<> **** DONE: 1/48 Fairey Swordfish MkII - WW1 / WW2 over Water.

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Really excellent detail work there Andy - very impressive, and extremely effective.
I was going to suggest that the 'chalking' (which I hadn't really noticed until you mentioned it) could pass as the effect of salt spray, but it seems you've got it sorted now anyway.
The tape around the dinghy hatch - possibly red-doped, as seen on the Lancaster and Halifax ?
 
Thanks guys. Terry, yes I would love to have a colour pic to confirm whether it's red dope or not.

The Yagis are now complete and installed along with their cables. Note how the X brace is the first pic has buckled yet again....



Time to address the broken antenna wire post. I was working from memory when making the brass parts as I lost the piece that broke off.



The machine gun was also finish painted and installed. Not clearly seen is a sighting reticle that was added from my spares. The leather pads around the cockit openings were hand painted and one needs a small touch up. I had forgot about doing this before the folded wing was secured and had to snake my brush through the rigging to get the other side done.



The dinghy release chord was also added. Not sure how to paint this as I've seen no details, other than the cutaway I posted above. Red and white stripes? Or maybe just solid red based on what I saw on my Beaufighter handles.



Thanks again for looking in and for your kind comments.
 
Been through all my books and nothing on tape color save for one photo that mentioned white though being a black & white photo it could have been light grey. This photo is definitely neither...


​
With regards to the release cable, though this is a later mark, it is on color

​
 
Thanks Geo, helpful info. I have seen variations of the tape shade suggesting lights and darks as well so it's possible there were different colours. Based on the pic of my rig where the deckhands are folding the wings, the tape is definitely lighter than the Dark Slate Grey so maybe I'll go with a light grey. It definitely does not look white.
 
I've been looking through some back-issues of the old Scale Aircraft Modelling magazine from the 1980's, as I'm fairly sure there's a cover photo in colour, showing the dinghy hatch tape. No luck so far I'm afraid.
Looking at the various B&W pics, it would seem that various 'colours' might have been used, with the darker colour very possibly the commonly found Dull Red dope, as used on gun port patches etc, and the very light colour might be plain natural linen with a clear dope, used as a sealer and adhesive', the fabric being doped in position in a similar way to hanging wallpaper. If it was, then when applied over the camouflage colours, it could appear as a creamish, 'sandy' shade, or as a light 'dirty' grey, where the dope has slightly darkened the off-white (almost very light grey) fabric.
The Dull Red dope would be used in the same way.
 
Andy, I'm curious about the "dinghy hatch". I haven't noticed it in most of the pictures I look at on the Internet. Was this something that was in all stringbags? You all seem to be referring to the upper port wing - is this correct?

My old eyes just don't seem to find it on some old photos and yet George's image clearly shows a rectangle. Were the hatches marked on all the Fairey Swordfish aircraft?

Here are a couple images where I just couldn't make out the hatches:

View: https://www.flickr.com/photos/133697406@N05/20005564223/in/album-72157654467058961/


View: https://www.flickr.com/photos/133697406@N05/20439780479/in/album-72157654467058961/


Mike
 
Michael, as far as I know, all Swordfish had the dinghy box and many pics that I have seen show it. If you look closely in your first pic, which I'm also using as my main reference shot for my build, you can see the box with the faint fabric outline.



You are right in that your second pic does not seem to show the detail well. However, take a closer look at many of the photos out there and you will likely see them, now that you know what to look for.



The cover of the box was spring loaded and blew off when the emergency release was pulled. The opening would have been sealed to prevent water ingress under normal conditions, possibly with fabric tape and dope.

This is not unique to the Swordfish as many aircraft had similar details.
 
I agree with you Andy. IMHO the cover of the box and its sealing weren't seen while the area was overpainted with the camo paint freshly. The recatngle might have appeared while the dinghy and the opening system were checked by the maintenance crews. I would say it should be done from time to time according the security or technical rules. Then the compartment was closed and the cover sealed with fabric ( or something like that ) strips and a clear coat, for instance. The clear coat might be gloss, semi-gloss ( of course it could be also a dope of different colour ) and it could get the darker tane because of the weather, water etc. Just it could get yellowish/brownish tinge causing the effect of the rectangle..
Also I would like to make a focus on that the second pic posted by Micheal. While the first plane on the elevator doesn't have the cover noticed , the second one seems to have two darker strips seen on the top port wing at the box area.



 
Andy and Wurger,

Thanks for the elucidation.

You're both adding to my minuscule knowledge of the Swordfish. It's good to know this since the kit certainly doesn't mention it. Perhaps I'll attempt to add a faded rectangle on my model when I get around to working on it.

Mike
 
Andy, You're so right! I hadn't noticed it - probably would never have fired off one axon and dendrite until having read this thread. I've got a whole bunch of things to learn about the Swordfish!

Mike
 
Thanks Wayne.

For the dinghy box highlights, I masked the outlines in an intentionally rough manner and whipped up a small amount of Dark Slate Grey darkened with a drop of dark grey with a little bit of gloss ten sprayed that on. The below pics show the results and you can also see the release chord, which I elected to paint red in the absence of any better info.



And just because there isn't enough fiddly work on this model, I decided to spruce up the rockets a bit. Unlike the R/Ps I had to modify on my Tamiya Beaufighter, the ones provided with this kit are the correct type for my model. However the fins could use some thinning and I accomplished this by simply filing them down a bit. The pic below shows the unmodified tail piece on the left and the thinned on mounted on the motor. I also added some rod to the rails to make them look more like the real deal.



7 more to go....
 
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