I originally picked up this kit at a swap meet, not because of the subject but because of the floats and torpedo. At the time my thinking was I could probably put the floats on an ancient Airfix Swordfish in my stash; and the torpedo could be used on one of the torpedo bombers I have that don’t have torpedoes.

After translating the instructions from Cyrillic I realized it was the old Frog Shark kit. Lots of flash and a few struts were short shot.

Then late in 2010 our club decided they wanted to have a theme “Damn the Torpedoes”. After looking closely at the kit, I decided I wanted to take on the challenge and see what my skills could accomplish.

I was rewarded well. This model was completed back in April 2011.

The Subject 

The Blackburn Shark was an interim torpedo-spotter-reconnaisance aircraft, introduced in 1935 to replace the Fairey Seal and it was replaced beginning in 1937 by the Fairey Swordfish.

Only operated by a few squadrons, on a few battleships and on board HMS Courageous in the Mediterranean. I wanted a typical silver wings FAA torpedo bomber and the broad blue stripe called to me.

The Model 

A real sow’s ear. I’ve subsequently seen an original Frog release, and the plastic is much more crisp and the detail more clean. The plastic is actually harder as well. This kit, probably released by Novo (that word never translated) is ’80’s vintage; I bought it in the late ’90’s.

As mentioned above, lots of flash and many of the parts were either short shot or missing. There is no cockpit and instead of buy an aftermarket one (a Swordfish cockpit would be ok) I queried the net and was rewarded with photos of the cockpit. I chose to scratch the major components.

I drilled out and rigged the control lines as well as the flying wires (there aren’t many of those, interestingly). The markings were a challenge as no decal manufacturer made anything, at the time. To the rescue was Ad Astra Masks. I created the basic artwork by scanning photos for the serial numbers and the “657” side number. Both the side and underwing marking.

A few exchanges of emails with Ian, and I had quality artwork that Ian could use to create masks. Only $10 (at the time) and I had my markings. As a bonus, I added some Spitfire letters that were also unique in shape for another subject.

The masks were not hard to use and the results were superb! The national markings were from my spares box and the “flag” on the top wing was a combination of paint and decal strip.

This represents the best of my skills, so far. It’s the standard I try to achieve with each new build. 

Thanks for looking…