Nieuport 24 bis 

Roden, 1/32 scale

Reviewed by Rob Baumgartner

Roden's 1/32 scale Nieuport 24 bis is available online from Squadron
 

The Nieuport 17 was one of the most elegant fighters to see service in WWI.

It was very good in its day but more performance was needed from the aircraft as the war progressed. Engine changes can only take you so far, therefore development of the airframe was considered. As a result, side fairings running the full length of the fuselage were introduced and this brought about the Ni 17bis. Further modifications and refinements resulted in the subject of this release...the Ni 24bis.

Upon opening the box, the modeller is presented with 7 sprues of dark gray coloured plastic. These number 113 in total and are accompanied by an acetate sheet for the windscreen and 2 sheets of decals.

The parts are generally well moulded although the detail is a little soft in places. Some areas also lack consistent definition which the modeller will need to rectify. It’s not an overly difficult process, just a little frustrating. Sink marks were not an issue on my example and kudos to Roden for eliminating the ejection pin towers that plagued some previous releases.

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Thumbnail panels:

Construction starts with the cockpit and it’s all good news here. Inside the fuselage halves, one finds a representation of the interior structure to which the builder adds a further 31 items. It culminates into a very busy looking “office” with only the seat belts being an obvious omission.

One interesting piece of assembly involves the perforated seat backing. Being moulded flat, it’s up to the modeller to bend it to the correct shape before gluing. Quite clever really and reminds me of the plastic manipulating ideas used in the cockpit of an old Accurate Miniatures release.

The flying surfaces are nicely done with subtle rib detail and sharp trailing edges. A single piece upper wing makes for easy assembly but care should be exercised with the two lower wings. These are butt-joined to the fuselage with the help of locating nubs so pinning these items will be essential. Although setting up the dihedral will be tricky, it does make for a more realistic look than if Roden had made these a one-piece item with the help of part of the fuselage.

Both wings feature a representation of the plywood covering at the leading edge which is correctly portrayed on the top surfaces only.

At least 13 parts make up the engine. There are assemblies for the induction pipes and connecting rods as well as the cylinders themselves. This latter item has separate end caps that mean there are no awkward seams to clean up.

The cowling is also clever in its makeup. There is a natural mating where the two halves are bolted together and Roden have used this area to hide the join.

Make sure you choose the correct top deck as a variety are supplied for future releases. This also applies to the airscrew and armament.

Accuracy is assured as the main components compare favourably with Ian Stair’s scale drawings in volume 2 of the Albatros Productions Datafile Special on the subject.

The instructions look easy enough to follow and contain a rigging diagram and table for Model master paints.

Options

There are five different aircraft portrayed on the supplied decal sheets.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that all markings displayed very good colour registration. 

The carrier film is thin and is kept to a minimum around each item.

1. Nieuport 24bis, serial N3305 flown by Caporal Six of Escadrille N.159, Aviation Militaire, February 1918

2. Nieuport 24bis, serial N3263, unknown Training Squadron, USAS, France, late 1917

3. Nieuport 24bis, serial unknown, flown by Commander of 1st Soviet Fighting Air Group, Military pilot Ivan Pavlov, Battle of Kazan, Swiyazhsk airfield, August 1918

4. Nieuport 24bis, N5086, flown by Lt.Juliusz Gilewicz of 5th Squadron, Polish Air Service, 1919.

5. Nieuport 24bis, serial N4300, flown by Lt. Janis Prieditis from Latian aviation, Spilve airfield, Riga, August 1919

Everything is here to create a convincing replica of this much neglected fighter

Although some of the detail is not as crisp or consistent as other releases in this scale, it’s nothing that can’t be overcome with a sharp scalpel and a little “wet ‘n dry” paper.

There are enough surface features to make the aircraft look “busy” and the modeller can still add more if they wish. Overall it’s a very good effort from Roden and one that deserves to be well received by enthusiasts of the attractive Nieuport family of Scouts.

Thanks to Squadron for the sample

Text and Images Copyright © 2011 by Rob Baumgartner
Page Created 2 August, 2011
Last updated 2 August, 2011

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