Nieuport 28 History

Roden has added yet another beautiful WWI airplane to their 1/32 scale line, this case the French Nieuport company's last of a long line of WWI nimble fighters. It became available just as did the SPAD XIII. The French decided they would use the SPADs and the brand new U.S. Air Service would get the Nieuports, "the First American Fighter." At first the Nieuport 28s arrived unarmed to our 94th Aero Squadron, so an impatient Raoul Lufbery flew the first U.S.A.S. air patrol unarmed with rookie pilots Douglas Campbell and Eddie Rickenbacker on March 6, 1918. Lufbery and other Lafayette Escadrille survivors volunteered to help the U.S.A.S. get off the ground. Finally one Vickers .303 machine gun per aircraft arrived and the eager Yanks began flying combat with half their fire power. Before long their second synchronized m.g. came in and was promptly mounted. In spite of being the nation where powered, controlled flight first got off the ground, America's delay in entering WWI meant that no airplane of U.S. design made it to the unfriendly skies of Europe. Instead, the U.S.A.S. bought foreign made aircraft. In this case, the U.S. became the only nation to fly the Nieuport 28 in combat during WWI. This is an in-box review since it was purchased out of pocket and I was so impressed that I wanted to promptly share my views with you.

The Nieuport 28 equipped the 27th, 94th, 85th and 103rd Aero Squadrons. On April 14th, 1918, Douglas Campbell and Alan Winslow (a Lafayette veteran) of the 94th Hat in the Ring Aero Squadron, each shot down a German aircraft within 100 yards of their own Aerodrome and within seconds of each other. Winslow was credited with the first kill, but Campbell had made the first kill by an American trained pilot from an American unit. Campbell would go on and soon become the U.S.A.S.' first American trained, American unit's Ace. Roden's box top art illustrates the popular view of Campbell's kill. After the kill his airplane was distinguished with the number 10 and alternating red and black triangles on the cowling; Winslow flew no. 6. On June 6, 1918, Doug Campbell was seriously wounded after downing his 6th Boche, spending months in the hospital and not having the opportunity to score again. In the 1930s he became a Vice-President of Pan-American Airlines. As a young teenager, I met retired Capt. Campbell at a Cross and Cockade meeting in NYC, and if ever I had "the flying bug," there was no turning back after that. As the Chairman of the 1981 NYC IPMS National Convention, I was able to get Campbell ("the First") and Gabby Gabreski (WWII's ETO "the Best") along with a couple of their contemporaries, as guest speakers. He was a gentleman, role model and a hero the likes of which we may never see again.

Because the long neglected Nieuport 28 played such a significant role in American aviation history, I thought you might also want to know the Nieuport 28 had one major shortcoming: it had the tendency to shed its upper wing fabric, which in turn would deprive the aircraft of lift, generally resulting in a fatal crash. Rickenbacker with 26 kills, would become America's top scoring ace in WWI, wrote about surviving one such incident himself and watched with horror as Squadron mate James Meissner, somehow survived not one, but TWO incidents. Teddy Roosevelt's son, Quentin, was not so successful as he was shot down and killed, last seen with three Fokker's on his tail.

The Kit

The kit consists of about 60 light grey injection molded parts. The .303m Maxims are superb, requiring only the front of the barrels to be drilled open. Each wing is one piece tapering to a paper thin trailing edge. There is no phoney texture to the fabric: instead the plastic is as smooth as the doped fabric on the real aircraft, with slightly raised areas representing the wing ribs. Ailerons only appear on the bottom wing and could be easily cut to reposition them if desired. The struts are sturdy. The instructions include a rigging diagram which I'll use to determine where I will drill holes or indents to accommodate carefully measured lengths of wire. They are sturdier than sprue, will stay straight and "taut" and look like real rigging.

The three part engine has nine eye catching, crisply molded cylinders that will still be seen inside the deep cowling engineered by Roden to appear scale thin around the front opening and air cooling vents. You'll want to assemble the cowling, and then paint it in the unique style of the aircraft you chose to build. The cockpit interior has its own separate sprue section with enough parts to keep most modelers happy. The instrument panel has raised instruments, into which you can drop in the decal faces and when dry, "Future" glass. The fuel tank, seat, control stick, rudder pedals, floor and side structure will fill the cockpit. The fuselage itself has very well done exterior detail. There are no pins and locating holes. The well done prop simply requires your favorite method of creating wood grain. I'll paint it a basic water base "wood" color, and when thoroughly dry, wipe on then wipe off burnt sienna oil paint leaving streaks for the wood grain. If I don't like it, I'll wipe it off and try again. Cut out the windshield drawn on the small piece of clear celluloid and cement in position with white glue or super glue (after coating with Future).

Camouflage and Markings

A large decal sheet provides markings for three colorful, French camouflaged. 94th Aero Squadron aircraft: Number 10 flown by Lt. Doug Campbell; Number 12 flown by Lt. Rickenbacker; and Number 1 flown by Lt. Major John Huffer, Commander of the 94th. Most of the numbers have a fine outline in black or white with the registration dead on. Two full color printed paper Liberty Loan posters are provided. The directions are very clear as to which of these aircraft had them glued to their wing or wings. Another manufacturer has released decal sheets of other Nieuport 28s so you now have a large selection of aircraft to build.

If your model collection includes some representation of American aircraft, then it is incomplete without the Nieuport 28, America's First Fighter. I can heartily recommend this Roden kit to all but the weak of heart, when it comes to rigging. The Nieuport is not that complicated an a/c to rig, you won't need a trained spider to accomplish it for you. You really don't need any extra photo etch sets or other accessories - you can build a great plane out of the box. I was able to buy my kit at a discounted price but the m.s.r.p. puts this kit in the mid price range as there are other manufacturers charging even more for their 1/32 WWI models.

You can see the Roden line at rodenplant.com; their kits are available just about everywhere! Thanks to a IPMS local show sale and my flexible budget for the review sample.

References:

The Nieuport 28, America's First Fighter, by Theodore Hamady, publ. by Schiffer
The Hat In The Ring Gang, by Charles Woolley, publ. by Schiffer
U.S.A.S. 1st Pursuit Group, by John Guttman, publ. by Osprey
Nieuport Aces of World War I, by Norman Franks, publ. by Osprey
American Aces of World War I, by Norman Franks, publ. by Osprey