Ramblings Over the Front

It is one of my favorite mid-war decks. While the speed is average, the broad sideslips give this deck an advantage over the V Deck of the Albatros D.I/D.II and the J Deck of the Albatros D.III and Pfalz D.III.



Selecting a plane to use with my one extra I Deck is much easier than my N Deck conundrum. Options are the Fokker D.V, the Morane-Saulnier Type V, Nieuport 17, Nieuport 17bis, Nieuport 21, Nieuport 23, and the Airco DH-5.
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The grainy finish is evident in the picture, even after two costs of paint.

While I am awaiting the next Siemens-Schuckert D.I to make its way to Cincinnati, I have decided to work on another Shapeways plane, this one being the Pfalz Dr.I offering from Decapod. Ordered in the Gray PA12, which is my preferred base material due to inherent "primed" finish, I've had this cool little beast - for me one of the most aesthetically pleasing ...

The paint has arrived, and a coat of Vallejo Middlestone has been applied. A tad more yellow in appearance in the picture than real life, and the digital shows some primer coming through that is tough to see with the naked eye, so another bit of touch up is in order. Next steps will be to paint the underside a pale light blue, which I do not believe I have a suitable color already in the paint collection, so might be a bit more shopping! After that will ...

Starting with another Ares Chaput as the base plane, I have created the Nieuport N.11 of Victor Chapman, the first pilot in N.124 to be killed in combat. A few coats of AK Clear Doped Linen Version 2, some crimson on the wheel covers, and then the addition of the historically accurate roundels on the top wing and we have a nice addition to the N.124 collection. The roundels on the underside of the wings are still the French ones, as found on the actual ...