Rehabbing Rickenbacker

Yuck, yuck, yuck!

We hates it, we do! Nasty little hobbit...er, hideous Wings of Glory SPAD XIII of Eddie Rickenbacker. It has one of the worst, if not THE worst, color scheme of all the Ares/Nexus planes for Wings of Glory. And in their infinite wisdom when Ares had a chance to correct the horror that is Rickenbacker when they re-released the plane, they chose to keep the same incorrect colorations in place. Pink? Really, pink? Okay, maybe more like mauve. Lime Green? Seriously? It is to this day one of the most common planes you will find on eBay and some retail sites, and usually for a good price. Why? To be honest, it's a crappy looking plane! Not only that, but the SPAD XIII has been woefully under rated within the construct of the rules (more on that in a later post) and so while it was a very common plane in 1918 gamers avoid using it.

A little more like it!

So, what do we do with the pair of Rickenbacker SPADs that I own? REPAINT! I recently ordered some Tamiya paints that are purported to be pretty darn close to the colors of the French five color camouflage, and already owning a more properly done Frank Luke SPAD, I decided it was time to give Luke a wingman, in this case Joseph Wehner's #8. 

This is the first of a few posts showing my progress as I move forward with this rehab of a piss poor color scheme. I've never tried painting a five color camo scheme, but with proper colors (or close to them) at hand, and 27th Aero Squadron decals from Miscellaneous Miniatures, the first step, painting the undersides of the SPAD, has been completed. Tamiya color XF-57, Buff. As you can see it is a much more subtle shade, the paint flowing nicely onto the model. The shade is actually about the same as the wheel carriage, which Nexus/Ares should have used for the undersides of the SPAD as a whole.

I have never used Tamiya paints before, but am quite happy with the ease the paint moves from the brush and the smoothness of the paint once applied. I am actually happy that the single coat did not cover the American roundels as now they will serve as a guide as to where to place the decals.