1/48 Tamiya Fairey Swordfish Mk 1

Gallery Article by Richard Speckley on July 11 2014

 

      

Fairey Swordfish Mk 1 Bismark Raid

I have always wanted to tackle this iconic kit made by Tamiya. This is one of their premier kits supplying not only their usual high quality mouldings along with photo etch parts for the wing rigging, engine and cockpit details.

I have built this out of the box and wanted to do the model justice by depicting the aircrafts most famous role in the Second World War:- The Bismark attack. In 1941 aircraft from HMS Ark Royal spotted the Bismark who was running from British Forces. After a sustained attack on Germanys capital ship, against the odds and facing overwhelming firepower one of the Swordfishes torpedoes damaged the steering of the ship rendering it vulnerable for the perusing fleet.

 

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I used my preferred paints:- Vallejo air and followed the painting guide supplied by Tamiya. There appears to be quite a lot of unknown details about the squadrons and the actual markings with several different ones shown in my research.

The paint scheme was sealed with Vallejos gloss varnish, followed by the application of the decals and finished off with a dark wash.

This is a superb kit and I am itching to try out the MKI 2 in the future.

Richard Speckley

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Photos and text © by Richard Speckley