Scratchbuilt 1/48th Nieuport 6H
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Background
The Nieuport 6H was the military version of a long series of Nieuport
floatplanes started with the Nieuport IV G in 1912.
When France entered the war the navy had two Nieuport floatplane escadrilles,
one of these was  equipped
with six Nieuports VI G based at Saint-Raphael and the other was equipped
with Nieuports VI H embarked at the seaplane carriers Foudre and Campinas
operating on the Mediterranean. Some of these planes were lent to the
British. These planes helped the French and British navies maintain dominance
over the area, and later conducted some of the early reconnaissance flights
over the Dardanelles. But by 1917, the Nieuports were replaced with F.B.A
seaplanes and relegated to training duties. Some of these served with
the Royal Naval Air Service for floatplane training at Lake Windermere
in the UK. One of these planes is the one I chose to build.
Specifications
Engine: Gnôme Monosoupape B2 100hp rotary.
Max speed: 120 Km/h.
Ceiling: 2000 m.
Wing Span: 12.635
Endurance: 5 hours
The Model
I like scratchbuilding maybe because the challenge or maybe because I
like rare planes or maybe because I´m masochistic.
 I
decided to scratch build this plane after seeing the scale drawings by
Mike Fletcher in his web site. I sent an E-mail to him and he kindly sent
me pictures and a larger plan. The first thing I noticed is how big the
plane was. See the picture with the Dragon´s Fokker Dr.I.
Construction
I started the old fashioned way: building the fuselage right over the
plans. The fuselage was made from 1 mm plasticard with internal bulkheads
to achieve the necessary degree of sturdiness.
  All
its interior was scratchbuilt, using plasticard, heat stretched sprue
and copper wire except for the seatbelts (they came from a Tom´s
Modelworks etched set). Although some interior details are the result
of guessing, most of the interior is based in drawings and a few (bad)
pictures. The instruments (oil pressure gauge and compass) were made using
Corel Draw and Copper State bezels. The seats were made with warped plasticard.
  Wings
were cut from 1.75mm plasticard and wrapped around a beer bottle (first
I made good use of the contents) to achieve the relevant curvature. The
whole complex was then dipped in hot water, so the shape set into the
plastic parts. Then I covered the wings with a very thin plastic sheet,
with ribs embossed from the inside using an old ball point pen.
  The
cowling and the tail float were thermoformed. First took a square piece
of wood, I don´t know what you call it in your local stores, but
it is the soft wood used for flying models (we call it Balsa wood). Then
I cut the cowling drawing from the plans (side and front view) and glued
to the square piece of wood, then I carved it to the proper form and size.
The wood master was coated with a putty used for cars, sanded and polished.
With the master finished I made the plastic cowling with a home built
vacuum machine. The side bumps were made in the same way but using plastic
for the master. The engine and the propeller were scratchbuilt. I added
an etched boss from Fotocut to the propeller. The pitot tube was made
with bended steel wire.
  The
floats were made with plasticard sheets. All the struts were made from
Aeroclub airfoils struts with steel wire inside them. The round tubes
struts were made with hypodermic needles and brass rods.
Painting and Markings
  The
machine I choosed to model had an unique finish, with French cockades
in the wings and British on the fuselage. This was one of the planes lent
by the French Navy to the RNAS. This machine originally had the French
serial 341, which was still visible over and under the leading edge of
the tailplane.
 I
used Testors paints: Sand (ANA616) for the clear doped linen. Highly polished
aluminium and steel for the metal parts.
The markings were painted and the serial was made using Corel Draw and
my ink jet printer.
  The
propeller, floats and upper canopy decking was painted with a wood tint
over a coat of light tan It´s a complex process. I will try to explain
it.
First, you have to know of what kind of wood was made the original parts.
The wood in my Nieuport was cedar.
With the wood chosen, paint the different parts (propeller, floats,
upper decking) with a light brown (or tan) color, only practice will tell
you the right color. Let it dry for a day or two. Then apply several coats
of an enamel (not acrylic) gloss varnish (I use Testors). Let it dry.
Then buy a wood tint, they come in different shades for different kinds
of woods which in my case was cedar. Apply to the models using the technique
of "dry brush". Use a big flat brush for big surfaces and a
small one to make the grains. But this is not an easy technique, you will
need a lot of practice and patience.
Rigging
  The
rigging was accomplished with a very thin fishing line.
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed my model how I ´ve enjoyed building it.
It was a long project! (it took me 8 months). But the old rule about
scratchbuilding did it again, and as soon as I completed the project Copper
State Models announced their 1/48 Nieuport VI H.!! What can I say... Murphy´s
Law attacked again.
References
- Nieuport Pages https://mars.ark.com/~mdf/nieuport.html
- French Aircraft of the First World War, J. J. Davilla and A. M. Soltan.
- Les premiers Nieuports à flotteurs, Gerard Hartmann.
- Hardgrave the pioneers https://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/images/nieuport
- Windsock Datafile 68 Nieuport 10/12, JM Bruce.
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