Part I - Bringing The Lafayette Escadrille to Life

N.1844 with some bad decal placement. This will be the miniature used for a repaint.

I own three of the Wings of War Lafayette Escadrille Nieuport 17s - two marked with three red stripes on the fuselage side, and one with a "T" on the fuselage. According to Jon Guttman's SPA124 Lafayette Escadrille - American Volunteer Airmen in World War 1 (Osprey, 2004), the three red stripes on the first mentioned Nieuport are "coup marks," but in his Nieuport Flyers of the Lafayette (Albatros, 2006), the three stripes represent Captaine George Thenault's rank. Four different pilots flew N.1844 - Thenault, Lufbery, Hoskier, and Willis, so whether the personal markings represent coup marks of the Native American Indians or the captain's rank, one plane needs to be converted into a different N.17. As one of the models has the three stripes in an awkward position I will use that model for the "repaint."

Colors to be mixed for the repaint

I will be using Dom's Decals suggested mix of six parts Vallejo silver and five parts Vallejo natural steel to paint over the three stripes. Then I will add masking tape to paint a vertical white band around the fuselage to represent Willis Haviland's N.1887, which later became George Hinkle's plane with the addition of an "H" on the fuselage and red trim on the white band.

The rather dark and dull looking Seminole head will be replaced

On all three N.17s the Seminole head looks rather dull, the colors looking rather muted, almost black and white. I will be using decals from Miscellaneous Miniatures to add some color to the planes. While the decals represent the later Sioux motif, I think they will work nicely as Seminole heads and will enhance the plane's colors rather well.

The decals to be used. I have used some on Reduced Aircraft Factory color 103rd Aero SPAD S.VIIs to great effect. See THIS POST

I also need to fixe the rudder flashes on two of the N.17s as the red portion has a bit of decal missing. 

This is a rather easy project, or should be, with really only the masking and painting of the white fuselage band presenting the hardest aspect. I should be able to knock these out over the next couple of days, in time for some Bloody April fighting at the monthly Wright Flight gathering.