1/72 Maruchan Dragonfly

[Brian da Basher]

While the Maruchan Co. is one of the world's largest exporters of that delicacy known as ramen noodles, almost forgotten is their foray into modern aircraft production over 80 years ago.

China in the 1920s was very different than it is today. Warlords battled each other and the Nationalist government for control of the cities, ports and countryside. One of the most fearsome of these was the Fengtian Army commanded by the great warlord General Zhang Zuolin. Though originally based in the city of Shenyang, this powerful army soon was strong enough to contest for control of the Chinese capitol of Beijing.

The Fengtian Air Force was formed when its commander, Air Marshal Zhang Xueliang and a small elite force captured some Breguet 14 bombers and Nieuport 28 fighters that had been purchased by the Nationalists. The Nieuports were re-engined with a local license built copy of the Wright Whirlwind engine and their wooden framework was replaced with duralminum tube by the Maruchan Co. The new aircraft, called the Dragonfly, was used to great effect by Air Marshal Xueliang against the Nationalists and a rival warlord, General Wu Peifu and his Zhili army.

After the defeat of the Fengtian army by the Nationalists, the Maruchan Co. went back to making ramen noodles but their legacy of aircraft innovation can be seen today in the People's Museum of Technology No. 3 in Beijing where this Dragonfly fighter resides today.

1st of 6 pics.

Brian da Basher

[Brian da Basher]

The base kit for this project was the wonderful 1/72 Revell Nieuport 28 which I got off philp last year. While these Revell kits may not be state-of-the-art, they're very well engineered and aren't too difficult to put together if you've built a biplane before.

I spent some time looking this kit over, trying to decide how I was going to modify it. I knew I was going to add spats (I love spats! ) but I wasn't sure what else I was going to do. I wanted to re-engine it somehow, but the idea of scratch-building an inline engine from the end of a drop-tank seemed like a lot of work.

2nd of 6 pics.

Brian da Basher

[Brian da Basher]

Fortunately, I found an old Testor's/Hawk 1/72 Spirit of St. Louis kit in the stash. It occurred to me that the Wright Whirlwind engine was a perfect fit on the Nieuport 28 fuselage. I just had to be very careful how I attached it as I needed to make sure the spaeces between the cyllinders lined up with the machine gun barrels.

The spats (did I mention that I love spats? ) were scratched from four pieces of sheet plastic cut to shape and two halves of one of the wheels. The dinky little windscreen was made from some clear parts I found in the bottom of my spares box. There were no other modifications to the kit.

3rd of 6 pics.

Brian da Basher

[Brian da Basher]

The funny thing about this project is that I had the markings sorted out long before I knew how I was going to modify this kit. After the I Love P-40s! Group Build, I had a lot of Flying Tigers markings left over (I've still got four shark mouths if anyone needs some). I noticed that the red, white and blue swirls for the wheel hubs would make a really interesting roundel, I just needed a plane with a narrow enough wing chord for them to work. This Nieuport 28 was the perfect candidate. These little swirls reminded me of the yin-yang symbol, so I figured placing them on a yellow band would set them off nicely and add to the Asian look I was after.  I had to hand-paint a little gray line under the white part of the swirl roundels to make them stand out against the yellow bands. The remaining fuselage codes also came from that Flying Tigers sheet.

4th of 6 pics.

Brian da Basher

[Brian da Basher]

The yellow bands are a custom color I mixed using gesso and Liquitex Artists' Acrylics. The green for the camo was from that batch of N.I.V.O. I mixed up a while back and the brown is Model Masters Dark Earth. The front of the fuselage and the spats were painted with Testor's Olive Drab. I painted the struts with Model Masters Rust. The guns and engine were painted with Tamiya Gunmetal and the prop with Model Master's Steel. The undersides and prop spinner were painted with Tamiya RAF Sky. Here's a shot of the undersides for you.

5th of 6 pics.

Brian da Basher

[Brian da Basher]

The rigging was done with .011 steel guitar strings, white glue, sharp nippers and a lot of patience! This is one of three models I completed while I was on vacation last week. Nothing relaxes me like building a what-if!

Last of 6 pics.

Brian da Basher

[Arc3371]

I love your spatbuilds!

The marking you used was it based on the Ryūkyū Kingdom (see flag below)?

[Brian da Basher]

Wow that's one really nice looking roundel Arc! I used the decals from a Flying Tigers sheet that were originally intended as wheel hub covers. I don't know what the origin is, but my guess is it was an attempt to incorporate some U.S. red, white and blue into the aircraft without being too conspicuous. Still, it would be rather ironic if the Flying Tigers' wheel hub covers began as an old Japanese marking!

Here's a bonus shot for posing such a fascinating question.

Brian da Basher

[Arc3371]

Yes that would be ironic !

What I posted wasn´t an airmarking but the actual flag

[Allan]

Just lovely Brian
Allan in Canberra

[HOG]

Hiya Brian
Please tell me its a missprint
3 models in a WEEK!
Or are you building on steroids or somthin`

By the way   nicely done  

[lancer]

Yet again I bow to your genius Brian. amazing build and superb backstory. Especially likes the mention of the Zhilli army.  

[wolfik]

yes...YOU LOVE SPATS....definitely
nice work!

[Glenn Gilbertson]

Great model & backstory!
 

[Chap]

Lovely work Brian! Just love the backstory.

~Steve