My Latest Project. It's Not WWI, But At Least It's A Swordfish Biplane.

[Chris Johnson]

I hope you fellows won't mind something a little off topic but I just finished my latest project, Trumpeter's 1/32 Swordfish Mk.II. I chose to mark her as a Coastal Command, rocket equipped version, wearing D-Day identification bands.

As you can see, she's a fairly big model and for that reason, in conjunction with adding some additional interest, I folded the right side set of wings. Ordnance is only attached to the left side wings, and all PE rigging was replaced with brass tubing and Maxima Chameleon 2lb test monofilament. The engine was detailed with plugs made from brass tubing, the ignition leads were made with lead wire, and I used Eduard pre-painted seatbelts for the crew stations. I took one liberty in slinging a torpedo under her belly, which is technically not accurate. I just thought it looked good.



















Thanks for looking and now I'll get back on topic with something from WWI.

Cheers,

Chris

[GAJouette]

  Chris,
Just one word my old friend AWESOME.
Highest Regards,
Gregory Jouette

[bobs_buckles]

A model to be proud of 
Nice one, Chris

BVB

[lcarroll]

Chris,
   You are forgiven! A pleasure to view and your engine/cockpit detailling, especially the shading and hiliting, are impressive to say the least. (and she is, after all, a Stringbag, not entirely out of place here!)
Very nice build.
Cheers,
Lance

[Des]

An excellent job Chris, she is a beautiful looking model, your paint work and detailing is second to none, your builds continue to get better and better, extremely well done.

Des.

[pepperman42]

Great looking machine!!! Perfect colour scheme too!!!!

Steve

[Whiteknuckles]

That's a great looking beastie Chris!!

Andrew

[gcn]

Very nicely done Chris, I especially like the engine.

Even though it's not WW1 I'd ay it counts as I recently did the Tamiya 1/48 version which is also a superb kit.

[Jose Chaica]

I like it very much! 
BTW, does this Trumpeter version (or any) lets you build the floatplane version?

[IanB]

Lovely Stringbag! I'm tempted to get the new Airfix remould, I've heard it's pretty good.....

Ian

[Pete Nottingham]

Stunning build Chris, well done mate, one question, how do you do your highlighting on parts of the engine?

Cheers

Pete.

[Chris Johnson]

Thanks everyone for dropping by and having a look. Very much appreciated!

Jose: To build the floatplane version, you'll have to move to 1/48 scale and pick up the Tamiya kit. I have plans for that build too.

Pete: I pick out all of the detail areas by hand painting and then apply an old-fashioned wash made from Humbrol enamel flat black mixed with cheap, hardware store varsol, followed by dry brushing with various shades of lighter shades of Humbrol enamels until I get the effect I want. There will be further weathering to follow on the exterior of the airplane after it languishes in storage for awhile. I still haven't worked up the nerve to tackle that job yet for fear of ruining what I have now. My thinking is that if I wait long enough to lose interest in the model, I won't be so adverse to experimenting on it.

gcn: It's an exact copy of the Tamiya kit, which is why I took a flyer on it.

Cheers,

Chris

[Pete Nottingham]

Thanks Chris.

Cheers

Pete.

[Trackpad]

Hey, Chris!

Almost missed this one. Excellent work on your Stringbag: very well done! 

[Dave W]

A outstanding model Chris and huge thanks for posting this build. I have this kit and have been mustering the motivation to tackle it. Your build shows what can be achieved with it and the results are jaw-droppingly impressive.

Your engine weathering effects are show stoppers- just brilliant work.

Cheers

Dave Wilson
Gold Coast
Australia