A Taranto Swordfish - 815 NAS “4A” ***** FINISHED *****

[mark.au]

G’day everyone.  
 

What do we think of Airfix’s roundel placement on the fuselage?  I’ve seen a few different placements on other models and/or photos.  Did Airfix get it right?

 

 

Last night I masked up the fuselage.

 

 

I went with tape because every photo of these aircraft seem to show a hard edge.  I freehanded the EDSG and then masked the camo with blutack pressed tight so that I got a hard edge on that too.

 

 

 

As usual, I built a bit of texture into the base colours but will enhance that a bit more later on.  But not too much, based on the info in the posts above it seems 4A could well have been a replacement airframe so I’m going to go a bit easy on the weathering.

 

Next up I’ll be painting the markings on the fuselage (when I’ve decided exactly where the roundels go) and then I need to make an auxiliary fuel tank.  I think I might now take the fuselage all the way to completion before doing the same for the wings.

 

Cheers.

[Dunny]

1 hour ago, mark.au said:

What do we think of Airfix’s roundel placement on the fuselage?

Mark,

 

I would say a little too far outboard, but no doubt there will be an avalanche of evidence to the contrary. Looking lovely by the way...

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

[mark.au]

17 minutes ago, Dunny said:

Mark,

 

I would say a little too far outboard, but no doubt there will be an avalanche of evidence to the contrary. Looking lovely by the way...

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

Thanks Roger.  By outboard do you mean rearward?

 

I’m about to spend the rest of the week in Perth WA so tonight I worked on some peripherals.  
 

I finished the engine and cowling, though it’s not glued yet.

 

 

And then I made the torpedo.  This isn’t finished, but the base colours are done.  The steel was painted with a mix of Vallejo metal Duraluminium and Magnesium.

 

Wish me luck in attempting air travel this week!

 

Cheers.

 

 

 

Edited July 26, 2022 by mark.au
It’s better if I include all the pics

[Ngantek]

It's looking fantasic Mark. Sorry been having a lovely time quietly following this one from the gallery. The quality of the painting is off the charts, so sharp and even. The black distempered S1E (have I learned this lesson correctly!?) looks terrific. Best of luck in WA!

 

Andy

 

[Dunny]

48 minutes ago, mark.au said:

Thanks Roger.  By outboard do you mean rearward?

Mark,

 

I meant too near the wingtips, but on reflection they look about right. Cracking work on the other bits - hope you have a safe trip way out west,

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

[mark.au]

5 minutes ago, Dunny said:

Mark,

 

I meant too near the wingtips, but on reflection they look about right. Cracking work on the other bits - hope you have a safe trip way out west,

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

Thanks, let’s hope Qantas gets it right…

 

I was asking about the fuselage roundels

 

[Dunny]

52 minutes ago, mark.au said:

Thanks, let’s hope Qantas gets it right…

 

I was asking about the fuselage roundels

 

My apologies - learn to read! Should be nearer the gunner's position I reckon...

[AliGauld]

It all looks splendid from this end.

Nicely done.

 

Cheers,

Alistair

[bigbadbadge]

9 hours ago, mark.au said:

What do we think of Airfix’s roundel placement on the fuselage?  I’ve seen a few different placements on other models and/or photos.  Did Airfix get it right?

 

Great work Mark this is really coming together now and looks sweet. 

 

There is a picture in the Swordfish from the cockpit book which shows aircraft from 815 and 819 sqns in Autumn 1940 and 4A is near the foreground and has the roundel quite far forward like Roger correctly mentioned and the aircraft next to it 4B by the look of it  has it in a similar position to the Airfix fuselage roundel placement.   So again just to make things nice and simple there are variations 😉

Chris

[iang]

1 hour ago, bigbadbadge said:

 

Great work Mark this is really coming together now and looks sweet. 

 

There is a picture in the Swordfish from the cockpit book which shows aircraft from 8w5 and 819 sqns I Autumn 1950 and 4A is near the foreground and has the roundel quite far forward  and the aircraft next to it 4B by the look of it  has it in a similar position to the Airfix fuselage roundel placement.   So again just to make things nice and simple there are variations 😉

Chris

Chris, that is the same photo as in my book, discussed above. The date is certainly prior to July 1940.

Ian

[bigbadbadge]

39 minutes ago, iang said:

Chris, that is the same photo as in my book, discussed above. The date is certainly prior to July 1940.

Ian

Hi Ian 

Sorry fatfinger syndrome strikes again,  the book quotes autumn 1940 so so corrected my post as my fat fingers pressed 5 instead of 4🙄 . 

I was just quoting the paragraph that accompanied the photo.   

Can I ask the title of your book Ian , I have a few Swordfish to build will look it up.

