Shelf Queen 2025 GB - Roden 1/32 Spad XIII Early

[andonio64]

Hallo forumates,
I will take the occasion of this group build to restart the work on the SPAD XIII of Caporal Eugene J Bullard.
He's famous for his "Tout sang qui coule est rouge" motto and whether it's true or not I decided to believe the story / legend told and proceed on this colour schema imagined by Ray Rimmell



And use the SPAD XIII Roden kit although Ray picture describes a VII, at the end I am modeling a legend rather than a real plane.

I will also use the bleeding heart I drew (see it HERE ) and will look for a reasonably realistic font for the motto around it, then I will need help for printing the decals.

I have not the box with me (I'm at work now) but tonight at home I'll take some pics and post them here.

The original thread where a lot of information and hypothesis were shared is HERE

[DaddyO]

Great to see this one onboard with the group build.
I saw the Roden Spad for sale at a bargain price at one of the shows last year and was sorely tempted so will be good to see how yours shapes up. I like the speculation around the colour scheme and agree that sometimes you need to just go with what current research/ideas work best rather than avoid building such an interesting subject.

Looking forward to this ones progress

Paul

[andonio64]

Great to see this one onboard with the group build.
I saw the Roden Spad for sale at a bargain price at one of the shows last year and was sorely tempted so will be good to see how yours shapes up. I like the speculation around the colour scheme and agree that sometimes you need to just go with what current research/ideas work best rather than avoid building such an interesting subject.

Looking forward to this ones progress

Paul

Thanks Paul your words are reinforcing my motivation!

[andonio64]

Some picture







Here is what I was able to do since I started the build, just the engine:

[NigelR]

Excellent choice of subject. Looking forward to this one.

[RAGIII]

Excellent choice of subject. Looking forward to this one.

I agree completely! A tricky kit in some places but really looks great when finished! Looking forward to more posts!!
RAGIII

[andonio64]

I have found a couple of fonts that could fit the style of the historical period to write the motto around the bleeding heart, here are jpg samples for both thw hypothesis, I look forward to getting your opinions and suggestions:



Moreover I started studying the internal structure of the cockpit.
I exchanged some messages with Rick to understand wht that canvas bag appearing in some build logs I took as inspiration is. I found some interesting photos in the Memorial Flight web site.

I also purchased some PE mesh (rhomb style) in 2 different sizes to use in front of the radiator and in the two small windows on the "cheeks" in case I decide to make the engine partially visible.

Things are moving, slowly as usual but they are moving!!!

:-D

[DaddyO]

Top style would get my vote although you'll need to have a look at the spacing between the U & I in Qui (too tight) 

Paul

[andonio64]

Top style would get my vote although you'll need to have a look at the spacing between the U & I in Qui (too tight) 

Paul

Thank you Paul, yes you're right about the spacing between U and I, I'll modify it

[NigelR]

Top one for me as well. Although you should trust Paul more, because he's a signwriter.....

[andonio64]

Top one for me as well. Although you should trust Paul more, because he's a signwriter.....

Thank you Nigel, I trust Paul anyway! And he's right about the distance between those letters. Thanks to all the forum-mates for the always invaluable contribution!

[andonio64]

I have modified the top style of the bleeding heart. Now the distance between the U and I in the "QUI" word looks better, as suggested by Paul (I replaced the image above).

I worked a bit more on the engine, piece 13 D was broken as happened to Zac here

I will try to rebuild the center L shaped rods.

[andonio64]

Hallo,
I took the brushes again in my hands after this long hiatus, had to verify which colors I still  have and which are still usable.
For the time being I was able to paint the cowling+rdiator sub assembly





I used here Tamiya Flat Aluminum XF-16 and Metallic Gray XF-56

Meanwhile I received some aftermarket PE:

- Details fret by Part as used by Kensar in his build (it's the SPAD VII one, but I think there are interesting details to be used for the XIII)
- Rhomb mesh (4x4 and 6x6 width) useful for the "cheeks" openings and to make the radiator sub assembly looking better





Here is the engine cooling slats laid over the mesh just to see the way it looks



The cowling will get a blue coat on the external surface, I will use Lifecolor UA126 Israeli Blue



I want to prepare now the propeller, so will have a look into my decals stash to get a couple of Levasseur 1/32 logos but I'm afraid I only have 1/48 decals. I wasn't able to find it in the online aftermarket. Any suggestion?

Thanks for watching

Antonio

[Borsos]

That is a great project which I loved from its beginning. So I am happy that you go on with it. I like your progress and your design on the personal marking. Sadly I cannot help regarding Levasseur decals. There are no aftermarket products as far as I know. I have searched for some myself.
Best of luck
Andreas

[andonio64]

Thanks Andreas!