Nieuport 17: William Wellman
Hi All,
With my last two builds, this one, and the next upcoming post I seem to be on a bi-wing kick. Not planned that way but that's the way it worked out.
At the start of this build I came upon the fact that film director, William Wellman, flew as an aviator during WW1 so I decided to build this kit as one of his aircraft.
Brief history:
William A. Wellman (February 29, 1896 – December 9, 1975) was born in Massachusetts, USA.
During WW1 William enlisted as a Ambulance Corp driver and eventually joined the French Foreign legion. In December 1917 he became the first American to join Escadrille N.87, in the Lafayette Flying Corps, as a fighter pilot. N.87, the Black Cat group, stationed at Luneville in the Alsace-Lorraine sector was equipped with Nieuport 17's and 24's. Wellman was credited with 3 recorded kills and five probables. William was shot down by German anti-aircraft fire in March, 1918 and survived the outcome.
After the war, through a relationship with Douglas Fairbanks, William became an actor. Appearing in a few movies William decided he did not like acting but wanted to be more involved with film production. Working at various jobs behind the cameras William eventually became a film director. As a director he was nominated three times for an Oscar, winning once for A Star is Born, and directed Oscar nominations from seven actors.
Some movies he directed include:
Wings (1927)
Beau Geste (1939)
The Ox-Bow Incident (1943)
The Story of G.I. Joe (1945)
Battleground (1949)
Latfayette Escadrille (1958) (his last)
William died of Leukemia in 1975 at his home in Los Angeles, USA.
The Build:
My research came up with limited information and pictures so this build represents an aircraft William Wellman “may have” flown during his time with N.87.
Kit:
1/48 Eduard, Nieuport Ni-11, Profipack 8071
Paints:
Tamiya Flat Aluminum XF-16
Vallejo Sky Grey 70.989
Vallejo Duraluminum 77.702 / Vallejo Sky Grey 70.989 mix
VMS Satin Clear
“Weathered” / Accented with washes and dry brushing using Artist Oils.
Markings:
Roundels and Fin Flash: kit decals
Black Cat and “10's”: Self created using Cricut cut masks and painted with an airbrush.
Personal marking, “Celia III”: Hand painted
Rigging and Control Wires: EZ Line-Fine
Pretty much a trouble free, enjoyable build. Given the kits smaller size, delicate parts, double wings and rigging care needs to be taken with build sequence or it could be a frustrating experience.
Thanks for stopping by and checking it out. I hope you like this build.
Until next time, as always KEEP IT FUN!
Lost of words, Gary @gwskat
This is an excellent build biplane.
Everything about it looks perfect. Especially how you attached the wires to the fuselage and wings looks superb.
The buckles (not sure if that is the correct word) used for the rigging, were those included in the kit?
Hey John. Thanks for the kind words. @johnb
The turnbuckles are not included with the kit. They are made from thin wire and small plastic tubing (used for tying fishing flies). They are not exactly like a full size turnbuckle but at this scale they are close enough for me.
I've used a similar technique on 1/32 but to give credit where due...this specific method was posted here before by fellow iModeler Paul Mahoney.
1 attached image. Click to enlarge.
@gwskat Truly amazing craftsmanship in this scale, Gary. They look very realistic.
I do have that same kit in stash and will absolutely use yours as a reference.
Going to look for that article of Paul right away.
Fantastic job, Gary! This is a superb looking Ni-17!
Thanks, Spiros
Outstanding build Gary!
Thank you, Dale
Very very impressive workmanship on this , Gary! It looks great . I’ve seen some of those movies, The Ox Bow Incident is a very good film with an important message.
Thanks, Jay. Glad you liked it.
Even given their age, The Story of G.I. Joe and Battleground are two of my favorite WW2 movies.
I’ll have to find those and watch them. “Hell is for heros” is one of my favorites.
Very nice Nieuport, Gary. Inspiring! Thanks for the history on Wellman.I wish I could master watching a movie while building a model all at the same time. There’s just too much out there and not enough of you know what.
Thanks, Eric. I can watch old favorites while I build but new content needs too much concentration and can be a build distraction. Podcasts and music are build background options for me as well.
Especially music!
Very cool build and write up. The rigging looks great!
Thank you, Neill!
Very nice work on this Gary. Great result.
Wellman, making the first successful "airplane movie" (Wings) was fortunate to know what things really looked like, and then how to make them "look right" on screen. Perhaps most importantly, he discovered that airplanes should not be photographed against a cloudless backdrop, because all sense of motion, of "flight," was lost. If you notice, every aerial shot of every airplane movie made since has background - clouds, etc. - for the motion to be seen against.
Thanks, Tom. Makes complete sense in regards to the cloud aspect.
very nice Nieuport! Glad to hear someone found that rigging article useful - thank you for the credits 🙂 You did a much better job than I, and looks like you enjoyed the build too.
Thanks, Paul. Absolutely useful! I've used a similar technique for 1/32 but your technique was a simpler and perfect "fit" for 1/48. @feroc
Absolutely beautiful, Gary, the rigging in particular looks very fine.
