sandbagger

Hi all, Here's the completed 1:32nd scale Nieuport N.28C1, Serial No.6177, of the 95th Aero Squadron, 1st Pursuit Group, operating from Saints aerodrome, France, during 1918 and as flown by 1st Lt. Quentin Roosevelt. As usual I've uploaded a fully detailed build log on Gallery 3 on my site (link in signature). Forum build log here: Mike

Yeas it does look like it but its just the shot. I checked by standing it on its nose with an engineers square at each side and measuring the gaps between it and the fuselage sides. good observation though, Mike

Hi all, Just a few progress shots of the internals of the fuselage. There's still a lot to do yet. Control rods and some wiring, seat harness, machine guns, engine fit, oil tank, gun synchronisation gear etc. Also the final finish and weathering. Mike

Hi all, I've been working on the preparation of the fuselage internals. The fuselage is moulded as a single piece, so has to be worked through the available openings. The forward bulkhead frame needed to be reduce in width as the front of the fuselage was too wide to fit the photo-etch front frame. The supplied photo-etch sheet is, to say the least, comprehensive and highly detailed with many tiny components. Fortunately some parts are also supplied as resin, if you don't want the 'challenge' of building the photo-etch parts. Fortunately it's not necessary to build the aileron and additional flight controls, as both would be completely hidden under the pilot's seat and can't be seen. However the engine controls can be seen so need to be built. The throttle quadrant alone is made up of 15 separate pieces. This model is definitely not for the photo-etch faint hearted. Anyway, now it's on to the painting phase, Mike

Hi all, The web site at 'Aviattic' has a fully detailed build log (in Adobe PDF format) for the 'Balilla', which can be downloaded. It is extensive and details every part of the build. I have found a few moulded part numbers that don't match those in the build log, so these will corrected in my own build log. Section 1 covers the building of the S.P.A 6A engine, which I've now completed. Now onto the internals for the fuselage, which includes many minutely detailed photo-etch components, which will prove interesting to build, Mike

Hi all, I'm waiting for the display case to complete my model of the Nieuport 28C.1. Therefore I thought I'd start on a model that's been in my stash since it was first released. The resin model kit is one of the best made and presented 1:32nd scale WW1 aircraft kits around and is available from Richard at 'Aviattic'. This model will represent the Ansaldo A.1 ‘Balilla’, Serial No:16538 of pilot Tenente Leopoldo Eleuteri of No:70a Squadriglia, operating from Caccia, Padovano, during the October of 1918. He was the only pilot to shoot down one enemy aircraft whilst flying the 'Balilla'. 'Balilla' (little boy) was the nickname of Giovanni Battista Perasso, a Genoese boy who started the revolt of 1746 against the Habsburg forces that occupied the city in the War of the Austrian Succession. The legend is that while some Austrian soldiers were dragging an artillery piece along a muddy road in the Portoria neighbourhood of Genoa, the artillery piece got stuck in a moat. The soldiers forced onlookers and passers-by to dislodge it. Disgusted by the scene, Perasso allegedly grabbed a stone from the road and threw it at the Austrian patrol, calling on those around to join him. This act set in motion a sequence of events that eventually caused the Austrian garrison to be evicted from the city. Mike

Hi all, The pilot figure is finished and will be leaning against the aircraft, hence the pose. Brush painted using 'Tamiya' and 'AK Interactive' acrylics. Metal fittings 'Mr. Colour' Stainless Steel (213) and Brass (219). Dust and oil stain is 'Tamiya' Weathering Master Sets A and D. This will be my last post for this model as I'm awaiting delivery of the display case and propeller. Thanks to those who followed this build and for the encouraging comments. I'll post the completed photographs soon, Mike

Hi all, The Nieuport 28, like some other French built aircraft, had wood strip infills between the four pairs of flying wires. These infills were held in place between the wires by straps that wrapped around the wires and infills. To represent these wood infills I cut thin strips of 0.2 mm plastic card. These were covered with ‘Aviattic’ Wood Grain (ATT32235) decal, which was conformed around the plastic strips with 'Tamiya' X20A thinners. I cut a five lengths of ‘Bare-Metal’ Matte Aluminium foil of 0.5 mm width These were secured to the infill strip using thin CA adhesive (adhesive on foil backing didn't hold well). The infill strip was laid onto and between the flying wires and the foil strips pushed around the infill to hold it in position. Finally thin CA adhesive was 'flowed' along the flying wires to secure them against the infill strip. Mike

