Guess what? Another Swift. (Stash clearance #7)

[Properjob56]

Airfix 1/72 Supermarine Swift FR.5

 

Yes, another Swift. Now that CedB has finished his marvellous build I can reveal my, very inferior, attempt at this kit.

 

This is the 2015 moulding with soft plastic and good engraved detail. It was built OOB adding a Tamiya tape harness. 

 

2 options, 79 Sqn or 2(AC) Sqn. I chose the former, box top, version, without the ventral tank as I like the clean lines that that omission gives, and also because in the 50 years I've been doing this I've never had a PRU Blue finish before. 

 

Paints were Xtracrylix for the Dark Green and Dark Sea Grey and Modelmaster for the Blue.

 

I think I'm right in saying that every review of this kit has shown it to be a difficult one whoever reviews it. For me the major problem was the difficulty of assembling the fuselage. You have to put in the cockpit tub (split in two), the exhaust pipe, the intake trunking, nose weight, noselight and line up the nose wheel and wing at the same time. The tolerances are much less than 1mm, there's no room for the noseweight and the noselight interferes with the nosewheel tub. The workaround I came up with was

a, don't bother with the noselight part and use Kristal Kleer instead

b. Put the weight behind the pilots seat where there is room not forgetting to add more as it's further back. I put in 5g. and

c. don't allow the glue to dry so final adjustments can be made.

 

So, the fuselage (and BTW the undercarriage as well ) could not fit as moulded.

 

This was a kit that fought me all the way not only with the fuselage issues but also, as some may recall, my varnish layer turned milky. I was able to retrieve it by over varnishing with gloss. Close inspection however shows the surface finish is now forever ruined + who knew that cleaning a canopy with thinner following an accidental paint spill would result in a fogging issue. I didn't. I do now....

 

It was a kit that, frankly, I was glad to finish and move on from. Not so much a 6 footer as a 'hide in the far, dark recesses of the display cabinet and never be allowed to see the light of day ever again'. Even now, on posting these images, I see that I forgot to deal with the cannon ports...don't care. I'm not going back to this.

 

More images follow in a 2nd post

 

 

[Properjob56]

[stevehnz]

I can see the result of the hassles you've had which is a damn shame as the overall effect is quite good, in fact, the good bits look very good, the not so good bits, well, lets not go there 'cause you know already. Having read @CedB's build thread & now this, I'm filled with trepidation for mine when I get around to it.

Steve.

[Properjob56]

I would leave that box where it is. Not because the kit is badly engineered (it is imho) or the subject (which is a bit niche) but because its just not an enjoyable build and that's what we do it for, right? When you look at the reviews from a wide selection of modellers all had problems, which were overcome, some more successfully than others. This so nearly went into the bin so many times but a combination of stubbornness and stinginess at not wanting the expense wasted saved it.

[swralph]

Nice one.😀

[F-32]

Always good to see a Swift - nice job!