Roden 1/32 SPAD XIII - detail added

[Bughunter]

Exact my thoughts! Wonderful details.

Cheers,
Frank

[RichieW]

Just catching up, I missed the last update but the chicken decals are not so bad as you think. I wouldn't have noticed any colour difference if you hadn't mentioned it. I think they look terrific.

Loving all the details on the nose, all those fasteners must have taken a therapeutically
long time to add!

Richie

[kensar]

Thanks for the comments, guys.  There was a lot of panel fasteners.

I've tackled the landing gear, but then thought I should deal with the worrisome louvers before attaching them, as they will block access to the lower louvers.  I added white thread for the bungies and tied the lower turnbuckles in using monofilament.





A test fit.  The PE brackets add to the realism.



I used oil paint and a fine brush and a steady hand to paint in the openings.  Also did the perforated valve coverings.







Overall washes and weathering still to come.

[FAf]

Excellent painting skills! The openings really look like openings, I think.
/Fredrik

[RichieW]

Wow, all those vents and perforations look fantastic. I like the idea of using oil paints for this, presumably because you just wipe off errors? I have my note pad out again!

Richie

[Borsos]

There’s no way not to think this kit would be a Wingnut Wings product. This is first class modelling!
Andreas

[RAGIII]

There’s no way not to think this kit would be a Wingnut Wings product. This is first class modelling!
Andreas

I can only Agree with Andreas! Beautiful and precise work Ken!
RAGIII

[Rookie]

Beautiful and very subtle paint- and weathering job.

Superb modeling Ken!

Willem

[kensar]

Thanks for all the comments - much appreciated.

Yes, I chose oil paints for the louvers to have enough time to clean up the errors before the paint dries.  I started with black and mixed in some white and yellow so the color contrast would not be quite so great.

I now have the landing gear and rudder mounted and I'm putting on small details from the PART PE set before overall weathering.  I was surprised by how much the rudder really brings out the colorful nature of this paint scheme. 
Many bracket fixtures on these French planes were painted blue, which is very noticeable against this overall color.  These details don't go unnoticed.

Thanks for following along.

[Alexis]

Just so you Ken ,

I have made room on MY shelf to display its magnificence 


Alexis

[William Adair]

I thought it looked great before, but the shadows really bring it to life.   

[PrzemoL]

Continues to look a great build.
One question - did you use the panel fasteners from Part PE fret dedicated to Spad VII? Or is it some other solution?

[bobs_buckles]

Lovely work, Ken 

Bob

[kensar]

Thank you for stopping by and commenting Alexis, William, Przemol, and Bob.

The panel fasteners are pieces of soft steel beading wire, 0.008" (0.2mm) diameter.   They are flattened on one end with pliers and then cut off in short lengths with scissors.  CA glued into the holes.  No need to paint them.

[jeroen_R90S]

Really clever, using paint instead of drilling them all out... looks great, despite the little colour shift with the decals, a nice example to follow (together with RAGIIIs RFC example) when I get to mine!