Nieuport Build Part 1 - Fuselage

Before continuing with the build I needed to check over what had already  been made when the kit was started back in the late 80's. The fuselage was almost finished and in excellent condition, alterations had been made to the headrest, rear top wing mounting bracket, tail skid and undercarriage mounting, the remainder was built as shown on the plan.

When I checked the contents of the kit, however, it became apparent that I had used most of the material out of the box and this would need replacing. All the captive nuts were also missing, these were actual full size aircraft fittings and I'm pretty sure I used them when I built the 718 Spyder. I will replace them with the more conventional captive nuts with the metal 'spike' retailers.

Port side of fuselage. Fibreglass cowl and undercarriage taped in position.

 

Starboard side of fuselage.

Some closeup shots...

 Cockpit, showing headrest detail, dummy bracing wires, seat

retaining tube fixed to fuselage sides (painted turquoise)

 and relocated rear top wing mounting wire.
  

 View of fuselage from rear showing
general construction and dummy bracing wires 

Skid detail with streamlined top section

Rear top wing mounting bracket and wires.

Wing mounting bracket different to that supplied with kit.

The full size Nieuport had 2 push-rods coming from the front top fuselage decking that were linked to the aileron bell-cranks and torque tubes.The kit version used these as wing fixings. The full size rear top wing fixing, the inverted 'V' strut, was a dummy item on the kit, made from wood. I decided I wanted this to be functional.

As you can see from the picture this area has been modified, I don't know what was going through my mind when I put it there during the 90's but nothing tallied up with the top wing construction shown on the plan and the ply parts that I had cut didn't fit anything!! So I had to redraw the top wing centre section to accommodate this modified mounting bracket. After a bit of head scratching I came up with a cunning plan and amended the drawing  to include  the modified mounting plate, plywood fixing plates and the addition of the aileron torque tubes and revised  aileron hinge detail. I will show these changes later.

Wheel showing spoke detail, this was in fact a 'dressed'
plastic pram wheel with applied neoprene rubber tyre.

Front centre section top wing fixing with scale detail.

 Closeup of scale detail.

Bulkhead showing engine fixing holes and fibreglass cowl.

I will show the cockpit interior detail in my next post and give a brief

description of how the various items were made...

Learning to ride a Unicycle...

2 wheels are good but 1 is better!!

I had this crazy notion that riding a unicycle would be kinda fun. During the early stages it was far from fun, I haven't actually fallen of it too badly (knock wood) but my shins sure did take a hammering, now a constant reminder of the learning process!

It took about 15 hours to get the hang of it, sort of. It's not like riding a bicycle, once you get the balance thing sorted out you just keep cycling until you get bored. With the unicycle I find you have to build up to long distances, it's hard on the legs too.

I hope to be getting a new one soon, with a larger wheel but I will leave that until I get to the US.

Every journey starts with the first step . . .

Checking out the wonderful world of Zen FX

I will be posting details of various projects that materialize from the Zen FX Workshop. Raw materials in and Scale Models out. My workshop is full of interesting stuff that only Model Makers find useful, to everyone else it's deemed as rubbish.

You name it and it's in there, raw materials consisting of HIPS (High Impact Polystyrene Sheet), Acrylic Sheet, Metal (Brass, Copper, Steel, Aluminium, Lead) Solid Wood, Ply wood, MDF, Metal and Plastic Tubing, Rod, Wire, Nut & Bolts, Washers, Screws etc, etc.

Tools and Sundries, Tap & Die Sets, Lathe, Lathe Tools, Disc Sander, Pillar Drill, Small Electric Drills, Drill Bits, Band-saw, Hand Saws, Circular-saw, Jigsaw, Knives, Pipe Bender, Pipe Cutter, Angle Grinder, Rivet Gun, Soldering Iron, Brazing and Welding Equipment, Air Compressor, Air Brush, Spray Gun, Paint Brushes, Paint,  Wood Stains, Varnish, Solvents, Abrasive Paper, Perma-Grit Sanding Blocks and all kinds of Glue for every occasion, Wood Glue, Cyanoacrylate (Super Glue, Crazy Glue) Epoxy Resin, Polyester Resin, Balsa cement, Liquid Plastic Cement, Foaming PU Glue, Contact Adhesive, Vinyl Adhesive, Hot Glue and Rubber Cement, and the list goes on...

Anyway, enough of the mundane stuff I best get taking pictures of my current project, a 3.5 Scale Model of a 1918 Nieuport 17bis  Biplane. It has been commissioned by a guy from Bath in the UK, he doesn't require it to fly so it's just for decoration. When finished it will be painted in a Russian Naval scheme as he expressed  a total dislike for silver Nieuports and 99.9% of them left the factory painted silver.

The Nieuport kit I am using as a basis for this project it the now long out of production David Boddington Nieuport 24bis (still available, however,  as a plan pack from DB Sport and Scale based in Pembrokeshire, UK) Mine will now become a Nieuport 17bis the main physical difference between the 17 and 17bis being the stringers running down either side of the fuselage. I will also be making a few deviations from the original design, top rear wing fixing, torque rod and bell crank assembly for the ailerons, and scale like strap hinges for the rudder and elevators.

This kit was first bought by me in the late 80's and has been lying around in my workshop ever since. I had made the fuselage, added cockpit detail, scale wheel detail, tail skid detail and made changes to the pilot's headrest. It was crying out to be finished and my pending move to  the USA and the commission has spurred me along to get it completed.