Thank you, George.
Hey Gary @gwskat
Your Nieuport looks magnificent ! I’m no longer building biplanes in 1/48, but I will definitely use this rigging technique for the next 1/32 scale bipe.
Thanks go out to you and Paul (@feroc)
I have an ICM Bu-131 1/32 scale kit that is finished and it is about time to post it in the headlines. Your article is the little push I needed to get it done. Thanks buddy.
As far as the information on Wellman, I didn’t know that he was the director of the movie “Wings”. I was thinking that it was done completely by Howard Hughes, and it was reinforced by the fairly recent movie called “The Aviator” with Leonardo DeCaprio acting as Hughes. This shows us how authentic or correct Hollywood is...
I have watched “Wings” once and it’s saved on our DVR. I might just have to watch it again now. These Nieuport’s are sweet little ships. I have always found it to be a very good looking flying machine.
I can still remember as a kid, when I built the old Aurora kit and it had 4 rockets mounted on the outer struts. It was molded in black and silver plastic so I didn’t even bother with painting it. I slapped the decals on it and then flew many imaginary missions over the Front that same afternoon. Then I hung it up from the ceiling in my bedroom.
Not too long ago I drew a set of plans for it, and built a 1/6 scale electric power RC flying model of a N-17. It's painted as Nungesser's machine, with the black heart, skull and coffin markings on the side of the fuselage. I also copied the original Nieuport's structure, so it looks very scale like with the correct number of wing ribs and so on. Getting the guts up to fly it (read crash here) now is another story.
You did a wonderful job with yours. In typical Sausmikat fashion. Thanks for sharing this beauty with us. I definitely clicked on the “like” button.
Thanks, Louis. @lgardner
I think the Hughes movie you are thinking of and that he was directly involved with was "Hells Angels"
This is so beautiful. The subtle weathering, the rigging, the clean build, everything.
Thank you, Felix.
Very nice looking Nieuport!
Thanks, Robert
A real beauty! I love that light colored overall scheme - don't see that much on WWI birds! Well done.
Thanks, Greg. The overall doped silver was pretty common on the N-17's. The pics don't show it too well but I tried to mix different shades of "silver" and light grays.
Nice work, Gary!
Thanks, John
Nicely done Gary! That's one really nice looking Nieuport and I can foresee more biplanes in your future as well.
Thanks, Tom!
@gwskat, Man, that bird looks great Gary! The rigging work really stand out and overall, it's just a beautiful bit of scale modeling! The story of the movie "Wings" is pretty interesting. It's important to remember the year it was made; so many differences in almost everything and yet the movie still fascinates.
Here's a quote from the rather good Wikipedia entry for the movie. It was quite a ground breaking film in many respects.
The cast and crew had a lot of time on their hands between shooting sequences, and according to director Wellman, "San Antonio became the Armageddon of a magnificent sexual Donnybrook". He recalled that they stayed at the Saint Anthony Hotel for nine months and by the time they left the elevator girls were all pregnant.[10] He stated that Clara Bow openly flirted with the male cast members and several of the pilots which was reciprocated, despite having become engaged to Victor Fleming the day after arriving in San Antonio on September 16, 1926.[21] Gary Cooper, appearing in a role which helped launch his career in Hollywood, began a tumultuous affair during the production with Bow.[22] Cooper reportedly showed Howard Hughes the script to the film and he was not impressed, considering the drama in it to be "sudsy", although he informed Cooper that he looked forward to seeing how Wellman would accomplish the technical aerial sequences.[22] Bow strongly detested the wardrobe that Paramount designer Travis Banton made for the film. She slit the necklines and cut off the sleeves of her costumes, much to Banton's chagrin.[23]
Notable scenes
Richard Arlen and Charles Rogers in the famous kiss scene.
Wings is also one of the first widely released films to show nudity. In the enlistment office, nude men are visible from behind undergoing physical exams, through a door which opens and closes several times.[24] Bow's breasts are revealed for a second during the Paris bedroom scene when military police barge in while she is changing. In the scene in which Rogers becomes drunk, the intoxication displayed on screen was genuine, as although 22 years of age, he had never tasted liquor before, and quickly became inebriated from drinking champagne.[25] A boom was built with the camera mounted on an extension to shoot the Café de Paris scene.[26]
During Dave's death scene, Jack kisses him on the mouth, which has led to a common interpretation of this film as depicting cinema's first LGBT, male-male kiss.[27][28] However there are also interpretations that the kiss is merely fraternal. While there is no general consensus, D.W. Griffith's Intolerance (1916), Cecil B. DeMille's Manslaughter (1922), and Josef von Sternberg's Morocco (1930) have also been suggested. [29] [30]
In the cafe scene, one of the couples in the long shot is a same-sex female couple.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wings_(1927_film)
Thanks, Gary, for your compliments.
If you want to see all that, you have to find a pre-Hays Code print of the film (TCM showed it that way). The Hays Code went into effect six months after the initial release and all that "interesting stuff" got "cleaned up."