Nieuport 16C1 (1/72, Eastern Express)

[davecww1]

Yes the French machines were camouflaged in 4 colors as shown in the recent Windsock special on Nieuport Flyers of the Lafayette. I also saw the color photo in the book Rene Dorme et Joseph Guiguet by Marc Chassard. this shows at least 3 different colors although the upper wing cannot be seen and it says the light orange/brown of the forward fuselage is the unpainted veneer... leads to more questions!
I always thought that the RFC Nieuports were painted overall PC10 or a similar color such as the olive Belgian ones, there is a profile of Ball's N.16 in the VC book by Flying Machine press and it showed it as overall olive.
So as usual with Nieuport 16's there is too many questions and no answers so guess you can go with what you have unless someone can prove it wrong!
Dave

[PrzemoL]

Sreiko, very nice model, thanks for sharing.
Dave, thank you for your valuable input.
It seems my little knowledge based on old Windsock Datafiles is even less. Pity I have not known all this earlier. Now, my version of Ni16 must remain as it is...

[Sreiko]

Don't worry- you are amazing modeller

[MerlinV]

Great little build.

It's nice to see someone sticking to the 1/72 stuff while the rest of us just keep getting more an more involved in 1/32 and up...

Look forward to your next instalment.

Cheers,

Hugh

[davecww1]

Yes, nice quality work in 1/72 is a rare thing nowadays but you did a great job on it. And like I said before the Nieuport 16 must be the most unknown/mysterious camouflage colors of the war for such a widely used aircraft there is very little information to get a correct color scheme, from my study of the early Nieuport camouflage it appears that there may be more than one correct color scheme depending on date of manufacture and county of use! Keep up the good work!
Dave

[Rittersbach]

Very very nice, and 1/72 wow, impressive!

[Zabu]

It sure is a great sight this Nieuport of yours. Again, well done Przemol! Cheers

Wow, not an observer anymore...Yeahhhh(sorry for this Przemol!)

[PrzemoL]

Thanks a lot.
Merlin, I am forced to stick to 1/72 due to space limitations and my conservationism - I am true to this scale some 25 years now and reluctant to change it.
Dave, it is really a pity to know that there is so little known about Ni16 colour schemes. Simultaneously it is a bit of luck, too, for me - no one can prove it beyond doubts that my representation of Ball's Ni16 is wrong
Zabu, welcome to the school of two-seater pilots

[FOKKERJ]

Hello PrzemoL,

Thanks for sharing a really beautiful interpretation of
Albert Ball's Nieuport 16.

How do you like working with EASTERN EXPRESS? Are they good straight forward kits or do you have to do any modifications to correct them?

HAPPY TRAILS, FOKKERJ

[PrzemoL]

As you surely know, FOKKERJ, most of EE kits are reboxed former Toko ones. And so is Ni16.

The kit comes together very nicely, no fit problems almost, I only had to lengthen the cabane struts.

As for the accuracy it is quite good, too. I noticed that the upper wing differs in some aspects from Windosck Special plans but is quite fine when compared to plans from Squadron book on Nieuport Fighters. Overall dimensions do not go beyond 1mm difference in the model scale.

What the kit lacks is detailing in many aspects. Cockpit is very basic - I added Part PE set; airscrew is horrible - I replaced it with a trimmed airscrew I found in my spares box; the engine is likewise, one of my colleagues said that it seemed they had put rubber covers of car springs instead of cylinders - this item is waiting for exchange as soon as I get a better representation of 110hp Le Rhone; I also added completely missing characteristic feet of interplane struts as well as connections of main wheels axle with struts. The tail skid also required some trimming. Lewis in my set was not completely moulded - I replaced it with a spare one from Rodens' Curtiss H16.