Eduard's new 1/48 scale Spad XIII is the late version with four French marking schemes. The kit is the usual value-packed Eduard product, but is economized in two ways: The instruction manual is not colored (you can print the colored version yourself from Eduard's Web site), and the decals, at least in this sample, are not of the quality usually seen in Eduard packages.
The kit comprises 97 crisply molded tan plastic parts, three clear plastic windscreens, a colored photoetched-metal fret with 28 parts, masks for the wheels and windscreens, and 12-page black-and-white instructions. Decals provide four schemes, all in the standard five-color French camouflage and including aircraft flown by French aces Charles Nungesser and René Fonck. The box-cover aircraft has a spider and web on the fuselage top and sides, but the web must be added; it is not a decal. My decal sheet had some items clipped off, and an additional narrow strip of decals was supplied to correct this.
The moldings are impressive, with accurately thin struts and trailing edges and outstanding wing rib detail. Clever engineering renders the entire fuselage top decking as one piece, including the horizontal stabilizer; this eliminates a dorsal seam line. There are two props, two cowls, alternative pipe arrangements between the upper wing and fuselage, as well as a choice of covered nose side panels or photoetched-metal screens. Engine compartment structure is visible through the screens, although the instructions reverse parts C10 and C13, right for left. The cowl, prop shaft, radiator, and shutters are all separate for easier painting. The plane's wheels are of the larger 700 x 100 size seen in most photos.
Inside the highly detailed cockpit, instrument faces can be represented by either decals or prepainted photoetched-metal faces with attached bezels. The instructions call for all four seat belts to be attached to a central plate, but it is much easier if you do them separately.
After completing the detailed interior, I had trouble getting the top decking down against the fuselage sides. Trimming the top of the instrument panel (Part D35) helps, but the decking is too wide and overlaps the fuselage sides, especially on the left. This can be remedied by scraping and sanding down the deck to meet the sides. Some fitting and filing was also needed to get the lower wing, cockpit floor, and fuselage bottom together.
After spray-can Tamiya light gray fine surface primer (which also served as the bottom color for the scheme I was doing), I used Polly Scale acrylic paints for the five-color scheme: French chestnut brown
(No. 20140); light tan (33695); Warpac gray green (34258); British brown drab PC10 (34098); and night black (37038).
I finished with Polly Scale clear gloss, then applied decals. They were thick, glossy, translucent, adhered poorly, and would not settle down properly, even with applications of Micro Set and Micro Sol. What a contrast to the superb decals of other Eduard kits!
The good news is the assembly of the upper wing to the fuselage can be easily done without jigs. I fastened the cabane struts to the fuselage, the upper wing to the cabane struts, then the inboard interplane struts, and finally the outboard interplane struts. I enlarged the wing holes slightly and test-fitted the struts.
The aileron control system is an accurate but delicate assembly. Separate bungee cords for each wheel axle are a nice touch. I rigged the model with Wonder Wire, a ceramic, steel-colored filament from Precision Enterprises Unlimited.
This model is accurate in dimension and contour, and it compares well with my main reference,
Windsock Datafile 32 Spad 13.C1, by J.M. Bruce (Albatros Productions).
I spent well over 50 hours on my Spad. It is an excellent, highly detailed model, but best tackled by experienced modelers.
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