1:32 Amodel Nieuport 16c

[NigelR]

Looks like good progress here, I'm looking forward to seeing more of this.

I've spent a lot of time working on the rear of the fuselage, knowing full well that practically none of it will be visible after things are buttoned up... but it's allowed me to get comfortable and explore methods of rigging and weathering and so forth:

The temptation with 1/32 is to detail everything only to find that 90% of it can't be seen when the model is built! I've come to the realisation that with limited time left to build the stash I will only detail what can be seen. But then the advantage of sites like this is that you can share all the lovely detailing before it disappears forever!

[Dutch522]

Thanks, all! I'm pleasantly surprised by the way your comments are encouraging me to keep working on this little beast.

Rick, I'm pretty happy with the way the wood is coming out. It's difficult for me to tell where the real wood leaves off (cockpit sides and forward section of "floor" are that cigar wrapper ultra-thin cedar) and the painted wood takes over (longerons, formers, cross-braces, and the cable run). Years ago when I used to do trade work I specialized in decorative painting; wood-graining, rag-rolling, marbleizing, that sort of thing... but never at 1:32 scale!

Richie and Nigel, I've never been a "detail everything whether it can be seen or not" modeler, and in this case I'm not going to do all the greebles in the front of the cockpit, just what will be visible. But I have had fun warming up and resurrecting some of my half-forgotten modeling skills (such as they are!) on the back of the fuselage.

So far I've scratchbuilt everything except for the fuselage halves, bottom and headrest. I figure by the time I'm done only about 60% of the model will consist of kit parts.

Dutch

[KiwiZac]

As much as I enjoy seeing your progress photos none have brought me quite the joy this has:

Plus I've been having a lot of fun :-)

[Rookie]

... I take the view that each major component should be a model (or sub-project) in itself; the Levasseur prop, for example, has been through ten incarnations so far, each noticeably more accurate than the last, and I'm still not done with it. But doing the research, and striving for that kind of accuracy is half the fun for me!...

I tend to agree...

Using the the cedar wrapping of a sigar tube for the inside of the fuselage is just brilliant. It's very inspiring to see you use so much wood on this build Dave. The propellers and the seat look great (museum goof-ups or not)!
 

Cheers,
Willem

[Dutch522]

Thank you, Willem, I was a carpenter and cabinetmaker for a long time, and have a great love of wood so I use it wherever it's applicable... and sometimes where it's not :-)

I've been making slow progress on the interior of the N.16, but things have been greatly helped along by my purchase of the tiny Acalox 201 rotary tool (as recommended by Sandy/macsporran some weeks back) and a set of proper mini-drill bits from Drill Bits Unlimited—and I saw your post earlier, it's too bad that shipping to the Netherlands is so high as they're wonderful tools.

I'm hoping to actually get the cockpit area finished to the point where I can glue the fuselage halves together this weekend. Here's the major components, in varying stages of completion.



Dutch

[Brad Cancian]

I must say I really am loving the extra attention and details going in to this build. The N.16 is a lovely subject, and one that I have never tackled - your work is inspiring me to dust off the old Toko 1/72 kit and gaze at the possibilities. Great stuff!

Cheers,

BC

[Dutch522]

Thanks, Brad, I've been partial to these little aeroplanes since my older brother helped me build the Aurora kit sometime back before the Flood (well, actually it was probably around 1963). I'd love to see what kind of magic you could work with that Toko kit.

The fuselage didn't get buttoned up like I'd hoped this weekend, but I made progress, and had a wonderful time doing so; I'm particularly happy with the gun trigger and Bowden cable on the control column (which you can barely see in the photo below) made from a length of fuse wire with one end flattened in a pair of round-nosed pliers:



The piece in grey in the foreground is the kit foot-races, alongside one of my prototype scratchbuilt replacements.

Still needs belts and instruments—or at least a tachometer and a clock—but after nearly three months I think I'm ready to climb out of the cockpit and start working on the outside of Sgt Barnay's a/c.

Dutch

[NigelR]

Lovely work, it's looking really good. Nice work on the Bowden cable.

[RichieW]

Hiya Dutch, so sorry I haven't been around for a while. You've made some beautiful progress in my absence. All the time spent on the cockpit interior has really paid off. It is so beautiful and filled with detail and lovely artistic touches. I'm going to have to go back and admire the photos some more now!

Richie

[Dutch522]

Thanks, Nigel, I'm closing in on buttoning up the fuselage. There have been some issues, but as this is my first attempt at a 1:32 build I'm cutting myself some slack :-)

And Richie, thanks a lot, brother... hope you've had some time to work on the BE and/or Levasseur!

Dutch

[KiwiZac]

Lovely work Dutch, it's nice to see things coming together so well.

[Dutch522]

As Magnum, P.I. used to say, "Despite appearances, serious work is in progress here." I've had limited modeling time in the past few weeks, but the interior is coming along, literally, by bits and pieces. But it's a case of one step forward, two steps back much of the time:



The ragged looking curved cockpit/headrest fairing piece won't be able to be finished (along with its padding) until the fuselage halves are glued together; as it is they slide together via a slot in the putty that makes up the bulk of said piece. But at least the unfinished mixture-control "rail", blip switch, and Tampier valve—the blobby thing at the end nearest the firewall—are mounted to the larboard cockpit wall (still needs the oil pulsator & all the appropriate plumbing), and brass-bound copper fuel tank (cut down, since you won't be able to see any of it except the face) are done.

[Tim Mixon]

Wonderful progress on this build.  I really appreciate seeing all the scratch work you are doing. 

[pepperman42]

Nice progress. You're beating this one into shape!

Steve

[Dutch522]

Nice progress. You're beating this one into shape!

Steve

Thanks, that sums up this build in a nutshell, Steve! Having taken on the old first-gen Eduard kits Back In The Day I thought "hey, this Amodel kit can't be that hard..." But at the rate things are going there won't be a single unaltered kit part by the time I'm done, and about a third of the model will have been completely scratchbuilt.

And thanks, Tim, I'm drawing great inspiration from watching what you're doing with those tiny Bennett racers!

Dutch