Hi Jeff, Do you have any popcorn left Mike

Hi all, A couple more updates. The three rectangular access panels, located forward on the fuselage, were fitted witted ring type fasteners. These were made by coiling 0.2 mm lead wire ('PlusModels') around a 0.8 mm drill shank. The removed coil of wire was then cut through and the separated rings flatted and secured in position with CA adhesive. The windscreen is the photo-etch version from the ‘PART’ Nieuport 28c1 (S32-033) set. It was annealed over a flame then bent to shape and airbrushed white. The acetate windscreen transparency was cut out and secured to the windscreen using 'Microscale' Krystal Clear (PVA). The windscreen was secured to the fuselage using the same adhesive. Mike

Hi all, Just a few updates. The undercarriage assembly is fitted and the bracing wires final rigged. That includes the bracing wire from the forward undercarriage struts to the leading edge of the lower wings. Also the cross bracing wires under the fuselage to the rear of the engine cowl. The fin bracing wire has been add and the rudder control lines fitted. Finally the pilot figure from ‘Wings Cockpit Figures’ leaning pilot 1915-16 (LSK 04B) has been assembled, ready for painting, Mike

Hi all, The wing rigging is now complete, except for the flying wire inserts. These I'll try to do later. Also the undercarriage has been pre-rigged, but left loose so as not to distort the struts. These bracing lines will be final fitted and tension once the undercarriage has been fitted. These bracing wires were all attached, between the struts, to a rigging ring. The two outer wires are attached to midway along the leading edge of the lower wings , Mike

Hi all, Upper wing fitted. Although the outer struts located fully, the fuselage cabane struts were slightly clear of the underside of the upper wing. However, a bit of pressure and CA adhesive did the trick. Also the rigging, which is the next stage, will hold the wings together, Mike

Hi all, Rudder pre-rigged with double wires on each side, Mike

Hi all, I've started on the pre-rigging, which for this model is all on the lower wings and fuselage. This is mainly because of the tight proximately of the anchor points at the wing roots for the twin flying wires. All done using, for a change, ‘Maxima’ Chameleon mono-filament 0.12 mm diameter. Turnbuckles are the usual 'GasPatch' 1:48th scale metal, Type C. The tubing is 0.5 mm diameter that was pre-blackened using 'Blacken-It' solution. I still have the rudder, undercarriage and under fuselage rigging to do before the upper wing can be fitted, Mike

Hi all, Just a few tweaks to the fuselage and weapons. The engine cowl was secured to the fuselage with a metal strap around the rear edge of the cowl. To represent this strap, I used a strip of ‘Bare-Metal’ Matte Aluminium self-adhesive foil. This was then covered with 'Flory Models' Dark Dirt clay wash, to dirty it up, then sealed with 'Alclad' Light Sheen lacquer (AL-311). In-flight the main fuel tank was pressurised by a 'Baden' type venturi, which was connected to the tank by an air pipe. This was represented by drilling into the venturi and fuselage and adding 0.3 mm 'PlusModels' lead wire. The wire inside the venturi was painted Brass and the rest with 'Tamiya' Rubber Black (XF85). Both machine guns had elliptical blast deflectors, fitted below the muzzles and these are not represented on the replacement ’GasPatch’ weapons. The two machine guns were fixed to a mounting under the breach block and also supported at the fuselage by clamping rings around the front of their cooling jackets. The blast deflectors were cut and shaped from 0.2 mm thick plastic card and CA glued to the weapons. The rear gun mounts were made from 0.4 mm and 0.2 mm diameter Nickel-Silver tubes. The front mounts were also pinned to the fuselage with 0.3 mm tube. The front clamping rings were cut from 0.2 mm thick plastic card and CA glued to the cooling jackets. Mike

