Here are some images of Roden's 1/32 scale Nieuport NI 24 Bis.
From Wikipedia"
The Nieuport 24 was a French sesquiplane fighter aircraft during World War I designed by Gustave Delage as a replacement for the successful Nieuport 17. In the event its performance was little better than the type it was meant to replace, which was largely superseded by the SPAD S.7
instead. Operational Nieuport 24s served with French, British and
Russian units, and the type also served widely as an advanced trainer.
The Nieuport 24 introduced a new fuselage of improved aerodynamic
form, rounded wingtips, and a tail unit incorporating a small fixed fin
and a curved rudder. The tailskid was sprung internally and had a neater
appearance than that on earlier Nieuports. A 130 hp Le Rhône rotary engine was fitted.
There were initial structural problems with the new tail, and most production aircraft of the type were of the Nieuport 24bis
model, which retained the fuselage and wings of the 24, but reverted to
the Nieuport 17 type tailplane, tailskid and rectangular balanced
rudder. The new tail was finally standardised on the Nieuport 27.
A batch of Nieuport 24bis were built in England for the Royal Naval Air Service.
The standard armament of the Nieuport 17 (a synchronised Vickers in French service - a Lewis gun on a Foster mounting
on the top wing in British service) was retained to save weight and
retain a good performance, although many 24s were used as advanced
trainers and normally flown without guns.
In the summer of 1917, when the Nieuport 24 and 24bis. were coming
off the production line, most French fighter squadrons were replacing
their Nieuport 17s with SPAD S.VIIs
– and many of the new fighters went to fighter training schools, and to
France’s allies, including the Russians, and the British, who used
theirs well into 1918, due to a shortage of S.E.5as.
A few French units retained the Nieuport through late 1917 – the type
was actually preferred by some pilots, especially the famous Charles Nungesser.
Some of the large number of Nieuport advanced trainers bought by the
Americans for their flying schools in France in November 1917 were 24s
or 24bis.
Another very nice build and an air force I always tend to forget, question I have is why th3 silver?
ReplyDeleteApparently it was an aluminum oxide type coating the French used. Maybe it prevented corrosion from the sun? I'm guessing of course.
ReplyDelete