Roden 1/48th Nieuport 28C.1 By Matt Bittner

History

Look to the Windsock Datafile of a good reference on the Nieuport 28.

The Kit

The Roden Nie.28 consists of 51 injected pieces and a piece of clear acetate that is used for the windscreen. Parts are extremely crisp and very well done - out of the box this is no doubt Roden's best to date. Decals consist of markings for the following people: Lt. James A. Meissner, N 6144, of the 94th Aero in two different liveries; Major John Huffer, N6169 of the 94th; Lt. Douglas Campbell, N6164 of the 94th; and - of course - Lt. Edward Rickenbacker, N6159 of the 94th. What's really interested is that Roden includes the Liberty Loan posters that Rickenbacker attached to the tops of his lower wings, and thin "stickers" and not decals. They did this primarily because it was the only way to get the all of the colors to come through and look like it did in real life. It was also done because Rickenbacker actually had posters "glued" to his wings, so these would be thicker than what a decal could create. In all, an excellent idea and hats off to Roden for thinking of it.

Instead of starting with the cockpit, the instructions have you start with the engine, firewall and cowl. This whole assembly should remain off the model until last, and the cowl should be painted prior to adding it to the rest of the assembly.

The rest of construction is also as orthodox. Instead of assembling the cockpit in situ with the fuselage halves, then joining the halves together after all the cockpit is assembled, Roden has you glue the fuselage halves together as the completed cockpit - assembled in the next sequence - is slid into the already glued fuselage halves from the front. An excellent idea. The cockpit is pretty complete out of the box but there remains enough room for people to add their personal touches, such as seatbelts. If you look at the NASM restore the seat they add to theirs is a lot different than the kit supplied one. Personally I consider NASM's to be representative of the real thing, and think in this instance Roden is in error. But then again, to get the seat assembly looking like the real thing requires the use of photoetch. It's quite a complex affair.

Once the cockpit is slid into the fuselage and glued, then the lower wing can be glued on. Leave the lower wing off until you're sure the cockpit is in the correct location, as the hole in the underside of the fuselage gives you plenty of room to maneuver the cockpit into place.

Roden engineered the kit in such a way so as not only will the engine/prop spin together, but the wheels will also turn if so inclined.

From here, construction moves into painting, adding the top wing and landing gear struts and final finishing. Included on the instructions is a rigging diagram - shame on any manufacturer who doesn't include this in their instructions. Keep in mind that all war-time Nie.28s were finished in French five-color finish, so you have your work cut out for you.

Conclusion

This is a great kit, and one can see the strides Roden has taken through the years to better their product. Right now their Nieuport 28 is the best they have released to date, and hopefully this sets a standard for their kits to come. If you want to build aircraft flown by the United States of America, this is a must as it was the first fighter to be employed by the US, ever.

Thanks to Roden for the review sample.