Sud Aviation ‘Bourrasque’, Aéronavale, Flotille 14F; Suez region, 1956

Dizzyfugu · May 09, 2015, 06:19:25 AM

While waiting for parts for another build and while creating the Flitzer conversion, this here also took shape on the work bench, including speciall effects like (quasi) foldable wings.

1:72 Sud Aviation 'Bourrasque' (ex SNCASO S.O. 3201), aircraft '20' of Flotille 14.F on board of R95 Arromanches, Eastern Mediterranean/Suez Region, November 1956 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Sud Aviation 'Bourrasque' (ex SNCASO S.O. 3201), aircraft '20' of Flotille 14.F on board of R95 Arromanches, Eastern Mediterranean/Suez Region, November 1956 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Some background:
Failure of the shipboard fighter requirement issued by the Service Technique Aeronautique in June 1946 (and which had resulted in Aerocentre NC 1080, Arsenal VG 90 and Nord 2200 prototypes being built) led to consideration being given to adoption by the Aeronavale of the Grumman F9F-5 Panther.

In January 1951, however, the Ministère de la Marine announced the decision to adopt the de Havilland Sea Venom Mk 20, which was being developed for the Royal Navy as a side-by-side two-seat shipboard all-weather fighter and had yet to enter flight test. The first of these flew on 31 October 1952, and the name Aquilon (North Wind) being adopted. It was powered by a Fiat-built de Havilland Ghost, armament comprising four 20mm cannon.

1:72 Sud Aviation 'Bourrasque' (ex SNCASO S.O. 3201), aircraft '20' of Flotille 14.F on board of R95 Arromanches, Eastern Mediterranean/Suez Region, November 1956 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Sud Aviation 'Bourrasque' (ex SNCASO S.O. 3201), aircraft '20' of Flotille 14.F on board of R95 Arromanches, Eastern Mediterranean/Suez Region, November 1956 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Non-availability of the intended Thomson AI radar restricted the Aquilon 201 two-seaters to diurnal operation, the same restriction being imposed on the next 25 aircraft which, delivered as Aquilon 202s, were entirely manufactured in France and differed in having ejection seats, an aft-sliding rather than aft-hinged cockpit canopy and a strengthened undercarriage. A decision was taken to adopt the Westinghouse APQ 65 AI radar, but, without major redesign of the airframe it was found impossible to fit this equipment in the ejection seat-equipped two-seater.

1:72 Sud Aviation 'Bourrasque' (ex SNCASO S.O. 3201), aircraft '20' of Flotille 14.F on board of R95 Arromanches, Eastern Mediterranean/Suez Region, November 1956 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Sud Aviation 'Bourrasque' (ex SNCASO S.O. 3201), aircraft '20' of Flotille 14.F on board of R95 Arromanches, Eastern Mediterranean/Suez Region, November 1956 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Production therefore continued with the Aquilon 203 single-seater, the last 25 of the 40 production examples of this version being equipped with APQ 65 radar as were the six two-seat Aquilon 204 radar trainers (not fitted with ejection seats) that brought production (a total of 121) to an end. The last of these being flown at the beginning of 1958, but already a couple of years before it was already clear that a more potent aircraft had to be found for the new French Clemenceau Class carriers that were to enter service in the 1960ies.

Through the fast aircraft technology development in the mid-fifties the bar was raised: the new carrier-borne fighter was to feature swept wings and be capable of supersonic speed. Therefore, SNCASO proposed in 1953 the S.O. 3200, an aircraft that roughly resembled the Dassault Mystere II (the prototype first flew on 28 September 1952) but which was more advanced and was from the start dedicated to carrier operations.

