Eduard 1/72nd Nieuport 17
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Introduction
Oh yes! Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes.
For those who know me, they know I'm a Nieuport "freak". Anything
and everything Nieuport is what makes me happy. Especially when those
Nieuport models are in 1/72nd.
 Many,
many (far too many) years ago, Revell released a Nieuport 17 in 1/72nd.
It was a good kit for the time, but with it being out of production for
a long time, you had to try and find them at swap meets and at auction
houses and sites. ESCI came out with a copy-of-a-copy, but unfortunately
the copy was a little bit smaller than the original Revell kit. So, to
make this part of the story short, a new-mold Nieuport 17 was desperately
needed in 1/72nd. With huge thanks from this builder, Eduard has come
out with the ultimate 1/72nd Nieuport 17.
While the first release was released under the "Flyboys" monikor
- due to the movie being released earlier - that is no reason not to buy
a few. Couple it with the Eduard photoetch seats and their colored seat
belts, and you have a great miniature of the Nieuport.
 One
other minor miracle. Those that know me know it takes me quite a long
time to finish models. We're talking glacial speed. However, because of
the subject - my favorite aircraft - and the newness of the model, what
you see within this page took me about a week's time. Not actual modeling
time, but "real time". One week from the start to what you see
today. Nothing short of a minor miracle.
The Kit
You can see from the parts spread exactly what comes in the kit. Making
a Nie.21 and .23 from this kit will be easy because the extra parts are
already catered for. Markings are for four fictitious aircraft from the
"Flyboys" movie, but are excellently done with no registration
problems.
 Naturally
construction starts with the cockpit. Out of the box you get a decent
representation of the cockpit, albeit with an incorrect seat. I think
it may be a bit difficult to produce a "perferrated", injected-molded
seat in 1/72nd, so you'll have to hunt down the Eduard French photoetch
seats if you're interested in accuracy. However, since this initial release
is for the movie, you can claim the seat was for the movie machines...
Once the cockpit is painted and assembled, the fuselage halves are then
glued together. Speaking from experience, don't forget to trap the shaft
for the engine and prop. If you're really careful, you could have it so
the prop and engine rotate, as on the real thing.
 There
were no gaps to deal with in the fuselage construction. That is, not until
adding the lower wing. I had to fill a couple of small gaps where the
lower wing piece meets the firewall and sides of the fuselage in the exhaust
channel. Once that was taken care of then the horizontal tail was glued
on. Note that I drilled out the holes in the horizontal tail where the
rigging for the upper control horn passes through. It would be quite difficult
- I feel - for Eduard to mold this open, so a little bit of work on the
modeler's part is needed. I also added the undercarriage - minus the tires/wheels
- to be sure that area was painted at the same time.
 It
was here I did some initial painting. The entire model was sprayed with
Alclad II Semi-Matte Aluminum while the cowl was sprayed with Polished
Aluminum. A few words, though. I decided - because of time - that I would
not prime the model. Big mistake. I kept rubbing off the Alclad in areas
I handled frequently. Also, because of speed, I wanted to paint the wood-areas
of the model (the forward fuselage) a different shade of Alclad, but decided
against it. Next time.
After painting the model and cowl, I sprayed the engine and prop. Unfortunately
I took too long to work further on the prop, so the one you see in these
images are from another, older Nieuport - and not necessarily a correct
prop. I just needed something to put on the prop shaft.
 Because
I couldn't bring myself to build my favorite aircraft in fictitious markings,
I looked for a Lafayette Escadrille machine (might as well at least keep
with the same squadron) that was not fiction, and something I could use
the kit decals for. I found it in N1950, flown by Caporal Edmond
Charles Clinton Genet in the machines' later days. When Genet flew N1950
it only had the "Indian Heads" with no other personal markings.
Perfect, although I have to somehow generate serial numbers for the rudder.
That will come at a later time.
 There
were only two sets of parts I wasn't pleased with. Both the interplane
struts and the forward center struts had "mold marks" in obvious
places, right at the base of the struts. Not good, and they had to be
filled. Other than that, this kit is near perfect, and I'm looking forward
to seeing every subsequent, future release of the Nieuport from Eduard.
Couple what came in the Flyboys box with their legendary photoetch, and
you'll have an even more stunning kit.
Conclusion
 Since
I wanted this kit to be ready in time for this issue of Internet Modeler,
I took a number of shortcuts. Primarily, the rigging was left off, and
will definitely be added later. Also, the windscreen was left off mainly
because I forgot to spray it when I sprayed the rest of the model. Again,
this will be added. I also hope to correct the problems I created with
the rudder decals. I was too hasty and tore them in a couple of places.
I am so psyched a "new-tool" 1/72nd Nieuport 17 has finally
been released, and even more happier that Eduard has done so. This is
truly state of the art, and I required no jig to assemble the upper  wing
to the lower. A true nod to Eduard's ingenuity. How does the model compare
to drawings? No idea, because I don't have the latest Nieuport 17 drawings,
which can be found in the "newish"
N.124 book put out by Albatros Productions. However, it compares well
with all the photos I've looked at. I'm pretty confident Eduard has it
right.
Anybody want a couple dozen Revell Nieuport 17s?
Many, many, many thanks to Eduard
for this review model. I can now stop complaining about the lack of an
up-to-date 1/72nd model of the Nieuport 17.
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