DONE +++ (Nighthunter's) Avro Swallow Mk. II, 'JX-M' of RAF No. 1 Squadron

Dizzyfugu · November 17, 2015, 01:40:28 AM

Still waiting for the decals from UK. $:-\$

In the meantime, another project has been finished, soon to be published - but outside the GB.

Dizzyfugu · November 18, 2015, 10:21:16 AM

Decals arrived, things can move on!

Dizzyfugu · November 19, 2015, 09:30:28 AM

Here she is, just before finishing touches and varnish:

1:72 Avro 675 'Swallow' Mk. II, aircraft 'JX-M/J3955', mount of Flight Lieutenant Killian Murphy, of Royal Air Force No. 1 Squadron; Tangmere, August 1940 (Whif/KP Models Avia B.35 conversion) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The Wooksta! · November 19, 2015, 04:28:57 PM

Squadron codes go over serials, never the other way round.

Captain Canada · November 19, 2015, 05:23:10 PM

Funny I noticed them right away, but didn't know why ! The aeroplane looks lovely tho. Great job.

Dizzyfugu · November 23, 2015, 12:17:21 AM

1:72 Avro 675 'Swallow' Mk. II, aircraft 'JX-M/P7350' of Royal Air Force No. 1 Squadron, mount of Flight Lieutenant Killian Murphy; Tangmere, September 1940 (Whif/KP Models Avia B.35 conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Some background:
Due to increasing tensions in Europe, leading up to World War 2, AVRO Aircraft started developing combat aircraft, and as a subsidiary of Hawker, they had access to the Hurricane plans. At the time that the Hurricane was developed, RAF Fighter Command consisted of just 13 squadrons, each equipped with either the Hawker Fury, Hawker Demon, or the Bristol Bulldog, all biplanes with fixed-pitch wooden propellers and non-retractable undercarriages. After the Hurricane's first flight, Avro started working on a more refined and lighter aircraft, resulting in a similar if not higher top speed and improved maneuverability.

The result was Avro's project 675, also known as the "Swallow". The aircraft's profile resembled the Hawker Hurricane, but appeared more squatted and streamlined, almost like a race version. Compared with the Hurricane, overall dimensions were reduced and the structure lightened wherever possible. The wings were much thinner, too, and their shape reminded of the Supermarine Spitfire's famous oval wings. The main landing gear was retractable and had a wide track. The tail wheel was semi-retractable on the prototype, but it was later replaced by a simpler, fixed tail wheel on production models.

1:72 Avro 675 'Swallow' Mk. II, aircraft 'JX-M/P7350' of Royal Air Force No. 1 Squadron, mount of Flight Lieutenant Killian Murphy; Tangmere, September 1940 (Whif/KP Models Avia B.35 conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Avro 675 'Swallow' Mk. II, aircraft 'JX-M/P7350' of Royal Air Force No. 1 Squadron, mount of Flight Lieutenant Killian Murphy; Tangmere, September 1940 (Whif/KP Models Avia B.35 conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The Swallow made its first flight on 30th December 1937 and the Royal Air Force was so impressed by its performance against the Hurricane that they ordered production to start immediately after a few minor tweaks to certain parts of the aircraft had been made.

On 25 July 1939, the RAF accepted their first delivery of Avro Swallow Mk.Is. The first machines were allocated to No.1 Squadron, then based in France, where they were used in parallel to the Hurricanes for evaluation. These machines were powered by a 1.030 hp (770 kW) Rolls-Royce Merlin Mk II liquid-cooled V-12, driving a wooden two-bladed, fixed-pitch propeller. With this powerplant, the aircraft achieved an impressive top speed of 347 mph (301 kn, 558 km/h) in level flight – the bigger and heavier Hurricane achieved only 314 mph (506 km/h) with a similar engine. Like its "cousin", the Hurricane, the Swallow was armed with eight unsynchronized 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns in the outer wings, outside of the propeller disc.
In spring 1940 Avro upgraded the Swallow Mk.I's to Mk.IA standard: the original wooden propeller was replaced by a de Havilland or Rotol constant speed metal propeller with three blades, which considerably improved field performance. Many aircraft received this update in the field workshops until summer 1940.

