SPAD 510 7eme Escadre

and

SPAD 510 at War

Azur FRROM, 1/72 scale

Reviewed by Graham Carter

This  aeroplane should be more correctly called the Blériot SPAD S.510  and was a French single-seat, single-engined biplane fighter aircraft, the last produced in France, rather like the Gladiator was in the UK.

First flying in 1933, 60 were built for the Armée de l'Air, entering service in 1936.The type remained in service as a fighter-trainer at the start of the Second World War, hence the two boxings.

Some escaped to North Africa following the fall of France in 1940.

These two near identical kits will be dealt with together.

I think it was quite an elegant and petite aircraft that I have long wanted in my collection, so was delighted to receive the review samples, thanks to Azur Frrom, a company that specialises in those French oddities we all enjoy, well some of us anyway.

Azur Frrom produces its kits in the Czech Republic but they are designed in France.

Dujin had produced a resin 1/72 kit of this aeroplane a couple of decades ago but I have not examined  one for comparison. A good reference for the French reader is Avions #128, and a drawing in Les Ailes Francaises #2 shows one (white 5) in an interesting camouflage scheme at Le Havre in October 1939, and another that escaped to Tunisia in June 1940 is shown in Les Ailes Francaises #4 in the normal French camouflage.

Each kit comes in a sturdy end-opening box with a nice illustration on the top and colour profiles of the decal schemes on the bottom.

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Thumbnail panels:

Inside is a clear sleeve containing two mid-grey sprues and a single small clear sprue with a decal sheet and a twelve-page A5 stapled instruction booklet. Parts are very nicely moulded with no visible flash and minimal gate attachments although some care will be needed on some of the struts.

Flying surfaces are single sided and have lovely fine trailing edges. Surface detail is just lovely, fine and augmented by a simple interior which will be more than adequate given the small cockpit opening.

The ribbed wings look perfect to my eye, being subtle and clean. Small parts like struts are very fine. The parts in both kits are identical.

The instructions are clearly set out with colour notes at each of the twelve stages, and excellent rigging diagrams to help finish them off. The only difference between the two kits is that the modeller will need to scratch-build a set of exhaust extensions out of stretched sprue or brass rod, for third war-time decal choice. Drawings are given but these are only shown in one of the sketches of the plane and I could not find any photos of 510s with them fitted. 

All aircraft in both kits are finished in aluminium lower surfaces with kaki brillant or gloss khaki upper surfaces, the pre-war ones being embellished with escadre markings such as panthers, helmets and cranes. All colours are given Gunze numbers.

Markings

Decals are very nicely printed with good density and perfect register, with minimal carrier film and on a pale blue background so that the white images are easily found. The three choices in each kit are:

FR0049 - pre-war aircraft.

1.  Nr 26, Red 1, 1 ére  escadrille GC I/7  (Spa 15  Bayard's helmet),  Lt Ozanne, esc leader, Dijon, June 1938
2.    Nr 14, White 5, 3 ème escadrille GC II/7  (Spa 73 Japanse Stork, Dijon, Spring 1939
3.    Nr 25, 4 éme escadrille GC II/7 (Spa 78 Black Panther),  Dunkirk show, 1937.

FR0050 - war-time use.

1. Nr 9, White 8, DIAP (Dépot d'Instruction de l'Aviation Polonaise),  Lyon-Corbas, May 1940
2. Nr 44, White 14, 3 ème escadrille GARC II/561, Le Havre-Octeville, November 1939
3. Nr 56, Red  6, CIC Montpellier (FighterTraining Centre), June1940

These are fine little kits and come highly recommended to those of you who like this interesting and tumultuous period of aviation history. I’m certainly going to enjoy building one of these.

Thanks to Azur FRROM for the review sample.

Review Text & Images Copyright © 2022 by Graham Carter
Page Created 8 September, 2022
Last updated 8 September, 2022

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