Eduard 1/72nd Nieuport 17 Construction
Most of the sidewall detail is as moulded by Eduard. I scratchbuilt the fuel tank & contents glass, rev counter, rudder bar and control stick. Seat back is a Tom's Modelworks p/e item and seat belts are from Eduard's French WW1 etched set. The moulded on heel plates are too far apart which means the rudder bar is too wide but it's not terribly visible in the tiny cockpit. Eduard include a rear "bulkhead" to go behind the seat but as far as I can tell from photos there was no such thing so I left this out.
More than one person has found it amusing that I sign and date the inside of my models (like they're some grand work of art!) and I suppose it is pretty silly really. I started doing this years ago - probably close to 30 if I'm honest - figuring it would be interesting to future generations if my models ever turned up in an archaeological dig. Yeah right!! Can you say "delusions of grandeur"...?! I continue the practice for an entirely different reason these days however. Very often I'll start a kit and it will then sit around for years before I finally get off my ass and finish it. Putting on the date I started construction reminds me just how long it's sat around collecting dust and often spurs me into action to get it done! Until the fuselage gets closed up of course and then it's out of sight out of mind.... :-) As you can tell from the mid-December start date this was a pretty quick build by my glacial standards - only 3 months!!
The aileron hinge lines were covered by a strip of fabric on Nieuports and I represented this with strips of decal film applied before the final paint job. Eduard supply an alternate upper wing with centre section cut-out that I presume will be for future releases. There is also a "cone de penetration" in the box as well as a Vickers gun and ammo feed chutes. This bodes well for other versions and with marking options for Nieuport 17s almost endless I will quite happily buy several more of these great little kits. I built this from the limited edition "Flyboys" release, which is a film I have very little desire to see since I'm not a big fan of zooming C/G aircraft and appalling Hollywood storylines. Hey scriptwriters: Fokker Triplanes did come in other colours besides red you know!! Holy Henry Ford, Batman....
	Above left: D'oh!! Who would have thought the wing would melt before the rigging tightened up?! Mental note: Incense sticks get hot. Plastic no like hot. Above right: Amazingly, I managed to fix this using superglue & talcum powder without having to rip the wing off but I did lose some of the subtle riblets on the leading edge in the process. Bollocks....
	Above left & right: Eduard's poor excuse for a Le Rhone vs Roden's excellent version, albeit with the induction pipes from Eduard. Call it a joint effort.
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