Roden Spad XIIIc 1/32

[KiwiZac]

upper decking, then the top fuselage. I'll need some spreader bars in between the sides to match the outline of the top, but it shouldn't be too much of an issue.

Good thinking. I failed to check the fit on my VII and as a result became very discouraged with the result, and all the filling and sanding I did to try and rectify the issue. I'm so pleased you realised there would be an issue and have a fix to avoid my problem!

[NigelR]

Good progress, and very wise planning ahead. Looking forward to seeing more here.

[Softscience]

Upper deck of the cockpit is on and nearly ready for the top of the fuselage. Note the spreader bar I put in back. It's just a piece of sprue from the kit.


Just a test fit to see how much I can see inside. Not much at all.



Also.at about the same level of completion is Eduard's truly sunlime
SE5A. I misplaced the PE instrument panel. It's got to be here so :)mewhere.

[NigelR]

That's looking really good, the cockpit is very nice and the top of the fuselage has gone on really well.

I misplaced the PE instrument panel. It's got to be here so :)mewhere.

There appear to be bits of PE hiding evertwhere on your bench......

[Softscience]

Oh c'mon now. There is only the one.

The little circle thingie was actually attached to the buckle, but I dont know its purpose. Old Tom's Modelworks set, with no instructions.

[KiwiZac]

Great work with the spreader bar - again, I WISH I'd not been in such a rush with my own Roden SPAD and had thought of that as a fix. Excellent!

[Softscience]

Zac, I think you should get a second one and join me on this short run journey 

And here is another tip for you all.

I began fitting the cowling pieces, and my advice is the following sequence

1. Glue the "belly" and "chin" parts first.

2. Glue the side panels; the cheeks, if we're keeping the body analogy, to the "chin"

3. Glue the top/side pieces with the gun troughs and little teardrop shaped bulges to the sides of the cheeks but NOT TO THE center-top bit




Leave the center top free-floating so that you can move everything around to properly match the cowling. Plastic shims will need to be installed in the big gaps between the gun troughs and the center-top






I don't know that this is the only way to do this, but it certainly is A way.

[NigelR]

Nice work on those cowls, it looks like the best way to do things. Shimming will be annoying but it looks like the only answer.

These kits can have their challenges but you are doing very nicely with this one.

[macsporran]

Great progress, SS.
I'm itching to start mine and appreciate the valuable service you are doing us here, pre-warning these issues.
Sandy

[PrzemoL]

Great progress on your Spad, despite the problems with fit. You are cruising!

[Softscience]

Cheers, guys.


I have a nearly completed airframe now. Once I glued the cowling on, I was able.to compress everything and didn't have the gaps I expected. There was just a bit of gap between cowl and the top center piece that needed a bit of shimming. This got a bit of filler (visible below) to level things out.

A more troublesome fit is the tail assembly. The horizontal tail section needs to be sanded a good deal to not have a step over the fuselage, and the elevators are a very tight yet unsatisfying fit. The vertical stabilizer needed some filler along its base after the latter was sanded and reshaped to eliminate the step at the rear fuselage. The rudder didn't fit over the nubs representing the hinges and I cut these off and will make new ones from scrap styrene.

I was letting the forward cabane struts dry before adding the rear. I added one of the two after taking these shots and test fit the upper wing to check alignment. I am happy to say the trio fit the corresponding holes in the top wing perfectly! I expect the fourth one will as well.

[NigelR]

Excellent modelling. Roden kits do need work, but with the care you have shown this will be a great build. Very helpful for anyone else building it.

[AngryJazz]

Great work on the model! Looking mighty fine 

[FAf]

Good work!
/Fredrik

[KiwiZac]

Great progress! It's coming along very nicely.

Zac, I think you should get a second one and join me on this short run journey 

I still haven't finished the first!