1:32 Amodel Nieuport 16c

[Davos522]

Some significant progress, at last; I finished the cockpit (more or less) and closed up the fuselage. After trying and failing to get a definitive answer to the seat-belt configuration I decided to go with the simple heavy leather belt illustrated in the Nieuport-Macchi parts "catalog", scratched from thin masking tape and a buckle made of miniscule bits of brass wire. The tach is the kit part, unmodified except for a cable made of fine solder, and embellished with an instrument face off a fragment of an Aviattic D.VII sheet included as a bonus on another order. Still to add is the curved bar under the coaming, and a watch (?) that's clearly visible on the port side in photos of Sgt Barnay's a/c:







And yes, that is indeed a large ginger cat on my lap, he's the Inspector of Quality Control, among other things. Thanks for taking a look!

Dutch


 

[Borsos]

Very nice cockpit, lovely wooden tones. That comes up very nice!
Andreas

[NigelR]

Looking very good, the interior came together very nicely. And a nice cat too!

[Davos522]

Thanks!

Andreas, the wood tones are mostly actual wood, the seat "box" is Swiss pear, and the cockpit floor & sidewalls are ultra-thin cedar veneer that came as the wrapper on a fancy cigar.

And Nigel, having just started building again after a long hiatus, I'm still working out of a collection of cardboard boxes in the dining room, conveniently close to the bay window where the cats usually lounge. But despite my fears that the Nieuport might end up as the world's most elaborate cat-toy, neither he nor his sister have ever bothered it (or me while I'm working on it, for that matter :-)

Dutch

[GazzaS]

That interior looks great!

[Davos522]

Thanks, Gaz, been having a lot of fun with it. Only took two and a half months to get out of the cockpit!

Dutch

PS - Saw on some old posts that you're former Michigander... I'm in New England and it's getting to be that time of year up here in the Northern Hemisphere. Guess you guys probably don't have snowplows down there in Queensland, huh...? :-D

[Davos522]

Having gotten the fuselage together at long last, it's time to deal with the awful fit issues in the nose/cowl area. I'm trying to imagine a first-time builder taking a stab at this kit, and have to say that it would be an almost insurmountable challenge... I can only imagine that the poor engineering, obscure instructions, shallow dimples for mounting points (if they're there at all) and a host of other issues would doom it to being thrown out the window in frustration in short order. Heck, I've built  hundreds of models, and it's still proving to be a marathon test of my patience and skills.



That's the best fit I've been able to achieve, and that's after a fair amount of refining the parts; I had to splay out the rear of the two-part cowling almost 0.31"/0.7mm in order to get it to fit on the firewall. Trying to get the "cheeks" to match up on both sides is going to be yet another part of the nightmare challenge

DV

[NigelR]

Having gotten the fuselage together at long last, it's time to deal with the awful fit issues in the nose/cowl area. I'm trying to imagine a first-time builder taking a stab at this kit, and have to say that it would be an almost insurmountable challenge... I can only imagine that the poor engineering, obscure instructions, shallow dimples for mounting points (if they're there at all) and a host of other issues would doom it to being thrown out the window in frustration in short order.

You are making great progress here with a very challenging kit. I am glad I decided to put mine in the spare parts box when I saw CSM have plans to (possibly) do this at some stage....

[PrzemoL]

I have just passed though the complete thread after a long break. Wow, your work on details is amazing. And the results are great. Good luck with the continuation of this stunning project.

[Davos522]

Thanks, both!

Nigel, honestly I bought the Amodel kit because I was thinking of making the switch to a larger scale after building 1:48 for years, and didn't want to spend a lot of money to see if 1:32 was a good fit. I went for the Amodel because it was about half the price of the Special Hobby kit, but I wish now I'd spent the extra US$30 and gone for the SH. And fingers crossed that Edgar is tooling up a Bébé, I'll buy at least two

And Prezmo, Ni 'lassui, mellon. That means a lot coming from someone whose work is a constant inspiration to me!

All best,

Dutch

[Borsos]

Uh, that‘s what I‘d call a bad fit 
The question is: is the fuselage side part too curvy or the upper decking too straight? It’s the later, I‘d say judging from the photo. I think I‘d glue in a plastic wedge ans sand it all smooth. Reconstructing the lost stitching detail looks manageable.
Good luck!
Andreas

[Davos522]

Thanks, Andreas, I basically did just that last night, although there's still some fine-tuning of the upper decking to do:



Replacing the stitching won't be a problem, because there wasn't any to begin with, just these featureless lips:



How I'm going to replicate the lacing is a problem I'm working on now.

I've sanded off what fuselage detail there was, since it was all rudimentary to begin with. The brass tube will get cut flush and serve as a socket for a brass rod embedded in the sesquiplanes for strength, and I'll replace the crude kit air intake nubs with Albion Alloys aluminum tubing when I get everything else squared away.

All best,

Dutch

[Borsos]

How I'm going to replicate the lacing is a problem I'm working on now.

When I converted my WNW Fe2b into a Fe2d, I used fishing line and a sharp drill bit to replicate stitching. But of course the plastic was way thinner there. But it might work here, too?


Andreas

[WD]

Great work so far!  This isn't an easy kit by any stretch.

Warren

[Mike Norris]

Hi Dutch,
Maybe you could try the resin transfer stitching from 'Archer' (AR88004).
It's raised and applied like a decal,

Mike

https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=1423.0