Nieuport 28 fighter - Lt. Quentin Roosevelt
This is Roden's 1/32 Nieuport 28 chasseur, in the markings of Lt. Quentin Roosevelt of the US 95th Aero Squadron, courtesy of Super-Scale decals.
Ex-President Theodore Roosevelt's youngest son Quentin dropped out of Harvard to join the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps in May 1917, training with the newly-formed 1st Reserve Aero Squadron on Long Island. Joining the AEF in Europe, he helped establish the major USAAS training base at Issoudun, served as both a supply and training officer, before being posted to the 95th Aero Squadron 'Kicking Mules' as a replacement pilot in mid-June 1918.
Popular with his squadron-mates and regarded as a daring (and even reckless) pilot by his commanders, he claimed his first aerial victory on July 10th of that year. Only four days later--on Bastille Day--he was part of a massive aerial engagement at the commencement of the Second Battle of the Marne. After being reported missing, it was later learned that he had been shot down and killed behind enemy lines, and buried with full military honors by the Germans.
I'm a big fan of Roden's 1/32 WW1 kits, as they generally have a nice level of detail without being overly 'fussy.' The Nieuport 28 met with great acclaim when it was released...but I hardly ever seem to see one built.
This kit is also nicely detailed, though I supplemented the cockpit with the Part/Poland etch set. The kit has one nasty trick up its sleeve--a lower-wing fit issue--but I was able to work around it to my satisfaction (and relief) and the rest of the build was pretty straightforward.
Colors were mixed from Tamiya acrylics. The Super-Scale decals were complete, including the unusual squadron cowling stripes, construction stencils for wings and struts, and manufacturer's emblems for the prop; I hand -painted a bit of additional detail to the monotone mule outlines on the squadron insignia, but otherwise used everything as on the sheet, and they went down (as usual) with no difficulties. Rigging was done with EZ-Line and Radu Brinzan's nice etched turnbuckles, which I used here for the first time.
Enjoy