1:72 Sud Aviation 'Bourrasque' (ex SNCASO S.O. 3201), aircraft '20' of Flotille 14.F on board of R95 Arromanches, Eastern Mediterranean/Suez Region, November 1956 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Sud Aviation 'Bourrasque' (ex SNCASO S.O. 3201), aircraft '20' of Flotille 14.F on board of R95 Arromanches, Eastern Mediterranean/Suez Region, November 1956 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The S.O. 3200 featured a 40-degree swept wing (compared to the 30-degree wing of the Mystère II, plus a thinner profile), swept tail surfaces and with its lateral air intakes the aircraft reminded a lot of the Mystère IIIN prototype, but internally the aircraft had nothing in common. The cockpit was moved forward for an improved field of sight, and the outer wing panels could be folded upwards in order to save space. Four 20mm cannons were placed under the air intakes.

The S.O. 3200 also introduced a new generation of armament: the new aircraft was able to deploy the first French air-to-air-missile: up to four AA.20 AAMs could be carried on the four underwing hardpoints. Although the AA.20 was from the outset intended to be a fully effective operational weapon, it was generally regarded as an interim missile pending development of the R.53O series.

1:72 Sud Aviation 'Bourrasque' (ex SNCASO S.O. 3201), aircraft '20' of Flotille 14.F on board of R95 Arromanches, Eastern Mediterranean/Suez Region, November 1956 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Sud Aviation 'Bourrasque' (ex SNCASO S.O. 3201), aircraft '20' of Flotille 14.F on board of R95 Arromanches, Eastern Mediterranean/Suez Region, November 1956 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The AA.20 relied on visual guidance and direct steering thorugh the pilot. The missile received its command signals through a coded radio link (the respcetive equipment was isntalles in the S.O. 3200's nose ), governed by a miniature joystick manipulated by the pilot of the launching aircraft. This meant that the target and missile flare had to be visible to the pilot right up to the point (50ft distance) at which the proximity fuze was triggered. Steering was effected by pitch and yaw demands which bias the interruption of vibrating spoilers in the two nozzles from the missile's sustainer. And even though the AA.20 was intended as an air-to-air weapon, its guidance system meant that it could also be used againts ground targets (similar to the contemporary AGM-12 Bullpup).

Alternatively the S.O. 3200 could carry a pair of drop tanks (the two inner pylons were 'wet'), up to four bombs of 1.000 lb (454 kg) caliber, pods with unguided 68mm SNEB missiles (against air and ground targets alike) or rails for unguided missiles of larger calibers.

1:72 Sud Aviation 'Bourrasque' (ex SNCASO S.O. 3201), aircraft '20' of Flotille 14.F on board of R95 Arromanches, Eastern Mediterranean/Suez Region, November 1956 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The new naval aircraft was powered by a Hispano-Suiza Verdon 350 jet engine, a license-built version of the Rolls-Royce Tay. It offered, with 3,500 kgp/7,715 lbf, more thrust than the Mystère II's Atar 101D turbojet (3,000 kgp/6,615 lbf), albeit this was necessary through the higher structural weight of the airframe and the aircraft's special equipment for naval duties.

The type was accepted as S.O. 3201 and the first batch of 12 production machines became just operational as French carriers were in 1956 deployed to the eastern Mediterranean Sea during the Suez Crisis. On 3 November, F4U Corsairs from Arromanches and Lafayette, under escort of AA.20-armed S.O. 3201 fighters, bombed Egyptian airfields around Cairo.

Due to the merger of SNCASO and SNCASE into a new, state-owned aircraft manufacturer in the course of 1957 the aircraft was re-christened Sud Aviation 'Bourrasque' (meaning 'gust of wind' and also 'burst of anger'). That year, a further 20 machines were ordered and production ran rather slowly, so that the second series was to be delivered until 1958.

1:72 Sud Aviation 'Bourrasque' (ex SNCASO S.O. 3201), aircraft '20' of Flotille 14.F on board of R95 Arromanches, Eastern Mediterranean/Suez Region, November 1956 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Sud Aviation 'Bourrasque' (ex SNCASO S.O. 3201), aircraft '20' of Flotille 14.F on board of R95 Arromanches, Eastern Mediterranean/Suez Region, November 1956 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Sud Aviation hoped for export sales, but they never materialized. Aircraft technology evolved in giant leaps and in 1962 the Dassault Étendard IV, a supersonic carrier-borne strike fighter aircraft, entered service with the French Navy. It was a much more modern design than the Bourrasque, and showed much more potential for future development. The Étendard was powered by a SNECMA Atar 8B axial-flow turbojet turbojet with 43.16 kN (9,703 lbf), and this engine offered a much better performance than the voluminous and technologically outdated centrifugal compressor Verdon. Additionally, the Aéronavale introduced the Vought F-8E(FN) as ship-borne fighter aircraft - both types rendered the Bourrasque totally obsolete after less than 10 years of service.

