SPAD S.XIII

During early 1917, the French designer Louis Béchereau, having observed the earlier S.VII having been rendered obsolete by rapid advances in the field of aviation and having been impressed by promises of a powerful new geared version of the successful Hispano-Suiza 8A engine, decided to launch the development of two new fighter aircraft, the S.XII and S.XIII. The S.XII was soon overshadowed by the S.XIII and it soon proved itself to be one of the most capable fighters of the war, as well as one of the most-produced, with 8,472 built and orders for around 10,000 more canceled at the Armistice.

By the end of the First World War, the S.XIII had equipped virtually every fighter squadron of the Aéronautique Militaire in existence. In addition to its prevalent use by the Aéronautique Militaire, the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and United States Army Air Service also procured the type in bulk during the conflict. It proved to be popular amongst pilots and numerous aces from various nations flew the S.XIII during their flying careers, often scoring many of their victories in one. Following the signing of the Armistice of 11 November 1918, which effectively marked the end of the First World War, surplus S.XIIIs were sold in great numbers to both civil and military operators throughout the world.

The SPAD S.XIII specifications as follows;

Wingspan 27'
Length 20.5'
Max speed 135 mph
Total number built 8,472 from 1917 to Nov. 1918
Armament consisted two Vickers .303 machine guns.

The Kit

This kit, unlike the WNW kits,  comes in an unhandy end flap open box and the kit itself comes no where close to matching WNW kits in any category be it fit, detail or accuracy. As such its only redeeming features are the fact it's currently the only kit available in 1/32 and with the demise of Hobby Craft they may become harder find. The kit gets reasonable marks for fit and generally looks the part. Experts are quick to point out a myriad of accuracy issues but for those less informed it is certainly acceptable under the circumstances. Hopefully at some point WNW will chose to produce one rendering this kit a non option except for the budget minded. I initially considered doing a full review since it is not all that well covered by other sites due to being an older kit but in the end decided against it. Probably the worst feature of the kit is the decals which most have rated as terrible and after market replacements are mostly non existent. Best bet would be to make masks and paint them on.

Links to kit build or reviews

An in box review can be found here and a build review here.

Back to the WWI page