MATPK-112 - Matchbox 1/72 Swordfish Mk1/111 - WWWEB10109190

MATPK-112 - Matchbox 1/72 Swordfish Mk1/111 - WWWEB10109190

Preowned, Resealed, Mint

The "Stringbag" was the Fleet Air Arm's legendary torpedo biplane: obsolete on paper, yet it crippled the Italian fleet at Taranto, put the torpedo into Bismarck's rudder, and outlasted the aircraft designed to replace it. The box art depicts the night of November 11th, 1940, when nineteen Swordfish from HMS Illustrious left three Italian battleships resting on the bottom at Taranto for the loss of one aircraft.

This is the original 1974 Matchbox tooling in its first-issue box, made in England by Lesney, with optional parts to build either the Taranto-era Mk.I or the radar-equipped Mk.III.

Box contents:

• Parts molded in three colours of plastic with clear parts
• Optional parts for Mk.I with torpedo or Mk.III with radome
• Waterslide decals with two options: Mk.I K8419 of 824 Squadron, HMS Eagle, flown off HMS Illustrious for the Taranto attack, November 11th 1940, and Mk.III of RAF No. 119 Squadron, Coastal Command 1945
• Instruction leaflet with full Colour Plan and Mini-paint plan