1:72 Avro "Swallow" Mk. III, "NX-P/AF972" of RAF 131 Squadron, 1941

Dizzyfugu · May 28, 2019, 12:07:17 AM

It's been quiet for a while, due to lots of work in my real life job, and actually there are three (rather simple) kits queued up that wait for photo documentation. So here's #1, a remake of the Avro Swallow:

1:72 Avro 675 "Swallow" Mk. III - fake box art by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Some background:
Due to increasing tensions in Europe which led 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 of them 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 replaced by a simpler, fixed tail wheel on production models.

1:72 Avro 675 "Swallow" Mk. III, aircraft "NX-P/AH972" of the Royal Air Force No. 131 (County of Kent) Squadron, mount of Flt Lt Gordon Cloade; Atcham (Shrewsbury, Shropshire), October 1941 (Whif/KP Models Avia B.35 conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Avro 675 "Swallow" Mk. III, aircraft "NX-P/AH972" of the Royal Air Force No. 131 (County of Kent) Squadron, mount of Flt Lt Gordon Cloade; Atcham (Shrewsbury, Shropshire), October 1941 (Whif/KP Models Avia B.35 conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Avro 675 "Swallow" Mk. III, aircraft "NX-P/AH972" of the Royal Air Force No. 131 (County of Kent) Squadron, mount of Flt Lt Gordon Cloade; Atcham (Shrewsbury, Shropshire), October 1941 (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, at the time based in France, where they were used in parallel to the Hurricanes for evaluation. These early 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. The light 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 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 serial production 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 were retrofitted with this update in the field workshops in the summer of 1940.

1:72 Avro 675 "Swallow" Mk. III, aircraft "NX-P/AH972" of the Royal Air Force No. 131 (County of Kent) Squadron, mount of Flt Lt Gordon Cloade; Atcham (Shrewsbury, Shropshire), October 1941 (Whif/KP Models Avia B.35 conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Avro 675 "Swallow" Mk. III, aircraft "NX-P/AH972" of the Royal Air Force No. 131 (County of Kent) Squadron, mount of Flt Lt Gordon Cloade; Atcham (Shrewsbury, Shropshire), October 1941 (Whif/KP Models Avia B.35 conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Avro 675 "Swallow" Mk. III, aircraft "NX-P/AH972" of the Royal Air Force No. 131 (County of Kent) Squadron, mount of Flt Lt Gordon Cloade; Atcham (Shrewsbury, Shropshire), October 1941 (Whif/KP Models Avia B.35 conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

In parallel, production switched to the Swallow Mk. II: This new 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 redesigned, more streamlined radiator bath was mounted, too, and altogether these measures boosted the Swallow's 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).

However, 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. Despite these shortcomings, the pilots loved their agile fighter, who described the Swallow as an updated Hawker Fury biplane fighter and less as a direct competitor to the Hurricane.

1:72 Avro 675 "Swallow" Mk. III, aircraft "NX-P/AH972" of the Royal Air Force No. 131 (County of Kent) Squadron, mount of Flt Lt Gordon Cloade; Atcham (Shrewsbury, Shropshire), October 1941 (Whif/KP Models Avia B.35 conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Avro 675 "Swallow" Mk. III, aircraft "NX-P/AH972" of the Royal Air Force No. 131 (County of Kent) Squadron, mount of Flt Lt Gordon Cloade; Atcham (Shrewsbury, Shropshire), October 1941 (Whif/KP Models Avia B.35 conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Avro 675 "Swallow" Mk. III, aircraft "NX-P/AH972" of the Royal Air Force No. 131 (County of Kent) Squadron, mount of Flt Lt Gordon Cloade; Atcham (Shrewsbury, Shropshire), October 1941 (Whif/KP Models Avia B.35 conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Nevertheless, Avro kept on working to improve the Swallow, but with limited success. For instance, in early 1941, a Swallow Mk. II was modified to carry a pair of 20mm Hispano cannons instead of the inner pair of machine guns. Due to the aircraft's thin wings, this update necessitated bulged fairings and a modified internal structure for the cannons' ammunition drums. The prototype was operationally tested at the home defense front and the additional firepower was warmly welcomed by the pilots who flew it, since the cannons allowed them to stay out of the German bombers' machine gun range of and added more punch against German escort fighters in dogfights.

