1/48 Testors Nieuport Type 17 C.1
Last winter, I dug my one and only World War One build out of the cabinet, and thought, what the heck, take some pics of the old girl. It has never been photographed before, and it looks pretty rough in many ways. It is the ancient Testors (ex-Hawk I assume?) kit of the Nieuport Type 17 C.1 sesqui-plane built probably around 1994 or so. It has my first attempt at rigging, using fine guitar string. I did scratch-build an entire cockpit, including sidewalls,floor, headrest and instrument panel. The exhaust is drilled out solder and I added some oil filler caps. The bungee cord shock-absorbers are thread coated with thinned white glue. I also made the elevator horns and added the control cables, again from fine wire. The gun sight ring is copper wire.
I believe the paint is Floquil Old Silver and the engine cowl is probably Humbrol polished aluminum (just can't recall for sure). The cockpit sidewalls are painted in some linen enamel. I used the kit decals. That pilot figure is probably close to 60 years old and originally came with the old Aurora Spad, iirc. I added him just to give a sense of scale and of course he still wears the paint job I gave him all those years ago.
The base is something I threw together after I got home from work. My usual piece of "tarmac" just wouldn't do for this WWI plane. I really would like to have a base that features a dirt runway for some older aircraft. Maybe a project for this winter? We bought a Nikon D3300 last Christmas and this is the only model I've photographed with it, and I don't really know what I'm doing, lol. I experimented with the macro mode and automatic and one can see why I usually take my pics outdoors. None of these are that great but I had fun shooting them. With a wee bit of trepidation, I'm posting this genuine "blast from the past" (in more ways than one, lol) and I hope you take a look...just not too close!
Gary
Looks fine to ME, Gary...'course myself, I stay away from anything with two wings and rigging. This old kit came out pretty good, though.
A very nice Nieuport, Gary π
Gary I say you've done a fine job on an ancient kit with little to no detail. Especially like the work you did with the cockpit. Like Graig I tend to stay away from wings with wire but really appreciate the work of those that do.
Thank you gentlemen! It was an old, crude kit, and in its finished state, I realize it's hardly up to the standards seen around here. I'm just lucky that you guys let me hang out here from time to time, and humor me with my modest results, π There really are some of the best modelers in the world on here. In so many ways, I should be embarrassed to display my work in the presence of such talent.
While I think my skills have improved since I built this one, ironically, I don't know if my older eyes and stiff fingers could pull off another bi-plane. We'll see someday I guess as I do have almost a good dozen waiting in the wings (sorry, couldn't resist).
My only other bi-plane is the old (see a pattern here?) Impact/Lindberg Hawker Fury MkI. And that bird suffered a terrible accident when a Fernando Pinto 1/24 Ferrari Pan Americana resin kit fell about two feet square on top of the Fury. The impact dislodged every piece of rigging. There was no structural damage fortunately, so guess it's built tough. But now I have a pile of little wires and wonder if I can get them back in place...
Again, many heartfelt thanks for your comments my friends!
Your model is fine sir, I myself stay away from the bipes do to the rigging. I also wonder about my skill set in modeling and photo quality, but what the heck, I do believe we're all welcome on this site?
Thanks Robert! Yes indeed, we are all welcomed here and that's just one more thing to like about imodeler! I've "met" so many great model builders here, and sure enough, their work inspires and educates me too. Everyone's not a Rembrandt but we are all artists. It's great place isn't it? π
Yes sir it is! And yes there is so much talent here.
A nice clean build / looks really nice. Well done Gary !
I remember building the old Aurora kits as a kid... My favorites were the Fokker D7 and Dr-1, Albatros D3, and the Nieuport 7 with rockets on the wing spars...The box art was what really drew you in back then.
Your build has held up really well. You did a great job with it. The detail is amazing. Two thumbs up !
That should say " Nieuport 17" instead of simply 7... Sorry.
Louis and Terry, I sure appreciate your kind comments! Happy Thanksgiving to all of you fine folk!
Happy Thanksgiving to you too friend.
Gary, I had a couple of those, and I enjoyed them. The Lafayette insignia on it is the earlier one, supposedly taken off a box of Savage cartridges. It's a Seminole, as opposed to the Sioux warbonnet one later on. It was a Hawk kit, and went for .50 way back when.
Louis, the Aurora Nieuport was an 11, earlier series. Both had the markings embossed on the wings and fuselage. That way, you KNEW where the decals went. And if you messed up, you could paint them on!
Eduard has kits both, if you want to revisit your yut'. Nice kits. I believe the Nieuport 11 is the first fighter ever flown by an American. Others may know more.
Great work on a classic kit, great to see one, again.
You know you're absolutely correct. (It was a Nieuport 11 now that I think about it). I remember thinking to myself how cool the rockets were as a kid... I think it had a balloon going down in flames on the original box art. Not 100 % sure though.
Oh , many thanks Bernard! And thanks for the very interesting info on the insignia. I sure never knew that about the Savage box! I still have a few other of the old Testors ex-Hawk kits in the stash. They can be a fun build. Or, they can drive ya crazy too,:) I need to take a look at them and see just what I have. It's been a while since I delved that far back into the stash! Thanks again!
Nice work, Gary. That's still not a bad kit. I built it 45 years ago and again around 1999-2000. With some scratch built or Toms PE cockpit detail, that kit still stands up well. You did it justice.
Thanks John! I appreciate the comments. A lot of those old kits work pretty well as a "starting point", or clean canvas, on the way to a nice looking model. Some detail and care results in something much different that one started with. I remember having fun with this one way back then.
My first attempt at scratching the cockpit was with tiny (strips) pieces of metal. That eventually resulted in said attempt impacting the far wall of my study. Then, I started over. π
Thanks again John!