Knights of the Sky (1 Viewer)

jules118 said:
I'd just like to see some of the earlier monoplanes like those made by Etrich Taube... an area that appears to be neglected by everybody so far. :(

jules

http://www.juleswings.com
Click to expand...
That would be a great aircraft. I imagine it would be a rigging nightmare from a manufacturer's POV, though. A Fokker Eindekker, any version, and a French Morane Saulnier Type L would be most welcome. All 3 are historically important and interesting aircraft. -- Al
 
lancer said:
That would be a great aircraft. I imagine it would be a rigging nightmare from a manufacturer's POV, though. A Fokker Eindekker, any version, and a French Morane Saulnier Type L would be most welcome. All 3 are historically important and interesting aircraft. -- Al
Click to expand...

There's plenty of unfurrowed ground here, but it needn't be limited to monoplanes. For instance, the Nieuport 11 is a nifty, early-war type.
 
Found a webpage that tracks the progression of technology as regards warbirds from WWI:

http://www.wwiaviation.com/development.html

Looking at the art, I recalled how the first "dogfights" consisted of shootouts between aircrew using small arms, and how silly that seems. Then, I thought about it some more, and realized how much it sounds like something that JJ would get a kick out of.^&grin
 
ivanmoe said:
There's plenty of unfurrowed ground here, but it needn't be limited to monoplanes. For instance, the Nieuport 11 is a nifty, early-war type.
Click to expand...
There you go. The Nieuport 11 is my favorite WW1 aircraft. I would buy the whole Lafayette Escadrille if someone would do all the different pilots. Then there are all the French escadrilles that flew the N-11 as well. Would love to see Navarre's plane. The Bebe rules! ^&grin -- Al
 
My Spad is on the way! Eddie should be landing Wednesday or Thursday. Can't wait.^&cool -- Al
 
lancer said:
My Spad is on the way! Eddie should be landing Wednesday or Thursday. Can't wait.^&cool -- Al
Click to expand...
Got lucky, (Capt. Eddie says it was tailwinds), and the Rickenbacker Spad has arrived at my aerodrome a little early. It is a beautiful model with the subdued colors and realistic weathering that is the hallmark of JJD's WW1 aircraft. It is solidly built and just has a strong feel to it. The 5-color French camo pattern is very well executed with colors that seem to me very accurate. I was interested to see the complicated rigging pattern up close and personal and am quite impressed with the result, with one exception. I believe two wires are missing, one short strut to strut wire on each side of the cockpit. Now this might be just my example, but I don't think so. I have talked to my dealer and he says the example he was looking at doesn't have the wires, and I have studied the short film clip posted of the JJDUk example, and the wires are not there, either. I have to contact John about this, but I'm not sure the lack of the wires will be of importance to anyone except me. That is the only thing I have to say on the minus side regarding this model. It really is lovely and is well worth the wait for the Spad enthusiast in all of us.:wink2: I was also interested to see how JJD would tackle the question of all those inter-wing struts. The solution was to join each set of the struts together with a bar at the top and bottom and sink the joining bar into the wing surface. This is a common solution for modelers but it has been done extremely well by JJD with the joining bar being part of the rib detail, thus making a really close examination necessary to even see the bars. A very well done solution. I'm sure anyone waiting for this Spad is going to be very pleased with it. I sure am. -- Al
 
Combat said:
I wonder if John might do Rickenbacker's SPAD? It has snazzy appeal:

800px-SPADXIIIrickenbackerweb.jpg
Click to expand...
Look what I found way back in the thread. Someone saw into the future, though the color scheme is a tad different.:wink2:^&grin^&grin -- Al
 
lancer said:
Got lucky, (Capt. Eddie says it was tailwinds), and the Rickenbacker Spad has arrived at my aerodrome a little early. It is a beautiful model with the subdued colors and realistic weathering that is the hallmark of JJD's WW1 aircraft. It is solidly built and just has a strong feel to it. The 5-color French camo pattern is very well executed with colors that seem to me very accurate. I was interested to see the complicated rigging pattern up close and personal and am quite impressed with the result, with one exception. I believe two wires are missing, one short strut to strut wire on each side of the cockpit. Now this might be just my example, but I don't think so. I have talked to my dealer and he says the example he was looking at doesn't have the wires, and I have studied the short film clip posted of the JJDUk example, and the wires are not there, either. I have to contact John about this, but I'm not sure the lack of the wires will be of importance to anyone except me. That is the only thing I have to say on the minus side regarding this model. It really is lovely and is well worth the wait for the Spad enthusiast in all of us.:wink2: I was also interested to see how JJD would tackle the question of all those inter-wing struts. The solution was to join each set of the struts together with a bar at the top and bottom and sink the joining bar into the wing surface. This is a common solution for modelers but it has been done extremely well by JJD with the joining bar being part of the rib detail, thus making a really close examination necessary to even see the bars. A very well done solution. I'm sure anyone waiting for this Spad is going to be very pleased with it. I sure am. -- Al
Click to expand...
Contacted John about the missing bracing wire. He says some things were left out, on purpose, in the cockpit area, as it got very crowed in that area. He couldn't say for sure, but he thinks the wire I am concerned about was one of them. He was going to check further. I tend to think the wire was left out on purpose as I can find no photo evidence of the wire being in place on the models that I have seen pictures of, including the new photos from the London show. I wish the wire was there, but that detail won't hurt the overall excellence of the model.
Anyone else get their Spad yet? Any opinions?
Just one more thought on the Blue Maus Albatros. The paint job is really striking and continues to draw my eye on the shelf. It just refuses to blend and it takes attention from the other aircraft it is displayed with. This is not a bad thing, the Blue Maus is just an attention hog. The Udet tripe, with it's distinctive black/white striping, also grabs attention. I have them on different shelves, so there is no particular problem with which to look at from one moment to the other. Have to keep them separated though as I don't want to find one laying on the floor one morning. -- Al
 
lancer said:
Anyone else get their Spad yet? Any opinions?
Click to expand...

