Nieuport 17

This is a 1:144 scale print of the Nieuport 17 in French colours.It was one of the most widely used French scouts of 1917, employed by every member of the Entente alliance. It replaced the Nieuport 11 Bebe and Nieuport 16, being the first of them to have an interrupted Vickers gun mounted as its standard armament. Some pilots, however, preferred to stick with the wing-mounted Lewis gun that they were used to, and quite a few Nieuport 17s were to be seen sporting that gun mount.The aluminium dope was, I believe, used mainly because it provided UV protection to the canvas fabric. I've found that I have to give the metallic paint a few coats of matte varnish, or else it looks too shiny — you can see the difference between the paint finish on the wings, which have been varnished, and the engine cowling, which has not.And now, looking at the photo, I realise that I've forgotten to paint the wooden interplane struts. Back to the painting desk we go!

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