Monday, January 9, 2012

France - 1916 - 1917 More Nieuport-17

Three French Nieuport-17


I have been working on getting my archive of Nieuport aircraft rebuilt. Hopefully I will have the new master files for the different types finished and I can start fleshing out neglected areas in my collection. Slowly but surely I get closer to where I was before the big crash ate my homework. When I first started my website I was happy with a single profile to give a glimpse into the evolution of aircraft design. Now I seem to be consumed with depth of content. I have passed the 1300 profile mark and the project keeps growing.

Today's post is a small sample of the weekend's work. My recent excursion into post world war one aircraft is moved to a back burner as I get back to basics. I have so many irons in the fire I need to focus a bit more on the main topic of my site. I will still be posting profiles from the Greco-Turkish War and the Polish-Russian conflict. I just need to get back to my roots.


This plane was flown by René Dorme (23 victories) when serving in Escadrille N3 escadrille “des Cigognes” (“The Storks”). The aircraft is finished in the typical aluminum varnish mix used at the time. The legend painted on the forward section reads “Pere Dorme 3”. The all red stork was used as the unit insignia between October 1916 through April 1917. On the top of the fuselage just behind the head rest is a stylized green “Croix Lorraine” (“Cross Lorraine”). The red number 12 is unusual in that it was not painted to align with the center line when the plane is in flight.


“Casque de Bayard” translates as “helmet of Bayard” (a famous french Knight of the 16th Century), was used as the insigna of the Escadrille N15. The black version appears on several Nieuports flown by the 15th Escadrille during 1917. Several variants were used including white and red versions.The name “DEDETTE III” is painted on the forward fuselage. This is the third aircraft Chevillon named Dedette. Some sources show the serial number as N2038. I may have to change the profile to reflect this.


Escadrille N31 (Founded in September of 1914.) was called “Escadrille l' archer grec” which translates as “Squadron of the Greek Archer”. The escadrille fielded Nieuport 17 between February through April of 1917. The insignia variant used did not have a colored field or solid circle often seen. While this plane is well known. none of the sources I have seen have any information on who piloted number 25.


References

  1. The Blueprints.com http://www.the-blueprints.com/
  2. Wings Palette http://wp.scn.ru/en/
  3. L'escadrille SPA 3: http://albindenis.free.fr/Site_escadrille/escadrille003.htm
  4. L'escadrille SPA 15: http://albindenis.free.fr/Site_escadrille/escadrille015.htm
  5. L'escadrille_31:http://albindenis.free.fr/Site_escadrille/escadrille031.htm
  6. Michel and Guy Vaugeois History of the 7th fighter Wing SHAA 1989
  7. From Wikipedia Nieuport 17, "From Wikipedia Nieuport 17"
  8. Bruce, Jack. "Those Classic Nieuports". Air Enthusiast Quarterly. Number Two, 1976. Bromley, UK:Pilot Press. pp. 137-153.
  9. Cheesman E.F., ed. "Fighter Aircraft of the 1914-1918" War. Letchworth, UK: Harleyford Publications, 1960.
  10. Cooksley, Peter. "Nieuport Fighters in Action". Carrollton, Texas: Squadron/Signal Publications, 1997. ISBN 0-89747-377-9.

4 comments:

The Angry Lurker said...

Those are great, damn nice work.....

Unknown said...

Thanks Fran. After doing all that camouflage schemes they seemed a bit plain. I spent more time on research than doing the profile images

Jon Yuengling said...

These are really nice. They are anything but plain. I like the shading. I wish my models looks that good.

Unknown said...

Thanks Jon, The funny things is doing the profiles is a lot like building a model without the glue and paint fumes.

The elements are like parts placed in an certain order to make the complete picture. When doing camouflage it is like masking off sections to paint.

The markings are done separately and applied like decals. I keep a library of details, insignias, weapons, wheels and engines. We all have bit boxes for adding those special touches. My master files are like kits the shading is already there and they are ready to paint.

It is merely a matter of practice. After a few hundred the learning curve flattens out. After over a thousand you see where you went wrong and do a new improved version.

Cheers

Will