Thanks Przemo!
Some more progress to report here. I've touched up the various small gaps that inevitably result from such a complex set of decals and have started on the weathering. The Aviattic decals look great but I wanted to add a little more depth and variation to the overall finish (and also hid my cockup on the decal join on the underside).
I have a very particular approach to weathering because I probably spend too long looking at photos and trying to replicate the original. The US Nieuport 28s were generally pretty well cared for and this specific aircraft didn't look battered and worn (except in a couple of places). In this case I used the oil dot approach to introduce some patchiness to the linen surface without losing the rib tapes, which I masked over. I like using the Mig Oilbrushers for this process, because they act like oils but have a very blendable consistency out of the tube.
This approach gives a subtle variation to the linen, representing the dope discolouring slowly in a patchy way, without creating "zebra stripes" all over the aircraft (which IMO can look overdone). I also carefully avoided the markings, because these do not weather in the same way as the underlying doped surface. They were painted on top of the doped fabric, so would not discolour like the underlying fabric.
Here's what I ended up with:
The difference is subtle but just adds a bit of depth IMO:
Original:
Weathered:
Maybe I'm wasting my time but it's all part of the fun......
