Print Scale 1/72 SPAD S.XIII Decals
By Matt Bittner
Here's another WWI aircraft decal sheet from Print Scale, covering Spad 13s flown by the United States Air Service (USAS):
- SPAD XIII, S.4523, Captain Edward V Rickenbacker CO, 94th Aero Squadron USAS, Summer 1918
- SPAD XIII, S.18869, pilot Jacques Michael Swaab, 22 Aero Sqn, winter 1918-1919
- SPAD XIII, S.7689. Arthur Raymond Brooks, "Smith IV"
- SPAD XIII, S.7522, 1Lt Martinus Stenseth, 28th Aero Squadron, October 1918
- SPAD XIII, S.7714. Captain Robert Soubiran CO, 103rd Aero Squadron USAS, November 1918
- SPAD XIII, S.4606. 1/Lt Raymond 'Jerry' Seevers CO, A Flight 139th Aero Squadron USAS, Postwar
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All aircraft are finished in the typical late-war Four Color French scheme; however, as I haven't done any research to the manufacturer of each of these Spad 13s, I can't confirm if the camouflage information Print Scale provides for each aircraft is correct. For the uninitiated, each four-color scheme was different based on the manufacturer of the actual aircraft, e.g. Spad, Bleriot, etc.
Regardless of that, these decals are nicely printed and are a welcome addition to the finishing of multiple Eduard Spad 13s in the stash. An excellent choice by Print Scale is the way they handle the rudders of each aircraft. They provide rudder decals for one aircraft of each time-frame (war-time or post-war) and then supply the serial for each aircraft as separate. This is excellent for those who choose to paint their rudder stripes. Note that Print Scale also includes only one set of roundels for each time-frame as well, so if you want to build more than just two from this set of decals, you'll need to source your own roundels.
My thanks to Print Scale for this review sheet. I think Soubiran's will be the first one I finish from this set.