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

NIEUPORT 11 Nr.1232, RUSSIAN 7th FIGHTER DETACHMENT, 1917

by George Grasse

BLUE MAX 1:48 SCALE INJECTION KIT BX0103 of the NIEUPORT 11 in RUSSIAN SERVICE

BLUE MAX BX0103 BOX ART


NIEUPORT 11 3-VIEW DRAWING
This 3-view drawing is reproduced here from the Harleyford publication Fighter Aircraft of World War 1.  The Nieuport 11 was an early export to Russia and assigned sparingly to its Fighter Detachments until Russian production could begin to produce aircraftt  The immediate result of the earlier Nieuport 10 series was the 'Bebe' or Nieuport 11, a sensation on the Western Front that attrtacted the attention Fokker Eindecker pilots who were easily outclassed by it.  The single-seat fighter series went on to evolve into the Nieuport 16, 23, 24, and 27.


THE MODEL TO BE BUILT
The model to be built is Nieuport 11 N.1232 of the Russian 7th Fighter Detachment, flown by Juri V. Gilsher, a five-victory ace.  Consult The Imperial Russian Air Service (see bibliography below).





CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 1
The first step is building up the sparse interior, a common lacking in Blue Max kits.  The floorboard is plastic card stock to which was added foot skids, rudder bar, and control column.  The seat was taken from my stash of seats to which were added PE seat belts.  The instrument panel is scratch-built with Eduard WW1 instruments.  The left side angular support is scratch-built with the kit's throttle added and another Eduard instrument adjacent to it. 



CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 2
Side views of cockpit interior before gluing fuselage halves together.  Interior wood framework painted in Vallejo 824 Orange Ochre.  Interior metal components painted in Andrea NaC-24 Union Blue.



CONSTRUCTION PHOTO No. 3
Fuselage halvces are glued together.  They were held in place by rubber bands.  When dry, excess glue and plastic was sanded off.  Next, a coat of MMD White Putty was added over fuselage seams and sanded down.  The horizontal tail surface was drilled out to take Eduard control horns later.

 

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Bibliography:

Bruce, J. M.  Nieuport Fighters, Volume 2, Windsock Datafile Special.  Berkhamsted, Herts: Albatros Productions, 1993.

Durkota, Alan, Thomas Darcey, Victor Kulikov.  The Imperial Russian Air Service, Famous Pilots and Aircraft of WW1.  Mountain View, CA: Flying Machines Press, 1995.

Franks, Norman, Russell Guest, and Gregory Alegi.  Above the War Fronts. London, UK: Grub Street, 1997

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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5 April 2025