1/32 Nieuport 27 E.1 N.8655 #363 "Old Doc Yak"

[rhallinger]

I think I've worked out the "American Shield" and white wings markings for the top wing.  I found this WWI era American shield image online, and it would seem to fit QR's decsription well:



The use of 13 stars and 13 stripes on the shield is in keeping with American shield images of this period, so I think it is appropriate for this aircraft.

I like these wings, as they are simple and the shield would fit where the circle is:



I have re-sized these images on a copier so that they fit well together in the center of the top wing of the Roden Nie. 27 kit.  I will have to decide whether to make decals or mask and paint.  Right now, I'm leaning initially toward masking and painting, but doing a black decal overlay of the wing outlies over white paint.  Of course, all of this is still a long way off. 

The rest of the markings will be relatively easy, since they are B/W and I already have good artwork.

Cheers,

Bob

[Chris Johnson]

What drawing program do you use Bob? Illustrator, CorelDRAW . . .

Cheers,

Chris

[rhallinger]

You credit my computer skills far in excess of reality Chris.   I am not that sophisticated.  I simply use the reduce/enlarge feature on my office copier to resize the images I printed off---crude but effective!   Seriously though, if I were using the images for actual printing it would be better to adjust them with some sort of CAD program, to avoid copy degradation and permit color reproduction where necessary.  I'm just not skilled in that yet.

For this project, I will likely cut frisket or tape masks from the copies and paint the markings with an airbrush, so size and outline of the image are all that matters.  If I make a copier decal for the wing outline to overlay the white paint, a single copy of the image will still provide an acceptable marking, in my experience. 

Thanks fo asking though!

Regards,

Bob

[Todd Holaday]

Great great choice.  I really look forward to following this thread.  I am a big fan of Teddy Roosevelt and family.  His son Kermit I found particularly interesting to read about.  I had forgotten about Quentin and his WW1 service.  Here's some wiki stuff related to Roosevelt's WW1 years.

When World War I began in 1914, Roosevelt strongly supported the Allies and demanded a harsher policy against Germany, especially regarding submarine warfare. Roosevelt angrily denounced the foreign policy of President Wilson, calling it a failure regarding the atrocities in Belgium and the violations of American rights.[78] In 1916, he campaigned energetically for Charles Evans Hughes and repeatedly denounced Irish-Americans and German-Americans who Roosevelt said were unpatriotic because they put the interest of Ireland and Germany ahead of America's by supporting neutrality. He insisted one had to be 100% American, not a "hyphenated American" who juggled multiple loyalties. When the U.S. entered the war in 1917, Roosevelt sought to raise a volunteer infantry division, but Wilson refused.[79]

Roosevelt's attacks on Wilson helped the Republicans win control of Congress in the off-year elections of 1918. Roosevelt was popular enough to seriously contest the 1920 Republican nomination, but his health was broken by 1918, because of the lingering malaria. His family and supporters threw their support to Roosevelt's old military companion, General Leonard Wood, who was ultimately defeated by Taft supporter Warren G. Harding.[80]

His son Quentin, a daring pilot with the American forces in France, was shot down behind German lines in 1918. Quentin was his youngest son and probably his favorite. It is said the death of his son distressed him so much that Roosevelt never recovered from his loss.[81]

[rhallinger]

Thanks Todd!  I recall reading in "TR" that Teddy Rooselevlt took Quentin's death very hard, and never fully recovered from that blow.  If you are interested in the Rooselvelt family, try to get a copy of the current issue of "Over the Front," referenced early in this thread, which includes a detailed article on Quentin and other members of the family who served in WWI in France.  The article includes extensive excerpts from letters and journals, along with many photographs of the family in France.

Regards,

Bob   

[Todd Holaday]

Thanks and I will.  You sparked my curiousity so much that I just spent the last half hour reading about Quentin's life and death.  What a remarkable man his father was.  I have often wondered at how one person could attempt and accomplish so much in one life time.  The letters I've read so far from people on both sides of the war re Quentin are very moving.  It is also fascinating to see the regard which the Germans had for TR and the respect they showed for Quentin in his honor.  Again, I very much look forward to seeing what you produce here and to learning more about this subject and the plane(s) he flew.

[rhallinger]

Todd, that's a very nice shot of Quentin in "Old Doc Yak."  I'm not sure that one is in the OTF article, so thanks so much for providing it! 

I agree about TR.  When you think about the fact that he lost his wife and his mother on the same day when he was a young state legislator, and thought there was nothing left in his life, his story is all the more remarkable.  With regard to Quentin's death in combat, I believe the OTF article makes the point that the German High Command really could not exploit his death for morale purposes because of the high regard the German public had for TR and the fact that his son chose to serve in the war.

I had planned to build Quentin's Nie. 28 of the 95th Aero Squadron (I still will get to that one eventually).  I had never heard of his training Nie. 27 "Old Doc Yak" until last month when it was featured in OTF.  I was immediately smitten!   As I have indicated previously, I likely will not start the actual build until I finish a Group Build project I am currently in the middle of, so it will be several weeks.  In the meantime, I am working out the details of the markings and gatrhering what I need.  I am very much looking forward to this one!   

Regards,

Bob

[mgunns]

Hello Bob:

I don't mean to steal your thread, but; you mentioned the Roden Nieuport 28 and doing in QR markings.  Here is mine.  It was one of my early builds but one of my favorites.
.
The cowling markings were a bit of a challenge to get the spacing right. 

Cheers

Mark

[rhallinger]

WOW!  Looks great Mark!!!  Thanks for sharing.

Regards,

Bob

[rhallinger]

Okay, now that the Lloyd is finally finshed, I've started poking around with this project again.  I've spent a few days just looking over the parts and instructions, and visualzing how this will go together.  It was apparent quickly that this will be a bit of a challenge and require some reworking and planning to make sure everything will fit together well.  As with most Roden kits, it is very important to test fit the major components and tape build them before further work.  I've spent the past two days doing just that, and there was a good deal of cleanup and reshaping required to make sure the main components will fit together properly.





The perforated seat back is too thick and cracked when I tried to curve it around a Sharpie pen, so I made a new one from thin sheet styrene.

[rhallinger]

Ooops!  Hit the post button too soon.    Here's the new seat:





I had planned to do this one OOB, but I will likely need to rebuild the cockpit to make everything fit.  I have heard that the little nubs on the lower wings are not very strong for attachment, so I am considering running a brass rod spar through the holes for the nubs in the fuselage, and drilliing out the nubs to provide a stronger attachment.  Any thoughts on this or other approaches to lower wing attachment for the Roden Nieuports?  Thanks.

Now that I am satisfied that the fuselage components will fit properly, the next step is painting and assembly of the cockpit.

Cheers,

Bob

[RAGIII]

Nice work and great start! I have one of these to build and will be following your build intently!
RAGIII

[ALBATROS1234]

this kit is a bit crude compared to wnw kits but imho i think it is one of rodens most detailed cockpits in 1/32 to date. they pretty much caught all the main parts and left a nice platform for the detailer. i like how they did the cabanes all the way thru and such. yes the detail is a bit soft but i thnk this will build up nice. and i really like you markings you are gonna do.good luck. after the lloyd this will be a breeze.

[coyotemagic]

I agree with Scott's assessment of this kit, Bob.  I had one of these briefly, but gave it up in a trade.  As far as I could see, the only weak point was that seat back.  Otherwise, a lovely kit.  I think your spar idea is brilliant.  That's exactly what I would do .  Nothin' like a Nieuport after a challenging build to keep the enthusiasm up.
Cheers,
Bud

[ALBATROS1234]

even the seat can be made to work with effort. i had seen others try and snap the seat back. so i considered it a challenge. i boiled water in the microwave then grabbed the corner with tweezers and dunked it in. after a minute i smashed it around a marker pen of appropriate size. i formed without snapping. then i glued it to the seat base.