We go back to the knights of the sky with Italeri’s May releases

Italeri has three new releases that harken back to the first duels in the sky. A World War I vintage Nieuport, Sopwith and a Spad take the honours in the latest new kits for Italeri in May.

Italeri’s May 2015 new items

Nieuport 17

1/32 scale

#2508 -

Skill: 3

Model Dim.: 18,0 cm

Box Dim.: 290 x 190 x 45 mm

The French biplane fighter Nieuport 17 was directly derived from its predecessor, the Nieuport 11, and it adopted several improvements, such as the bigger wings and the most powerful engine, to enhance its aerodynamic and its performance. 

The first versions were still equipped with the Lewis 7.7 mm machine gun mounted on the upper wing. The Lewis gun was replaced, in the French Aèronatique Militaire fighters, with a more modern synchronized 7,7 mm. Vickers machine gun firing through the propeller disc. The Nieuport 17 was used on the western front from the middle of 1916 and it has significantly contributed to counterbalance the air superiority of the German fighters. The Nieuport 17 was flown by famous aces that obtained a lot of victories on it as the British ace Albert Ball and the Canadian ace W.A. Bishop.

 Decals for 5 versions

SPAD S.XIII

1/72 scale

#1366

Skill: 2

Model Dim.: 8,7 cm

Box Dim.: 345 x 242 x 48 mm

The SPAD XIII was one of the best fighter aircraft used during the First World War. Produced by the French company Société Pour l'Aviation et ses Dérivés it was developed on the basis of its predecessor, the SPAD VII, and it adopted several modifications to improve aerodynamics. The size of wings and tail rudder have been increased and a new and more powerful 8 cylinders Hispano-Suiza engine able to deliver 220 HP have been adopted. 

The sum of these improvements was a notable augmentation in flight and combat performance. The SPAD XIII was able to reach a top speed of 215 Km/h and it was armed with two 7.7 mm. Vickers machine guns. The SPAD XIII was flown by famous aces as the French René Fonck and Georges Guynemer and also by the Italian ace Francesco Baracca.

Decals for 5 versions

Sopwith Camel WWI

1/32 scale

#2507

Skill: 2

Model Dim.: 17,8 cm

Box Dim.: 290 x 190 x 45 mm

The famous Sopwith Camel was a British First World War biplane-fighter used by Royal Flying Corps squadrons since 1917. It had a short-coupled fuselage and a powerful rotary engine. It was mainly characterized by an incredible manoeuvrability. Furthermore it was the first British fighter equipped with two 7,7 mm Vickers synchronized machine guns firing forward through the propeller disc. It was able to guarantee a better performance than other fighters such as Sopwith Pup and Triplane. 

The Sopwith Camel was in fact the Allied fighter with the highest number of victories in dogfights and with the highest number of enemy planes shot down. Since mid of 1918, due to enemy fighters rapid evolution, it was outclassed in pure fighter role and mainly used as ground attack aircraft.

Decals for 4 versions

These kits are now available through Italeri’s distributors worldwide