I've lately become enamored with the various versions of the Nieuport and have been building a series of the Eduard 1/48th scale Nieuport 11/16/17 models (wonderful little kits, by the way). But I'm confused about the camouflage colors used and I'm hoping that someone can set me straight here. Here's a list of my assumptions (and yes I know the risk of assuming!)
I assume that most of the Nieuport 11s left the factory in an overall clear doped linen finish. But by the time the Nieuport 16 with the larger engine was introduced, at least some might have been delivered wearing camouflage, with the likelihood that some were also being painted at depots or in the field. Add in the replacements of camouflage painted wings, etc. to older CDL finished aircraft. And lastly, I assume that by time the Nieuport 17s were introduced, the normal factory finish was a silver dope, again with the possibility of field applied paint or painted replacement parts.
I've also noted that the two-color camouflage illustrated in the various releases of the Eduard 11/16 kits are in of two different combinations, and these two seemingly different schemes are also apparent in the posted photos of models on the internet. One scheme uses a lighter green plus a darker green, while the alternative uses more or less the same lighter green, but instead combined with a dark brown.
To try to be more descriptive, the light green tends to resemble a darker version of the WWII RAF interior green, while the darker green varies from a straightforward dark green reminiscent of British racing green to more of an olive drab. The dark brown in the illustrations and the models runs from a reddish brown (almost a rust color) to a much darker brown without the reddish tinge.
So, a couple of questions... Are these illustrations and models actually depicting two different color combinations, or are they simply different artist's views of one scheme, i.e. are the depicted browns and dark greens actually only one color?
Secondly, are these two (or three?) colors the same hues that were later used in the five color upper scheme on SPADs, Breguets, and the like (light green, dark green, brown, yellowish light brown and black)?
And an unrelated Nieuport color question: Were the landing gear struts and cabane struts of all variants made of steel tubing, with only the interplane struts in a varnished wood finish? If so, were they invariably painted silver, gray, or a beige that roughly matched the CDL, or were they sometimes painted in the upper camouflage colors?
Dennis
