Nieuport

Nieuport IV by A Model, injection mold

First flown in 1911, the Nieuport IV were exported to Italy, Russia, Great Britain, Argentina, Italy, Japan, Romania, Siam, Spain and Sweden. Additionally, the type IV was built under license in Russia, and was one of the principal aircraft used by the Imperial Russian Air Service in its formative period.

The plane depicted was flown by P. N. Nesterov who was the first to perform a loop with this plane.

The kit is well molded but when I received the kit, all parts had been removed from the sprue. I was unable to determine if there was any flash on the parts. The most difficult assembly is the undercarriage. As best as I could determine, the plane had no tailskid and balanced on the rear extension of the undercarriage. The kit does not cooperate here, resting on its tail tipped to one side. Possibly a little weight to the nose would solve this dilemma but the cockpit area is very crowded.

This was a very easy build and took less than 5 hours to complete. The kit has two decal options, Swedish and Russian.

Nieuport 11 1/72 scale injection mold by Toko

The Nieuport 11 was produced by the French company "Societe Anonyme des Establissement Nieuport" founded in 1909 by Edouard de Nieuport. The Nie11 was a smaller version of the two seat Nieuport 10. Powered by the 80hp LeRhone engine, the plane was delivered to the Front in Jan 1916. Due to its high speed, excellent maneuverability and its ability to gain speed quickly, the Nie11 quickly won the affectionate nickname Bebe Nieuport.

Italy and Russia both built and flew the Nieuport 11 and a small number were built and used in Holland. The Nieuport 11 was also widely copied by many German manufacturers.

This kit depicts the plane flown by the Russian pilot A. Kazakov with the XIX Flying Division, Lutsk region, August, 1916.

Nieuport 11 "Bebe" by Toko, 1/72nd scale injection mold

This aircraft was flown by Jean Navarre in February to June 1916 over the battle field of Verdun, where he was know as the "Sentinel of Verdun". He was designated by the French as their first air ace. His total victory count was 12. He was shot down and wounded in June 1916 and never flew combat again. He died in an air accident on July 10, 1919.

The kit is built out of the box with the exception of adding some metal frame work and windscreen from a Nieuport 17 kit. Building time was under 10 hours.

Nieuport 11 "Bebe" by Eastern Express, 1/72nd scale injection mold

This aircraft was flown by Capitaine Armand Jean Galliot Joseph de Turenne in 1916. He had a total of 15 victories in the air. Of his 15 victories, only two were solo. He shared his victories with 13 other pilots. He died in 1980.

This kit is a re-release of the Toko kit by Eastern Express. With the exception a different color plastic, the kits are identical. His personal insignia is from a Blue Rider sheet, adding the red and stripes. The tail numbers are from the Eduard "Flyboys" kit. The kit was built out of the box in about 10-12 hours.

Nieuport 16c Single Seat Fighter By Toko 1/72 Scale, Injection mold.

The Nieuport 16c was developed in early 1916. Using a more powerful engine, the speed and rate of climb was increase over its predecessor, the Nieport 11. It was built in France until 1916 and under license in Russia . This model depicts a Nieport 16c of the Emperor's Flying Guard, December 1916. It was built by the "Duks" plant.

This model is built Out of the Box with the exception of the wood grain, which is a thin wood veneer glued on the fuselage and stained.

Nieuport 17C by Revell 1/72nd scale injection mold

The Maachi Corp built 150 of the Nieuport 17 using the 110 hp Le Rhone engine. This color scheme is of the type used in the early part of the war, when aircraft no longer carried squadron insignia and did not yet have the tricolor roundels on the underside of the lower wing.

This model was build in the early 1980s and is among the first of my collection. It is built out of the box but I did make a crude attempt to make my own Italian roundels. There is a photo of this aircraft on pages 10, 11 and 16 of the book Color Profiles of World War 1 Combat Planes by Apostolo and Begnozzi. This was one of the few reference books in my library in the 80s.

Nieuport 17C by Eduard 1/72 injection mold

The Nieuport 17C with its larger engine and additional weight impaired the good handling qualities that had made the Nieuport 11 so popular with its pilots. Gustave Delage developed the design by refining various areas. One change was providing wings of greater span and area. This improved design was designated Nieuport 17, officially presented as Nie.17.C 1. It was referred to as the 15-metre Nieuport.

The plane was armed with a single Lewis on the top wing or a single Vickers firing through the prop or on some occasions, with both configurations.

The plane was also built in Italy and Russia and French built Nie.17's were used by Belgian escadrilles and by the Royal Flying Corp.

This is Eduard's new Nie.17 released in the "Flyboys" color schemes. I chose to depict Charles Nungesser's 1490 when he was attached to N.124 in July 1916.