Chris

 

[iang]

3 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

Hi Ian 

Sorry fatfinger syndrome strikes again,  the book quotes autumn 1940 so so corrected my post as my fat fingers pressed 5 instead of 4🙄 . 

I was just quoting the paragraph that accompanied the photo.   

Can I ask the title of your book Ian , I have a few Swordfish to build will look it up.

Chris

 

Fleet Air Arm Camouflage And Markings: Atlantic and Mediterranean Theatres 1937-1941 - Stuart Lloyd (pseudonym)

[bigbadbadge]

4 minutes ago, iang said:

Fleet Air Arm Camouflage And Markings: Atlantic and Mediterranean Theatres 1937-1941 - Stuart Lloyd (pseudonym)

 

I was looking at Swordfish books with an Author Ian ... !!!😄🙄 I have checked it out online and will get a copy too. I have been building lots of FAA subjects and still have lots to build.

Thanks

Chris

[Jeff G]

I can't offer much about the fuselage roundels but I can say Airfix can't spell Lieutenant correctly, spelling it two different ways in one sentence. Nice work on the camo!

[opus999]

That looks splendid so far!  That torpedo is fantastic -- it looks like you anodized it!

[mark.au]

On 7/29/2022 at 3:12 PM, opus999 said:

That looks splendid so far!  That torpedo is fantastic -- it looks like you anodized it!

Thanks!  That’s Vallejo metallic, they’re pretty good once you get the hang of them.

 

I did not have a good Qantas experience outbound to Perth.  The highlight was almost four hours at the gate in Melbourne after boarding, before finally pushing back.  Coming back they somewhat redeemed themselves by actually answering the phone at 4.30am so I could change my home bound itinerary from the one they foisted on me when the flight from Perth was delayed.  No travel next week, the week after that we try again…

 

Enough of that though.  I painted the remaining markings today.

 

I used the masks I designed last week and was mostly pleased with how they came out.  The “4” was a bit skinny compared to the “A” so I had to adjust that but because I’d used an off-white mix it took a bit of fiddling to get the touch ups to match nicely.  It think the 4s are still a bit brighter than the As but I can fix that with the later treatments.

 

The roundels and fin flashes went well, though there’s a few lumps and bumps in the fuselage there that I had to be careful on to make sure the mask stayed stuck.  I opted of a position more or less directly under the gunner’s position as that seemed to be where it looked to be in the one photo I’ve seen of 4A before it was lost.  I only needed one small touch up on the starboard side.

 

I created slightly off-round masks for the roundels to represent that the hand painted black distemper surrounding them wasn’t necessarily perfect.  Looking at them now, I’m not completely convinced of the logic in how I’ve painted the black just slightly higher than the roundels but it’s a small thing and I can live with it.

 

 

The fin flashes were a bit tricky because each colour is only 2mm wide but with patience I got there with only a minor correction needed at the end.  I painted a light grey box for the serial number and then painted the number itself with a mask.  I decided on P4014 as the serial number because that was/is @iang’s suggestion.  Whether this airframe was or was not a replacement we don’t know, so it is what it is.  The mask worked out ok, numbers and letters that small are a bit tricky to cut masks for - I’m still perfecting the method.

 

 

I also painted the wing walk lines using masks.  A bit extravagant perhaps it’s all practice.

There aren’t any stencils or other decals required on the fuselage so next session I’ll be weathering it.  Not much of that required, so I may even start the rigging, such as it is on the fuselage.  There’s still the matter of the fuel tank too.

 

Plenty to be getting on with, but I think I’m much closer to a finish that it appears.

 

Cheers.

 

[bigbadbadge]

Cracking work on the roundels,  codes and serial numbers, it looks absolutely stunning Mark.  Really looking forward to seeing the wings on and rigging underway. 

Chris

[iang]

55 minutes ago, mark.au said:

 

 

Plenty to be getting on with, but I think I’m much closer to a finish that it appears.

 

Cheers.

 

 

Mark,

It looks great.  The shadow shading has worked well.

 

For clarity, I think P4014 is a reasonable guess for the Swordfish lost at Taranto. Studying the salvage photos, it appears to me that the numbers '01' are visible in one of the photos where the fabric is peeled back. Hence the guess at P4014 (since it is pretty certainly P401x). P4014 has no recorded service history after 1940, and is therefore a possibility for the loss. But this guess depends upon '01' being correct. It's possible that the original 4A (ie the one pictured in my book) was P4095, since when the squadron was formed P4095 was coded U3A, and might be expected to migrate to (L)4A .

Cheers,

Ian

 

 

 

[AliGauld]

Nicely done with the masks and stuff.

It's all black magic to me but inspiring none the less.

