Rickenbacker Spad XIII thread.pdf

(4889 KB) Pobierz
1/16 scale reworking of Roman Vasilyev's SPAD XIII C.1, Rickenbacker
I always wanted to build the Rickenbacker SPAD, not knowing much more about it really, than what
the old Revell plastic kit from around 1960 had revealed. My best friend built that one, while I made
the Sopwith Camel and the red Richthofen Fokker Triplane. That, plus the old paperback book by
Quentin Reynolds, "They Fought for the Sky" - now falling apart in my bookshelf, although I haven't
really opened it for more than fifty years - constituted what I knew about WWI air combat. Still, it was
good enough for a presentation in English class, displaying both of my models mounted on plates
with model railroad grass all over them. In 1960...
For the last couple of years as a paper modeler, I just happened to collect material about the SPAD,
not really thinking about building it, but some of that stuff was just too good not to collect. I'll get back
to that shortly. Acting on a whim, I contacted "3Turner" with queries about the Kampfflieger 1/32
SPAD models (there are quite a few of them on Ecardmodels). He very kindly got back to me and
confirmed that Roman Vasilyev's 1/32 scale model of Rickenbacker SPAD XIII C.1 (the "C.1"
indicates "chasseur", hunter, or fighter aircraft for a single pilot) was indeed a vector based design
inside the pdf-file it was packaged in for downloading & printing.
Which settled it for me, since I knew that would enable me to work on it with some comparative
ease, much like the series of 1/87 models by Roman I had previous experience of. Not many
minutes later, and for a quite modest outlay, the model was on my desktop. Here's what I've done
with it to date, in a nutshell:
What you see above is, starting from the left, the five original 1/32 scale sheets by Roman, three of
them with the actual parts. Then comes the 16 sheets in 1/16 scale I turned his model into. The large
section at right is built around the easter egg you sometimes find in Roman's models if you open
them in a vector capable program, namely the drawings he has worked from, in this case an original
1/48 scale drawing from the Albatros publications "Windsock Datafile 32: SPAD 13.C1" by J.M.
Bruce.
Roman had enlarged it to his scale 1/32, which made it very easy to just let it slide along with the
rest of the pages I enlarged 200 percent to my own scale 1/16. Around it I have grouped the color
profiles and photos I liked to have around for determining the proper color swatches you also see
grouped at top and bottom.
The image above actually constitutes my layout in Illustrator for reworking Roman's fine SPAD
model into what I would like to see in a large-scale kit of this kind. In what follows, I'd like to outline
the main steps in producing a reworked kit in this format.
History and sources
The first thing I did was to return to the sources and photos I had saved and/or made notes of. First
on the list was the remarkable French "Memorial Flight Association" restoration of the SPAD XIII
#4377, first completed in 1991, and then restored again 2001. It is the oldest extant original SPAD
airframe known, and the only one in flying condition.
Here's the Memorial Flight history of the SPAD XIII:
In spite of a very successful prewar business, thanks to its chief designer Louis
Béchereau, the SPAD (Société pour les Avions Déperdussin) Company had to fold up
after serious financial problems.
The Company was taken over by Louis Blériot in 1914. The new owner, feeling that he
should take advantage of SPAD reputation, managed to twist the new company name
into: Société pour l'Aviation et ses dérivés, thus retaining the original SPAD initials.
The SPAD design was not particularly innovative compared to aeroplanes such as the
Fokker DVII. Its sturdiness was due to a well-engineered wooden fusleage although this
was at the expense of an increase in weight.
The design was aerodynamically sound, with its rounded fuselage and high aspect ratio
wings, and it was propelled by the rather temperamental 220 HP Hispano-Suiza geared
engine. Its main asset was a very good climbing performance, far superior to its British
and German counter parts but it did not handle as well as pilots expected. As a matter of
fact the SPAD was certainly no easy aircraft, especially in the low speed range where its
thin airfoil section often resulted in brutal stalls. On the other hand it could withstand the
stress of dives above 280 MPH followed by steep climbs. The aircraft was at ease in
vertical manoeuvres rather than tight turns and it gained superiority over the enemy until
the arrival of the Fokker DVII. On top of this the SPAD was a very stable firing platform
and could take its share of punishment without too many problems. The one-piece twin-
spar upper wing has no dihedral, while the lower is built in two parts and also has no
dihedral.The top has a slightly wider chord than the lower, the leading edges of all wings
are covered with plywood and the wire tailing edge gives the so-called scalloped effect.
The fuselage is also made out of wood with numerous metal fittings. The four longerons
are tightened by wires with top and bottom rounded deckings.
The landing gear legs are made of laminated poplar with the usual bungee cord system.
The engine coolant flows through the front radiator, with maually operated shutters to
adjust the water temperature. The main fuel tank is located at the bottom of the fuselage
and has an emergency release system. Two auxillary tanks are located in the top wing
centre section, immediately behind the water tank. The oil tank sits in the cockpit next to
the pilot's seat. The propeller was either designed by GALLIA or Marcel Bloch, later to
become known as Marcel Dassault.
The first flight was performed by French Ace René DORME on April 4 1917 and from the
beginning it was clear the aeroplane would be a success. The total production amounted
to more than 8000 and 81 French and Allied Squadrons flew the type before the end of
WWI.
You can read about the Memorial Flight restoration here (all in English), and watch some splendid
photos, including detailed views of the cockpit interior. You will also find some links to other fine
SPAD articles and photos.
As for cockpit photos (the ones above are from the Memorial Flight site), there is a magnificent look-
around, Flash-player interactive view of the cockpit, courtesy of the National Museum of the US Air
Force.
These are the kind of sites that really whet your appetite to do something good as a modeler. Not
that I've come close to what sources like these would enable a really ambitious and talented
modeler to accomplish, but looking at them still is an inspiration - and something for others to build
on.
Getting the colors right
I have had these and a few more photos lying around on my hard drive for quite some time:
They are absolutely gorgeous, and you can get them yourself from the Natiional Museum of the US
Air Force: SPAD XIII Factsheet page, or directly from these links to the high-resolution versions: 1 - 2
- 3 - 4 - 5. What you see in these photos is the SPAD XIII originally built in October 1918 by the
Kellner et ses Fils piano works outside of Paris. And I quote from the Museum's text:
The museum's SPAD XIII (S/N 16594) did not see combat. Shipped to the United States
with 434 other SPAD XIIIs after the Armistice, this aircraft went to San Diego, Calif., and a
smaller, 150-hp Wright-Hispano engine replaced its Hispano-Suiza engine. The museum
staff restored this SPAD XIII to its original configuration, including a 220-hp Hispano-
Suiza engine. It is painted in the markings of America's highest scoring ace of WWI with
26 victories, Capt. Edward V. Rickenbacker of the 94th Pursuit Squadron.
These photos, if nothing else, had enticed me for some time to try my hands on the SPAD. But the
Museum's gorgeous repaint of this SPAD unfortunately is not the only view of what the SPAD really
looked like. Here are a few more color profiles and a painting, which differ from the photos above in
their interpretation of both the exact color scheme of Rickenbacker aircraft, and the nuances of the
colors used. If you make an image search for the Rickenbacker SPAD XIII, you will find that the
discrepancies between different interpretations among modelers and artists are considerable!

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika:

Zgłoś jeśli naruszono regulamin