SPAD XIII (1/144)

[Fitz]

I designed this 1:144 scale SPAD XIII in Blender a couple of months ago, and have now got around to printing and painting it.

It was printed in FDM on my Ender 3. I might try it in resin one of these days, but it's not a high priority — it's adequate in FDM, and a much stronger gaming piece.

It's intended for use in Canvas Eagles, or similar WW1 aerial combat games. I guess you could use it for Wings of War, but you'd have to sort out an appropriate flight stand.

[Dubar]

Nice!!!  I've always liked the SPAD XIII.  I have 1 in 1/144 and 1 in 1/72 with plans to print another.

I've been printing (Elegoo Neptune 4 Pro) 1/72 scale aircraft, seemed to have gotten away from using 1/144 lately.  Most of my prints were done with the nose of the plane down at a 45 degree angle, some nose up at 45.  I seemed to always have issues with the nose and wheels coming out rough until I raised (X axis) the plane off the bed 3mm, which helped but didn't solve the issue.

The past 4 or so I've rotated them up to 90 degrees so that the nose is pointing straight up and have gotten much better results, not on just the nose and wheels, but the overall print.  The trailing edges of the wings and tail aren't glass smooth but they require very little sanding.  I'm using tree supports in Cura 4.8.0 (came with the printer) and the main thing making sure I cut a few branches loose before I pull them from the part, otherwise I might snag a strut or 2.  The struts come out better too at 90 degrees nose up.

Here's my unfinished 1/72 SPAD XIII, done at 45 degrees nose down, you can see the "ragged" leading edge of the wing which on my recent 90 degree nose up prints has been eliminated: