1:72Scale Diecast Metal ? Spad XIII WWI French Fighter 1917 ? Length: 3.75" Wingspan: 4.5? It includes a display stand. Although it is a small scale, the details are very impressive. This is not a toy, it is a display mode recommended for 15 and up. The SPAD S.XIII is a French biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War, developed by Societe Pour L'Aviation et ses Derives (SPAD) from the earlier and highly successful SPAD S.VII. During early 1917, the French designer Louis Bechereau, spurred by the approaching obsolescence of the S.VII, decided to develop two new fighter aircraft, the S.XII and the S.XIII, both using a powerful new geared version of the successful Hispano-Suiza 8A engine. The cannon armament of the S.XII was unpopular with most pilots, but the S.XIII proved to be one of the most capable fighters of the war, as well as one of the most-produced, with 8,472 built and orders for around 10,000 more cancelled at the Armistice.