Manufacturer: Hobbycraft Canada, 140 Applewood Crescent, Concord, ON L4K 4E2 Canada, 905-738-6556, http://www.hobbycraft.com
Kit: No. HC1687
Scale: 1/32
Price: $19.98
Comments: Injection-molded, 73 parts (2 vinyl), decals
Pros: Well molded, accurate, good detail and good fit
Cons: Inaccuracies and omissions detract from otherwise fine decals
The SPAD XIII came along near the end of World War I. It was a favorite among famous French aces such as Guynemer, Nungesser, and Fonck, and was also flown by American aces Eddie Rickenbacker and Frank Luke. It was one of the faster and sturdier WWI fighters.
The SPAD XIII is one of my favorites, too, so I was delighted when Hobbycraft added it to its 1/32 scale line to accompany the Sopwith Camel and Nieuport 17. The SPAD is the best of the three. Packaging is noteworthy. The kit is packed in a sturdy box with Ricken-backer’s 95th Squadron plane on the top and colored five-view drawings of both Rickenbacker’s and Nungesser’s planes on the bottom.
Federal standard paint numbers are indicated for the six-color French camouflage scheme. Sprue trees are individually bagged and the two wings are fastened back-to-back on a cardboard stiffener to prevent warpage.
The crispy molded gray and clear plastic parts have excellent surface detail. The interior is likewise well detailed, with decals supplied for the separate large instrument faces of this craft. Seat belts are not provided. Instructions are of the exploded-view type and indicate part locations well, but no interior colors are given – I found them on the instruction sheet from DML’s 1/48 scale SPAD XIII.
In general the fit of parts is very good. But as noted on the instruction sheet, the outer interplane struts are too long.
The interior was first assembled and painted so the fuselage halves could be joined. Then the lower wing and bottom nose section were added. The fuselage top decking was tack-glued in place, but the tail surfaces and nose were left off for separate painting.
I used Polly Scale paint masked with frisket and drafting tape for the six-color scheme. It was difficult to distinguish between dark green and brown on the box profiles, so I referred to my primary reference, Windsock Dataƒile SPAD XIII.
After spraying Polly Scale clear gloss, I applied the decals. They are good quality and easy to work with, but suffer from inaccuracies and omissions. The blue used in the printing is French blue-gray and not the truer blue seen on American machines.
The large number ‘1’ decals on the upper and lower wing surfaces of Rickenbacker’s plane are too small. The rudder markings (serial number, etc.), wheel stars, and red, white, and blue stripes for the front landing gear struts are all missing. I used the well-known photo of Rickenbacker’s plane in my references to help me make these additional markings from scratch.
After the decals were dry, I removed the tack-glued forward decking and glued on the machine guns, wind screen, and gun sight. The cabane struts were next, and I had to make sure they lined up with the recesses in the upper wing.
Thought must be given to rigging strategy before gluing the top wing in place (a full sheet of rigging diagrams is provided). I used stretched sprue for the crossed wires on the cabanes and then fine steel wire for the two crossed wires on each inboard interplane strut unit. Monofilament nylon was glued into holes at the top of each cabane strut and into appropriately placed holes at the lower wing fuselage joint. After the gas tube fairing and diagonal forward cabane braces were glued to its underside, the upper wing was glued to the cabanes and the inboard interplane struts. Surprisingly the assembly fit and lined up well.
Hobbycraft intentionally made the outer interplane struts too long in case the wings became warped. Mine were fine, so I had to trim the struts a little. Instead of measuring and cutting repeatedly, I filed the bottom ends of the struts into simple rods, then drilled holes through the bottom wing. Any excess length was easy to trim from the bottom surface of the lower wing.
I borrowed the photoetched metal rigging attachment lugs from the 1/48 scale Dragon SPAD kit. They look oversize for 1/48 scale but seemed appropriate for 1/32 scale. With any SPAD model, the rigging is labor intensive.
After rigging was completed, the tail surfaces and nose radiator were attached. I had to use a different vinyl propeller retainer because the one in the kit doesn’t fit the prop shaft.
The finished SPAD is an attractive model which measures correct in wing span and only about four scale inches short in length. More importantly, the shape and contours appear correct. I spent almost 50 hours on this model because of the complex camouflage scheme and the complicated rigging. It’s a great addition to WWI aircraft collections, and I recommend it to experienced modelers.