Nope, still waiting for mine to arrive at the dealer in Tennessee. :(

Question for you though...when viewed in profile or from either quarter, does the fuselage between the cockpit and tail seem a little too thick on the JJD model?

Here's a shot of a SPAD XII on display at Duxford:

View attachment 129795
 
ivanmoe said:
Nope, still waiting for mine to arrive at the dealer in Tennessee. :(

Question for you though...when viewed in profile or from either quarter, does the fuselage between the cockpit and tail seem a little too thick on the JJD model?

Here's a shot of a SPAD XII on display at Duxford:

View attachment 129795
Click to expand...
Moe, the fuselage on the JJD model looks ok to me. I'm not sure what the Duxford example is, but it isn't a regular Spad XIII, as is labeled on the rudder. The struts and their arrangement aren't correct, the fuselage is too narrow and short behind the headrest and the rudder itself is not a type XIII rudder, although it does resemble a Spad VII rudder. The Duxford example may be a mock-up of some sort as it seems to have characteristics of the VII, XII, and XIII. Any other info on the Duxford "Spad"? -- Al
 
Hi Al,

The pic that I posted above may also be distorted a bit, stretched/skewed horizontally, I mean.

Here are a couple of pics from the NASM, ones that show the aircraft from profile and quarter views:

View attachment 129796

View attachment 129797

And, here two the pics from JJD:

View attachment 129798

View attachment 129799

IMO, the affect is more pronounced on the first JJD pic. However, that may be because the angle of the shot shows more of the top of the model's fuselage. In defense of the model, the second JJD image appears somewhat less well-fed. Nothing like a little rivet-counting among the faithful, now is there? ;)
 
Hi Moe. Still think that the Duxford Spad is something other than a true type 13. The NASM Spad looks all correct and I think the JJD Spad matches up very well. And the rivet counting is definitely part of the fun. I'm pleased that JJD's models have so little to pick on in terms of construction and color accuracy. Colors on WW1 aircraft are subject to wide speculation in any event but John does his research and does a good job. I think you will like the Spad and find that the 'overfed' look is just a photo problem. -- Al
 
Hi Al,

I picked up my pre-ordered SPAD from the London Show last Saturday. I afraid I don't know too much about the "nuts & bolts" details but I think it's a real knockout.
It looks so much better than any of the photos can capture. It's a very sturdy model ( pretty much like the real machine I would think ). The lines all very straight and true.

I've always thought that John would never match the SE5a ( my favourite ) but I think this one really comes within a whisker!

I've put one of the ACE-BP British Pilots in the cockpit and I reckon he looks pretty perfect in it. Almost as if he was designed especially for the SPAD.

So 10 out of 10 from me - but I still think the SE5a rules!!!

Cheers, Roy.
 

Attachments

  • spad1.JPG
    spad1.JPG
    136.6 KB · Views: 271
  • spad2.JPG
    spad2.JPG
    129 KB · Views: 271
  • spad3.JPG
    spad3.JPG
    144.9 KB · Views: 272
Old Bill said:
Hi Al,

I picked up my pre-ordered SPAD from the London Show last Saturday. I afraid I don't know too much about the "nuts & bolts" details but I think it's a real knockout.
It looks so much better than any of the photos can capture. It's a very sturdy model ( pretty much like the real machine I would think ). The lines all very straight and true.

I've always thought that John would never match the SE5a ( my favourite ) but I think this one really comes within a whisker!

I've put one of the ACE-BP British Pilots in the cockpit and I reckon he looks pretty perfect in it. Almost as if he was designed especially for the SPAD.

So 10 out of 10 from me - but I still think the SE5a rules!!!

Cheers, Roy.
Click to expand...
Hi Roy. I completely agree with you. It is a beauty and very sturdy. Happen to agree about that SE-5, too. Glad you like the Spad so much. It is a beauty. I like your photos of the Spad. Good details shows and further confirms my view of the missing support wire. It has been missing on all examples I have seen, confirming what John said about it being left off on purpose in order to simplify the model. Great get.^&cool -- Al
 
Old Bill said:
Cheers, Roy.
Click to expand...

Hi Roy,

Thanks for the pics, as they speak many, many volumes of words about this model.. The ones above and those that you posted from the London TS show will probably sell a lot of models for JJD. If anything, I really wish that Jenkins would include more/better pics on its website, "Hey, if you've got something to honk your horn about, then honk away!"

Moe
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Community platform by XenForo® © 2010-2024 XenForo Ltd.
Back
Top