Hi all, Most of the clay wash has been removed to leave subtle dirt weathering. 'AK Interactive' Kerosene wash (AK2039) and Engine Oil (AK2019) applied around filler cap and on underside of fuselage, rear of engine cowl.. 'Tamiya' Weather Master Set A (Mud) and Set D (Engine Oil) sponged to the engine cowl, underside of lower wings and fuselage. Now to create the engine cowl retainer band and forward support rings for both machine guns, Mike

I take my hat off to you Phil - taking on a WNW Camel as your first WW1 aircraft build. I see you've managed so far to avoid snapping off any of the fuselage moulded struts, which is something I a quite a few others fell foul of. Regards rigging the tubing I use for control lines is 'Stroft GTM' mono (0.08 mm diameter) routed through 'Albion Alloy's' 0.4 mm diameter (0.2 mm internal). For rigging I use 'Stroft GTM' mono (0.12 mm diameter) routed through tube of 0.5 mm diameter (0.3 mm internal). Roll cutting with a sharp blade is OK but does leave burrs , especially in the bore of the tube and these can be a pain to remove. If you want pre-cut tube of 0.4 or 0.5 mm diameter, equal length and free of burrs, you can order 'turnbuckles' from 'Albion Alloy's' in packs of 100 at £12. They used to have their own 'Model Skills' web site but that seems to have been taken down now. Instead I order through the message function on their Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/AlbionAlloys Mike

Hi all, I've applied the 'Flory Models' Dark Dirt fine clay wash. Most will be removed to leave the desired weathered look, Mike

Hi all, Apart from the propeller, all of the decals have now been applied. Undersides using ‘Aviattic’ aged varnish CDL (ATT32094) over base colours. Top surfaces 'Aviattic' Linen Weave Effect (ATT32236) over base colours. Individual marking from the ‘SuperScale’ WW1 Nieuport 28C-1 (MS320243) set. Final sealing coat of 'Alclad' Light Sheen (ALC-311) lacquer. Now I'll need apply weathering before adding details, such as the retaining strap for the engine cowl and ring supports for the front of the machine gun cooling jackets. Then it'll be pre-rigging and start the construction, Mike

Hi Kevin, Thanks. If by 'Copper' model you mean 'Copper State Models', then no. It's the 'Roden' kit, Mike

Hi all, I've applied the decals to the wing struts and the rudder from the ‘SuperScale’ WW1 Nieuport 28C-1 (MS320243) set. The pre-moulded lined wrappings around the struts were way to thick. I sanded them away and replaced them with white 1.5 mm wide white stripes from the ‘Xtradecal’ parallel stripes white (XPS2) set. Also applied are the wing decals, which are ‘Aviattic’ aged varnish CDL (ATT32094) linen effect decal undersides and Linen Weave Effect (ATT32236) on top surfaces. Mike

Hi all, Just a quick update. I've painted the camouflage scheme, using 'Tamiya' acrylics thinned with 'Mr. Colour' levelling thinners 400. Most of the colours were mixed to create as near as possible the shades of colours. Airbrushed between 'UHU' white tack 'worms' with additional masking to protect from over spray. Mike

Hi all, I've made a start on the painting phase. The undersides of the wings would have the faint shadows from the leading edge fairings, wing ribs, rear spar and cross bracing wires. The upper surfaces hardly at all as they were brush painted with coloured dopes. I thought this time, I'd try representing these shadows with a slightly different technique. I airbrushed the undersides with 'AK Interactive' white primer, which was required for when I apply the 'Aviattic' clear CDL decals. Then I over sprayed a light coat of 'Tamiya' Smoke (X19). I scanned the internal structure of both with and rescaled the scans to the correct side. Then coloured the structure with contrasting colours and saved them as JPG files. These were uploaded into my 'Cricut' Explore Air 2 crafters cutter and the parts not required were deleted. I then cut the masks using 'Artool' Ultra Mask sheets. These were placed onto the wings with the parts not required removed. A light coat of the white primer was airbrushed and then the masks removed. The bracing wires were drawn on the wings using a pencil. Finally a light, blend coat of the white was airbrushed to blend everything. The surfaces still need to be gloss coated before the CDL decals are applied, Mike

Copper State Models have a good range of Nieuport 17 and 23 models in 1:32nd scale, Mike