Sunday 1 July 2012

SPAD XIII (Academy)

It was cheap and it showed. The fit was pretty bloody awefull, the fuselage halves didn´t line up properly, the engine cowling had a gap and the wing struts are different lengths..the ones on the fuselage are too long.
Oh, and the decals are made from some sort of odd plastic. Not only do they look very shiny after application but they fold over on themselves when being removed from the decal sheet which meant two of them being ruined. Grrrrr!
Still.... lessons learnt and hopefully the Revell version will be a lot better.
There´s no flash anywhere but....there are 2 mold guidance marks on the bottom of each wing, front and tail!!!
Due to the bad fit and cheapness of the kit, I thought it would be no real loss if it messed up so I experimented with a bit of weathering. Note the dreadfull gap between the tail plane and the fusealge..it could have been filled but I sort of gave up.  
The two top roundels ended up sticking to themselves...they were binned and I had to paint them myself..not a very pleasing experience or result.
The actual detail isn´t too bad but due to the bad fit I couldn´t really get into doing a full rig.
If you want a good laugh,(I ended up having to stop after 10 sides due to stomach ache from laughing..there are 80 sides, 484 comments so far and increasing) then read THESE customer reviews about a Mens hair removal cream at Amazon..Warning..some of the reviews use some strong language :-D

14 comments:

  1. Well you made the best of it, and the prop is perfect, got the right wood look!

    ReplyDelete
  2. This plane is looking very very nice!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've got to hand it to you for completing a piece that is so poorly made. You'll like the Revell version I think. I painted quite a lot of their planes once upon a time ago and was never disappointed.

    ReplyDelete
  4. OMG - those reviews are hilarious! thanks for brightening up my Sunday morning! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. I recently built the Revell Spad for the second time ( th first was in 1977....) and despite its (and my) advancing years it was quite a decent build. Makes you wonder how old the Academy Spad moulds are.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Forgot to ask: have you personally tried the hair removal product? I think we should be told.

    ReplyDelete
  7. This looks pretty faultless to me Paul, mind you I am always impressed at anyone who finds the time to add rigging!

    Well done and 10 points for battling on!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Great looking tail-dragger. The airborne shot is a keeper.

    ReplyDelete
  9. The Spad was a great plane. For your decals try Microscale.

    Happy Wargaming to All.

    Marzio.

    ReplyDelete
  10. A very nice looking plane, Sir!!!
    I'm at work trying to watch the footie final, with tears rolling down my cheeks, I can hardly type, the review is a classic!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. For a poorly fabricated model you've done a great job!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I agree with Michael, you have done an excellent job on this.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Good work despite the problems with the kit. I guess that you should look forwards to the revell kit as the german engineering I hear is much nicer (ism't it always :-P )

    ReplyDelete
  14. wow kudos for the results in spite such a bad cast and decals. I was surprised they went with the 103rd Aero Squadron.

    ReplyDelete