The kit is out of the box with the only changes being the replacement of the Vickers machine with one from Aeroclub and the Lewis gun being replaced by one from Roden and modifying the mounting. Nungesser's personal insignia came from the Eduard Spad XIII sheet. Tail number 1490 was cut from the Flyboys sheet.

A very easy build with no surprises and the building time was under 10 hours.

Nieuport 17C by Eduard. 1/72 scale Dual Combo kit number 7071

This model depicts the plane flown by Lieutenant Onokichi Isobe, Escadrille N.57, December, 1917.

This model is one half of the Dual Combo kit from their Flyboys models. A very easy kit to build. The silver is Talon Acrylic Metal spray out of the bottle. The paint was not polished. Building time is less than 10 hours.

Nieuport 17C by Eduard. 1/72 scale Dual Combo kit number 7071

This model depicts the plane flown by Sergent Maurice Boyau, Escadrille N.77, summer, 1917.

This model is one half of the Dual Combo kit from their Flyboys models. A very easy kit to build. The silver is Talon Acrylic Metal spray out of the bottle. The paint was not polished. Building time is less than 10 hours.

Nieuport Triplane Single Seat Fighter By Revell 1/72 Scale, Injection mold, Modified.

Nieuport's entry into the triplane field was a Nieuport 17 fuselage fitted with a set of narrow chord wings in a rather bizzare configuration. Althought the pilot had unrestricted upward and forward view, the middle wing interferred with his fighting and landing ability. The engine was a 110hp LeRhone with a forward firing Lewis. At least one triplane was sent to the British who evaluated the plane. The official report was adversely critical and the RFC took no further interest in the plane.

This model was built in the mid 80's and was my first attempt at modifying a model. Two Revell Nieuport 17s gave their life for this kit. I trimmed down the top wing for the triplane wing but did not make any attempt to put any curve in the wing. Truthfully, I did not know how. Today I would used Roseparts wing blanks. The engine was cut out and reinserted. There was no aftermarket engines availabe at the time to replace it; my buddies at Aeroclub were about a year away from opening their doors. You can tell my early kits; they have a pilot in them. This figure is from an Airfix kit. One point of interest. The kit is about 20 years old and the rigging is as tight as the day I put it in.

Nieuport 23 by Eduard, Dual Combo 1/72nd scale

The Nieuport 23 entered service in 1917. It was powered by the 120 h.p. Le Rhone 9Jb, giving it a slight increase in performance. The main external difference was moving the Vickers machine gun a few centimeters to the right to accommodate the improved interrupter gear. The aircraft was in French service until mid 1917, but they served in large numbers and into the mid 1920's in Russian and Soviet air forces.

The model depicted was flown by Lt. Boris "Bob" Guber, Russian Imperial Air Force, Halic in the fall of 1917.

Nieuport 24 by Roden 1/72nd scale injection molded

In an attempt to upgrade the aging Nieuport 17, in the spring of 1917, designer Gustav Delage developed the next generation of the fighter, the Nieuport 24. The 24 had a rounded fuselage, rounded wing tips and a more rounded and elegant shape to the tail surfaces. It was powered by the 130hp Le Rhone engine.

The tail surfaces proved to be too fragile in combat and were replaced with the tried and tested tail surfaces of the 17. The modifications were not completed until the summer of 1917, by which time the aircraft had been overtaken by the SPAD fighters. The 24 was then designated to training squadrons. At least 140 of the aircraft were sold to the United States but none of these ever saw combat, being used as trainers for new pilots. A small number of the aircraft went to Russia, Poland, Japan and Romania.

This kit is the second new release by Roden and is a very nice kit. The molding is very crisp and the details are very sharp and well defined. The decals are sharp and in register and apply with about 30 seconds in the water. What is interesting is the kit has three trees of parts, A, B and K. A and B are for the Nieuport; K is for the Sopwith Camel where you will use the 130hp Le Rhone engine, one machine gun and three parts for the engine. The interior is well defined and fits into the fuselage with no trimming. The only addition to the kit was I added a PE windscreen from an Eduard Nieuport. From the photos I have, the windscreen seemed to be an option which I chose to add. This is an excellent kit, the final results are very pleasing and I highly recommend this kit.

The silver paint is Hawkeye's Talon Acrylic Aluminum unbuffed, the acrylic version of SnJ metal spray. The decals apply without the need of any gloss coat and the model was not over sprayed upon completion. Total building did not exceed 10 hours.

This kit represents an aircraft flown by Escadrille N.91, Aviation Militare, 1917. The pilot is unknown. A photograph of this aircraft can be seen on page 43 of the publication "Vintage Warbirds No. 10" by J. M. Bruce.

