Recently I picked up an Academy 1/72 SPAD XIII kit for a change of pace amongst the automotive kits I generally build. I’ve found that the instructions are totally void of even a suggestion of colors or patterns for painting, and I have to admit that I’m a bit out of my realm with WWI aircraft. I’ve built some WWII era birds, and have found info to be fairly easy to find for them, but all the searching I’ve done on the 'net and the forums have been relatively fruitless on the SPAD. I may not be looking in the right places so I thought I’d try asking the only experts I know…you guys!!
I’ve read that the French apparently used a 5-color scheme on their SPADs, and I assume that the US would have been the same…or would it? Would the camo pattern have been pretty close from plane to plane, or unit to unit? Does anyone know where I can find some good pics of the wing surfaces? I’ve located a few that give good views of the fuselage, but good shots of upper wing surfaces have eluded me.
Also, I’ve had no experience with rigging the support wires (?) so any input in that direction relating to 1/72 scale would be greatly appreciated. I’ve seen many posts during my searching dealing with the rigging, but most of it seems to be on larger scale kits. Much of it may apply, but in 1/72 scale…well…I may need a larger magnifier!!
Any input that anyone may have would be greatly appreciated!!
B, FSM ,in last couple months(Mags arent handy right now) hada Histroy you can model page on the SPAD W a color pic of the A/C at the AirForce Museum. Its Painted as Rickenbacher’s bird.
You might want to look(ePay?) for the Profiles Publication on the SPAD as those booklets are agood start. Google is good to! For rigging (I build 1/72) I use everything from streched sprue to fine wire AND superglue is your friend!
I would make the suggestion that you see if you can find a copy of Squadrons “Spad in Action”. The “in Action” booklets aren’t that expensive (and usually are more accurate than a set of kit instructions) and generally easy to find.
Thanks for the input! The Eduard instructions are a big help, for sure, and I’ve located the “in Action” booklet for as little as $2.99 +shipping (used, of course). Any details relating to 1/72 scale builds would be very welcome, as well.
I was looking into this, and, there is a picture on the internet, of a postcard, of the aircraft in question. Yes, it’s B&W, but, one can ascertain that the ‘Swastika’ aircraft is a single light colour, and not multi-coloured like many others in the squadron. Indeed, one might say that the box-art is probably not too far off (except too light I think). The photographs on the side of the box (and on the instructions) are for a different aircraft, as you can see by the colours of the tails.
Ditto on the Eduard Spad…If you like your 72nd scale build, buying the quarter scale Eduard Spad may be your next step…excellent kit with PE and great marking options…
…WW I planes had a lot of really interesting camo patterns and markings…some seeemed very unusual abstract, even by today’s standards…some of the personal markings are even “cryptic”…
The decals looks pretty worthless, they appear to be very translucent if you look at the one on the top wing that crosses the light / dark part of the camoflage. I don’t know of many aftermarket decals for WW1 aircraft but Starfighter decals offeres a set of decals for a 94th sqn stars & stripes marked aircraft like Hans showed. It also shouldn’t be that hard to come up with some decals from another kit. Eduard and Revell generally offer multiple decal options in their kits.
As far as rigging, I’ve been using 0.008" guitar string (a superlight E string) which is stiff steel wire. I just cut it and epoxy it in place. You can do the same thing with stretched sprue if you are any good at making it (I’m not).
