CSM 1/32 Nieuport 23 in British service.
The Nieuport 23 was a French sesquiplane fighter which the RFC received in May 1917, where upon they removed the fuselage mounted Vickers gun and installed a Lewis gun on a Foster mount to the top wing. The aircraft depicted here is the one flown by William Bishop the Canadian ace. Bishop transferred from the Canadian army to the RFC in1915 as an observer but after training became a fighter pilot with No. 60 Sqd. By 30 March 1917 he was a flight commander. His blue nosed Nieuport was noted by the German airmen and Ernst Udet refered to to him as the "greatest English scouting ace". , whilst one Justa even put a bounty on his head.
There are some who doubt Bishops number of victories and that he claimed more than he scored. I think that in the confusion of combat there were more errors in reporting victories on both sides than were confirmed , so lets not detract from the bravery of all the airmen in that sad conflict.
The kit was built out of the box, with only the addition of Gaspatch turnbuckles for the rigging.
A beautiful build, Ian @firelockg
Lots of details and nice work on that engine.
I think you should put this in the category "aviation", it is definitely not an "uncategorized" subject.
Thanks John, I have taken your advise, wasn't paying attention when I posted it.
Looks great, Ian, the blue nose really sets it off.
Thanks George, went for Bishops aircraft because I found his story interesting.
That's a beauty Ian. Great job 😊
Thanks Guy, quality kits give like results.
Excellent job and awesome result, Ian!
Thanks Spiros. I think the 1/32 turnbuckles are a bit big for the scale, shall use 1/48 next time.
Another wonderful piece of work from your workshop Ian. I like it very much. I am just finishing Bishop Nieuport 17. I will display soon.
Thanks Milan, forgot to mention that I took your advice and used fishing monofilament for the rigging. Looking forward to your Nieuport 17 build.
Nice work on the kit, Ian. A beautiful result.
It was very easy to count the number of airplanes Bishop destroyed on his VC mission, using the German records after the war. That number was zero. On that day, there were no attacks on any German airfield by anyone from Switzerland to the Channel.
I'm sorry to disagree with you, but as an historian, when I look at all the guys (most of whom never got home) who flew and fought to their best and submitted claims they believed were accurate (yes, overclaiming is rampant in air warfare by a factor of 3:1, going back to 1915, on all sides of every conflict), I get outraged at the ones who chose to flat-out lie, like Bishop - particularly when their lies are so easily caught. Their misconduct puts a stain on the honorable efforts of those who fought beside them. I would far rather honor a true Canadian hero like Raymond Collishaw, who - if anything - underclaimed and still ended up the real Canadian ace of aces. There were so many doubts about Bishop (that VC was awarded "politically" during a period of British reverses - yes, even the top awards are handed out to make the morons at the top who create the mess look good. Happened many times in all air forces in WW1 and WW2) that the RFC finally stopped the "lone wolf" patrols and accepting a claim at face value when made by a "gentleman," of which Bishop was not.
When the act is so easily exposed, I am not one to forgive and forget.
Thanks for your comments Tom, I don't think we disagree. I didn't mention Bishop's VC because I agree it was political, a propaganda award for the time and we should question those in command and their political masters of the time. For all his faults Bishop was still respected by his foes and that's why I cut him some slack.
He also did some good work in World War II, with the Clayton Knight Committee in establishing the Eagle Squadrons and getting Americans to see that what was happening was of importance to them, too. Too bad there isn't someone to teach that lesson to a certain group today.
A fine looking Nieuport!
Thank you Chas.
Beautiful Nieuport, Ian.
thanks John.