Planet Models 1/48 Nieuport IV M

[WymanV]

(this should be fun-a stringbag among all the jets )

The Nieuport IV was a two seat sport and racing plane which first flew in 1911. Being rather simple, rugged (for the day) and easy to fly, it was purchased by the air services of several countries and manufactured under license by the Russians. In fact, it was the first aircraft to "loop the loop" with a Russian pilot at the controls and while initially disciplined for his breach of protocol, he was honored after he gained fame for his infraction. When war broke out, it became one of the first observation aircraft of WWI and it's been said a Nieuport IV discovered the German movements that resulted in the Battle of Mons, the first engagement between the Germans and the B.E.F in August 1914. The Nieuport IV M was used by only one French unit (Escadrille N12 fielded 10 examples) and was replaced as attrition took it's toll by Morane Sauliners. Other countries would continue to use it for observation and they would see service as observation and later, training aircraft in Russia into the 1920s.

I started a personal Theme Build at the 100th anniversary of The Great War by building all the WWI models I have in the stash. Once I started, I discovered several other examples I wanted to model and the pile went from 18 kits to well over 30, with just a couple more I'd like to acquire. This kit was one of those acquisitions-Planet Models 1/48 Nieuport IV M:

For a WWI era flying machine, there isn't much to the kit. Excepting photo etch wire wheels, it's all resin and looking at the parts in the bag it's pretty clean:

Decals are for one Russian and one Italian aircraft and I'd show them if they mattered; in French service they carried no notable markings. In fact, in the beginning nobody had markings or insignia on their aircraft. This one will be an overall linen finish.

Having built a few kits so far in my Theme Build, this one looks like a piece of cake. Only one wing so rigging will be rather minimal and being only one color, painting will go rather quickly.

Ken

Edited August 1, 2016 by WymanV

[yardbird78]

Your Nieuport will make a nice addition to the variety already entered. Welcome to the GB.

Darwin

[Grandboof]

Something different will be watching Good luck

Martin H

[Ichitoe]

Pretty cool subject for the GB!

Looking forward to your build.

Mike

[Trojan Thunder]

Nice!

Never thought of a rag winged recce plane (almost typed jet then! )

Edited August 18, 2016 by Trojan Thunder

[WymanV]

And I'm back. Along with the site being down when it was I was sidetripped by a furniture making binge. Done are a computer desk and an entertainment center which were sorely needed, and I'm currently making a pair of end tables and a coffee table (not so much needed but I'm on a roll so I'll go with it). But with the start of the NFL season, I'm usually at the bench Sundays and among other things, this happened:

 

 

 This is one of about 35 tries at getting a photo of the wood grain work to date and it seems clear I need yet another camera. But with this much done I can get the rather remedial cockpit together and button up the fuselage. Then it's mostly paintwork.

 

 The landing gear and wing support struts are also resin and I may just scratchbuild those instead. The resin is a bit brittle and these parts are quite small. Might be less frustrating in the long run to just make them out of real wood.

 

 Ken

[Grandboof]

Wood grain looks great especially the prop .  

Martin H

[WymanV]

Cockpit bits are assembled and the fuselage should be ready to button up:

 

 

 The kit being what it is the sides of the cockpit frame needed to be taken down but of course, that disappears when it's done. That blurry brass bit on the firewall is a gauge-I don't know what it's for but Mike Grant provided the detail for it.

 

 This will be a fun one to close up. The fuselage resin under the cockpit is quite thin.

 

 Ken

[yardbird78]

Nice.

 

Darwin

[WymanV]

 Well, after a couple false starts I got the fuselage together. The bottom wouldn't take-it's so thin there and there was little to glue together. It popped apart three times before I ran a bead of CA along the seam on the inside and hopefully it'll stay closed. And in the midst of all that the seam on the top popped open But at the moment it's all sealed up and cleaned up and hopefully it'll stay that way:

 

 

 

 

 The thing that frustrates me most about limited run type kits of WWI aircraft is the nearly complete lack of support for the wings, and this kit was no exception. The (loosely described) holes in the fuselage that are supposed to receive the wings are quite shallow and the pins in the wings are vague where they exist at all, which is a normal factor in early release Eduard kits as well. My solution has been to use steel wire to pin the wings together through the fuselage. Normally it works, but on this kit it's a little different as the rear connection is highly visible between the seats. My fix in this case is straight pins. You can see the head of the rear pin in the right fuselage half, and I'll be painting those to hide them as well as I can. You have to have that support for rigging:

 

 And I think I'm headed to the paint shop already

 

 Ken

 

 

Edited November 13, 2016 by WymanV

[WymanV]

 And we have color:

 

 

 Very wet, so it'll be a while before I proceed.

 

 Ken

[yardbird78]

Great progress.  I love your solution to the wing mounting issues.

Darwin

[WymanV]

I found 1/32" masking tape, and it's just as fun as you might think it is

 

 

 And weathered, with the wings on:

 

 

 This is the first time I've tried to replicate rib tape this way and I'm not quite pleased with it. But my hobby is a learning experience and with some 30+ WWI builds left to do in the stash, I'm sure I'll nail it down shortly. The wings are only glued to the pins so they're a little wobbly, but the rigging will hold them in place.

 

 Working on the landing gear. The resin bits for the support frames are usable so I'm painting/wood graining them now. The upper supports for the rigging are far too delicate and warped as well, so I'm toying with ideas for replacements. The experiment that's winning right now is tooth picks, chucked up in my dremel and sanded down skinny. Can't beat real wood to replicate wood

 

 Ken

Edited December 19, 2016 by WymanV

[Grandboof]

awesome well done 

Martin H

[WymanV]

 There's still a couple hours left here in the 1st, but there won't be much more progress on this one before the group build ends:
 

 

 

 There's no tail skid on this aircraft-it rests on the long landing gear support underneath. This also gets wire wheels and I'll have to do some modification to the gear as they molded the resin far too large to fit. I went with styrene rod for the upper rigging support frame which is probably a little bigger than scale but it was easier to work with. Rigging the wing is next and that'll strengthen everything and clean up that wing sag.

 

 But it'll be finished in a few weeks and in the meantime, since it's January it's time to clear some builds out of The Naughty Closet.

 

 Ken

[WymanV]

 double post

Edited January 2, 2017 by WymanV
double post

[Grandboof]

Will be good to see this finished 

Martin H

[WymanV]

 Done, for what it's worth:

 

 

 

 

 The photo etch spoked wheels that came with the kit were failures. They were far too stiff to press apart for the axle hub and I had to use parts from an Eduard Morane Saulnier Type L etch sprue, which worked brilliantly. The plane doesn't have a proper tail skid; the plane rests on the skid between the main wheels.

 

 Not a bad build for a Golden Age of Aviation plane and I don't mind recommending it as a rather easy resin kit.

 

 Ken

[dnl42]

Very nice! Truly looks the part of the very beginning of military aviation.

 

While primarily focusing on the RFC, No Empty Chairs: The Short and Heroic Lives of the Young Aviators Who Fought and Died in the First World War by Ian Mackersey gives an outstanding look into that harrowing time.

[Grandboof]

First class finish well done 

Martin