Creating a Chapman Nieuport 11

This paint job was actually quite easy. Taking an Ares Chaput, I applied two coats of the AK light clear doped linen color to repaint the fuselage and upper surfaces. This color is a fairly close match to the linen color used on the wing undersides.

A spray of Army Painter satin then a brush of Army Painter matte gives the plane a slight sheen, but not too glossy.

Chapman's Nieuport had what we would come to know as American roundels on the upper wing. Miscellaneous Miniatures has those in stock. Cutting around the roundel, placing in warm water, then while the decal is loosening I prepped the wing with a little Vallejo Decal Fix where the roundels would go. Sliding the decal from the backing paper, getting into place, and using a cotton swab to roll out any possible air bubbles, I then used a coat of Vallejo Decal Softener on top of the roundels. This really molds the decal to the plane, allowing the ribbing to be noticed, and also smoothing the edges of the decal to the point where one cannot tell that is a decal.

In hindsight I have seen some artwork that shows both a lower wing of doped linen, and other artwork that shows the lower wing in the green and brown camo - I probably would have went with the camo had I not already came across the all linen artwork...just to have an odder look to the plane.

That's it! A super easy painting conversion!