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My first W.I.P 1/48th Scale Tamiya Fairey Swordfish Mk2.


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I have spent the last few hours getting wings on! Blimey!!

As soon as I got em in place the whole rigging twisted and turned like a twisty turny thing. Nick had warned me of this, but I never expected such an odd warp in the wire parts. Then the struts popped out. :( Then I realised I hadn't drilled more holes for some cRaZy bit that goes on the front.

Took me a ruddy age to get everything straight again, but straight it is. Well ish. I'll get some pics up soon but I'm going to have a beer and try and forget about it.

Thanks for all the support.

Hurumph.

Johnny. :)

Edited by The Spadgent
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Well done Johnny - keep going! You're doing a lovely job, and to echo what others have already said, not only have you rescued a potential weathering disaster, you've turned it into what looks like a really nice "dirty" effect...

As for how I got the lower wings horizontal - it was really just a case of brute force and ignorance. It had the effect of bending the outer sets of inter-plane struts a bit at first, as the locating points in each wing are quite tight, but they seem to have sorted themselves out. As I mentioned earlier, virtually all the diagonal bracing wires pinged off at one end or the other, on my first build. On the second, I left them off until after the wings were on and, with some judicious bending of the tabs at either end, to make some slightly shorter than Tamiya intended, and some slightly longer, I managed to fiddle them in.

You're almost done. If you're fitting a torpedo then you don't have to fit the bomb racks as I gather the Swordfish couldn't manage both types of weapon at the same time - might save you having to drill a few holes in the lower wings?

Good luck with what's left!

Nick.

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Thanks Nick.

I got a small amount of bench time yesterday while I was

Watching the kids but spent most/all of the time helping them build their kits. But luckily I could at least see that all my wire bracing has stayed put. :)

It's a crappy day today so I have a few hours to add the few last bits. I'll try and post up tonight so you guys can have a gander.

Wish me luck.

John. :) :)

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Awesome build John and an excellent save on the weathering. I used an oil wash on my 1:48th Airfix Spitfire Mk1 and failed to clean enough off leaving it with a somewhat mahogany hue on the underside :)

I also use the Flory washes as in the video and recommend you give them a whirl. Because they are water based clay washes they can be completely washed off just with water.

You're also tempting me to go get the Tamiya 1/48 Swordfish now.

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Thanks for all your kind comments. It's a great help. 😊

Not much time again today as I had the kids all day but I have managed to get photo bucket on my telephone so I'll try and post from here (the sofa). The rigging is on and straight. Well ish. Here are A few pics before the wings went on.

 

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I really like this little gun sight.

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Anyhoo the wings are on. 😀 It was a real struggle and these aren't the best picks in the world but They will do fo now. As you can see the rigging has stayed ok and not twisted again. Thank goodness.

 

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As I hadn't drilled the holes for the bombs I am leaning towards adding the HUGE torpedo instead. No painting instructions for this but I kinda like the black and brass look some of you have done.

Not quite 100% sure yet so I am doing the landing gear, propeller and bits and bobs before I add either way. If you guys have a preference let me know. 🙂

Any way here we are as of this afternoon.

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Landing gear struts with aluminum under coat, ak fluid, and top coat. Hopefully I'll get them painted and on tomorrow with any luck.

Until then. Thanks for looking.

John. 🤓

Edited by The Spadgent
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Good luck.

Fantastic looking model.

Learning a lot from your trials and tribulations with the washes, and I really fancy doing a Stringbag now!

Thanks, I'm learning a lot too 🤓. I can highly recommend the fish. It's a really great build. Ups and downs but mainly ups. 🙂
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Awesome build John and an excellent save on the weathering. I used an oil wash on my 1:48th Airfix Spitfire Mk1 and failed to clean enough off leaving it with a somewhat mahogany hue on the underside :)

I also use the Flory washes as in the video and recommend you give them a whirl. Because they are water based clay washes they can be completely washed off just with water.

You're also tempting me to go get the Tamiya 1/48 Swordfish now.

Ahh another victim of the Mahogany tiger, my sympathies sir. Thanks for the flory wash tip. I think I'll give them a blast.

Deffo recommend the fish, it's a real fun and testing build, apparently it is known for being expensive, I got mine for a birthday gift....... Wow it must be two years ago . but I've seen it for about £25. Bargain. Do it, you know you want too.

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Hello you lovely lot. I managed to get some time today to get my struts painted and the wheels on. Yup you heard right we got wheels people. ;)

I chipped away the leading edge and top coated last night.

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The eagle eyed of you will notice the Mahoosive torpedo in the background. Decision made then.

Any way. Brown trousers added and all is looking dandy.

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wheels and struts on. Woot!

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And now the right way up, with the exhaust on too.

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Yup you guessed it. A moment on the roof yet another little aerial busted off the tail. Honestly if I have to fashion another one of these little buggers I'm going to go BoNkErS.

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What with all the wing and wheel excitement I'd forgotten to remove the wind screen and window masks.

They were a real pig to get at but I managed it. Not a great shot but you can just about see where the masks aren't. ;D

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Nearly there now. Just the prop, some aerial parts and line rigging. Oh and that TORPEDO. :D

Thanks for looking.

John.

Edited by The Spadgent
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Amazing work, I really like the 'accidental' weathering around the struts, fasteners and crevices. It certainly really looks the part of a nicely weather-beaten old seabird.

Thoroughly subjective of course, IMHO the markings look slightly too vivid for the otherwise well weathered appearance of the plane. One technique I've used is to heavily thin the base colour (say 1 drop paint to 10 drops of thinner) and very lightly airbrush over the decal. It helps blend it into the paintwork and also helps to hide any decal film.

Just my opinion however, that's an incredible build so far and I'm looking forward to seeing the rigging.

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Very nice model with beautiful weathering.

I think I'll put a Swordfish on my wishlist (a Bismark-related one, perhaps).

Regards,

David

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Amazing work, I really like the 'accidental' weathering around the struts, fasteners and crevices. It certainly really looks the part of a nicely weather-beaten old seabird.

Thoroughly subjective of course, IMHO the markings look slightly too vivid for the otherwise well weathered appearance of the plane. One technique I've used is to heavily thin the base colour (say 1 drop paint to 10 drops of thinner) and very lightly airbrush over the decal. It helps blend it into the paintwork and also helps to hide any decal film.

Just my opinion however, that's an incredible build so far and I'm looking forward to seeing the rigging.

Thanks for the kind words. :D

I see what you mean about the decals. Tough for me to do it now with the air brush but I might have a go ad adding some light tamiya weathering powders to wash them out a bit. All feedback is good.

Glad you're enjoying the build. :)

John.

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There are more little bits and the end of this build than I first thought.

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All the bits got primed and sprayed.

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Then I fitted the top side aerials. All looking smart.

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Honestly some of these little top bits are super CrAzY small. Carpet monster to the ready. :o

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And it's on.

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Torpedo Thursday :) . I went to the local model shop today in Brum and bought me some Vallejo Metal acrylic for my next build. I couldn't wait to try it out so here it is next to the copper end of "The Torpedo" as you can see the new metallic stuff is way superior to the Tamiya paint.

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I buffed up the old Duracell battery and it looked a little better.

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I just need to fit the torp rig, the underside gumf and do a little weathering here and there and my girl will be ready for her RFI photo shoot. :)

Thanks for looking.

John.

Edited by The Spadgent
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