Out of the Box Review
1/72 Nieuport 24 - 27 from HR Model

by: Brent Theobald

Stock Number: HR7232

History:
The Nieuport 24-27 was an attempt to improve the Nieuport 17. Unfortunately at this time the Allies were beginning to take delivery of the excellent SPAD fighters. Most of the Nieuport 24 - 27's that were used by the Allies were used as trainers. However, there are many colorful examples of this Nieuport that were used in the Russian Civil War.

The Kit:
This kit is strongly based on the Esci Nieuport kit that was released a few years ago. The Esci kit is an excellent kit and the HR Resin kit's lineage is apparent.

The fuselage is a direct copy of the Esci kit. Even the alignment pins are still there. Some clean up will be required on the fuselage before painting and assembly can begin. There were a few small pin holes too. The detail parts are direct copies of the Esci kit too. Except for the seat. That looks to have come from a Pegasus master. With the exception of the engine these parts are well cast without any holes. The engine has a few bubbles that will need to be cleaned up. Obviously the parts will all need a little clean up when they are removed from their resin wafer. Overall the quality of the resin parts appear to be above average. I would reccomend replacing the resin struts with plastic or brass rod. It would be a shame to have those resin struts bend after the model is completed. My only complaint about the parts so far is the rib stations on the fuselage look a little heavy.

The wings are the main area where the Nieuport 24 - 27 differed outwardly from the Nieuport 17. There was a plywood leading edge incorporated into the wing construction. HR Resins has tried to replicate this by tacking on some .005" plastic card to the Esci wings. Thereby making the masters. This looks heavy to me. In fact, I cannot see this detail in the photos that are available to me. It should be pointed out that it really wouldn't be that hard to glue your own plastic card onto the wings of a Esci Nieuport. Thereby converting the model into a Nieuport 24 - 27. Anyway, the casting quality of the wings is on par with the rest of the kit. There are a few bubbles, but nothing to be troubled by.

The decals supplied in the kit look nice. They are well printed and in register. Oddly they don't represent any of the aircraft illustrated in the box art or the marking diagrams. This kit does not include instructions either. They aren't really needed. If you are modeler enough to tackle a resin kit you won't need instructions.
 

Conclusion:
Once I got past the plagerism of this kit I decided it was a good kit. The parts all look to be useable although the detail is heavy handed at times. Since it is based on the the Esci kit it ought to be as easy to assemble. This can be a very colorful aircraft and would make an interesting addition to the model shelf.
 
 

A friend of mine picked this book up for me. I believe the title translates to Aircraft of the Russian Civil War. It might be found at Linden Hill Imports. It has tons of good pictures and color profiles. It is a little hard to read though...