Tamiya 1/48 Swordfish

by John Lester

Introduction

You wouldn't know it, to look at most hobby shop shelves – or IPMS contest tables either, for that matter – but World War II was fought with more than Bf109s and Mustangs

No, really. I am not making this up.

One of those other aircraft was the Fairey Swordfish. Originally designed to meet Air Ministry specifications for a carrier-based torpedo bomber/spotter/reconnaissance aircraft, the type would serve through five years of war as a torpedo bomber, anti-submarine and convoy protection platform, mine-layer, trainer and general utility aircraft. The prototype first flew in 1934, almost a year before the Bf109. Though already considered obsolete in 1939, it not only was NOT pulled from service before the end of World War II, it outlasted it's planned successor (the Fairey Albacore) in front-line service! Last of the operational combat biplanes, production ceased in mid-1944 after nearly ten years and almost 2400 airframes.

The Swordfish was far from a glamorous looking airplane, earning the nickname of 'Stringbag' from its crews. It's exploits were many and legend, however. As a torpedo bomber, Stringbags crippled the Italian fleet at Taranto, and sank an average of 50,000 tons of shipping a month during the battles for Malta. Armed with rockets and mines, they were formidable anti-submarine weapons, prowling the Atlantic coast of Festung Europa and protecting convoys from Capetown to Murmansk from the decks of escort carriers.

Not bad at all for an aircraft whose top speed, at best, was around 140mph (220km/h).

THE KIT

Here's one aircraft I thought would never be kitted in state-of-the art tooling -- and certainly not in my scale (1/48). Prior to Tamiya's release, there was one 1/48 scale Swordfish kit available - the elderly, and inaccurate, SMER offering. May copy has now been relegated to the parts bin, food for an eventual sci-fi kitbash.

Tamiya's kit depicts the Mk. I variant, with conventional landing gear. A floatplane release is apparently planned for spring of 2000, for those who dare not attempt converting this one with the SMER kit's floats. Conversion to a Mk II (rocket armed) should be extremely simple, and Mk III (with airborne radar) not much more involved, for those who want something beyond out-of-the-box.

Tooling and engineering are what we have come to expect from Tamiya, so I would belabor those points. This is not a shake-and-bake weekend project, however. I lost count of how many parts there seven sprues of grey plastic (plus one of clear parts), and if that were not enough, an optional photoetch set (sold separately) includes about 30 more. Wings may be built extended or folded. A full load of armament (torpedo, bombs and flares) is included, as are three crew figures (pilot, RTO, gunner). Instructions are well illustrated and complete, and point out which parts are necessary for each of the three aircraft one can build out of the box. Markings are provided for:

A pre-war aircraft operating from HMS Glorious, in silver and grey paint scheme; A camouflaged aircraft of 818 Sqdn (HMS Ark Royal) flown by a LT AWD Beale in the attack that crippled the Bismarck (probably the aircraft whose torpedo hit the Bismarck's rudder) A camouflaged aircraft flown by L/Cdr E. Esmonde, OC 825 Sqdn, in the ill-fated attempt to stop the Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen from sortieing in February 1942 (the attack cost earned Esmonde the FAA's first Victoria Cross at the cost of his life, as well as all but 5 of the 17 others who flew with him).

PROS

This is a state of the art Tamiya kit through and through. Everything is beautifully detailed. I expect minimum cleanup of parts and minimum hassle assembling it (in fact, I'm half-way done with my first build, and have only encountered difficulty mating the cockpit cage to the fuselage. Be very careful there, or you WILL need putty later).

The optional PE parts are a nice. They provide all the rigging you'll need (as well as a few other items that look better, or are sturdier, as PE than injected plastic) - pre-cut, ready to ease into place. It's no use complaining that these should be included, as Accurate Miniatures did with their F3F's. If you want that extra level of detail, buy the set - or make your own rigging the time-honored ways. The only things I see on the PE fret that are not just as easily made with other materials (stretched sprue or wire) are the mysterious antlers that sprout from the top of the cowl, just forward of the wing (just what are those, anyway?).

Tamiya makes it easy to convert the kit to different versions, perhaps as an indication that they will kit them in the future. Underwing rockets, though not used on Mk.I's, are included on the parts tree, as are (flashed over) holes for their attachment on the lower wings. Flashed over holes at the appropriate places for Float installation are also present on this kit's fuselage halves.

To make a Mk II, you'll also need to enlarge the oil cooler and (at least for aircraft serving in ASW and coastal attack missions after 1942) add two "Yagi" antennae and a radar set behind the pilot. This is in addition to sanding down the rib detail and scribing panel lines to replicate the metal skinning of the rocket attachment points.

CONS

Yes, this is a state-of-the art Tamiya kit, but it isn't perfect - leaving aside the whole issue of whether the PE should be included or not.

The painting guides included with the instructions are (according to what I have dug up so far) inaccurate with respect to the exterior colors of both Beale's and Esmonde's aircraft. Both should have Sky undersurfaces. Upper surfaces should be Dark Sea Grey and Slate Grey (except the upper surfaces of the lower wings, which should be Sea Grey and Light Slate Grey). Esmonde's aircraft also had the Sky areas overpainted with Black in preparation for the strike on Lorient (which was aborted when the targets sortied early), and there is some question of whether the white "H" marking should actually be red.

You must be very careful inserting the finished cockpit cage into the fuselage. Take your time, get it positioned against one side just right - then hit it with CA and accelerator. Any misalignment will through off the fuselage fit.

The racks for the bombs will have to be modified if the bombs are not carried. I will probably chop off the spades that protrude from racks and replace with fine wire, or left over PE from a ship railing set.

I should also add that the landing lights, as molded, are incorrect for any but pre-war aircraft. All references I've found for aircraft in wartime service show only the port side landing light retained.

CONCLUSIONS

Ok, those are minor nits. All-in-all, Tamiya has given us a splendid kit of an important aircraft, one I'm eager to finish (so I can build a float-equipped Mk I and rocket-armed Mk II!). SAMI Vol 5 No. 11 (the latest on the street here) has a great little reference section, including profiles and line drawings, of the Sword.

This kit is not for the faint of heart, not with all these pieces, and unless you're superman, it is not a weekend project either. Still, with a bit of patience any but the greenest modeler should be able to build this up into a credible replica of what was almost certainly the deadliest biplane ever.

I must also warn you that it's right expensive, with a US retail of $69.00 for the kit, plus another $13.00 or so for the PE. Thankfully, the kit is available overseas for 4200 yen (about $40 US) - so buy your weekend project from the local shop, and order this direct from someplace like HobbyLink Japan. Many thanks to HobbyLink Japan for the review sample.