Until Tamiya released their Swordfish kits, the only other 1/48th scale example was from SMER. This kit requires a lot of work, and Tamiya's kit is a great leap forward from SMER's offering.

Traditional Tamiya engineering and manufacturing have gone into the Swordfish kit. Molded in Tamiya's medium grey plastic and features finely engraved panel lines all the parts fit together with no difficulty. One thing Tamiya has done differently is the marketing of a separate photo-etched detail set (I chose not to use this option).

The interior is quite amazing, requiring 32 parts to create the bi-level tube framed cockpit structure. The detail on parts like the aft mounted machine gun, radio equipment, and instrument panel are as good as, if not better than some resin sets I've seen. And if all this detail isn't enough to satisfy your tastes, Tamiya includes three finely detailed crew figures. Like the full scale Swordfish, the wings on this model can be posed in either the extended or collapsed positions. This makes a nice touch for modelers who either required the wings collapsed for their diorama or display space restraints. I decided to pose my Swordfish with the wings extended (since space is currently not a concern). Both wings have a three-section construction (six parts for the upper wing, and seven for the lower) with a fine fabric and rib pattern molded into the surface. I assembled the wing sections (upper and lower halves), yet left them separate, since I decided to paint the airframe in sub- assemblies. While I normally don't paint my models in sub-assemblies, I figured that this would be the easiest way of painting the camouflage pattern on the upper surfaces, and Sky on the undersides without going insane from masking! Because of this painting style, the tails were left off the fuselage, as were the landing gear legs and inter-plane struts.

I had always planned on painting my Swordfish in Canadian colours, and I found a nice colour scheme in Squadron's Fairey Swordfish in Action book #175. It features a Mk. II Swordfish based at Yarmouth, Nova Scotia on Canada's East Coast. Since in my mind the differences between the Mk. I and Mk. II are minor, I didn't bother modifying the model.

With everything left in sub-assemblies, I started by applying the base colour of Dark Slate Grey, followed by Extra Dark Sea Grey, using paper masks to create the camouflage pattern. Once dry, I applied Sky to the undersides and required parts. Finally I painted a yellow section on the aft fuselage sides (as per my reference). I used my traditional selection of Polly Scale acrylic paints for this project and had no difficulties with them spraying straight from the bottle. It should be noted that Tamiya make some major mistakes with their colour specifications; RLM Grey and British Dark Green? I really must question their sources for these, even I know that RLM colours are for German aircraft. Once the tri-colour paint scheme was finished and dry, I applied a coat of Future floor wax in preparation for the decal application. I then used some thinned water based paints to highlight panel lines before assembly. This way I didn't need to worry about breaking small items while handling a completed model.

Now that all the sub-assemblies and small parts were painted, I began gluing everything together. First, the tails were attached to the fuselage, as were the landing gear legs. Next came the mid-section of the wings. Then the upper and lower wings were assembled using the inter-plane struts. Soon I'd join the wings to the fuselage, but first I'd have to rig the model with some flying wires.

Now that everything was assembled, the decals were applied. I used Tamiya's kit decals for the basic roundels and fin flashes. I dipped into my decal-box for the numbers located on the aft fuselage sides. These decals all responded well to Gunze's Mr. Marksofter decal set. When complete, I set the model aside overnight, before applying a sealer coat of Future floorwax. Again, the model was set aside to dry, and then a coat of Polly Scale Clear Flat was applied to remove the shine.

Tamiya offered the photo-etched package, which included rigging. I on the other hand decided to use the old fashioned method of invisible thread. I used the instructions as a guide, and super glued the rigging for the wings in place. After assembling and decaling everything else, I returned, and rigged the tails and an area under the main landing gear I found in a photograph.

Wow! Writing this review was more difficult that building the kit. Tamiya has created another beautiful model kit with their Swordfish offering. I only required a small amount of liquid putty to fill in my seams and the two small sink-marks beside the pilot's position. The use of Tamiya's photo-etched detail set would speed up construction, but I chose to save some money, and do things the old fashioned way.

Even though this is a single engine aircraft, it dwarfs all the other single engine fighters in my collection (especially my Grumman F4F-2). Roughly the same size as the Grumman Avenger, the Swordfish makes for an impressive addition to my display shelf. Overall, I rate the kit a solid 10 on my scale. But, because of the biplane configuration and very confusing instruction booklet, I must only recommend this kit to experienced modelers. I'd like to thank Tamiya for including the crew figures as well. I didn't use these, as I normally use figures in models with sparse cockpits. For the record, the only part about this build that I didn't enjoy was the initial purchase price - $100.00 Canadian! But because of my valued customer status at my local hobby shop, I managed to get both the kit and Squadron's new reference book for less than this price.