This innovation directly led to the Swallow Mk. III, introduced in August 1941, the fighter's final production variant. Beyond the armament changes and the respective structural changes to the wings, the Mk. III was still powered by the Rolls-Royce Merlin III from the swallow Mk. II, but the variant introduced clipped wing tips in order to compensate for the slightly higher weight of the airframe and to improve roll characteristics at low and medium altitude. Otherwise, the Mk. III was virtually identical to the earlier Mk. II.

1:72 Avro 675 "Swallow" Mk. III, aircraft "NX-P/AH972" of the Royal Air Force No. 131 (County of Kent) Squadron, mount of Flt Lt Gordon Cloade; Atcham (Shrewsbury, Shropshire), October 1941 (Whif/KP Models Avia B.35 conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Avro 675 "Swallow" Mk. III, aircraft "NX-P/AH972" of the Royal Air Force No. 131 (County of Kent) Squadron, mount of Flt Lt Gordon Cloade; Atcham (Shrewsbury, Shropshire), October 1941 (Whif/KP Models Avia B.35 conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Avro 675 "Swallow" Mk. III, aircraft "NX-P/AH972" of the Royal Air Force No. 131 (County of Kent) Squadron, mount of Flt Lt Gordon Cloade; Atcham (Shrewsbury, Shropshire), October 1941 (Whif/KP Models Avia B.35 conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Another Mk. II was experimentally converted with a lowered spine and a framed bubble canopy for a better all-around field of view (reminiscent of the Hawker Typhoon's design), but this experiment did not reach production status. The Swallow had already reached its limited development potential and was, by mid-1942, outdated.

Since the Supermarine Spitfire had in the meantime proven its worth and promised a much bigger development potential, production of the Avro Swallow already ceased in late 1942 after 435 aircraft had been built. Around the same time, the Swallows were quickly phased out from front-line service, too.

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. III, aircraft "NX-P/AH972" of the Royal Air Force No. 131 (County of Kent) Squadron, mount of Flt Lt Gordon Cloade; Atcham (Shrewsbury, Shropshire), October 1941 (Whif/KP Models Avia B.35 conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Avro 675 "Swallow" Mk. III, aircraft "NX-P/AH972" of the Royal Air Force No. 131 (County of Kent) Squadron, mount of Flt Lt Gordon Cloade; Atcham (Shrewsbury, Shropshire), October 1941 (Whif/KP Models Avia B.35 conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Avro 675 "Swallow" Mk. III, aircraft "NX-P/AH972" of the Royal Air Force No. 131 (County of Kent) Squadron, mount of Flt Lt Gordon Cloade; Atcham (Shrewsbury, Shropshire), October 1941 (Whif/KP Models Avia B.35 conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length: 28 ft 1 in (8.57 m)
Wingspan: 33 ft 7 in (10.25 m)
Height: 8 ft 6 in (2.60 m)
Wing area: 153 ft² (16.40 m²)
Empty weight: 3,722 lb (1,720 kg)
Gross weight: 5,100 lb (2,315 kg)

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: 366 mph (590 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:
2× 0.787" (20mm) Hispano Mk II cannon with 60 RPG
4× 0.303" (7,7mm) Browning Mk. II machine guns with 350 RPG

The kit and its assembly:
This is actually a remake of a whif that I have built some time ago for the Battle of Britain Group Build at whatifmodelers.com. This fictional machine – or better: the model – is based on a profile drawing conceived by fellow forum member nighthunter: an Avia B.135, outfitted with a Merlin engine, a ventral radiator in the style of a Hawker Hurricane, and carrying RAF markings.