 

Cheers,

Alistair

[EwenS]

On 08/07/2022 at 07:42, mark.au said:

 

Indeed, while there’s some evidence that Yamamoto conceived the idea earlier there’s no doubt that the Japanese were intently interested and sent a delegation to Italy to learn more about the attack.  The challenge the RN overcame that the Japanese were concerned about was the shallow water for an airborne torpedo delivery.  Although they took a different route in solving that, the Royal Navy / FAA showed it could be done.
 

One of the ironies of the operation was that the RN had a USN observer at the operation (strictly speaking against the US neutrality laws…) who relayed the news that the shallow depth at Pearl Harbour was not the protection against air launched torpedoes the USN thought it was.  His report was ignored.

 

Welcome, thanks for the interest.

 

 

Think quick!  😂😊

 

 

Just teasing….

 

 

Sort of.

 

The idea of using aircraft to attack enemy ships in harbours dates back to WW1. The first Sopwith T1 / Cuckoo squadron was working up for just that role when the war ended in Nov 1918,

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sopwith_Cuckoo

 

Then on 19 January 1932 the air groups of Courageous and Glorious, under the command of Rear Admiral Reginald Henderson (RAA Aircraft Carriers), combined during an exercise to launch a very successful strike with practice torpedoes against the Med Fleet while it lay at anchor in a southern Greek harbour.

 

The Sempill Mission took the Sopwith Cuckoo with them when they spent 18 months in Japan in 1921/22. Who knows, maybe some seeds were sown back then.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sempill_Mission

[mark.au]

18 hours ago, iang said:

For clarity, I think P4014 is a reasonable guess for the Swordfish lost at Taranto. Studying the salvage photos, it appears to me that the numbers '01' are visible in one of the photos where the fabric is peeled back. Hence the guess at P4014 (since it is pretty certainly P401x). P4014 has no recorded service history after 1940, and is therefore a possibility for the loss. But this guess depends upon '01' being correct. It's possible that the original 4A (ie the one pictured in my book) was P4095, since when the squadron was formed P4095 was coded U3A, and might be expected to migrate to (L)4A .

Cheers,

Ian

Thanks again Ian.  I’ve sort of ended up with a hybrid P4095 / P4014 in terms of how I’m modelling this airframe.  Not super beaten up, but not factory fresh either.  The choice of serial number isn’t critical as I’m building this one as representative of the raid.  Having said that though, I do want it to be somewhat accurately representative so I haven’t gone to town, either.

 

Today, I tackled the fuel tank.  Luckily, as this is the clear fuselage version of the kit there’s a fuel tank included.  After chopping it up and rebuilding it I had a decent shape to work with.

 

 

Even luckier, it fit.

 

 

After some vigorous sanding, a bit of chopping, some paint (I base coated it with a metallic and then covered it to about 80% opacity with a semi-gloss black to get a metallic black finish, like and enamel type appearance which is what the tank appears like to me in photos), and then straps made from adhesive vinyl.  This was the result.

 

 

Lastly, I raided the decal stash and found some tiny numbers/letters and applied the 4A

 

 

Next, there was nothing remains to prevent me weathering the fuselage.  There wasn’t much to do; I applied the merest post shade to the control surfaces, panels and fastenings on the uppers and a dark grey dry brush to age/wear the black just a tad - give it some life as it were.

As you see, I also painted and attached the lower wing main braces.  The photos seem to suggest the black was applied to the top and the edges but not so much the sides so I painted mine thus.

 

At this point there was not reason not to apply the finish coats.  I went for a flatter finish on the black than the camo which the pics here don’t pic up so well but it’s there.  
 

 

 

 

Clearly, I couldn’t resist a dry fit assembly…. The engine, prop and centre wing section are not yet glued, I just wanted to see what it would look like.  
 

Oh yes, also just visible is the torpedo carrier which I also painted and attached.

 

I painted the spinner black because despite what Tamiya (and Airfix, for that matter) say in their instructions, at least “4A” had a black spinner as is clearly visible in photos of the wreck.

 

Next session will include the tail rigging wires as well as the control wire rigging for the tail and attaching the torpedo - which task will include the wire used to keep the nose up when it was dropped; a beautiful, typically British, solution to prevent the nose dropping too much in a shallow water torpedo attack.

 

Cheers.

[bigbadbadge]

Looks superb Mark,  great work on the fuel tank and the repeated code looks good.  

The dry fit looks wonderful too, and really looking forward to seeing the tail rigging and control cables going on, that stage really starts to bring a biplane to life, for me anyway.

Great job

Chris

[Dunny]

Mark,

 

Looking seriously impressive - love the finish on the tank!

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

[heloman1]

Wow Mark, the black has gone on very well and the 'ragged' mask line looks great. Looking good up on her wheels.

 

Colin

[AliGauld]

It all looks up to your jaw-droppingly great standards.

Have fun with the rigging, as Chris says that will start to bring it to life.

I'm looking forward to it.

 

Cheers,

Alistair