Azur-FRROM Hobby Plastic Model Kit Nieuport-Delage NiD 62 — 1:72

Manufacturer

Azur was a French specialist model brand associated with Gilles Fontaine / FRROM, concentrating on less-common aircraft subjects, particularly French and European aircraft. The A049 is typical of the brand's limited-run approach, combining conventional plastic components with smaller resin and photo-etched parts to reproduce an unusual inter-war aircraft.

The kit was added to the Super-Hobby catalogue on 30 April 2010 and is now listed as discontinued. Its original/referenced retail price was approximately €14.09–€14.44, depending on the market.
Kit contents

The A049 / 72049 is a detailed 1:72 representation of the NiD 62 family. The documented contents include:

Injection-moulded plastic parts

Resin detail parts

Photo-etched components

Clear/film parts for transparent areas

Fuselage and wing components

Detailed cockpit

Landing gear

Engine and cowling

Propeller

Tail assembly

Decals for two French aircraft

Assembly instructions

HobbySearch specifically records the inclusion of etching, resin parts and film clear parts, while listing the boxed dimensions at approximately 26 × 16.5 × 3.5 cm and a weight of about 125 g.
History of the full-size aircraft

The Nieuport-Delage NiD 62 was a French single-engine fighter developed by Nieuport-Delage during the late 1920s. It belonged to the distinctive family of French sesquiplane fighters—aircraft with a large upper wing and substantially smaller lower wing.

The design evolved from the earlier NiD 42/52 family and was intended to provide the French military with a modern fighter during a period when aircraft technology was moving rapidly from wood-and-fabric biplanes toward metal monoplanes.

The NiD 62 first flew in 1928 and entered French military service during the early 1930s. It was powered by a Hispano-Suiza 12-cylinder liquid-cooled engine, giving the aircraft considerably more power than many of the earlier Nieuport fighters.

The type was designed primarily as a single-seat fighter and was adopted by both the Armée de l'Air and French naval aviation. The aircraft's conventional-for-the-period sesquiplane configuration provided a useful combination of structural strength, visibility and manoeuvrability.

According to the documented specifications for the NiD 622, the aircraft had a length of approximately 7.63 m, a wingspan of 12 m, a maximum speed of around 270 km/h, a range of approximately 900 km, and a service ceiling of about 7,700 m. Its fixed armament consisted of two 7.7 mm machine guns.
Service history

The NiD 62 entered service at a time when the French fighter force was undergoing significant modernisation. During the early 1930s, it represented a capable frontline fighter, but its service career was relatively short because of the rapid development of more advanced aircraft.

By the late 1930s, modern low-wing monoplanes were replacing the older generation of sesquiplane fighters. The NiD 62 was consequently withdrawn from frontline fighter units before the outbreak of the Second World War and increasingly used for training and secondary duties.

Some aircraft were subsequently used as air targets. Following the German conquest of France in 1940, surviving examples were taken over or encountered by German forces and were ultimately destined for disposal. No complete NiD 62 is known to have survived.
The NiD 622

The NiD 62 family included several developments, with the NiD 622 being one of the later and more powerful versions.

The NiD 622 benefited from the continued development of the Hispano-Suiza engine and represented the type's mature configuration. Nevertheless, by the time these aircraft were in service, the fundamental limitations of the sesquiplane layout were becoming increasingly apparent when compared with the new generation of all-metal monoplanes.

The aircraft therefore occupies an interesting position in aviation history: it was a representative French frontline fighter of the early 1930s, but within only a few years the technology of fighter aircraft had changed dramatically.