ltd, 2002, ISBN 1861265133. Fairey Swordfish in Action, Aircraft #175, W.A. Harrison, Squadron/Signal Publications, 2001, ISBN 089747421X. Fairey Aircraft since 1915, H.A. Taylor, Putnam & Company Ltd, 1984, ISBN: 037000065X. Stringbag The Fairey Swordfish at War, David Wragg, Pen & Sword Aviation, 2004, ISBN: 1844151301.

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