John Masters Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 And here is the beginning of the second 1/72nd scale Nieuport 10 fro HR Models...Herman's Hermits said it best, "Second verse, same as the first!"--well, sort of. There is a dearth of the correct British roundels in my stash so I had to abandon the N.10 with the Union flag on the rudder. Oh well...not a big deal since the other kit offers me three French and one Italian to choose from. Seeing as I already have an Italian N.10 on the shelf, I have opted for a French number...N. 632, Aeronautices Militaire, 1914, an unarmed 2-seater reconnaissance bird. It has a snappy aluminum dope finish all around and some nice red markings. As it stands, I have only just primed the sprues in grey, painted the motor, doped the inside of the craft as natural linen, and painted some other little bits as undercoats--wooden pieces really. Since it is the very same model as the first Nieuport, I will not be so extensive on the WiP pictures. I would like to get this done before the Hawker GB begins and stopping and starting again for photography throws off my rhythm. First glance... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted February 6, 2018 Author Share Posted February 6, 2018 Just an update... Cockpit painted and assembled, inside the fuselage and the fuselage closed up. No seatbelts! Damn...knew I forgot something. I'll try to squeeze them in... On this model the observer sat in front of the pilot and was able to stand up through the upper wing. In this position he could shoot at the enemy with a rifle if he wished. Ok...perhaps his seatbelt isn't important... There is a good picture of the prototype in the Datafile, pg 2. The instruction for this build tell me to use the open-ring upper wing, so I am assuming this is the case. I might have to scatch-build a little rifle... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted February 7, 2018 Author Share Posted February 7, 2018 So...listen...I have kind of fallen in love with the photo on page 2 of the Windsock Datafile 'Nieuport Fighters', Vol.1, by J.M. Bruce. It portrays what may have been the only prototype N.11, with two figures, the pilot and the observer, the latter with his rifle...I would like post a picture...so, all rights reserved, Windsock Datafile, J.M. Bruce, his generous sources, copyright Albatros Productions, Ltd. 1993... Notice the old cowling, a leftover from the Nieuport IV monoplane...I have the parts to do it. The captions say no markings on this one at all...except for maybe the dark brown taping on the fuselage edges. I cannot see any leading edge colour differences either. The covering looks to be plain doped linen--no aluminum... What do you all think? The prototype? I say 'yes!' 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted February 8, 2018 Author Share Posted February 8, 2018 In deciding to build the prototype I changed tack and assemble the motor/cowling onto the fuselage. The 'cheeks' are different than the last build and has the support structure on the front of the motor. The top of the front of the fuselage is different too. It has the raised faring as in the photo... Some little spaces to fill in, but all in all, pretty good fit. Oh yes...you'll notice I broke one of the cabane struts. I'll fix that later with some Evergreen. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted February 9, 2018 Share Posted February 9, 2018 Nice to see another one coming forward John. This will look very different in aluminium dope Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted February 9, 2018 Author Share Posted February 9, 2018 Alas...I have decided to build the prototype (see photograph) so I think it'll have to be doped linen again. So more ribs... Unless someone can convince me that the prototype was painted aluminum dope... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted February 9, 2018 Author Share Posted February 9, 2018 In looking carefully at the photo posted above, I see some tonal differences, primarily between the upper cowling and the sides. Obviously shinier metal for the cowling--polished aluminum. The sides and the remaining fuselage seem to be the same tone, or very close to it. In this spirit I am tempted to push on with the aluminum dope all over, with a more chrome-like upper cowling. As I am not a rivet counter per se (as you all may have noticed) and as I have not read anything on-line or in paper books regarding this, it is all guess-work. True, one could put the image into a spectrometer and carefully gauge the differences...the only problem is that my spectrometer is in the shop and the gods only know when it will be fixed! One could assume that since it is a prototype that Nieuport had yet to break out the aluminum...or perhaps this was also a prototype for the aluminum dope! Yes... That will be my story when the Modelling Police come to the house... And for heaven's sake, let's not start taking about PC-10! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted February 13, 2018 Author Share Posted February 13, 2018 I know there's a lull in construction...I am off-island for a few days of r 'n' r..back again Thursday and jumping right back in...I promise! I will drill some rigging holes, fix up the control horns like I did with the previous build, get the wings on, tape the struts, etc...I'm putting an end date for next Tuesday...then into the Hawker GB I go... Thanks for your patience... John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted February 16, 2018 Author Share Posted February 16, 2018 Back from a couple of days on the mainland... I have repaired the cabane strut that I broke last week. I have also attached the lower wings and the stabilizer. I made the control horns the same way as the previous craft--holes drilled, a little piece of sprue for the support, horns cut from Evergreen, CA'd and then the sprue bit sanded down. I will try to make the horns smaller with some gentle sanding as they look a bit large. I have also scratched a rifle for the observer. I am thinking I will mount it on the side of the fuselage, a la cowboy saddle style, so we can see it once the build is complete. That may not have been how it was originally carried, but I don't want it to disappear inside the cockpit. