by George Grasse

SPECIAL HOBBY 1:48 SCALE INJECTION KIT SO4009 OF THE SPAD 7

SPECIAL HOBBY SO4010 BOX ART

SPAD 7  THREE-VIEW DRAWING

This 3-view drawing is credited to J. D. Carrick or F. Yeoman and appeared in Fighter Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War compiled by W. M. Lamberton and published by Harleyford Publications Limited.  The Spad 7 was a tremendous leap in fighter aircraft for the French Aeronautique Militare with a large engine for speed and a rugged design for maneuverability, the Spad 7 was equal to any other fighter in late 1916 and well into 1917.  Consult French Aircraft of the First World War by Dr. James J. Davilla and Arthur M. Soltan.

THE MODEL TO BE BUILT

The model to be built is Spad 7 No. S.1213 of Escadrille Spa.48 black 7 flown by Caporal Jacques Raphael Roques, an five-victory ace ultimately reaching the rank of Capitaine.   This image by Harry Dempsey shows the French national rooster as the escadrille insignia.  Roques also adorned the right side of the fuselage with the image  of a "jolie demoiselle".

 

Escadrille Spa.48 Insignia "buste du coq"

A NOTE ON DECALS

The decals shown above will be used on this model.  They are from AeroMaster's 48-576 1:48 scale decal sheet entitled 'Ital0-French SPAD ACES 1917-1918'.

CONSTRUCTION PHOTOS No. 1a thru 1d 14 September 2022
Four views of the completed cockpit interior.  The crude backing to many of these interior parts would seem to be most discouraging at first.  However, the fit is good and the whole comes together nicely.  When the cockpit decking is added (see below), most of the interior is barely visible.  Instruments and seatbelt components are Eduard.

 

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 2 20 September 2022

Nothing particularly important at this stage except the amount of filler used around the cockpit and the nose cowling.  More on the cowling in the next photo.

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 3 20 September 2022

The gap in the cowling was my fault.  The piece was cast with a rather large stub that had to be sanded off.  I use a large 36" band sander and, as careful as I was, I took more off one side than the other.  So far, in all my scores of modeling years, the best handy putty is 'Perfect Plastic Putty' made by Deluxe Materials of the UK.

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 4 22 September 2022

The landing gear is reinforced with steel piano wire.  The pilot's cockpit step is made from thin brass wire.  The tailskid (not visible) is made from brass tubing flattened.  All of the actual fabric-covered parts of the airplane were doped in a clear mixture tinted with beige yellow.  The front of the airplane was covered in aluminum panels.  The fabric version had to be duplicated in the fabric's shade of 'yellow' but with a different metal-adhering paint.  It generally appeared as a darker shade which will be seen in future photos.

 

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 5 31 March 2023

All of the kit's plastic fuselage and wing struts were discarded and replaced by brass rod and tube, the tube being lightly pounded to an aerofoil shape.  Before the top wing was attached, its underside was drilled out for .005 monofilament thread to simulate wiring.

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 6 31 March 2023

The model has been painted in the lighter shade of yellow to simulate the color of clear doped fabric.  The photo above tends to show too much yellow and is, in fact, much lighter.  The darker shade has already been described in panel 4 above.  To wit, the French mixed the darker shade to match closely the fabric covered surfaces.

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 7 4 May 2023

The details of the forward deck shows the windscreen, the PE support struts to the cabane struts, and the Vickers machine gun.  Progress to date on the "new" Spad 7 procedes a little differently that the "old" Spad 7.

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 8 4 May 2023

Significant progress on the "replacement" Spad 7 of Escadrille Spa.48.  The Outer wing struts are brass tube and rod construction.  Struts: brass tube OD 1.4mm ID 1.2mm, brass rod .81mm.  The inner struts are plastic from the kit.  All of the wing bracing wires (.005 MFT) are glued to the upper wing ready to be pulled through the bottom wing to be weighted and glued.

 

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 9 31 May 2023

Finished - left rear view

 

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 10 31 May 2023

Finished - left front view

 

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 11 31 May 2023

Finished - right front view

 

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 12 31 May 2023

Finished - right rear view

 

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 13 31 May 2023

Finished - left rear view

 

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 14 31 May 2023

Finished - left side view

 

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 15 31 May 2023

Finished - right side view

 

----- finis -----

Bibliography:

Bruce, J. M.  Spad 7.C1, Windsock Datafile 8.  Berkhamsted, Herts: Albatros Productions, 1988.

Bruce, J. M. Spad Scouts SVII - SXIII.  Glencoe Models via Osprey Publications.

Conners, John F.  SPAD Fighters in Action.  Carrollton, Texas: Squadron-Signal Publications, 1989.

Davilla, James J. Dr. and Arthur M. Soltan.  French Aircraft of the First World War.  Boulder, CO, Flying Machines Press, 2002.

French Escadrille 48 website page - http://albindenis.free.fr/Site_escadrille/escadrille048_2.htm

Guttman, Jon.  SPAD VII Aces of World War I, Osprey Aircraft of the Aces No. 39.  Oxford, UK: Osprey Publications, 2001.

Hayez Lt. Colonel (French Air Force Historical Section), translated by H. D. Hastings.  French Escadrilles in World War I.  Cross & Cockade (US), Volume 7, Number 3, pages 205-231.

Lamberton, W. M., Compiler, and E. F. Cheesman, Editor.  Fighter Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War.   Los Angeles, CA: Aero Publishers, 1962.

Velek, Mark.  Spad S.VII C1.  Stasnice, Czech Republic: 4+ Publications, 2004.