I had another B.35 kit at hand, as well as other ingredients, so I decided to re-create the same aircraft, just in a later variant that differs in some minor details from the first one. The basis is, once again, a vintage KP Models kit of the early B.35 fighter with a fixed landing gear. It's a sleek and pretty aircraft, but the kit's quality is rather so-so (the molds date back to 1974). Details are quite good, esp. on the exterior. You get a mix of engraved and raised surface details, but fit is mediocre, there is lots of flash and the interior is quite bleak. But, with some effort, things can be mended.
Many donation parts for the Swallow, including the Merlin engine, propeller, landing gear and radiator, were taken from an AZ Models Spitfire Mk. I/II/V, from a Joy Pack, which comes with three of these kits without decals.
New landing gear wells had to be carved out of the massive lower wing halves. Since the original Swallow profile did not indicate the landing gear design, I went for an inward-retracting solution, using parts from an early Spitfire. Due to the oil cooler in one of the wing roots, though, the stance ended up a little wide, but it's still acceptable and I stuck to the same solution as on my first build of the Swallow. But now I know why the real world B.135 prototype had its landing gear retract outwards – it makes more sense.

The Merlin fitted very well onto the B.35 fuselage, diameter and shape match very well, even though the Spitfire Merlin and its respective fuselage intersection is a little too deep for the B.35. As a consequence, some light sculpting with putty was necessary under the fuselage – nothing dramatic, though.
Inside of the cockpit, this time I used more Spitfire material than during my first Swallow build, namely the floor, seat and rear bulkhead/headrest. Like before, I added a tank behind the seat in order to fill the OOB void there, and used the B.35's OOB headrest struts, as well as the dashboard.
The blurry, single-piece canopy was cut into three pieces for optional open display on the ground, but this was not a smart move since the material turned out to be very thin and, even worse, brittle – cracks were the unfortunate result.
Since one of the B.35's wing tips was missing (there's a deep edge at the tips, and one tip had been broken off and got lost), I reduced the span of both wings, resulting in a square shape that resembles a narrow Hawker Tempest wing.
Another change concerns the armament: trying to beef it up, I added a pair of Hispano cannon to the wings, with the barrels protruding from the wings' leading edges, reminiscent of the Spitfire's "B" wing – even though I kept the outer machine guns at the Swallow's original position.
Finally, I installed my trademark propeller adapter: a styrene tube inside of the fuselage that holds a long metal axis with the propeller, so that it can spin freely (didn't work well, though).

1:72 Avro 675 "Swallow" Mk. III, aircraft "NX-P/AH972" of the Royal Air Force No. 131 (County of Kent) Squadron, mount of Flt Lt Gordon Cloade; Atcham (Shrewsbury, Shropshire), October 1941 (Whif/KP Models Avia B.35 conversion) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Avro 675 "Swallow" Mk. III, aircraft "NX-P/AH972" of the Royal Air Force No. 131 (County of Kent) Squadron, mount of Flt Lt Gordon Cloade; Atcham (Shrewsbury, Shropshire), October 1941 (Whif/KP Models Avia B.35 conversion) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Painting and markings:
Once again I went for a conservative route, this time I chose the new standard "Day Fighter" camouflage that the RAF introduced in summer 1941: Dark Green/Ocean Grey (using Humbrol 116 and 106, respectively) with Medium Sea Grey (Humbrol 64) undersides.
The typical fuselage ID band and the spinner became Sky (Revell 59) and yellow ID bands were added to the outer wings' leading edges, created with yellow decal sheet material.

1:72 Avro 675 "Swallow" Mk. III, aircraft "NX-P/AH972" of the Royal Air Force No. 131 (County of Kent) Squadron, mount of Flt Lt Gordon Cloade; Atcham (Shrewsbury, Shropshire), October 1941 (Whif/KP Models Avia B.35 conversion) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Avro 675 "Swallow" Mk. III, aircraft "NX-P/AH972" of the Royal Air Force No. 131 (County of Kent) Squadron, mount of Flt Lt Gordon Cloade; Atcham (Shrewsbury, Shropshire), October 1941 (Whif/KP Models Avia B.35 conversion) - WiP by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The roundels were chosen to match the 1941 era, with A.1 roundels on the fuselage, B roundels on top of the wings and Type A underneath, they actually belong to P-40s in RAF service and come, including the fin flash, from a Sky Models sheet. The code letters in Sky come from an Xtradecal sheet, the serial number actually belongs to a contemporary RAF P-40C – I was too lazy to create an individual serial number that actually fills a gap in the RAF's inventory list.

