Supermarine Spiteful F Mk.XV - FINISHED > PAG.4

[DogfighterZen]

Supermarine/Avions Marcel Dassault(AMD) Spiteful Mk.XV

"The Supermarine Spiteful is known as the last development of the company's famous Spitfire family from WWII. Taking to the skies too late to enter the war, production in the UK was very limited and any remaining interest was diverted to a navalized variant which would be named the SeaFang.
The arrival of the jet engine would cut the Spiteful's life short because by the end of the war, it was already seen as the future for aviation propulsion.
The British didn't want the Spiteful but in 1945, before the cancellation of the RAF's order, the French government began looking into rebuilding it's country and industries as soon as the war ended. The idea was to restart it's aviation industries with foreign, fully developed designs to make it easier for companies to begin rebuilding their infrastructures and get things going again.
The French air force generals were interested in the Spiteful, seeing it as a safer bet as a backup to start with before jumping into the jet era and so, chose the Spiteful for the first aircraft to be built by French aviation industries after the war.

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The original Mk.XIV would be the basis for the further developed Mk.XV, which would be the only variant to be built in any significant numbers.
The agreement with Supermarine and the British government was made for the transfer of technology, with assistance from Supermarine staff in the early stages of implementation in the beginning of 1946.
In July of 1947, the first 6 pre-production prototype aircraft were delivered and began testing with the Armée de l'Air.

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These 6 aircraft would undergo different sets of tests, some with different engine/prop configurations and in the end of a brief test series, it was decided that production aircraft were to be powered by the powerful two-stage, three-speed R&R Griffon 130 engine, with 2,420hp. which was a modified 101 to use a contra-prop.

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The Spiteful XV or "Rancunier", as the French would come to call it, earned itself a good reputation among French pilots, who didn't seem to have as many problems with the slow speed stall characteristics of the laminar flow wing. The ground crews would have different opinions and often complained that the aircraft would take longer than desirable to rearm and refuel during combat operations.
Still, the aircraft would soldier on for quite a long time and even got to be used with considerable success in combat in Algeria during the mid 50s, providing close aerial support for troops on the ground until it was found that stress fractures in the main wing spars were detected in several airframes. This problem was linked to several crashes and the loss of at least 7 pilots so, the remaining aircraft were pulled from the front lines. Most would be quickly scrapped before the end of 1957 as by then, the jet era was more than well established as the way forward and piston engines were mostly considered obsolete.

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Only a couple of French-built Mk.XVs survived the scrapping but one of them would be lost in 1995 during an airshow due to a collision with a P-51D in a display routine. Luckily, there were no casualties on the ground and the pilots of both aircraft involved managed to bail out and land safely and uninjured, while both warbirds were completely destroyed, crashing close to each other in an empty field nearby, causing only a small brush fire which was easily controlled and extinguished by the host airbase's fire brigade.

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The remaining airframe, which was restored to original condition during the early 2000s. The aircraft is not in airworthy condition and is on display at the LeBourget air and space museum in Paris."

[DogfighterZen]

So, after almost two weeks of procrastination and laziness, today i finally finished the Spiteful and, as always, there's stuff i could've done better and even stuff i forgot to do but, i the end, it served it's purpose and i'm happy so, it's time to move on.
A big thank you to our esteemed colleague The Wooksta for making this possible by offering me this kit and a load of other Spiteful/Seafang related resin bits.

[The Rat]

  

[comrade harps]

It's a beautiful thing.

[Wardukw]

A very lovely job Rui mate 👏 👍

[Rick Lowe]

 

[Dizzyfugu]

Pretty!    NMF Spitfires and their kin just look verey elegant! 

[Old Wombat]

Great job, Rui! That looks really good!




My only niggle is not of your doing & not something I would have wasted time fixing, either ... those panel trenches!

I think we've found where Matchbox's Phantom Trench Digger went after Matchbox!

[zenrat]

[chrisonord]

Absolutely stunning build Rui 

[TomZ]

Beautiful. Great finish!

TomZ

[NARSES2]

She looks so good in that scheme 

[su27rules]

  

[DogfighterZen]

Glad y'all like it, gents! 
I'm also glad because of the fact that i've actually managed to save the build from the bin, considering all it went through... 
Still, i'm satisfied with the result. It's a good looking bird and i think it looks good in a shiny dress.

 

[2996 Victor]

Beautiful build and that NMF is just stunning    Love the back story - the loss of the Spiteful warbird almost had me in tears!

Can we expect an Aeronavale Seafang.....? Asking for a friend

Cheers,
Mark