I’ve left the Canon kit for the end, because you all know good things are saved for the last.
The Canon Spirit, is a very well designed kit. It has lots of details and great graphics. This is undoubtedly the best free kit of the plane. And I’m sure it is even better that one or two pre-printed paid models.
The scale of this kit is 1/28. I reduced it slightly (1/35).
The download is from this link:
Spirit of St. Louis - Vehicles - Paper Craft - Canon CREATIVE PARK
This represents the plane used to cross the Atlantic after the promotional tour with flags of the countries visited, without ventilation louvers, without the yellow nose. One detail on the nose is inaccurate: the flags are wrong. There should be a Colombian flag somewhere, but I couldn’t find it. But the rest of the graphics are really outstanding.
Some parts are strangely designed: the wind meter on top of the fuselage could be scratch built with wire or rolled paper to make a better detail instead of the flat one provided with the kit. I’m not sure about the paddles of the propeller. And the engine cylinders are definitely a point to improve. I didn’t like the presence of dashed folding lines all over the parts. They are too visible and spoil the finish.
But there are also very good points in this kit: the control surfaces are all movable thanks to simple but effective paper hinges. The textures are really wonderful, and the overall look of the kit is excellent. Very good proportions and detail. It even comes with a figure of Lindbergh! (I forgot to take a photo of it).
This is not an easy kit. It is a bit challenging. But the more you are into this project, the more you enjoy every part of it.
I printed this kit on the same silver cardstock I used for the previous kits. Which was good in terms of surface finish, but proved problematic in terms of fitting. Since this silver cardstock is thicker than the paper recommended in the instructions, some parts like tabs of the formers and small pieces were difficult to handle.
The mistakes you se here are not a fault of the kit, but my fault by printing on a thicker medium.
The most noticeable mistake is the wing. A small deviation in the formers of the cockpit meant an unleveled wing. And those formers were poorly glued because they were too thick, and I had forced them into the skin… it usually happens: small mistake in the beginning results in big mistake at the end.
I also hurried towards the end, and the landing gear suffered from my impatience. I glued backwards the shock absorbers.
The kit doesn’t specify moving wheels. But I tried to use pins to make them movable. Bad idea. I thought I could do the same I did with the Broderbund kit, but the Canon kit is so detailed and accurate, that it just doesn’t leave too much room for thins kind of experiments. This weakened the wheels and the joining points too much. And this is a critical part of the plane.
This is definitely one kit I wish to build again, properly. Is so good I feel a little bad to leave it like that, with the mistakes I made. Maybe next year I will try again, when I have more free time.