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Swordfish 1/72 rear gunner


Tim K

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Where ever possible I like models to have personnel in or around them. My dad has completed many aircraft models but they look static, crew give the aircraft scale and blur the edges of reality. It could have been me in the swordfish as the pilot or rear gunner. In reality it couldn't because of poor colour vision, green flags waving me off the deck would have left me asking "what colour?"

The Airfix kit didn't have any crew so using a pilot from a Hurricane and Spitfire I made a pilot and rear gunner.

The pilot

 

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"Orf with his head!" well everything but... I tried to cut in line with how the human body articulates, so cuts were made at the shoulder and hip joints.

Arms, thighs, knees I hadn't really a clue the actual position in this area of the cockpit of where he would be standing 

 

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so I decided to put his legs back onto his torso and stand him in the rear gunner position and hoping the Airfix kit had some fidelity it might be obvious... standing on the cockpit floor. Looking at the length  of his legs to his body they appeared too long, so off with his feet at ankle level. Ignoring he had no feet the leg length to head and body ratio now looked right.

 

Gluing limbs...a dab of humbrol cement to tack limbs into position and once happy superglue. Legs on his waste was wrong so had to sand down his thighs.

Positioned in the cockpit the next part was positioning his arms and hands so they fitted the gun. dab of Humbrol cement and superglue to fix permanently.

 

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So happy with with his position ... painting

 

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He had a quick shower using bathroom bleach and a tooth brush he was painted with Tamiya paints. None of the problems mentioned. Got my other half to mix a orange for his Mae West.

 

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And a wash to bring some depth and features to his face.

 

A thick dob of superglue Gel on the cockpit floor and positioned him so his hands and arms would convincingly meet the Lewis machine gun.

A bit more superglue to lock everything in place and little more painting.

 

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A photo at more natural viewing distance

 

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