1:72 Avro 675 'Swallow' Mk. II, aircraft 'JX-M/P7350' of Royal Air Force No. 1 Squadron, mount of Flight Lieutenant Killian Murphy; Tangmere, September 1940 (Whif/KP Models Avia B.35 conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Avro 675 'Swallow' Mk. II, aircraft 'JX-M/P7350' of Royal Air Force No. 1 Squadron, mount of Flight Lieutenant Killian Murphy; Tangmere, September 1940 (Whif/KP Models Avia B.35 conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

In parallel, production switched to the Swallow Mk. II. This version, which reached the front line units in July 1940, received an uprated engine, the improved Rolls-Royce Merlin III, which could deliver up to 1,310 hp (977 kW) with 100 octane fuel and +12 psi boost. With the standard 87 Octane fuel, engine performance did not improve much beyond the Merlin II's figures, though.

A more streamlined radiator bath was fitted, too, and altogether these measures boosted top speed to 371 mph (597 km/h) at 20,000 ft (6,096 m). This was a considerable improvement, and the contemporary Hurricane II achieved only 340 mph (547 km/h).
Despite this improvement, though, several fundamental weak points of the Swallow remained unsolved: its limited range could not be boosted beyond 300 miles (500 km) and the light machine gun armament remained unchanged, because the Swallow's thin wings hardly offered more space for heavier weapons or useful external stores like drop tanks.

1:72 Avro 675 'Swallow' Mk. II, aircraft 'JX-M/P7350' of Royal Air Force No. 1 Squadron, mount of Flight Lieutenant Killian Murphy; Tangmere, September 1940 (Whif/KP Models Avia B.35 conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Avro 675 'Swallow' Mk. II, aircraft 'JX-M/P7350' of Royal Air Force No. 1 Squadron, mount of Flight Lieutenant Killian Murphy; Tangmere, September 1940 (Whif/KP Models Avia B.35 conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Despite these shortcomings the pilots loved their agile fighter, which was described as an updated Hawker Fury biplane fighter than a competitor to the Hurricane. After War was declared, the crews flew the early Mk.I well against the more experienced Luftwaffe fighters, and many of these aircraft were updated to Mk. IA standard.

Since the type was not operated in large number Swallow aces were few. One of them was Flight Lieutenant Killian Murphy, an Irish Volunteer and Pilot of JX-M of RAF No. 1 Squadron. He scored 2 of his total 24 kills in a Mk. I, and 8 more in a Mk. II from August 1940 on. The initial scores were a Bf 109E and a Ju87, both shot down during the evacuation of Dunkirk. Most of his later victories were scored during the defense of London, before the squadron was completely re-equipped in early 1941 with Hurricane Mk. IIs and later Typhoons, rather focusing on ground attack and interdiction missions on Continental Europe.

1:72 Avro 675 'Swallow' Mk. II, aircraft 'JX-M/P7350' of Royal Air Force No. 1 Squadron, mount of Flight Lieutenant Killian Murphy; Tangmere, September 1940 (Whif/KP Models Avia B.35 conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Avro 675 'Swallow' Mk. II, aircraft 'JX-M/P7350' of Royal Air Force No. 1 Squadron, mount of Flight Lieutenant Killian Murphy; Tangmere, September 1940 (Whif/KP Models Avia B.35 conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Some work was done to improve the Swallow, but to no avail. Experimentally, a single Swallow Mk. II was modified in early 1941 to carry a pair of 20mm Hispano cannons plus a single pair of 0.303" machine guns in the wings. But this solution necessitated bulged fairings and proved to be unsatisfactory, so it not developed any further.

Another Mk. II was converted with a lowered spine and a framed bubble canopy (reminiscent of the Hawker Typhoon's design), but this experiment suffered the same fate. The Swallow had quickly reached its limited development potential and turned out to be a dead end.

