Academy's 1/32 Nieuport 17 Reviewed by Michael Benolkin

Background

The French-built Nieuport 17 was one of the most versatile and capable allied fighters used in World War I. Versions of the aircraft was flown by the air forces of France, Belgium, Great Britain, Russia, Italy, the United States, and Romania. The aircraft's speed and agility helped numerous pilots to become aces.

The Kit

This release from Academy is from the Hobbycraft molds and compliments the 1/32 Sopwith Camel that Academy recently released. Molded in light gray plastic, this kit is comprised of 56 parts, as well as a transparent windscreen and a spool of rigging thread.

The kit is free of flash and only one pair of ejector pin marks in a visible area on the inboard underside of the upper wing. While the inside of the cockpit does have ejector pin marks, they are in areas that are not easily visible through the cockpit opening.

The engine is nicely molded and accurately represents the technology of the day where the propeller is bolted to the engine block, and the engine and propeller spin. This made for some serious torque problems, though the spinning engine helped to provide its own cooling.

Markings are provided for two aircraft:

• N1895 flown by Lieutenant Charles Nungesser, Escadrille N.65

• N1550 flown by the famous ace, Captain Georges Guynemer

Conclusion

This kit is simple, nicely laid out, and despite the pin marks, will build into a nice example of WWI air superiority. This would also serve as a great training kit for rigging WWI aircraft.

The kit can be built straight out of the box for a nice project, supplemented with photo-etched details from Tom's Modelworks to achieve a 1/32 contest contender, or with some creative strip plastic and other resources for a masterpiece.

In any case, find yourself some reference material to aid your project (but don't get so carried away that you never even start the project!!).

My sincere thanks to MRC for this review sample.