F-RSIN 1:144 SNCASE SE.2010 Armagnac TAI

[Malair]

My next build (which again was part of a French group build project) is the F-RSIN 1:144 SNCASE SE.2010 Armagnac in the colors of Transports Aeriens Intercontinentaux (TAI).

 

“Le Giant Oublie”

Please raise your hand if you have heard of this device before. No one....? Oh, well, that's not surprising, since there is a reason this aircraft is nicknamed "The Forgotten Giant"

 

Despite the difficulties France found itself in during the German occupation during WWII, the design of civil and military aircraft continued fairly uninterrupted. Design work on the Armagnac did not begin in earnest until 1945, when Société Nationale de Constructions Aéronautiques de Sud-Est (SNCASE) was selected as the prime contractor for the SE.2000. It was intended that the aircraft would be suitable for North Atlantic flights with a cruising altitude of 4000m powered by four 2100-hp Gnome-Rhône 18R engines. However, it was soon realized that the wartime design was outdated, so the concept was scaled up to a pressurized cabin for 64 passengers for transatlantic flights and 107 for shorter routes. A bigger aircraft was clearly too much to ask for the Gnome-Rhône 18R engines, so the SE.2010 Armagnac would be powered by four 3500-hp Pratt & Whitney R-4360 Wasp Majors. In this form, the SE.2010 Armagnac first flew on 2 April 1949 and production of 15 definitive Armagnacs (eight for Air France) was started.

 

Source: Wikimedia Commons

 

However, by this time sleeper aircraft with bunk beds had begun to fall out of favour, and Air France felt that without this option the aircraft would become very large and canceled the order. Despite this, SNCASE decided to continue production and built nine aircraft, the first four for TAI. The Armagnac was taken into service on December 8, 1952, but it soon became clear that the aircraft was not very economical. The four aircraft were returned to SNCASE and stored in Toulouse. Nevertheless, the aircraft still got a chance when the outbreak of the Indo-China war created a need for more capacity for flights to France. Seven aircraft were therefore assigned to Société Auxiliaire de Gerence et de Transports Aériens (SAGETA) for flights between Toulouse and Saigon via Beirut, Karachi and Calcutta.

 

Source: Wikimedia Commons

 

A maximum of 160 passengers could be transported with a crew of five. In total, only nine were built and the aircraft served until 1959.

The resin kit is from F-RSIN and is actually very nice. Decals are also from F-RSIN, but the cockpit and passenger windows are made by me. For the wire antennae I use AK rigging for the first time (instead of one of my girlfriend’s hair) and I have to say that it works great and I will use this for future projects as well.

The display bases are also made by me.

 

Anyway the pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All in all this was a great and accurate kit to build. Shame that Laurent from F-RSIN has decided to discontinued it.

 

Thanks for reading and see you next time!

Edited April 17, 2023 by Malair

[RidgeRunner]

Wow! That is very nice and different!!!!!! Full marks all round . A great lesson in how to make a small scale look large scale!

 

Martin

 

[David H]

Beautiful model of an aeroplane that remains a forgotten chapter in the story of the P&W R-4360 engine.

 

-d-

[Skodadriver]

That's a beauty Martijn. I admit to complete ignorance of the real aircraft but it's a magnificent looking machine. 160 passengers is a big load for that era.

 

Thanks for sharing

 

Dave G

[Vesa Jussila]

Beautiful I must say. Nicely done 👍.

[Malair]

Thanks for all the nice words guys!

 

I have a thing for unknown aircraft. Don't get me wrong, I like a 737 or A320 just as much as the next person, but from time to time I like to build something such as the Tu-124, An-140 or the Armagnac to spice things up a little.

[NorbertBu]

Thank you very much for showing this interesting model to us. I share your interest in unusual airplanes and Your comment inspired me to buy a kit, the last one at Aviationmegastore. So, another new and started project....