1:72 Avro 675 'Swallow' Mk. II, aircraft 'JX-M/P7350' of Royal Air Force No. 1 Squadron, mount of Flight Lieutenant Killian Murphy; Tangmere, September 1940 (Whif/KP Models Avia B.35 conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Avro 675 'Swallow' Mk. II, aircraft 'JX-M/P7350' of Royal Air Force No. 1 Squadron, mount of Flight Lieutenant Killian Murphy; Tangmere, September 1940 (Whif/KP Models Avia B.35 conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Since the Supermarine Spitfire had proven its worth in the meantime and promised bigger development potential, production of the Avro Swallow already ceased in late 1942 after 435 aircraft had been built. Around the same time the type was also quickly phased out from front-line service.
Several machines were retained as trainers, messenger aircraft or instructional airframes. 20 late production Mk. IIs were sold to the Irish Air Corps, and a further 50 aircraft were sent to Canada as advanced fighter trainers, where they served until the end of the hostilities in 1945.

1:72 Avro 675 'Swallow' Mk. II, aircraft 'JX-M/P7350' of Royal Air Force No. 1 Squadron, mount of Flight Lieutenant Killian Murphy; Tangmere, September 1940 (Whif/KP Models Avia B.35 conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Avro 675 'Swallow' Mk. II, aircraft 'JX-M/P7350' of Royal Air Force No. 1 Squadron, mount of Flight Lieutenant Killian Murphy; Tangmere, September 1940 (Whif/KP Models Avia B.35 conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length: 8.57 m (28 ft 1 in)
Wingspan: 10.85 m (35 ft 7 in)
Height: 2.60 m (8 ft 6 in)
Wing area: 17.00 m² (183 ft²)
Empty weight: 1,690 kg (3,726 lb)
Gross weight: 2,200 kg (4,850 lb)

Powerplant:
1× Rolls-Royce Merlin III liquid-cooled V-12, rated at 1,310 hp (977 kW) at 9,000 ft (2,700 m)

Performance:
Maximum speed: 371 mph (597 km/h) at 20,000 ft (6,096 m)
Range: 320 miles (515 km)
Service ceiling: 36,000 ft (10,970 m)
Rate of climb: 2,780 ft/min (14.1 m/s)
Wing loading: 29.8 lb/ft² (121.9 kg/m²)
Power/mass: 0.15 hp/lb (0.25 kW/kg)

Armament:
8× 0.303" (7,7mm) Browning machine guns with 350 RPG in the outer wings

1:72 Avro 675 'Swallow' Mk. II, aircraft 'JX-M/P7350' of Royal Air Force No. 1 Squadron, mount of Flight Lieutenant Killian Murphy; Tangmere, September 1940 (Whif/KP Models Avia B.35 conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Geoff · November 23, 2015, 12:33:41 AM

Excellent

zenrat · November 23, 2015, 01:01:44 AM

Very good.

Dizzyfugu · November 23, 2015, 01:07:03 AM

Thank you very much. Sadly, the matt acrylic varnish (Revell) turned white in the recesses. I tried to mend the damage, but it's rather obvious in the pics, even more than in real life. $:-\$

Anyway, nighthunter's profile creation is a pretty bird in hardware form, the sleek Merlin nose, coupled with the beautiful B.35 wings, is a very good-looking combo!

PR19_Kit · November 23, 2015, 02:15:12 AM

Utterly brilliant, on both your parts.

Caveman · November 23, 2015, 04:16:07 AM

Have you got an early mark spitfire to compare/contrast against?

Dizzyfugu · November 23, 2015, 04:41:32 AM

I have a Hurricane Mk. I in Polish colors. Compared with the Hurricane, the Swallow/B.35 looks utterly small.
Because of its slender wings, even an early Spitfire looks IMHO "massive" - even though overall size and proportions are similar.

Captain Canada · November 23, 2015, 04:44:30 AM

Love it. The first pic is epic ! Must have been some battle ! Great job on this one. I hadn't noticed the whitening until you mentioned it so no worries there.

NARSES2 · November 23, 2015, 06:20:45 AM

That's a good 'un

nighthunter · November 23, 2015, 09:44:28 AM

Thank you all for your praise, on my end of the work! Thomas, as always, with one of my "creations" you bring it to 3-D wonderfully!

What isn't mentioned about Flt. Lt. Murphy is that he was later transferred to a Spitfire Squadron, to continue racking up kills. "In fact", his Mk II was one of the few Swallows to be transferred to the IAC, and after it was decommissioned, was repainted in his markings and is part of the IAC's Flying Collection.