Some light weathering and panel shading was done, as well as some light soot stains around the exhausts and the gun ports on the wings (grinded graphite). Finally, everything sealed under a coat of matt acrylic varnish (Italeri) and wire antennae (stretched sprue material) added.

1:72 Avro 675 "Swallow" Mk. III, aircraft "NX-P/AH972" of the Royal Air Force No. 131 (County of Kent) Squadron, mount of Flt Lt Gordon Cloade; Atcham (Shrewsbury, Shropshire), October 1941 (Whif/KP Models Avia B.35 conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Avro 675 "Swallow" Mk. III, aircraft "NX-P/AH972" of the Royal Air Force No. 131 (County of Kent) Squadron, mount of Flt Lt Gordon Cloade; Atcham (Shrewsbury, Shropshire), October 1941 (Whif/KP Models Avia B.35 conversion) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

A simple project, realized in just a couple of days – thanks to the experience gathered during the first build of this fictional aircraft. However, the Avro Swallow looked already promising in nighthunter's original profile, almost like a missing link between the sturdy Hurricane and the more glorious Spitfire. The result looks very convincing, and with the clipped wingtips, born as a makeshift solution, it looks even faster than the original build!
I am amazed how good this thing looks overall, with its elegant, slender wings and the sleek fuselage lines. At first glance, it looks like an early Spitfire, but then you notice the different wings, the low canopy and the shorter but deeper tail. Then you can think it was a travestied Yak-3 or LaGG aircraft, but again the details don't match. It's a quite subtle creation. Maybe, someday, a third one will join my RAF Swallow duo, but this time in Irish Air Corps color.

Tophe · May 28, 2019, 02:33:20 AM

Wow! Good!

(I was puzzled, thanks for the explanations)

zenrat · May 28, 2019, 03:51:20 AM

Good job Dizz.

loupgarou · May 28, 2019, 04:44:07 AM

Very good result, it looks so natural!

NARSES2 · May 28, 2019, 06:30:26 AM

That does look good

From some angles it's got a slight "Soviet" look about it ? Not quite sure if it's Yak or Mig, but there's something there ?

Old Wombat · May 28, 2019, 07:44:22 AM

Woh!

Nice one, Dizz!

TomZ · May 28, 2019, 09:20:28 AM

Very good!

TomZ

Paper Kosmonaut · May 28, 2019, 10:24:02 AM

These are the best Whifs in my opinion, so simply credible. It looks like it has been there, like it should've been there. great job!

Doug K · May 28, 2019, 10:40:05 AM

Quote from: NARSES2 on May 28, 2019, 06:30:26 AM
That does look good

From some angles it's got a slight "Soviet" look about it ? Not quite sure if it's Yak or Mig, but there's something there ?

I was thinking the same, Yak perhaps?
But brilliant nevertheless!

Scotaidh · May 28, 2019, 12:25:39 PM

Quote from: NARSES2 on May 28, 2019, 06:30:26 AM
That does look good

From some angles it's got a slight "Soviet" look about it ? Not quite sure if it's Yak or Mig, but there's something there ?

I was thinking Yak 3 with Spit Vb LF wings ...

Ian the Kiwi Herder · May 28, 2019, 01:21:02 PM

Superb, simple as that.

Ian.

Thorvic · May 28, 2019, 01:56:48 PM

Nice story, lovely build

So Sea Swallow next ?

nighthunter · May 28, 2019, 11:13:08 PM

Once again, you honor me, my friend. This is a superb upgrade to the Mk I, and I'm enjoying the back stories!

Dizzyfugu · May 28, 2019, 11:52:17 PM

Thanks a lot, glad you like this rather simple one.

Quote from: nighthunter on May 28, 2019, 11:13:08 PM
Once again, you honor me, my friend. This is a superb upgrade to the Mk I, and I'm enjoying the back stories!

You're welcome. The idea was/is so simple and convincing, it really works well.

And, yes, there's a serious Yak-3/9 look, esp. in a profile view. It disappears when seen from above - and I am amazed how much the slightly clipped wing tips change the look of the aircraft, it looks much more modern and dynamic than the first build with the original B.35 wings.

PR19_Kit · May 28, 2019, 11:57:41 PM

Cracking job Thomas.

Those clipped wings are very 'Tempest-like' in shape to my mind too.