Nieuport 24bis by Roden 1/72nd scale injection molded

In an attempt to upgrade the aging Nieuport 17, in the spring of 1917, designer Gustav Delage developed the next generation of the fighter, the Nieuport 24. The tail surfaces, however, proved to be too fragile in combat and were replaced with the tried and tested tail surfaces of the 17. Since this was not a new aircraft, it was then given the designation 24bis. The modifications were not completed until the summer of 1917, by which time the aircraft had been overtaken by the SPAD fighters.

This kit was a surprise release by Roden and is a very nice kit. The molding is very crisp and the details are very sharp and well defined. The decals are sharp and in register and apply with about 30 seconds in the water. What is interesting is the kit has three trees of parts, A, B and K. A and B are for the Nieuport; K is for the Sopwith Camel where you will use the 130hp Le Rhone engine, one machine gun and three parts for the engine. The interior is well defined and fits into the fuselage with no trimming. I did add a windscreen from an Eduard Nieuport 17 kit. This is an excellent kit; the final results are very pleasing and I highly recommend this kit.

The silver paint is Hawkeye's Talon Acrylic Aluminum unbuffed, the acrylic version of SnJ metal spray. The decals apply without the need of any gloss coat and the model was not over sprayed upon completion. Total building did not exceed 10 hours.

The aircraft depicted was flown by Escadrille N.97 in 1917. The pilot and serial number are unknown.

NIEUPORT 27 Single Seat Fighter BY JOYSTICK 1/72 Scale, vacuform.

The Nieuport 27 was the last vee-strutter and was powered by the 120 hp Le Rhone rotary. It had rounded wing-tips, a curved sided fuselage and a rounded tail-plane. The French planes were armed with a single Vickers gun.

In spite of its improved aerodynamic shape, the 27 was little better than earlier Nieuport models. Its speed, strength and fire-power was scarcely good enough for the intensive air fighting of 1917-1918. The vee-strut design was incapable of further development.

This model decipits one of the Nieuport 27's supplied to the Italians.

Nieuport 27 by Roden, 1/72nd scale injection mold

When the United States entered WW1, France sold almost 300 hundred Nieuport 27s to the Americans. None were to see combat, all limited to training of future pilots. The 27 was used to a limited degree by the RFC. Some went to Russia and some aircraft made it to the Air Forces of Poland, Japan and Romania.

This model depicts aircraft B6767 of the No. 1 Squadron Royal Flying Corps, Bailleul, France in October 1918.

This is another of the surprise releases by Roden and is a very good kit and an easy build. The only modifications made were adding a windscreen from an Eduard PE sheet and changing the front support on the upper wing machine gun. The model took no more than 10 hours to build.

Nieuport 28.C.1 by Revell. 1/72nd scale injection mold

By late summer of 1917, it had become obvious that the basic V-strut sesquiplane design had reached the end of its capabilities. More speed and rate of climb was necessary and this could be achieved with a more powerful but heavier engine. The fighter designated Nieuport 28 C.1 was ordered into production but it never flew with a French Squadron. If not for the extreme need of the American forces for aircraft, Nieuport may have found itself out of the fighter business. 297 28s were delivered to the Americans in February 1918 but without guns. The first armed patrol was not until April 14, 1918 and Lt. Alan Winslow scored the first victory for the A.E.F. Although well liked by its pilots, the Gnome engine was troublesome and the plane had the tendency to shed its upper wing fabric during a sustained dive. By mid July 1918, the 28 had been replaced by the SPAD XIII.

This model has to be one of the first of my collection and is my first attempt in breaking away from the kit decals. The kit is also hand painted, dating the model prior to my airbrush days. It has held up well for a 30 year old model.

Nieuport 28.C.1 by Revell, 1/72nd scale injection mold

Since it has been 30 years since I built my last 28, I figured it was time to add another one to the collection.

With all of the releases of new kits through the years you would think a 28 would have been added in 1/72nd scale. Alas, that is not the case. The old Revell warhorse is still the only game in town. It made its first appearance some where in the late 50's to early 60's and except for new decals, it has not been upgraded since its initial release. So you work with what you have.

The first thing was to take the squarish cowl and round it out to look more like the actual aircraft. The plastic is very thick so this is a very easy task and the results are pleasing. From some unknown place I got a Lone Star decal sheet and PE set and that was used to build an interior. I used only a tiny portion of the PE. The engine is from Aeroclub and the machine guns are from a Roden kit. The spreader bar was replaced with a more correctly shaped one. No other modifications were made to the kit.

The color scheme standard French Camouflage. The kit is hand painted with the exception of the CDL as I wanted it to match the kit built in 1980. I have no logical reason for that decision but I think it turn out OK. This kit is number 199 of my collection.