Eduard

1/48 - Spad XIII Late "Weekend Edition"

Kit Number: #8424

Reviewed by  Keith Pruitt, IPMS #44770

MSRP: $19.95 USD Website: www.eduard.cz (direct link to this product) HISTORY (From Wikipedia) "The SPAD S.XIII was a French biplane fighter aircraft of World War I, developed by Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés (SPAD) from the earlier highly successful SPAD S.VII. It was one of the most capable fighters of the war, and one of the most-produced, with 8,472 built and orders for around 10,000 more cancelled at the Armistice. The S.XIII differed from its predecessor by incorporating a number of aerodynamic and other refinements, including larger wings and rudder, a more powerful Hispano-Suiza 8B engine fitted with reduction gearing, driving a larger "right-hand" propeller, and a second 0.303 Vickers machine gun for added firepower. The sum of these improvements was a notable improvement in flight and combat performance. It was faster than its main contemporaries, the British Sopwith Camel and the German Fokker D.VII, and was renowned for its ruggedness and strength in a dive. The manoeuvrability of the type was however relatively poor, especially at low speeds. A steep gliding angle and a very sharp stall made it a difficult aircraft for novice pilots to land safely. It first flew on April 4, 1917, and the following month was already being delivered to the French Air Service. Other Allied forces were quick to adopt the new fighter as well, and nearly half of the 893 purchased for the United States Army Air Service were still in service in 1920." INSIDE THE BOX Inside the box are three sprues of injected molded plastic with 84 parts and one sprue of clear plastic with 3 parts for a total of 87 plastic parts (5 parts are indicated as not used on this model). The parts are nicely done, but there is a little flash and a few ejector marks on a some of the parts. The clear parts are thin and clear with faint raised framing on the windscreens. There is a standing pilot figure and a base that I chose not to use.

The eight-page instructions include the various assembly steps. The last page includes a painting and decal placement guide. The paint chart lists only Mr. Color paint numbers and names, although the names are generic enough to find matching colors. The decals are thin and appear to be printed in perfect register, but only include markings for one aircraft - that of Captain René Fonck, Escadrille SPA.103 (GC.15), Fall 1918.

CONSTRUCTION As with most aircraft, the build starts with the cockpit. There are a lot of tiny parts that go into making up the highly-detailed area. Some of these are a bit difficult to handle, as they are quite delicate, and can only be handled with tweezers. It became apparent that this model would have to be constructed in exactly the sequence given in the instructions as most of the steps actually build on the assemblies from the previous step. The fuselage is made up of right and left halves with the top (including the horizontal stabilizers) as a separate piece. When dry-fitting the parts together, I noticed a fit issue: there would be a step on either side of the seam where the top meets the assembled lower fuselage. I dealt with this by gluing the front of the left and right halves on and allowed them to cure. Then I glued the lower rear seam and let it cure. Then I attached the top fuselage by gluing the left side and waited for it to cure before gluing the right side. I did NOT glue the upper seam where the two lower halves met. This allowed the lower fuselage to spread slightly at the top and meet the upper fuselage without the step in the seams. It was somewhat tedious to do this and wait for one section to cure before proceeding, but it worked. I left many of the small parts (guns, gunsight, exhaust pipes, etc.) off until final assembly. The final assembly steps cover the wing assembly. This included the installation of the struts, wings, and landing gear. There was nothing special to note in this section, other than to suggest that the modelers be certain to align the struts carefully so that the top wing attaches correctly. PAINTING There is only one choice of markings for this model - the aircraft of Captain Rene Fonck. There was quite a bit of masking involved as the camouflage is a five-color scheme over a doped fabric undersurface. Being a Weekend Edition, the painting guide is in black and white. To be sure that I had the colors and pattern correct, I downloaded the color instructions from the Eduard website. DECALS After gloss-coating the assemblies, I applied the decals. I had some problems with the decals. While they were thin and applied easily, they did not want to adhere very well. I used both Microset and Microsol, but still seemed to have issues. I finally pierced the decals with a new hobby knife blade and wicked Future under them to help with adhesion. While this helped, I still had some silvering in areas with clear carrier film. I added a clear flat to blend the paint and decals. FINAL ASSEMBLY I added the landing gear, guns and windscreen and then carefully positioned the struts and top wing. In the interest of time, I passed on the rigging (the instructions are very clear in this area), but I may go back later and add it to the finished model. OVERALL IMPRESSION This is the first World War I fighter that I have built in many, many years. While this kit is marked as a "Weekend Edition", I think that is being optimistic. I consider myself to be an average modeler, and I can safely say that there is no way I could have finished this model in two days. The kit produces an outstanding, highly-detailed model, but the small parts, intricate paint scheme and somewhat complicated assembly did take a great deal of time to complete. The finished model looks great, but the kit is one that would not be appropriate for a beginner. I would recommend the kit for a modeler with a moderate amount of experience, specifically in dealing with small parts and multi-colored paint schemes. I would like to express my gratitude to Eduard and IPMS for this review sample.