Hence, production was soon halted and in total only 40 aircraft were produced at all (the last eight were constructed from components and spare parts) and, together with the Aquilon, were already phased out by the Aéronavale during 1964-65.

But while the Aquilons had reached the end of their airframes' life the remaining Bourrassques in good shape were sold to Israel where the naval equipment was removed and the aircraft relegated to ground attack and training roles. These aircraft were finally retired from Israeli service, together with IDF's Mystères, on 18 March 1971.

1:72 Sud Aviation 'Bourrasque' (ex SNCASO S.O. 3201), aircraft '20' of Flotille 14.F on board of R95 Arromanches, Eastern Mediterranean/Suez Region, November 1956 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Sud Aviation 'Bourrasque' (ex SNCASO S.O. 3201), aircraft '20' of Flotille 14.F on board of R95 Arromanches, Eastern Mediterranean/Suez Region, November 1956 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length: 12.89 m (42 ft 31⁄2 in)
Wingspan: 11.12 m (36 ft 53⁄4 in)
Height: 4.60 m (15 ft 1 in)
Wing area: 32.06 m² (345.1 ft²)
Empty weight: 5,860 kg (12,919 lb)
Loaded weight: 8,510 kg (18,100 lb)
Max. takeoff weight: 9,500 kg (20,944 lb)

Powerplant:
1× Hispano-Suiza Verdon 350 turbojet, rated at 34.32 kN (7,716 lbf)

Performance:
Maximum speed: 1,110 km/h (600 knots, 690 mph) at sea level
Range: 915 km (494  nmi, 570 mi) without internal fuel tanks,
2.280 km (1.231 nmi, 1.417 mi) with external tanks
Service ceiling: 15,000  m (49,200 ft)
Rate of climb: 40  m/s (7,874  ft/min)

Armament:
4× 20 mm Hispano-Suiza HS.404 cannon with 125 RPG
2.000 kg (4.405 lb) of payload on four external hardpoints,
incl. a variety of bombs, unguided rockets or drop tanks, or four AA.20 guided missiles

The kit and its assembly:
This whif has two origins. One was the question what a naval Mystère II or IV would have looked like, the other one was a leftover Supermarine Attacker fuselage from a shabby Novo kit, for which I had the vague idea of giving it a modern tricycle landing gear and different, maybe swept wings, creating something like an attack version of the Swift.

When I held a Matchbox Mystére IV in my hands I wondered if this kit could not be combined with the Attacker (both fuselages have very similar lines), and so this French naval aircraft was born. There was also the hope/idea to build more than one of these "combos"!

Bashing both kits was more complicated than expected, though. The Novo Attacker is basic, to express it mildly. It has no cockpit at all, the wing/fuselage intersections are in the wrong position for the Mystère's swept wings, and the latter's landing gear is also not easily compatible with the Attacker fuselage.

I added a very basic cockpit, using the Matchbox ejection seat and cutting the original helmet/pilot blob away, plus a cockpit floor which also acts as front lang gear well. For this, a new opening had to be cut out. The air intake interiors are also naked, so I built some walls inside from styrene sheet and added small splitter plates that cover the intakes' edges... These walls also hide the lead that fills much of the room behind the cockpit.

1:72 Sud Aviation 'Bourrasque' (ex SNCASO S.O. 3201), aircraft '20' of Flotille 14.F on board of R95 Arromanches, Eastern Mediterranean/Suez Region, November 1956 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The wing attachments had to go, leaving rather wide gaps in the flanks once the new wings were fitted. I tried to solve this through glueing the wings into place and then filling up the gaps with 2C putty, sculpting new intersections. Messy. The original attachments for the Attacker's stabilizers had to be erased and covered, too. The fin is a 100% transplant from the Mystère.

