HISTORICAL MINIATURES BY GEORGE GRASSE
WORLD WAR 1 AIRCRAFT IN 1:48 SCALE

NIEUPORT 10 C.1 OF ESCADRILLE N.3, AERONAUTIQUE MILITAIRE, FRANCE 1916

by George Grasse

SPECIAL HOBBY 1:48 SCALE INJECTION KIT SO4082 of the NIEUPORT 10 C.1

SPECIAL HOBBY SO4082 BOX ART



NIEUPORT 10 C.1
THREE-VIEW DRAWING
This 3-view drawing is reproduced here from French Aircraft of the First World War credited to Ian Stair.  The Nieuport 10 C.1 was the first sesquiplane in a longstanding series of excellent fighter aircraft.  This version, designated C.1 for single seat fighter, was also produced in a two-seater version.  However, many of the latter were converted to C.1 configuaration as the demand for fighter aircraft soared in 1915.  The immediate result of the Nieuport 10 series was the 'Bebe' or Nieuport 11, a sensation on the Western Front by late 1915 and had a lot to do with the demise of the Fokker Eindecker scouts that were terrorizing Allied aviation from mid-1915. 
Consult French Aircraft of the First World War by Dr. James J. Davilla and Arthur M. Soltan or Windsock Datafile Nr. 68 by J. M. Bruce.



THE MODEL TO BE BUILT
The model to be built is Nieuport 10 C.1 N.328 of Escadrille N.3  flown by Sergeant Georges-Marie-Ludovic-Jules Guynemer who became one of France's highest scoring aces.  Consult Nieuport Aces of World War 1 (see bibliography).






 Escadrille N.3 was re-equipped with Spad 7 fighters later in 1916 and were formed into the famous Groupe de Combat 12 'Les Cicognes' (originally composed of Escadrilles Spa.3, 26, 73, and 103).  The recognizable 'stork' emblem in different poses adorned these escadrilles.  As can be seen in the photo above, most Nieuport 10 'scouts' were unadroned with unit insignia.



CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 1
3 March 2024
Just getting started.  The pilot's seat is built up from the PE sheet.  The floorboard is shown in a simplified state (more to be added).  The small object is a scratch-built compass from spare instrument panel parts.  Fuselage interior is painted to simulate fabric but not yet stained.



CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 2
6 March 2024
The interior of the fuselage is finished and the halves were glued together, held by rubber bands overnight.  Additional gages were made from plastic stock and the dials cut out from older decal sheets.  The rotary engine was assembled cylinder by cylinder.  The connecting rods of copper will be cut off and the engine will be painted.  The tail appendages were modified to take other manufacturer's PE horns which had larger apertures for the control wires (.005 MFT).  The horizontal stabilzer had the pass-thru slots cut out with an X-Acto blade.



CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No.3
12 March 2024
The tail unit has been added including control horns for the rudder and elevators.  The engine has been painted and is ready for installation.  Lower wings are shown to emphasize the pre-drilling of the rigging wire holes.  To the left are one of two pieces that are glued between the rear cabane struts.  The inverted 'V' strut is from the kit but does not match any photos of Nieuport 10.  In fact, the hand-made brass strut above it is the correct configuration.



CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 4
19 March 2024
This is another view of the fuselage as shown in Photo 3 above.  I would point out that the petrol and oil tank filler caps just behinc the cowling are scrap materials.  The windscreen is from the PE fret barely visible in this photo and photo #3.



CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 5
31 March 2024
The lower wings are attached using brass pins instead of the wings' knobby plastic lug.  The model shown plus its upper wing have been primed with light gray primer.



CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 6
3 April 2024
The main points of this photo are metal components.  The tailskid was made from a scrap piece of 'Struz' material reinforced with brass rod.  The landing gear struts were made of brass rod and tube.  The axle is brass rods and awaits an aerfoil covering to be made from sheet lead.  The copper semi-circle piece between the rear cabane struts was made to replace the kit's incorrect inverted 'V' based on a number of photos I reviewed of Nieuport 10 aircraft.
 


CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 7
7 April 2024
The top wing has been painted and holes drilled out (not shown) for struts and rigging 'wire'.  The wing was over-sprayed with satin polyurethane and, when dry, decals were applied.  The kit's decals were quite delicate and great care was taken during placement.  Where tears ocurred, touch up paint was applied.  Overall paint used was Humbrol 103 Matt Cream.

 

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 8
1 May 2024
The rotary engine was installed after the inside of the cowling and fire wall were re-painted in metal.  All struts were painted in Vallejo 875 Biege Brown although sources state that the inner cabane struts were painted in aluminum-based paint which appears to be correct in photos I reviewed; so, that has to be changed.  All metal fittings (hinges, wire openings, strut attachment points, etc) were painted in Andrea NAC-24 Union Blue.  The rudder was hand-painted in Andrea NAC-24 Union Blue, Andrea NAC-01 White, and Vallejo 947 Dark Vermillion.  I have made my own decals for Guynemer's "Vieux Charles III" and serial number "328" for the rudder.  

 

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 9
14 Jun 2024
The outer wing struts and the top wing have been glued in place.  Preliminary rigging has started.  

 

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 10
The tail unit rigging was the first rigging completed on the model. 

 

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 11
The wing and landing gear rigging were completed.  Remaining to be done are 1) painting the top wing, 2)  over-spraying the model in polyurethane, 3) attaching the remaining decals, and 4) touchup  

 
 

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 12
The top wing Lewis machine gun glued to a special brass rod encased in a simple plastic mount.  The front bracing wire was taken from the kit's PE fret.  Note that wing ribbing was high-lighted with the base color and Humbrol white.

 

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 13
This view shows the completed model sans decals.

 

COMPLETED MODEL PHOTO No. 14
Top view showing the wing decals and high-lighted wing ribs.

 

COMPLETED MODEL PHOTO No. 15
French ace Georges Guynemer named all of his aircraft "VIEUX CHARLES" with a Roman numeral designating the version of aircraft he flew, in this case "III".

 

COMPLETED MODEL PHOTO No. 16

 

COMPLETED MODEL PHOTO No. 17
    
  
 

CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 18
 
 
 

COMPLETED MODEL PHOTO No. 19
 

-------------------------------------------  FINIS ---------------------------------------

+++++++

Bibliography:

Bailey, Frank W.  The French Air Service War Chronology 1914-1918.  London: Grub Street, 2001.

Bruce, J. M.  Nieuport 10-12, Windsock Datafile 68.  Berkhamsted, Herts: Albatros Productions, 1998.

Cooksley, Peter.  Nieuport Fighters in Action, Acft Nr. 167.  Carrollton, Texas: Squadron/Signal Publications, 1997.

Davilla, James J. Dr. and Arthur M. Soltan.  French Aircraft of the First World War.  Boulder, CO, Flying Machines Press, 2002.

Franks, Norman.  Nieuport Aces of World War 1, Aces Nr. 33. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2000

French Escadrille N.3 website page - http://albindenis.free.fr/Site_escadrille/escadrille003.htm

Hayez Lt. Colonel (French Air Force Historical Section), translated by H. D. Hastings.  French Escadrilles in World War I.  Cross & Cockade (US), Volume 7, Number 3, pages 205-231.

Lamberton, W. M., Compiler, and E. F. Cheesman, Editor.  Fighter Aircraft of the 1914-1918 War.   Los Angeles, CA: Aero Publishers, 1962.

 

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1 July 2024