Combrig Models
1/700 HMS Swift



 
 

Reviewed July 2023
by Martin J Quinn
HISTORY
A one-of-a-kind destroyer leader, HMS Swift was the result of Admiral John 'Jackie' Fisher's continued obsession with speed.  The proposed class was envisioned as a large ocean-going destroyer, capable of performing typical destroyer requirements, while also being a high-speed scout for the fleet. 

Specifications for a 36 knot ship were sent to the Director of Naval Construction (DNC) in October 1904. The requirements were revised in early 1905, then subsequently sent to major shipyards to submit designs.  Due to the size needed to meet the requirements, the cost of the ship was anticipated to be twice that of the recent Tribal class, and tweaks in the design meant the final design wasn't ready until December 1905.  The ship was then laid down at Cammell Laird in Birkenhead. 

Not launched until December 1907, Swift underwent trials in March 1909.  Even though the Admiralty had included a bonus clause for extra money for each knot the ship achieved over the design specification, the best speed Swift could achieve was 35.099 knots, while suffering numerous mechanical breakdowns.  She was commissioned in August 1910.

At the outbreak of the Great War, she was the leader for the 4th Torpedo Boat Flotilla, assigned to the Grand Fleet.  In October of 1914, Swift conducted a search for the missing HMS Hawke, finding one of the latter ship's rafts with a handful of survivors (Hawke had been torpedoed and sunk by the German U-boat).  Duty in northern waters was too much for Swift to take, and she was reassigned to the Dover Patrol in 1915.

Originally built with four 4 inch guns, in late 1916/early 1917, her forward two 4inch guns were removed, and a single 6in gun was installed. It was in this configuration that she and HMS Broke engaged a force of six German destroyers in the Second Battle of the Dover Strait in April 1917, where she sunk the German torpedo boat G85. 

The performance of the 6 inch gun was found lacking, and it was replaced a month after the aforementioned battle by a pair of quick-firing Mk V 4 inch guns. Swift participated in the First Ostend Raid in the spring of 1918.  Post war she was laid up and scrapped, having been an overall disappointment. 

For further information, check out the Wikipedia page, where this information came from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swift-class_destroyer.  You can also consult Norman Friedman's "British Destroyers, From the Earliest Days to the Second World War". 

The Combrig Swift (Kit 70649)

Swift is packaged in a thin, white cardboard box, with a photo of the real vessel on the box top. Inside the box is the hull, plus two plastic bag.  The first bag contains seven resin trees, consisting of over 70 parts. The second bag contain the instructions and photo-etch set.  Everything was well packed under a thick layer of cut up foam.  This model a joint effort of Combrig and U-boat Laboratorium, and appears to represent Swift at the time of the Second Battle of the Dover Strait. 

THE HULL 
The hull is waterline.   According to the measurements I found for Swift, the hull scales out pretty close in both beam and length.   The hull has a very light over-pour on the bottom. Otherwise, it is very well cast with lots of good detail consisting of chocks, bollards, tread plating and other deck fitting.

SMALLER PARTS
As mentioned, there are seven small trees of resin parts attached.  With all the trees in one bag, some parts did break loose. Overall, the casting is very crisp, although some of these parts are flat out microscopic. 

TREE 1:
Parts 3 through 13. Included are anchors, searchlights, a pelorus, capstan, sternpost (for the extremely long and exposed rudder) and a large rectangular vent.

TREE 2:
Part 5 & 6.  These are the parts of the bridge structure.  They are well cast, but the bridge windows are cast resin squares. This would have been better represented by photo-etch or a 3D printed part, depicting open bridge windows.

TREE 3:
Part 2, and parts 14 through 16. The 6 inch bow gun, two 4 inch guns and the 3 inch stern gun, as well as two single torpedo tubes are here.  These are delicate and well cast.

TREE 4:
The funnels, part 10, are here. 

TREE 5:
The ships boats, parts 17, 20 & 21. 

TREE 6:
Parts 22 through 28. This tree has nothing but cowl vents, of various shapes and sizes on it.

TREE 7:
Parts 30 through 33, which are rafts, cable reels and what appear to even more, albeit smaller, cowl vents. 

DECALS  
There is one small decal sheet included, which has pennant markings and one White Ensign. 

   
PHOTOETCH
There is one small set of photo-etch in the kit.  Included are gun shields, platforms, funnel grates, inclined ladders, flag staff, boat davits and rails.  Regrettably, the rails are the type without a waterway, which are challenging to attached.  You may want to dip into the spares box for suitable replacements. 

As is the usual Combrig practice, there are no masts or yard included in the kit. However, the instructions do include drawings, showing the dimensions of the masts and yards, so you can make them out of brass rod. 

INSTRUCTIONS
The instructions are one piece of paper, folded into booklet form.  They are printed in color, and give a brief history of the ship and its specifications.  The parts placement is detailed in drawings.  There is an exploded view drawing showing where the parts go, then a corresponding drawing showing them in place.  Nice touch. 

Resin parts are marked in green while brass parts are in gold.  The last page has a parts manifest, dimensions for the masts, and two small color profiles of Swift in 1917 & 1918. 

CONCLUSIONS  
HMS Swift was a unique and interesting looking ship.  Bigger than most 700 destroyers of the era, it's still small enough, with a relatively small parts count, to make it a fairly fast and easy build. The casting is very well done, and it comes with a nice set of photo-etch, good instructions, as well as decals.  Recommended, especially for fans of small combatants, and/or fans of Great War era warships, especially those of the Royal Navy.

This is Combrig’s 1/700 USS Swift, kit number 70649.  The model lists for around $62.50, and is available on-line from places like Hobby Search and eBay. This is an in-box review.  While the model seems to compare nicely to photos and drawings found in books and online, your mileage may vary once you commence construction.  Many thanks to Combrig Models for the review sample.