Andreas, Mike, Warren, and Zac; thanks for the encouragement and ideas, and sorry it took me so long to reply.
Andreas, of course I had to go back and look up your F.E. conversion thread and read the entire thing... what an amazing project. The stitching is a technique that I'll definitely apply to my upcoming D.H.2 build, but I'm afraid I'd have to remove the top decking on the N.16 now to thin down the fuselage walls enough to make it work, and I just don't have the heart to do so!
Mike, thanks for the link to the Archer site (which is still up and running, Zac, but there again so is WnW's... I sent them an inquiry anyway), which gave me the idea to experiment with an applique of my own, using self-adhesive aluminum tape like they use on heating & a/c ducting, embossing the details in from behind with a blunt sewing needle. It actually worked better than I thought it would, but I'll have to refine the technique before it produces anything that's worth sharing.
I spent a large part of last night looking through my library of Nieuport photos, and realized that the actual lacing strips were much different than I thought they were:
... I'd always thought that the dark strip on top was a leather or fabric "lip" that you could turn down to protect the lacing, but the photos I blew up last night clearly showed that it was just a strip of material glued or doped on the ply top decking with eyelets that allowed it to be laced to the studs on the lower, metal strip.
I just love a challenge
All best,
Dutch
