Nieuport Ni-23
Weekend Edition

Eduard, 1/72 scale

Reviewed by Rob Baumgartner

Eduard's 1/48 scale Nieuport Ni-23 "Weekend Edition"
is available online from Squadron.com
 

Eduard has been responsible for a number of innovative marketing ideas. One of these is the “Weekend Edition” series and this incarnation sees the re-release of the Nieuport 23.

Contents

Inside the box are 43 parts, which are all crisply moulded and display no surface defects whatsoever. The windscreen is moulded in clear plastic and this single piece also caters for the surrounding framework.

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Thumbnail panels:

Clever engineering ensures that any ejection pin marks are effectively hidden in the final assembly.

These kits are packaged to allow for a quick and easy build. As such there are no photo-etched parts included. This simplifies the cockpit a bit so the builder may wish to add a bit more detail; seatbelts being the most obvious omission.

The wings are superb pieces of moulding. Both upper and lower flying surfaces are in one piece thus no setting of the dihedral is necessary. The trailing edges are very sharp and each shows delicate, retrained rib detail.

All of the major components compare very well to credible published drawings. Those used were done in 1993 by Ian Stair and are found published in Volume 1 of the Windsock Datafile series on “Nieuport Fighters”.

There were a number of different cowlings seen on these plucky fighters. The one on Kibanov’s aircraft featured a couple of prominent cutouts on its lower edge. These are not on either of the kit’s cowlings and nor are they mentioned on the instruction sheet. Fortunately the excellent colour scheme illustration on the rear of the box shows these slots, although the modeller will need a deft touch to reproduce them.

Markings

As befits this series, a single marking option has been catered for. In this case it’s the mount of Kibanov when serving with the Russian Imperial Air Force.

Many Russian pilots were sent to France for experience. They liked the fuselage adornments they found on the French aircraft and it wasn’t long before they applied them to their own machines.

A stint in the cavalry may explain the horse related images found on Kibanov’s aircraft as he had these on the top and sides of the fuselage. He was shot down and killed in this machine on October 11, 1917.

A single decal sheet supplies the markings and these were found to be in perfect register. The carrier film is commendably thin and a minimum is found surrounding each item.

The Nieuport Scouts are some of the most aesthetically pleasing aircraft to model.

This, along with the variety of colours and markings, make it an ideal choice for re-release. It’s an accurate rendition of the original and thanks to the “V” struts, is one of the easier World War One aircraft to build.

If you haven’t built a biplane yet, these competitively priced “Weekend Edition” kits are an ideal way to have a go.

Thanks to Eduard for the sample

Review Text and Images Copyright © 2012 by Rob Baumgartner
Page Created 3 July, 2012
Last updated 3 July, 2012

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