History

Characteristics Engine : Le Rhône 80cv or 120cv Wing span :  8.22 m Length :  5.67 m Empty weight : 415 Kg Loaded weight : 595 Kg Speed :  170 km/h sea level Ceiling : 6800 m Range : 2 hours

References Windsock Datafile special Nieuport Fighter volume 2. The site of Philippe Spriesterbach, displaying, in other subjects, the restoration of a Nieuport 23 The site of Mark Miller, who create wonderful 3D pictures, particularly WW1 planes.

The kit

This is the resin kit from Choroszy Modelbud, 1/72 scale. This is a very good kit, close to the drawing of the Nieuport 24 included in the Datafile. There are some bubble, but no real problem. The inside is to be redone partially.

First of all, lets have a look at the kit :

The box

The parts

The decals

 

Kit assembly

Inside the fuselage

First of all, I remove the details which are supposed to represent the engine throttle support. There are 2 of them, one on each side while there was only one, port side, that I will rebuild. After, I replace some parts that I removed accidentally during the previous phase, with some Evergreen. Then, painting : Humbrol 103 for the linen, Humbrol 121 for the wood basis and then  Citadel Chestnut Ink for the wood colour. Finally I add some rigging made of tinted 0.2mm brass. The grey is Humbrol 64.

I replace the seat provided in the kit by a new one from PART photoetched fret. Much more better.

Then, I scratchbuild the seat support, the control stick and the engine throttle. I take also the control panel of the PART photoetched set for the Nieuport 11.

Painting : the grey come from Humbrol (HU 64) and the wood is painted as described above. I also add a harness from EDUARD.

 

I add all of the elements in the fuselage. Everything is ready to close it.

External building

That's it, it is closed. The adjustment is not perfect, I have to fill it. I mainly use some thin superglue. I let it dry 1 to 2 minutes, a little sanding and I repeat this operation until I am happy of the result.

Then, I rebuild the cabane struts, they are made of resin and, to attach the wings as I want to do, I need a good solidity. I use some Strutz material for the struts, cockpit side. They are made of brass and provide a good resistance. First, I realize a notch in the middle of the Strutz material, with an angle of about 120°. Then, I bend it in order to have the right angle. I adjust the length of the 2 sides in order to have a good fit on the plane.

I build the struts (motor cowling side) from Contrail strut (Aeroclub) reinforced with steel wire for the fixation. Then I attach all of the struts on the fuselage. I also realize the footstep from steel wire and glue it in place.

Wings attachment

I attach the interplane struts under the top wing and then put it on the cabane struts, without glue. I glue the lower wings, 1 by 1, with the help of the interplane struts to have the right position. Once the gluing done, I remove the top wing and fill the gap between the lower wings and the fuselage.

07/03/04 Fuselage painting

First of all, I spray a coat of "Skull White" in spray can from Citadel as primer. Then, after a slight sanding on the whole plane, I spray a coat of "White Aluminium" from Alclad, with my aerograph (Low pressure : between 0.5 and 1 bar). This paint is to be use as is. The finish is very nice and it dries in less than 10mn.

I darken the place between each wing rib with some anthracite pastel chalk, applied with a Q-tip. I place the decals. They are very thin, the transparent film disappear completely and there is no need to use some setting solution. Be careful, the transparent film is very fragile.

14/03/04 Details

Skis : First, I brush a coat of Humbrol 110, I let it dry, then a coat of Citadel "flesh wash" (ink). When dry, I paint the details with Citadel "Boltgun metal".

The engine : It is sprayed with Alclad "white aluminium", the cylinders are painted with Testor Metalizer "Metallic grey" and the pipes with Tamiya enamel XF28 "dark copper". The details of the crankcase are highlighted with Prince August (Vallejo) "Patine noire".

The engine cowling : I start to create a raised line on the both sides of the cowling, this detail is visible on various pictures. I use fishing line Dai-Riki 0.07mm in diameter. I tight it and glue it. When dry, I remove the excess with a sharp blade. Then I brush a coat of Tamiya X18 "semi-gloss black" that I sand with a very thin sand paper. At last, I spray a coat of Alclad "Polished aluminium" to give a very nice finish.

The machine gun comes from PART. It is not perfect but improve the plane look. You need to be very patient to assemble it. It is painted with Humbrol 33 "Matt black", then a coat of Testor Metalizer "exhaust".

I add all of the elements on the plane. It becomes more like a plane. Next step, upper wing fixation.

28/03/04 The end of the construction

First of all, I add the upper wing. With the help of the reinforcement, made from steel wire, in the cabane struts, there is no real problem. I start to glue the wing onto the cabane struts then, when dry, I put a tiny drop of thin CA between the interplane struts and the lower wing. I start the rigging by passing the wires through the top wing and glue them in the holes located in the bottom wing or in the fuselage. After a few hours, I tight and glue each wire. On this plane, there is not a lot of wires. When ended, I cut all of the remaining wires above the upper wing and fill the holes which are not already completely filled by the glue.

Then, I mask the plane with only the upper wing left visible. One coat of "Skull White" then one of "White Aluminium" from Alclad. I add the decals and, as previously, I darken the place between each wing rib with some anthracite pastel chalk.

I add a steel wire on the aileron control devices and paint them with Citadel "Boltgun metal". When dry, I add them on the plane.

The propeller had a bubble at one of its extremities. I fill it with thick CA glue. Then, I paint it with Humbrol 110 then a coat of Citadel "Chestnut Ink". The propeller boss (PART photoetched) is painted with Citadel "Boltgun metal" and glue in place. I glue the propeller on the plane, et voila, it is ended.

Conclusion

I built this kit in 1 month and half, which is a performance for me !!! I didn't escape from the AMS syndrome but it can be built OOB. I think I will buy some other Nieuport of this range.