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Fairey Swordfish Mk.1 - A04053A [1:72]


Aussie Jeff

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This kit has been built several times on this forum which is great for me as I have plenty to review and help me along with the build. I actually have two of these kits and plan to build both available schemes - the silver/grey/yellow with wings extended and the grey/green one with them folded. I'm doing the silver/grey/yellow on now, the other will come later.

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One build post referred to the sprue gates and how they 'sometimes' extended onto the actual part as a small nub and needed cleaning up before assembly - I found it on just about every piece. Certainly made me more diligent on dry-fitting and assembly.

The cockpit module is a complex little build in itself and took me a couple of days to paint and assemble. I used Humbrol enamel paints and brushes for all these parts rather than airbrushing and carried this thriugh to the insides of the fuselage halves.

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iI was going to tidy up my messy internal rib painting but when I checked the fuselage fit I found It really wasn't required. Rather than just two main halves to the fuselage there are three with a base part also fitted.  It was a bit tricky getting everything alligned but bit of clamping sorted that out.  Small bits of filler were needed along the seams to tidy it all up once set.

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Then it was masking time and off to the paint booth.  One build post mentioned it was easier to build in sub-assemblies (fuselage, wings, engine) and paint/decal seperately. Reading through the instructions it certainly made sense so that is what I'm doing.

With three colours on the fuselage there was a lot of masking/painting/remasking to do but the result (using Vallejo Air paints and an airbrush) was quite satisfying.

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The engine assembly was another tricky little thing to get painted and aligned - and I got the alignment wrong. The lugs that were supposed to assist were very small and not that well moulded and once a bit of glue was applied it was difficult to determine if everything was in the correct place. Once it was all cured and I dry fitted it to the fuselage (there are some very positive alignment lugs) I found I was out by one cylinder! So I just ground dound the lugs with a small Dremel tool allowing the engine assembly to be rotated to the correct position.  I'll cement this in place later.

More to come.  😀

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Yes it's a challenging and complex build for a small series single engined aircraft but rewarding in the end.

 

And Jeff I think it was probably my build post that had everything completed as sub-assemblies before marrying everything up. I also did the wing rigging before closing the wing halves. Good Luck! 

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Yes it's a challenging and complex build for a small series single engined aircraft but rewarding in the end.

 

And Jeff I think it was probably my build post that had everything completed as sub-assemblies before marrying everything up. I also did the wing rigging before closing the wing halves. Good Luck! 

Yep, that'd be the most useful one, so thanks T2B. I even took your hint to lay down the big 'G5K' decals on the lower halves of the upper wing as the struts go through them. Hope to update the post with progress pics this weekend. 

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Sorry Jeff I can't take the credit for that one as my build didn't have any large wing decals, but the rigging and sub-assemblies were from my build as I did the FAA Operation Judgement aircraft with folded wings! I'll look forward to seeing your build progress. 

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Sorry Jeff I can't take the credit for that one as my build didn't have any large wing decals, but the rigging and sub-assemblies were from my build as I did the FAA Operation Judgement aircraft with folded wings! I'll look forward to seeing your build progress. 

Ahhh, that must have been the comprehensive review build on the ATF! So much good info available.

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Only a small bit of progress as other household tasks take precedent in lockdown - mainly building a deck!

I decaled the fuselage and also began adding some of the rigging - tailplane rigging shown below, still need to add rudder and upper & lower elevator control cables.

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Also finished off the engine/prop assembly.

 

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And, as mentioned earlier the decals have been applied to the lower half of the upper wing as the support struts go tight through the middle of them. As T2B discovered I'm going to try and rig the wings before gluing the top part to the upper wing and bottom of the lower wing so the ends of the rigging can be hidden. Takes a bit of planning but I think it will be worth it.

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It's looking good Jeff. I didn't do the rudder control cables on mine (just didn't think about them) but wish I had, so I will try on my next build!

 

And yes doing the wing rigging before assembling the wing halves does require some forward planning and patience but will be worth it to hide all the rigging fixing and glue etc inside the wing surfaces. 

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  • 7 months later...

Could I ask where you obtained the rigging details and materials you used?

Try a Google search. I have just answered directly in your other post on the same subject. And post your build as you go along and you may get further assistance as your build progresses if you need it?                                                      

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