Once the wings were in place I found them to have slightly too much span: the Mystère is a tad bigger/voluminous than the Attacker, and with the OOB wings the whole thing did not look balanced. What to do...? $:-\$

I decided to combine this porblem's solution with an additional gimmick: foldable wings! Originally I just wanted to scribe the respective seams onto the wings, but cutting the wing tips in order to reduce the span was out of question - so I carefully cut the wings in halves and reduced the inner sections' span by about 6mm each - not much, but this improved the proportions a lot!

1:72 Sud Aviation 'Bourrasque' (ex SNCASO S.O. 3201), aircraft '20' of Flotille 14.F on board of R95 Arromanches, Eastern Mediterranean/Suez Region, November 1956 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Sud Aviation 'Bourrasque' (ex SNCASO S.O. 3201), aircraft '20' of Flotille 14.F on board of R95 Arromanches, Eastern Mediterranean/Suez Region, November 1956 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

In order to present the kit with folded and spread wings, I used a trick that comes e. g. with Matchbox' EA-6B kit: different adapters. These were simply scratched from PET foil, in two layers so that they fit neatly into the openings that were left after the cutting. The PET stuff is very tough and rigid, and I made the inserts long enough that the outer panels do not hang through. Worked better than expected!

1:72 Sud Aviation 'Bourrasque' (ex SNCASO S.O. 3201), aircraft '20' of Flotille 14.F on board of R95 Arromanches, Eastern Mediterranean/Suez Region, November 1956 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Sud Aviation 'Bourrasque' (ex SNCASO S.O. 3201), aircraft '20' of Flotille 14.F on board of R95 Arromanches, Eastern Mediterranean/Suez Region, November 1956 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

A final issue was the ordnance. I wanted a fighter payload, so the four pylons were filled with a pair of slender drop tanks (from a Matchbox F3D Skyraider) and a pair of AAMs - choice fell on the contemporary AA.20, which was also by the Aquilon night fighter. These had to be scratched, though, from sprue pieces and fins cut from styrene.

1:72 Sud Aviation 'Bourrasque' (ex SNCASO S.O. 3201), aircraft '20' of Flotille 14.F on board of R95 Arromanches, Eastern Mediterranean/Suez Region, November 1956 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Sud Aviation 'Bourrasque' (ex SNCASO S.O. 3201), aircraft '20' of Flotille 14.F on board of R95 Arromanches, Eastern Mediterranean/Suez Region, November 1956 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Painting and markings:
This is the classic Aéronavale livery in the post WWII years: all-over dark blue (FS 35042), which is pretty boring, but the Suez Crisis was a good excuse to add some more color. In this case, it's a set of black and yellow ID stripes, which was e. g. also carried by French F4U-7 that flew missions during this conflict, as well as on RAF and RN aircraft that took part, too.

Creating these stripes was tricky, though. Yellow is a PITA to apply, and I did also not want to go thorugh the hustle of masking and endless corrections. Hence, I created the stripes in a "mixed media" fashion: first, the stripes width and position were measured and roughly marked (taking into account the pylons, wing fence and the wings' folding sections!).
Then the inner two black stripes were laid out with black paint on the wings and fuselage. Next, the kit received its overall blue livery, and finally the stripes were added. These were cut from an opaque sheet from TL Modellbau, in apporopriate width and with excess length, and then applied on top of the paint. A VERY convenient process with only few corrections and cosmetics, and I am more than happy with the effect and finish.

1:72 Sud Aviation 'Bourrasque' (ex SNCASO S.O. 3201), aircraft '20' of Flotille 14.F on board of R95 Arromanches, Eastern Mediterranean/Suez Region, November 1956 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Sud Aviation 'Bourrasque' (ex SNCASO S.O. 3201), aircraft '20' of Flotille 14.F on board of R95 Arromanches, Eastern Mediterranean/Suez Region, November 1956 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The cockpit interior was painted in very dark grey, the landing gear was kept in Alumnim, according to typical French jets of that era.
The inside of the folded wings and their "mechanisms" were painted in flat black - there's no detail to be seen, so I tried to blend the visible parts with the black ID stripes in that wing area.

