Eduard 1/72 Nieuport 17 Weekend Edition
By Matt Bittner
Eduard continues releasing the excellent 1/72 Nieuport 17, this time as a Weekend Edition kit, item #7403. That means nothing in the box but plastic and decals for one specific aircraft only - this time Guynemer's he flew in August, 1916, while with Escadrille N.3, Les Cigognes. Decals are very well done and in register and provide everything you need - including the serial numbers for all flying surfaces.
This particular machine that Guynemer flew sported the see-through top-wing center along with camouflaged wings, which Eduard show in their instructions and the painting profile. It also flew with a cone de pénétration, which is also supplied. After you finish the kit you'll definitely have spares - an extra top wing (without the center cut-out), the Nie.21 "horseshoe" cowl along with its engine, the over-wing Lewis (this machine flew with a centrally-mounted Vickers) and other small pieces. Unfortunately the cone is showed in the first page of the instructions - showing all kit parts - as not being used, which is not true. Also, the cone is not shown anywhere in the assembly instructions, but is shown in the markings profile.
|
For those who like building French WW1 machines and haven't picked up this kit yet - why not? You're missing an excellent kit and we need to prove to Eduard to keep releasing French WW1 models in the One True Scale. Can you imagine a Salmson 2.A2 being kitted by Eduard? <drool>
I have provided first looks on most Eduard 1/72 Nieuport 17 releases. First was the Flyboys release (which I also built), the Nieuport 17 Dual Combo release, and finally it was released as a Nieuport 23 Dual Combo. I do have a request for Eduard. Please release the photoetch from the Dual Combo kits separately, so we can use that photoetch with the other kits, including the Weekend Edition (if we so desire). Please?
My thanks to Eduard for the review kit.