Popular Post Gisbod Posted May 14, 2021 Popular Post Share Posted May 14, 2021 Hi all, Just finished my Airfix 1/72 Swordfish 😬 Firstly the good stuff - it’s a beauty of a kit. I ended up going off piste and constructed/ painted/ rigged the wings separately to the fuselage. I added them right at the end and - they just clicked into place! Not even any glue required. The decals were sublime, as good as anything I’ve ever used before. Secondly the less good stuff - the surface textures looked, frankly, awful! 🥴 So poor in fact I thought there must have been an issue with the moulding. Everything was gritty. I contacted Airfix with pictures and they very efficiently sent me a complete new set of sprues. However, these weren’t much better! I ended up having to sand down pretty much everything. This seemed slightly odd? Anyone else have that issue? But once that hurdle was crossed, a great fun build 👍 I’ve added a couple of pictures of the offending surfaces. It sits very nicely next to my recent Armstrong Whitworth Siskin and Hawker Demon ☺️ Anyway, here she is... Thanks Guy ...and the not so good....🤨 85 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edge Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 Lovely, neat build despite the rough texture of the kit. I've noticed a slightly rough texture on Airfix kits, along with their use of a softer plastic than that from the old days. Edge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
echen Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 Beautiful build. I gave up on one I started because it insisted on a serious anhedral in the lower wings that I couldn't correct; it looked awful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Poultney Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 Hmm that looks like a kit with worn out 40 year old moulds not a fairly recent tooling. Good build regardless of the issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Mc Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 That is a thing of beauty. If I was looking at that kit from a normal distance at a model show or at a club meeting, none of the issues you state would be obvious. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrik Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 (edited) Beautiful. I have two in stash, one landplane and one floatplane, none of the issues above in my kits. However they are both from the earlier boxings. Edited May 14, 2021 by Patrik Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tbolt Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 Great looking Swordfish. The texture on the fuselage looks either like a damaged mold or the operator is being very careless. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckw Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 I had 2 of these - the first had very bad texture problems on the fuselage. I then got the seaplane version which was a bit better on the fuselage, but worse on the wings. Eventually I combined the best bits of the two kits and cleaned things up to an acceptable level. Both disappointing and surprising as I have built a good number of Airfix kits and have never seen this before. Cheers Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimT Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 Just lovely. Very nicely photographed too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiet Mike Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 A beautiful build, and that photography is faultless! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joao Augusto Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 Beautiful Stringbag! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 That looks gorgeous, great work, I like this scheme too. I have one planned very soon , will have to take a look at the sprue and see what the texture of the kit parts is like. Thanks for the heads up. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josip Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 It looks mighty! As for the surface, I think that quality control in India is lacking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Epeeman Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 Stunning work on your Swordfish, Guy! Regards Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanC Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 Those sprues look awful. I've never seen anything as bad on any of my new tool kits. But you've produced a very impressive model. Nice photos too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 I just checked my two kits, the floatplane and the Taranto raid ones. Both are fairly early releases and both look smooth. The Taranto kit looks the have a little texture, but it feels smooth. I don't think it's anything that would show through a coat of paint. Your Swordfish looks great. Something to aim for if I ever get to mine. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 Same here as Chris, mine being the standard kit. Very slight grain on the fabric parts and smooth on the metal areas. I wish I'd waited for the Taranto raid one as I had to buy the Xtradecal sheet. For the sake of other modellers, I hope that you've just got a bad one: but those lumps on the fuselage makes me wonder if the mould surface is breaking up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alt-92 Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 If I'd had to guess, it's more the handling when getting them out of the moulds. We've seen short shots in one batch, and none at all in the next - while using the same moulds (no they're not exactly cheap and no there aren't 'a couple of copies lying around') Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in a shed Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 That's a stunner of a Swordfish Guy. Well done on smoothing out the rough edges. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanfrandragon Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 That’s a lovely Swordfish, no sign of a rough surface! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Learstang Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 Brilliant Stringbag! For what it's worth, it seems like my earlier mould was better also (I have two kits). Regards, Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark4700 Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 Absolutely brilliant. I don’t think I could get a 1/48 scale to look half as good as that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ModelingEdmontonian Posted May 14, 2021 Share Posted May 14, 2021 14 hours ago, Gisbod said: Hi all, Just finished my Airfix 1/72 Swordfish 😬 Firstly the good stuff - it’s a beauty of a kit. I ended up going off piste and constructed/ painted/ rigged the wings separately to the fuselage. I added them right at the end and - they just clicked into place! Not even any glue required. The decals were sublime, as good as anything I’ve ever used before. Secondly the less good stuff - the surface textures looked, frankly, awful! 🥴 So poor in fact I thought there must have been an issue with the moulding. Everything was gritty. I contacted Airfix with pictures and they very efficiently sent me a complete new set of sprues. However, these weren’t much better! I ended up having to sand down pretty much everything. This seemed slightly odd? Anyone else have that issue? But once that hurdle was crossed, a great fun build 👍 I’ve added a couple of pictures of the offending surfaces. It sits very nicely next to my recent Armstrong Whitworth Siskin and Hawker Demon ☺️ Anyway, here she is... Thanks Guy ...and the not so good....🤨 Very impressive despite the challenges! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gisbod Posted May 15, 2021 Author Share Posted May 15, 2021 Thanks! What worried me more was that their ‘technical team’ told me there were no issues with the sprues they had in stock, then sent me a set with exactly the same problem... I did read somewhere that a smooth surface is difficult to achieve as it tends to stick to the moulds - but every other manufacturer manages it. I’ve got a cheap 20+ year old academy kit in my stash with flawlessly smooth mouldings and detail. I'm a huge Airfix fan - I so want their kits to be great, but they do have issues - overscale panel lines (I have their 1/72 Mk I Spit in the stash and it looks like a Lego kit 🥴), surface moulding and the odd problematic fit etc. Maybe I’m just spoilt from building Wingnut Wings and Tamiya. Guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mig88 Posted May 15, 2021 Share Posted May 15, 2021 Beautiful!! Superbly done and finished! Miguel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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