1:72 Sud Aviation 'Bourrasque' (ex SNCASO S.O. 3201), aircraft '20' of Flotille 14.F on board of R95 Arromanches, Eastern Mediterranean/Suez Region, November 1956 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

1:72 Sud Aviation 'Bourrasque' (ex SNCASO S.O. 3201), aircraft '20' of Flotille 14.F on board of R95 Arromanches, Eastern Mediterranean/Suez Region, November 1956 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

The kit received some panel shading with petrol blue, as well as a very light dry-brushing with Ocean Grey on the wings' leading edges and on the fuselage in order to emphazise the raised rivets and access hatches on the Attacker's parts.

The decals come mostly from an Italeri F4U-7 kit, as well as the scrap box and other generic TL Modellbau sheets, e. g. for the red markers on the wings for the walking zones - these were puzzled together from 1mm strips.

Finally, the kit received a coat of semi-gloss Tamiya varnish from the rattle can.

1:72 Sud Aviation 'Bourrasque' (ex SNCASO S.O. 3201), aircraft '20' of Flotille 14.F on board of R95 Arromanches, Eastern Mediterranean/Suez Region, November 1956 (Whif/kitbashing) by dizzyfugu, on Flickr

This one looks IMHO very convincing, and the Bourrasque has a true 50ies look that I wanted to achieve. I actually had the plan to build two of these (the other one would have been an Israeli machine), but the conversion/bashing became so complex that I just stuck to this single kit - but who knows, maybe... there's another Attacker fuselage in the stash!

Thorvic · May 09, 2015, 08:05:52 AM

Superb Whiff

kitbasher · May 09, 2015, 08:21:51 AM

very smart indeed

Captain Canada · May 09, 2015, 08:28:34 AM

Oh my ! Everything about this one looks right ! Love the shape, the colours, the markings, the weathering...the weapons, and of course, the excellent selection of photos that always bring the model to life, as well as a detailed build report. Outstanding !

JayBee · May 09, 2015, 08:51:45 AM

Absolutely Fabulous!

Dizzyfugu · May 09, 2015, 09:05:50 AM

Oh, thanks a lot for the positive feedback!

sandiego89 · May 09, 2015, 01:35:15 PM

Excellent bash!

Great paint as well.

ericr · May 09, 2015, 02:05:40 PM

beautiful bash of these two kits indeed!

Gondor · May 09, 2015, 02:12:27 PM

Simple yet effective

Gondor

zenrat · May 10, 2015, 12:13:57 AM

Very good.

Dizzyfugu · May 10, 2015, 01:35:30 AM

Quote from: kitbasher on May 09, 2015, 08:21:51 AM
very smart indeed

Thank you very much - and your own bash of these two kits looks great, too (even though I was not aware of it until you PMed me). I am happy that I did not go the RAF route with mine, otherwise these two could almost be twins separated at birth!?

And also many thanks for the Whiffies nomination - highly apperciated!

NARSES2 · May 10, 2015, 07:51:55 AM

I have a soft spot for Aeronvale aircraft as it is but that is just absolutely gorgeous

She suits the Suez stripes and the AA 20's are fantastic

Glenn Gilbertson · May 10, 2015, 11:12:48 AM

Quote from: Captain Canada on May 09, 2015, 08:28:34 AM
Oh my ! Everything about this one looks right ! Love the shape, the colours, the markings, the weathering...the weapons, and of course, the excellent selection of photos that always bring the model to life, as well as a detailed build report. Outstanding !

I can't put it any better - a wonderful job!

crudebuteffective · May 10, 2015, 12:15:55 PM

VERY NICE

better than a good thing on a good day

Weaver · May 10, 2015, 02:01:29 PM

That's excellent, and those AA-20s really look the part.