SPA Modeler

Dear all,

After a very very very... very very long time... time to try again with a new project... a summer project that I truly hope I will finish this time.

I have been keeping an eye, almost daily, on what's going on with all of you, so I am not that "off", even if I haven't send out any posts.
But I can just say, oh boy, what projects you are all working on, really a lot of activities, good ones !

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I have a weak spot for float planes, so I wanted to build one, and MiniArts Junkers F13 seemed to be the right one. I ordered the kit a few days ago and today the mailman rang on the door and brought the baby home. :-)
I opened up the box and was very positively surprised, the kit looks really crispy and nice!





As this will be a slow build, I have been planning the approach very carefully.
I will jump immediately on section 15 and start with the engine; BMW Model III.
The amount of parts in the engine is roughly 24!





Now, some interesting info.. This particular F13 had a BMW IIIA engine, but if you "google" you find almost no good reference material of it. Mostly of the successor, the BMW IV engine, which looks slightly different.
It has a visible removable oil sump pan or access hatch, something the IIIA engine did not have. MiniArt have done their job well, the part to be used is missing this hatch (aka part 17 in the sprue picture)

It's rather difficult to find good reference pictures from the genuine BMW IIIA, but it does not matter, the BMW IV is close match, and I will use it as paint reference anyhow.

Below the IV version with the "hatch" that the IIIA does not have.





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Let's see what next!

- Kari

And we are off....



Some cleaning work to do..

- Kari

Hooray!

Nice subject!!

Cool! I've been wanting to a build of one of the MiniArt F13s. I too an a float plane fan so this should be fun to watch.

I think I have one of these in the stash. Don’t remember who made it. I got on a seaplane kick several years ago… have more Han I’ll build. Ever. In six lifetimes.

I've done 2 floatplanes... the Kingfisher and the Rufe seaplane. They are fun to build though.

I do have a PBY in my stash that I'm hoping to start after the summer.

KARI!!!! Good to see you back at the bench young sir - I hope your recovery after your op went well.

What a very cool subject indeed. I've had a look at this kit myself as I have a soft spot for floatplanes as well (I've been thinking of getting Airfix's newish Walrus). Great start and I look forward to seeing how it goes.

Thank you all, nice to hear that so many have a soft spot for floatplanes!

Stuart wrote: ↑Thu Jun 11, 2026 6:42 am KARI!!!! Good to see you back at the bench young sir - I hope your recovery after your op went well.

Thanks Stuart, going ok, but apparantely once you have these kind of back issues, despite of surgery etc, you live with them for always...

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Work is going on with the engine, which truly is a masterpiece of itself.
I'm still doubting if I should scratch build the sparkplug wires or not, need to chew on it.

Took more or a less a day to build this, a few parts will be added after paintwork.







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I have also been de-attaching parts from the sprues, as one mistake I tend to do, is the lack of test-fitting, or perhaps enough of test-fitting..

Seeing the complex structure of the fuselage, a lot of pieces that cab easily be mis-aligned, with catastrophic end result, test-fitting will be the name of the game with this F13.
While the instructions are rather ok, I have already now seen a few steps where one needs to figure out the exact position of the pieces on the go. Though, the instructions are much better than any Kinetic or Special Hobby instruction I have seen.




Let's see what next!

- Kari

KSaarni wrote: ↑Fri Jun 12, 2026 3:35 am Thank you all, nice to hear that so many have a soft spot for floatplanes!

Stuart wrote: ↑Thu Jun 11, 2026 6:42 am KARI!!!! Good to see you back at the bench young sir - I hope your recovery after your op went well.

Thanks Stuart, going ok, but apparantely once you have these kind of back issues, despite of surgery etc, you live with them for always...

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Sorry to hear that Kari - backs can be a bugger. My Wife's suffering from similar issues so I know what a sod it is.

Loving the Junkers - what a cracking subject and a very interesting kit. It's the first Miniart kit I've seen built. The engine looks excellent.