Supermarine Surefire Mk. II - Finished

[Old Wombat]

OK, inspired by TallEng's build I started my own variation on the theme of a push/pull Spitfire derived fighter.

Mine is called the Surefire.

Construction involves parts from 2 x Airfix Spitfire PR.XIX's & an Airfix F-51D Mustang (actually, make that 2, I pinched a third landing gear from another).

Unfortunately no early WIP pic's but these are what I have up to now.

Images posted in TallEng's topic;











Today's images;





















This is the finished build with the final primer coats done. Either later today or tomorrow I'll start on the paint job (I've already started on the drop-tanks, which I've removed for the purpose).

It's a far from perfect build but not too bad considering the lack of magnification & decent lighting during construction.



Guy

[CSMO]

You have done a heck of a lot of work to get this far. I think the nose is too long, but this is "Whiff-World" so anything goes. It will be interesting to see the finished product.

Adios, Larry.

[TallEng]

Looks good
Glad to see you Spitfirized the tailplanes

Regards
Keith

[Old Wombat]

Thanks, gents!

As of this moment she is sitting on the table all masked up ready for round 2 of painting, tomorrow.

CSMO; the nose is that long because I put the wings further back to where I guesstimated the new CoG would be (even so I had to add weight to the nose to get it to sit firmly on the deck).



Guy

[The Rat]

Wow. Just... wow! 

[NARSES2]

That's a good looking beast

[zenrat]

This is more "cartoon" (or caricature maybe?) than TallEng's.
I like them both equally, don't make me choose a favourite.

[dumaniac]

yeah - that is one impressive beast

[Dizzyfugu]

Lovely piece of work! 

[Captain Canada]

That looks awesome ! A good mix between fast and sleek and clunky and workman like......I can imagine it with a great big honking bomb underneath. You know what else would look good ? A big centerline float ( think Grumman Duck ) as a ship-launched high speed recon bird.

I love the shots form 'ground level'....you can really see the size of the beast. I imagine it on a beach surrounded by palm tress, like you see in a lot of WWII Corsair pics.

The nose does look kinda long, but only in the top shot. It seems to blend in better in all the other pics. Having said that, once she's all painted up I don't think anybody will even notice.

I also got a kick out of the photo from behind. At first my brain was like " why are there ailerons on the leading edge ?" Then I figured it out.......

[rickshaw]

Will you be nicknaming it the "Jimmy Durante"?   It looks really good!   

[CammNut]

I really like this - it has a brutal logic to the design.

[Joe C-P]

You ezz a crrrrazy peoples-type person!  Don't stop being inventive!

[Old Wombat]

OK, she's as finished as she's going to get.

A bit of a rough build & the paint job ain't any better but I like the scheme.

There are RW engineering issues with the design which I did think about before commencing the build, then promptly ignored & went with the Rule of Cool (& ease of conversion).

Back Story:

In late-1944 intelligence sources reported that Germany was preparing to launch a new Blitz against Britain with its new jet-powered schnell-bombers. In response the War Department demanded a fast-climbing, high-speed interceptor to combat this threat. By early-1945 the Supermarine proposal was accepted & it entered service in mid-1945.

This was the Supermarine Surefire Mk.II (only 2 Mk.I's were ever built, as prototypes, & both were eventually lost to crashes). Developed directly from the successful Spitfire, the Surefire retained some commonalities with its forebear for ease of manufacture, such as the cockpit section & the wings. Powered by 2 Rolls Royce Griffon engines the Surefire was indeed fast but, more importantly, could climb faster than any non-rocket powered aircraft in existance. Unfortunately it needed drop-tanks to have any sort of combat range & lacked the excellent dogfighting performance of the Spitfire due to the very high wing-loading. However, with the launch of the schnell-bomber offensive in September 1945, Surefire pilots quickly developed a suitable, effective attack system.

Due to the high speed of the jet bombers radar was unable to warn Fighter Command with sufficient time to get enough interceptor aircraft to altitude for an attack. The Surefire pilots found a way around this... They attacked on the climb!... The Surefire squadrons were sited across the only possible approach paths to the major target areas. They would receive the order to scramble & fly directly at the approaching bombers at a lower altitude, they would then climb to intecept them & carry out a single climbing pass, the Surefires would then roll over onto their backs & pull around for a diving pass at speeds which often threatened to rip their wings apart & faster than the escorting German jet fighters, then they would repeat the process. By this time British & American jet fighters were usually arriving to take on the German fighters, & the Surefires would continue their looping attacks, climbing & diving, climbing & diving until the German bomber formations broke up & ran for home. By mid-1946 the Surefire squadrons had broken the back of the schnell-bomber Blitz & the Germans had run out of resources to build more.

Only 3 squadrons eventually operated the Surefire & they lost more aircraft from failure of the complicated landing gear, required to give their propellors ground clearance, than they did from enemy action.

At the end of the war, in February 1947, the Surefires were de-commissioned, retired & all but one sold off to private buyers.

After the war Surefires became popular in air racing, with several holding various records & championships for many years until parts became difficult to source. The last racing Surefire ended its career in 2011. After her 2nd retirement GBR's No. 33 was returned to the RAF & joined her wartime comrade at the RAF Museum, Cosford, for restoration to display standard bfore being transported to the RAF Museum, London.

Pictured below is GBR No. 33 as she was on the day of her last race.























The size of the pilot provided in the kit made me think of one of our members, here, & Brian "buzzbomb" Thewlis is the name under the cockpit:



Here is the Supermarine Surefire Mk.II with my other WW2 fighter, the Boulton-Paul/Westland Defender Mk.IV:





Now my entire 1/72nd collection (yup, that's all of it):




Well, that's it! Hope you like her.



Guy

[dumaniac]

the paint job sure brings it to life - nice job