{"product_id":"trumpeter-plastic-model-kit-supermarine-spiteful-f-mk-14-1-48","title":"Trumpeter Plastic Model Kit Supermarine Spiteful F.Mk.14 — 1:48","description":"\u003cp\u003eManufacturer\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTrumpeter is a Chinese manufacturer of injection-moulded plastic scale models, produced by Zhongshan-based manufacturing operations. The company has an extensive aircraft catalogue covering subjects from the First World War through the modern era.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eKit 02850 was introduced in 2012 and represents the Supermarine Spiteful F.Mk.14. The tooling contains more than 80 parts and includes photo-etched and transparent components.\n\u003cbr\u003eKit contents\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe 1:48 kit contains four plastic sprues with more than 80 parts, together with:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Injection-moulded fuselage and wing components\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Finely engraved surface and panel detail\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Cockpit components\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Engine\/cowling details\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Propeller and spinner\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Retractable landing gear\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Tail surfaces\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Four 20 mm cannon armament\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Transparent parts — 7 clear parts\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    1 photo-etched part\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Waterslide decals\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Illustrated assembly instructions\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe completed model is approximately 216 mm long with a 224 mm wingspan.\n\u003cbr\u003eHistory of the full-size aircraft\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Supermarine Spiteful was a British single-seat fighter developed by Supermarine during the Second World War as a high-performance successor to the famous Spitfire.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Spitfire's original elliptical wing had been highly successful, but by the early 1940s Supermarine engineers were increasingly concerned that its aerodynamic characteristics would eventually limit the aircraft's performance at very high speeds. The Spiteful therefore introduced a completely new laminar-flow wing with a much thinner aerodynamic section.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe new wing was accompanied by a wider-track undercarriage. Unlike the Spitfire, whose main landing gear retracted outward into the wing, the Spiteful's landing gear retracted inward. This considerably improved ground handling.\n\u003cbr\u003eDevelopment\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe first prototype flew in 1944. Although the Spiteful retained the general single-engine, single-seat fighter concept of the Spitfire, it was sufficiently different that it was given its own name.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe aircraft was powered by the powerful Rolls-Royce Griffon engine rather than the Merlin engines used by many earlier Spitfires.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe F.Mk.14 used the Griffon 65\/85 family, depending on production configuration. Published specifications give the Griffon 85 installation at approximately 2,375 hp.\n\u003cbr\u003ePerformance\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Spiteful was intended to deliver substantially improved high-speed performance over the Spitfire.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIts combination of:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    High-powered Griffon engine\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Thin laminar-flow wing\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Retractable undercarriage\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Streamlined fuselage\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e    Four 20 mm cannon\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003emade it a formidable piston-engined fighter on paper.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe aircraft was armed with four Hispano-Suiza 20 mm cannon, providing considerably more concentrated firepower than the machine-gun armament of early Spitfires.\n\u003cbr\u003eProduction\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe timing of the Spiteful proved unfortunate.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBy the time the aircraft was ready for production, the jet age had arrived. The RAF was already operating the Gloster Meteor and de Havilland Vampire, while the end of the Second World War removed the immediate requirement for a large new generation of piston-engined fighters.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOnly approximately 19–20 Spiteful aircraft were completed, depending on how prototypes and production aircraft are counted. Production took place between approximately 1945 and 1947.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eConsequently, the Spiteful never achieved the widespread operational service originally intended for it.\n\u003cbr\u003eRelationship with the Spitfire\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDespite its name and obvious ancestry, the Spiteful was not simply another Spitfire variant.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe most important difference was the wing. The Spitfire used its famous elliptical wing, whereas the Spiteful adopted a new laminar-flow wing designed to reduce drag at high speed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe landing gear arrangement was also redesigned. The resulting aircraft looked recognisably related to the Spitfire but was essentially a new fighter.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSupermarine also developed the Seafang, a navalised version of the Spiteful concept intended for carrier operations.\n\u003cbr\u003eWhy the Spiteful became obsolete\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Spiteful's development illustrates the rapid technological transition taking place during the final years of the Second World War.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhen development began, improving piston-engine fighters was still strategically important. By 1944–45, however, jet propulsion was advancing rapidly.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Spiteful was therefore overtaken by technology almost as soon as it reached production. A fighter capable of excellent piston-engine performance was competing for resources against aircraft that could potentially fly much faster using turbojets.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe aircraft's short production run was consequently not primarily a reflection of technical failure; rather, the military requirement had changed.\n\u003cbr\u003eSignificance\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Spiteful is historically important as the final major Supermarine fighter derived from the Spitfire lineage.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIt represents the endpoint of Supermarine's Griffon-powered piston-fighter development and provides an interesting bridge between the classic Spitfire and the company's later jet aircraft.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFor modellers, it is particularly attractive because it combines the familiar Spitfire heritage with a dramatically different wing and landing-gear arrangement.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Trumpeter","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57504170377596,"sku":"Trumpeter-02850","price":21.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0432\/8584\/0033\/files\/FE424505-D5B1-4F6E-A5B7-725377B7E9DA.jpg?v=1790403751","url":"https:\/\/sussex-model-centre.co.uk\/products\/trumpeter-plastic-model-kit-supermarine-spiteful-f-mk-14-1-48","provider":"Sussex Model Centre","version":"1.0","type":"link"}