OK- if you want to read the build report on this kit, take a look over at AgapeModels.com and get all the details. The short summary is “it’s Tamiya”. No surprises, no fuss, it all fits perfectly, looks gorgeous, and is superbly detailed. Even the Tamiya etched rigging set was drama free. I say all those nice things because I don’t want to give the impression by what I’m about to say that this kit is anything less than superb.
Because in this case, it’s not the kit, it’s me.
You may recall the Stupid Gladiator I built a whole back. The Eduard/Roden kit. The one that I almost stomped into tiny pieces and refunded the customer his money. After that kit, I swore I’d never build another biplane. Life being the comedian it is, I was promptly contacted by a long time commission build customer asking me to build a biplane.
I decided to take the job for two reasons- I needed the money, and it was the Tamiya Swordfish. I figured if anyone could make a biplane simple to build, it was Tamiya. And I was not wrong at all. They did.
But I hated every minute of it. I realized I simply do not like biplanes. I don’t know why. It makes no sense, given how great this kit is. It’s not that I don’t like the Swordfish. Its history is awesome, and its contribution to WWII is extraordinary, considering it would have been more at home in the First World War rather than the second. And I can list off half a dozen biplanes that I think are some of the coolest aircraft to ever take to the air.
But there it is. I don’t like building biplanes.
Anyway…. just proof that you can have a trouble free build experience and still end up feeling like you kissed a cold, dead fish.
I’m not even going to say I’ll never build another biplane. When you rely on commission builds, it just comes with the territory. But I can say this without hesitation.
I doubt anyone will want to pay what I’ll ask for the next one that comes along.
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