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted February 17, 2018 Share Posted February 17, 2018 Nice work with the rifle John. It must have been quite a challenge for the observer to use it in the tight confines of the cockpit (what with the struts etc.). Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted February 17, 2018 Author Share Posted February 17, 2018 1 minute ago, CliffB said: It must have been quite a challenge for the observer to use it in the tight confines of the cockpit (what with the struts etc.). Worse than that Cliff...he would stand up through a hole in the top wing and aim carefully! So, imagine it...flying at +/- 75km per hour, standing up in a plane that is going every which way, and not being strapped in with no parachute...egads! I think the photo above shows this too. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killingholme Posted February 17, 2018 Share Posted February 17, 2018 Looks like a neat little kit. Will have to get myself one of these. (I have a bit of a thing for Finnish aircraft, and the early Finnish air service used them). Modelling Nieuport sesquiplanes scares me- I've only done two- but the pre-set cabane struts look like a welcome feature. I wonder why kit manufactuers don't routinely do this- Matchbox was moulding their biplanes like this back in the 70s! Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted February 17, 2018 Author Share Posted February 17, 2018 7 minutes ago, Killingholme said: the pre-set cabane struts look like a welcome feature Thanks Will...actually, having built many Nieuports over the years I find the pre-set cabanes not to be so hot. They are thin and brittle and easily broken. Also, if there are any discrepancies with any of the fitting anywhere on the fuselage or bottom wing, even by a fraction of a millimetre, it throws off the 'pre-fit'. I would much rather have individual cabanes. It's a more flexible situation. Scratch building cabanes is not a big deal should they need to be custom fitted. Oh yes..only the Fokker Scourge should fear the Nieuport! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted February 20, 2018 Author Share Posted February 20, 2018 (edited) So far...I know I hoped to be finished by today (Tuesday). Alas, it was not to be. In any case, I have airbrushed on the aluminum which I found to be too bright. In the end I dry brushed some USAAF Grey over the whole thing which toned it down some. I don't think it came through in the pictures...still, it is there. The struts have been varnished with Tamiya Clear Yellow and the rifle is finished too. I forgot that picture, so later...that was Sunday. Yesterday I assembled the top wing and rudder. It came together pretty well. I neglected to drill the little holes (brain fart) so I will drill what I can and rig it with EZ-Line. Ultimately there won't be a lot of weathering on this since it is supposed to be a prototype. A note going forward: I have built enough of these HR Nieuports to report that the aileron cranks do not fit through he supplied gaps in the upper wing. I have always had to clear and clean the gap with a saw and then thin the cranks by about 40% to make them slide through. I do this by laying them flat on a sanding stick, placing my finger over the whole of the crank and then move it back and forth several times on each side to achieve the desired thinness. This makes them even more fragile than they already are. --John Edited February 20, 2018 by John D.C. Masters 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 Tidy work John. I'm going to steal your tip for drybrushing the grey over silver to tone it down for some future projects 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted February 24, 2018 Author Share Posted February 24, 2018 It's been a busy week for me in the non-modeming world so I have just now gotten around to the N.10... Also, I have been weighing the option of how and where to place the rifle which I so lovingly created. I hope I am not edging into the 'What if?' category but if the moderators so judge, that is alright too. I hope to finish this today. All I really need to do is the rigging, attach the wheels and prop...that's it. And into the next GB! For your perusal...the landing gear is on. I have attached the rifle to the side of the fuselage with two braces cut from some round tube, a la western saddle style. Like I said...this is not something I have seen or heard about but I logically hope that the observer would not have had the rifle inside the cockpit. Just a guess. Rigging is next...and done. --John 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted February 27, 2018 Share Posted February 27, 2018 I've just caught up with the finished pics in the Gallery John. An excellent result - congratulations! Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted February 27, 2018 Author Share Posted February 27, 2018 Thanks Cliff. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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